NEXT MEETING: September 27, 2019
Note: We will meet at Contra Costa College on Friday. Details below.

The Many Ingredients of a Culinary Career

Nader Sharkes, master chef and Chair of the Culinary Arts Management Program at Contra Costa College, will be our speaker at the Aqua Terra Grill Retaurant, on campus.

When you hear the term culinary arts, you probably think about cooking. And, of course, things like cooking styles, food safety and how to safely handle kitchen equipment are a big part of it. But there’s so much more to a culinary career than that. It’s presentation and customer service. It’s event planning and promotion. It’s business management and development. It’s everything related to food in the hospitality industry.

Contra Costa College Culinary Arts facility is located at 2600 Mission Bell Drive, San Pablo. (Directions and detailed campus map. Note that this Friday is a holiday. Parking is free and you won’t need a permit.)

MEETING OF September 20, 2019

Welcome

Our Prez, Jan Brown, opened the meeting and welcomed everyone to El Agave Azul Restaurant. Simon Ellis led us in the Pledge and Herb Cole did the invocation for peace, freedom and justice on earth.

Jan did some quick announcements. Our speaker today will be Sonya Rivas, who will fill us in on the new El Agave Azul Restaurant. Next week’s meeting will be at Contra Costa College and the culinary arts students will be serving us. Jan will advise the parking lot info etc on the website.

David Brown encouraged people to be part of the History Archive Group. Meeting taking place this Monday from 3:00 to 4:00 at Jan’s home. We will be going through boxes of archives, scrapbooks from Presidents etc. History Committee currently consists of David Brown, Herb Cole, Erle Brown, Norm Lundberg and Mike Winter.

On the Membership Committee, Tamara Shiloh relayed there will be a New Member Orientation on Thursday (September 26) from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Jan’s home. Please let Jan know if you plan to attend so she’ll have enough appetizers on hand. Connie Tritt and Tamara will lead the Orientation.

Jon Lawlis, Co-Chair with Erle Brown on the Foundation Committee wanted to relay our goal for this year is to have each Rotarian give $100 to the Rotary Foundation. It is also one of Jan’s PETS goals. If you haven’t given a donation yet, please give one to me, Erle or David Brown. Since 1985, the Rotary Foundation has immunized 2.5 billion children against Polio reducing the number of worldwide Polio cases by 99.9%! We are very, very close to eradicating this crippling childhood disease. For every dollar you donate to the Rotary Foundation, 50 cents goes to support Rotary International Programs and the other 50 cents is returned to our District for use in local projects.

Announcements

A reminder: The Club will meet at Contra Costa College this Friday, at the Aqua Terra Grill and Restaurant. It is located 2600 Mission Bell Drive, San Pablo.  See these directions and this campus map. Note that this Friday is a holiday. Parking is free and you won’t need a permit

Jan reminded members to get familiar with the Richmond Rotary calendar, which lists events, organized by categories. Do check it out.

Recognitions

Happy and Sad Dollars

Norm’s Nonsense

PROGRAM

Enjoying a new restaurant: El Agave Azul

Members enjoyed the meeting at Richmond’s newest restaurant. El Agave Azul. Our speaker was Sonya Rivas.

NEXT MEETING: September 20, 2019
Note that we're meeting at El Agave Azul Restaurant. Location below.

Roving Rotary: El Agave Azul

Richmond’s hottest new place to gather with friends and family officially opened last April. Cool full-service bar has a beverage for everyone and delicious tasty Mexican food. Owners Joaquin Rodriguez and Martin will be on hand to tell us about their new restaurant.

MEETING OF September 13, 2019

Welcome

President Jan presided. Nakele Rechenauer led us in the pledge, Jim Findley led us in an invocation and and Alan Blavins provided us with a thought for the day that was time consuming!

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

Joan Collignon from the Rotary Club of Berkeley
Fred Collignon (Past District Governor) and Rotary Club of Berkeley
Brian Fay with his father, Gerald Fay, guests of Henry Moe
Carey Hawkins Ash, guest of Jerry Feagley
John Bassett, guest of Tamara Shiloh
Ashley Njoroge, a student in the Graduate school of Journalism at UCB

New Member Induction

Richmond Rotary is pleased to welcome three new members into Rotarian membership!
Brian Fay, Lieutenant in Law Enforcement, County of Marin
Carey Hawkins Ash, Making Waves Academy; Managing Director of Community Engagement
John Bassett, Manager of Hilltop Mall

Announcements

• Darlene Drapkin, our Program Chair, announced that our next 2 meetings are Roving Rotaries (due to a tournament at our Richmond Country Club home base). In both cases, our venue will be our program! This week we’re at El Agave Azul, located at 12955 San Pablo Ave. (map), a  hot new Mexican restaurant in Richmond,
• On September 27 our club will meet at the Aqua Terra Grill of Contra Costa College, when Chef Nader Sharkes of the Culinary Arts of CCC as our speaker. A third Roving Rotary will be at Blue Apron on October 11. Please attend these opportunities to visit new places!
• District 5160 Fall Training Seminar is October 5 in Fairfield.
• Special Announcement: Joan Collignon announced the formation of Team Rotary BARSHEEP and its “Walk to End Alzheimer’s” on November 9, 2019 starting at Pier 27 in San Francisco. Sign up to walk or contribute at #Walk2EndALZ or alz.org/walk. Your support for Team Rotary BARSHEEP will directly support the research that will lead to Alzheimer’s first survivor!
• Barbecue Save the date! Santa and Alan Baer are offering a Barbecue benefit on Saturday, October 12 to support hurricane disaster relief efforts in the Bahamas through Mack Robinson (our beloved immediate past District Governor Assistant) and Rotary Clubs in the Bahamas.  Stay tuned for the details.
• Erle Brown, Foundation Chair, made one last appeal to support all 30 teachers at Peres Elementary School. By meeting’s end, mission accomplished!

