Monthly Archives: April 2016
NEXT MEETING: April 29, 2016The Y Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
After working for the YMCA for 33 years, Richmond Rotarian Don Lau will be retiring in December 2016. The West Contra Costa Y has been serving this community since 1918. What started out as a single facility on Macdonald Avenue has grown into a $15 million dollar operation, with 470 full and part-time staff providing services at 40 sites daily. The Y is for youth development, healthy living and social responsibility and provides a wide variety of youth and family programs that focus on those core objectives. Don will talk about the Y’s past, its current role and its future in our community. MEETING OFWelcomeAlan Baer is the presiding over the meeting in President Alan Blavins absence. Tom Waller was really happy to be here and to lead the pledge. George Egan led the moment of silence for Peace in the world. Sid’s thought for the day: Don’t die a virgin. Seriously there are terrorists waiting for you up there. Visiting Rotarians and GuestsJon Lawlis’s “guest” was Darlene Quenville. Announcements
RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAMThe Tanita family experience during the WWII Internment of Japanese-Americans
Our speaker was our very own Richmond Rotary legend Dan Tanita. Dan spoke about Executive Order 9066, which ordered the internment of the Japanese Americans on the West Coast, regardless of citizenship, during World War II. Fred Korematsu was one Japanese American who fought the internment and took the case all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court in a 6-3 vote held that the internment was constitutional. It was not until 1983 that the United States government finally cleared Fred Korematsu of the charges for not voluntarily going to the internment camps. Dan was involved in the committee to change Portola School to the Fred Korematsu School. After many meetings and explanations of who Fred was the school board approved the name change. Dan also spoke about his family. Dan’s grandfather was a citrus farmer but after attended a revival he converted to Christianity and at 37 decided to become a Methodist Minister. He also talked about his uncle who never shook the idea of being arrested even though he was an American citizen and was attending college at the time of the internment. He was shocked that the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor and saw the reaction of the American government to intern Japanese American citizens as fear and racism. He would equate the reaction to Muslims in Europe after the attacks recently there to the internment. The college his uncle attended contacted him at 86 years old and offered an honorary degree to him since he had been affected by the internment and he accepted it with honor. Dan also told us that the executive order was only for the West Coast and his family was not directly affected since they lived in Arizona. He also mentioned that there was a big population of Japanese Americans living in Hawaii but there was no internment camps started there because the economy would have been greatly affected if the camps were started there. - Henry Moe, Rotating Editor |
NEXT MEETING: April 22, 2016Dan Tanita's family's experience during the WWII Internment of Japanese-Americans
After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 Japanese Americans became the most accessible targets to ventilate hysteria and hate. Amidst the turbulence, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 removing Japanese from the West Coast and hauling them away to interment camps in Arizona, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and Colorado. Richmond Rotarian Dan Tanita will discuss his own family history in California and Arizona and how his family endured the trauma of the war. Many of his family members were interned in camps and endured the indignity of being American Citizens who looked like the enemy. Dan will also talk about the experience of racism then and how we need to control our fear and hysteria during these uncertain times. MEETING OF April 15, 2016WelcomeOn “not-Tax Day” Prez Alan called the meeting to order and asked Jon “Kahuna” Lawlis to lead us in the Pledge and offered us a moment of silence for peace on earth. Sid Chauvin offered the following “Like what you do. If you don’t like what you do, do something else.” Paul Harvey Visiting Rotarians and GuestsJon Lawlis had as his guest Darlene Quinville, David Brown had as his guest Eddie Aubrey and Sid Chauvin’s guest was former Rotarian Joe Kelman. Announcements
RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAMHappiness at Work
Stacey Street introduced our speaker Pam Rich who is the Director and Founder of Rich Solutions. Rich Solutions is an organization development firm that promotes strategic thinking that enables organizations to have happy, engaged and productive employees. She works on a happiness triangle that includes Organization, Individual and Team. Her approach to happiness involves Positive motions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment (PERMA). She explained each of the PERMA components which if followed will lead to happy and productive employees. Editor’s note: Prez Alan explained the marks on his head…ask him for details, although there are second opinions. - The Menehune “Rotating Editor” |
NEXT MEETING: April 15, 2016Happiness at Work
The research is clear – employees who are happy at work are more productive, are absent less and stay in their jobs longer. The bottom line is that happy employees improve the bottom line. But what makes for happiness? And what makes for happiness in the workplace? This interactive session:
Pamela Rich is the Director and Founder of Rich Solutions, an organization development firm that promotes strategic thinking, equitable systems and sustainable change as well as happy, engaged employees. She is a Happiness at Work facilitator. Pam holds a BA from Brown University and an MA in Organization Development from Sonoma State University.
No Flywheel Notes this WeekThis week’s Flywheel comes to you a day late and some thousand words short of content. For good reason. Our on-time-leader among the scribes, Tom Waller, suffered a heart attack last Saturday morning. Right now he’s fine, at home and recuperating as you read this. Tom was eager to soldier through it, get out of the hospital, go home and resume life as usual—including hammering out the Flywheel notes by midday Tuesday. Wisely, he decided that he had plenty to manage adjusting to the changes. Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Tom. MEETING OFWelcomeAnnouncementsRecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAM
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NEXT MEETING: April 8, 2016Conversation with Chief Allwyn Brown
MEETING OF Friday, April 1, 2016WelcomePast President Alan Baer called the meeting to order, asked a club member from the back of the room to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, and asked George Egan to lead us in a silent prayer for peace. Sergeant-at-Arms Sid Chauvin offered the quote of the day: “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on!” – F.D. Roosevelt Visiting Rotarians and GuestsDan Sanders brought his wife Sara Sanders. Josh Surowitz’s guest was coworkers Daniel Lopez
Announcements
Patricia Canessa is on maternity leave and will return in a few months Mey Saechow is surviving tax season and will return shortly EJ Shalaby celebrated his 14th wedding anniversary George Egan has been a Rotary Club member for 18 years Dan Sanders has been a member for 41 years! Happy Birthday RICHMOND ROTARY CLUB!!! RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAM
Past President Liliane Koziol introduced the inspiring Amani Matabaro of Bukavu Rotary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (near the border of Rwanda) and Dr. Victoria Bentley. Amani Matabaro is the current president of the Bukavu Club and has been an intricate part in the revitalizing of the war-torn Congo. His presentation was a tribute to all of the amazing things that Rotary has done for his country. While the country is rich in resources and beauty, the people are ranked as some of the poorest in the World. After surviving dictatorships and civil wars, the people needed help to defend themselves against warlords. Rotary has helped them do this. These projects include: educational assistance to keep children from working in the mineral mines (there are now 425 children in school), the Mumosho Community Center to provide resources for teen mothers, education, literacy, and job skills for women, bread making cooperative, microloans, organic shared farm, animal husbandry, fishing program, Congo Healing Project, and the Mumosho Peace Market. Where is humanity? Where is the World? It is in ROTARY. To learn more about
Shana Bagley, our scribe for this meeting offers this thought:
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Chief Allwyn Brown has been a sworn member of the Richmond Police Department for over 30 years, serving as assistant police chief between July 2015 and January 2016, and then he was appointed interim police chief. He was promoted to sergeant in 1994 – then later served as acting lieutenant for one year helping to institute a new policing system before being promoted to captain in January 2008. He served as one of two deputy chiefs in the Department between 2010 and 2015. Chief Brown attended POST’s Supervisory Leadership Institute (Class 86), and he is a graduate of Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP). He holds a Master’s Degree in HR Management and an undergraduate degree in Business/HR Management.