The Flywheel
Next Meeting: June 1
Writer Coaches

The WriterCoach Connection program uses trained volunteers to help teen-age students in public schools develop better writing skills. Started in Berkeley over 10 years ago and in El Cerrito High School last school year, the program will begin at Richmond High School this coming Fall. Shelli Fried is on the Board of the associated non-profit and will tell us more.
The presentation about Burning Man scheduled for this date has been postponed due to an unforeseen circumstance. Michelle Itagaki's presentation will be re-scheduled soon.
Meeting of Friday, May 25th
Welcome, Invocation, Thought for the Day
Past President Alan Baer called to order another well-attended meeting of the Richmond Rotary Club. Don Lau was asked to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. The room erupted into cheers and applause as John Nicol paid special tribute to Ralph Hill on this, his 89th birthday.
Rotarians with Guests
Guests attending today’s meeting included Charlie Fender’s friend Ron Yourd, and Jan Brown’s husband, Byron. Jan also introduced Kathy Anderson, who was both a guest and our speaker today. Alan Baer was also pleased to note that Don Hardison was in attendance at today’s meeting.
Sunshine Report
All were happy to see John Nicol at the meeting today.
Announcements
- Alan Baer announced that Poker & Rib Night at his house last Friday was a lot of fun and raised a nice sum for the scholarship fund. Alan and his wife, Santa, have offered to host another Poker & Rib Night in June or July. Stay tuned.
- The Barsheep Happy Hour continues to be held the last Friday of each month at Restaurante La Revolucion.
Recognitions
David Brown and his wife celebrated their anniversary
and, to commemorate, David donated $100 towards his next
Paul Harris Award.
Ralph Hill celebrated his 89th birthday
today and graciously listened as the balance of those
in attendance exuberantly sang a rather off-key rendition
of “Happy Birthday” to him. Despite
the raucous singing, Ralph still donated $125 to the
Foundation. When asked what he planned to do to celebrate
his birthday, Ralph stated: “At 89, you get a Playboy
magazine and think about the good old days”!
Happy and Sad Dollars
- Mike Winter was quite pleased to have spent the past week in Gualala, and to have attended the Gualala Rotary Club meeting and traded club flags.
- Josh Genser enjoyed a great time at the Poker and Rib Night eating endless amounts of Santa’s amazing food.
Norm's Nonsense
Two cannibals meet one day. The first cannibal says, "You
know, I just can't seem to get a tender missionary. I've
baked them, I've roasted them, I've stewed them, I've
barbecued them, I've tried every sort of marinade. I
just can't seem to get them tender."
The second cannibal asks, "What kind of missionary
do you use?"
The other replies, "You know, the ones that hang
out at that place at the bend of the river. They have
those brown cloaks with a rope around the waist, and
they're sort of bald on top with a funny ring of hair
on their heads."
"Aha!" the second cannibal replies. "No
wonder—those are friars!"
PROGRAM
The Teen Mom's Project

Jan
Brown gave a brief history
of our club’s Teen Mothers’ Project. (Some
of the most senior members in the gallery also described
how, noting that since the establishment of the Richmond
Rotary Club, April 1, 1920, the Club has always had
extremely close ties with the Richmond schools.) In
1996, the YMCA opened infant/toddler centers at Kennedy
and Richmond High Schools. The two centers provide
care for the children of teen students during the school
day, and offer support to the teen parents so that
they can complete and graduate high school.
Kathy Anderson, Coordinator of the Teen
Parent Program for the YMCA of the East Bay, spoke about
what a success the Teen Parent Program has been since
its inception in 1996. She described how the Program
teaches teens how to be good parents, and the success
the Program has had in helping to support and encourage
teens to graduate high school. As a result of the Program,
the incidence of second or repeat teen pregnancies has
been very low.
The Teen Mothers’ Program got its start about 7
years ago when Rhonda Harris and her
daughter, a student at El Cerrito High School at that
time, put together a gift basket for a pregnant girl
at school with items she would need for her new baby.
After this single kind act, Rhonda’s daughter asked
her mom if they could arrange to do the same for all
high school students who were either pregnant or who
already had babies. With that as her inspiration, Rhonda
came to the Richmond Rotary Club several years ago and
obtained the support of the Club to make her daughter’s
vision a reality. This is the 7th year that the Club
has put together gift bags of essential items for pregnant
students or students who already have a very young child.
With that, the meeting was adjourned and those in attendance,
in assembly-line fashion, put together gift bags of essential
baby supplies for the teen mothers participating in the
Program and wrote personal notes of encouragement for
the mothers, which were then included with each gift
bag.
- Rotating Editor, David Keystone