Recognitions

Happy and Sad Dollars

Norm’s Nonsense

PROGRAM

Contra Costa and Solano Food Bank

Kim Castaneda presented an overview of the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano County.

NEXT MEETING: September 13, 2019

Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano County

September is Hunger Action month. Kim Castaneda will speak about hunger in our community, identifying the faces of hunger and how the Food Bank works to end hunger locally. Learn more about the organization’s work here.

MEETING OF

Welcome

President Jan welcomed everyone to the friendly Richmond Rotary. Mark Howe led the Pledge of Allegiance and Herb Cole led the invocation.

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

There were eight guests. Four included 3 students and a teacher from the Richmond College Preparatory School brought by Eleanor Vogelsang of “Close Up Foundation” (a local non-profit). Each of the eighth-graders gave a briefing of the highlights of their Washington DC trip (that our club partially funded). Places they visited included the African American Museum, Gettysburg, and the Air and Space Museum.

Other guests were Brian Fay (guest of Henry Moe) and Dr. Carey Ash – both expecting to be inducted next week. Diane Hedler, President of the Board of Directors of the Rosie the Riveter Trust, was also present at the meeting.

Announcements

• Pam Jones notified us that family members of Mack Robinson (our immediate Past Assistant District Governor) are safe but have suffered devastating loss in the Bahamas due to Hurricane Dorian. Mack has identified the Rotarians in the heart of the area who will direct funds to provide relief to those in greatest need. Donations made payable to “The Upper Keys Rotary Foundation” will be directed to those efforts.
• Erle Brown announced that he is still soliciting funds for the Peres Teachers fund. This year Peres has 31 teachers. We give each teacher $100 for supplies in September at the beginning of the school year. Thank you to all who have already provided Peres teachers with this support.
• Don Lau reported that Club 100 (to mark our one hundred year milestone) will rely on 100% participation of our Club members. Please be generous. Thank you Rotarians who have already given Don their pledges! You are awesome! Please contact Don (dlau1969@gmail.com) if you would like more information or are ready to pledge.

• Mark Howe announced that he is seeking a “First Mate” for his October 12^th cruise during Fleet Week. The commitment is expected to take about 4 hours.

Recognitions

Happy and Sad Dollars

Norm’s Nonsense

PROGRAM

The work of the International Rescue Committee

Our speaker, Sarah Cramer, represented the International Rescue Committee and shared its long history of responding to some of the world’s worst crises, delivering aid that saves lives while paving the way for long-term recovery

NEXT MEETING: September 6, 2019

What does it mean to leave home? - The International Rescue Committee and the Global Refugee Crisis

When an emergency strikes, the International Rescue Committee gets to work immediately to save lives and aid those hardest hit. In places where crisis has endured for years, the IRC holds steady in our support. And in the United States, the IRC empowers refugees to rebuild their lives. This presentation will showcase stories of the work IRC is doing to aid refugee families living through some of the worst humanitarian crises in history, and what those in the Bay Area can do to help.  Learn more here.

MEETING OF August 30, 2019

Welcome

Madam President, Jan Brown opened the meeting with a welcome to the Friendly Richmond Rotary Club. Mayor Tom Butt led us in the pledge of allegiance. Sid Chauvin (sitting in for Alan Blavins as Sargeant at Arms) shared a thought for the day.

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

Thanks to Mayor Tom Butt’s email announcement, we had lots of visitors for today’s program:

Larry Westland with Powerplant Park
Michael Fitzgerald, journalist with Richmond Pulse
Debbie Bayer, resident of Richmond
Doug Anthony, Urban Farmer Store
Donna Graves, Historian
Adrian Acquistapace (guest of John Troughton)
Michael Himba (from LSA in Point Richmond)
Sarah Wally
Chris Gillett
Jan Migone
Colyer Dupont (guest of Nick Despota)
Jeanine Strickland (Marcia Vallier’s office)

Announcements

• Cal Athletics presents Rotary Day at Cal Football on Saturday, September 14th, 2019 at 1:30 pm for just $20/person. Cal v. North Texas at the California Memorial Stadium. Contact Roger Kristof with Cal Athletics.
• By the time you read this, our TGIF at Riggers Loft will have been a great success (it was!).

Recognitions

Happy and Sad Dollars

Norm’s Nonsense

PROGRAM

Miraflores Historical Project. Richmond's Planning Director Lena Velasco.

Historical curator Donna Graves presented a progress report of the Miraflores Greenbelt Educational Displays, Richmond Rotary’s adopted Centennial Project.

Richmond’s Planning Director, Lena Velasco, provided an overview of new residential and commercial building projects in Richmond. This included some projects which have recently been or soon will be completed, others under construction, and others which have just been entitled.