District Governor Sandi Rimer Pays Us A Visit

Today at Rotary we had the distinct pleasure of enjoying a visit from District 5340 Governor Sandi Rimer. Her comments were great food for thought [for those in attendance, perhaps I should say "drink" for thought - but the metaphor just doesn't sound right].

I don't want to go over her talk in great detail, since she still has 17 Clubs that will hear it. But the salient points are worth repeating:

1. Choose to have a positive attitude.
2. Choose to have fun.
3. Choose to focus on what's important.
4. Choose to make someone's day.

I can think of no better advise for success, and for a meaningful and enjoyable life. Absolutely nothing against any Past District Governor's talk, but I think this was the best I have heard.

Sandi borrowed heavily from the book Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results, by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen. It's available new and used, here at Amazon.com, and here at half.com. Amazon has this review:

Here's another management parable that draws its lesson from an unlikely source--this time it's the fun-loving fishmongers at Seattle's Pike Place Market. In Fish! the heroine, Mary Jane Ramirez, recently widowed and mother of two, is asked to engineer a turnaround of her company's troubled operations department, a group that authors Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen describe as a "toxic energy dump." Most reasonable heads would cut their losses and move on. Why bother with this bunch of losers? But the authors don't make it so easy for Mary Jane. Instead, she's left to sort out this mess with the help of head fishmonger Lonnie. Based on a bestselling corporate education video, Fish! aims to help employees find their way to a fun and happy workplace. While some may find the story line and prescriptions--such as "Choose Your Attitude," "Make Their Day," and "Be Present"--downright corny, others will find a good dose of worthwhile motivational management techniques. If you loved Who Moved My Cheese? then you'll find much to like here. And don't worry about Mary Jane and kids. Fish! has a happy ending for everyone. -- Harry C. Edwards

Cedar Fire Animation Is Online

CDF Batallian Chief Michael Vogt gave us an interesting and informative presentation yesterday about the October, 2003, wildfires...and the Cedar Fire in particular. I, and I think a lot of members, found the animation prepared by Prof. Harry D. Johnson, Department of Geography, SDSU, facinating. You can view that animation, and the animations of the Paradise fires, online here. (Also one showing all three San Diego County Fires).

You will need the Quicktime Player (a free download). If you don't have it, there is a link on the page I've linked to above. You can watch it online as streaming video, or you can save the file and watch it offline with Quicktime. If you watch online, depending upon your browser, you may need to go to full screen (F11 on Internet Explorer and Mozilla). The best view is to save the file, but it is large at nearly 10 megs. To save the file, start the animation then go to your file menu and click "save page as".

An Offer From The North County Times We Can't Refuse

Jim O'Meara wrote in an e-mail included in the most recent Rotary Quickbits (#48) listserve e-mail:

The publisher of North County Times has created a special Rotary Centennial weekly column featuring the history and community service for our clubs within "reach" of the coverage area. All we have to do is select a PR person/historian from our club, and provide copy and photographs to (Barbara Brill), who is coordinating the project with the newspaper. At your earliest convenience, she would appreciate receiving the name of your club's contact person, as well as his or her e-mail address and phone number. This is a wonderful opportunity, to promote your club thanks to Barbara and the North County Times. Please contact Barbara at: bbrill@juno.com

Sounds like a great opportunity!

Ramona Rotary Now Has An OFFICIAL Website

There's not a whole lot on it yet, but Ramona Rotary Club now has a website, courtesy of District 5340 and Phillipe Lamoise, the administrator (and a Rotarian) of the District's website. You can visit our site here. Over time, I'm told, we will be able to greatly expand the content.

Rotary Scholarships Are A Great Investment

By Jeff Agnew

As long as I have been in the club (since February, 1991, I think), we have given scholarships for college to graduating high school seniors. If I'm not mistaken, we give four scholarships at $2,500 each (each given in two installments over two years). No matter the amount, I think they are a great investment in promising students.

I graduated from Ramona High School in 1975. The school was a lot smaller then...there were 132 in my graduating class. Scholarships used to be given during the graduation ceremony, which was then held in the amphitheater that used to be in front of the old gym (so much past tense makes me feel old). During my graduation, I was awarded a $250.00 scholarship by the Ramona Kiwanis Club. It wasn't much, but it was enough to buy books for two semesters (today, that may not be enough to buy books for two classes). But the pride I felt in the recognition of my achievement, and faith in my future studies, was - as they say in the MasterCard commercial - priceless.

Our scholarships are for substantially more, even adjusted for inflation (my undergraduate degree is in Economics!). But, of course, given the high cost of a college education today - even at a public university - they are only one piece of the financial puzzle for our recipients. But I don't think we should ever lose sight of the intangible benefits these kids receive. I guarantee you that they will never forget that Rotary had the faith in them to give them a helping hand.

Update: It's actually five scholarships of $2,000.00 each. See my comment by clicking the "comments" link below.

Three Programs In One Today - Dr. James Colbert

Dr. James Colbert's program today at Rotary was interesting. Actually, it was more like three programs in one:

First, about a polio syndrome that causes new symptoms decades after polio is contracted. Dr. Colbert contracted polio in 1960. As he says, it affects all systems of the body. I was unaware of the fact that the desease can revisit its sufferers some 40 years later. It is such a cruel desease, and this just adds to the tragedy. Dr. Colbert, a clinical psychologist who lives in Julian, highly recommends the book The Polio Paradox: Understanding and Treating "Post-Polio Syndrome" and Chronic Fatigue, by Richard L. Bruno.

Second, Dr. Colbert discussed accessability issues. I liked his approach - trying to work with businesses to promote access. Like he said, disabled people have money to spend too! In my legal practice, I have represented a number of Ramona businesses when they were sued for alleged American's with Disabilities Act (ADA) violations. None of them got prior notice. To a person, all favored making their businesses accessable, and would have worked with the person who sued them if they had only known there was an issue. In my opinion, the ADA should be about accomodating the disabled, not about enriching lawyers and their clients.

Finally, Dr. Colbert talked about the need to make information available to people about health care resources - especially for mental health care. He and his wife, Sally (who does web design), have a webpage for the Julian area, JulHealth.org.

As Dr. Colbert pointed out, Rotary (through PolioPlus) has been instrumental in working to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. This makes me prood to be a Rotarian. More information about PolioPlus can be found here.

Ramona Rotarians Enjoy Tour of USS Ronald Reagan

Special thanks go out to Congressman Duncan Hunter (Chairman, Armed Services Committee), and his able assistant, Joe Browning, for arranging a wonderful tour of the U.S. Navy's newest aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan. The ship is tied at North Island NAS. A group of more than 20 Ramona Rotarians and friends took the afternoon off yesterday to see this awesome vessel. I'm sure I'll probably forget someone, but Ramona Rotarians who went included Chuck DeMund, John Lambert, Floyd Fiduk, Bill Vernier, Norma Garcia, Dan Vengler, Vern Hazen, Sharon Greene, George Garcia, Karen Clendenen and me (Jeff Agnew). Below are a few photos of our excursion.


Ramona Rotarians and friends at the USS Ronald Reagan


View Off the Stern Across San Diego Harbor


Ship Motto: Peace Through Strength


USS Ronald Reagan Superstructure