Stories

• Lock all windows and doors, including garage doors and your vehicle.
• Turn on exterior lights or set them on a timer so your home looks occupied.
• Remove valuables from plain view in your vehicle and through the windows of your home.

• Treasurer: Charley Ferraro
• Community: Alberta Samuelson
• International Service: Marylyn Klaus
• Membership: Rob Katherman
• Newsletter: Wes Bradford
• Peace: Roger Schamp
• Programs: Roger Schamp
• Rotary Foundation: David Moyers
• Club Service & Communication: Aurora Rysanek
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Chuck Klaus
• Social Media: Chuck Klaus
• Fund-Raising: Chase Thacker
• Immediate Past President: Victoria Perez-Thacker

• July     Dave Moyers
• Aug     Wally Christmas
• Sept    Ralph Black
• Oct     Chase Thacker
• Nov    Evanswinda Valverde
• Dec     Roger Schamp
• Jan     Rob Katherman
• Feb     Chuck Klaus
• Mar     Steve Johnson
• April    Aurora Rysanek
• May    Alberta Samuelson
• June    Lew Bertrand

1. Support The Rotary Foundation:
   1. Attend the Foundation Celebration on Nov 19
   2. Special Dinner with RIP Gordon McInally on May 13, 2024
2. Promote Rotary’s visibility in the community:
   1. Wear Rotary emblems in the community
   2. Join “Peace Walk” pm Oct 28
   3. Join Rotarians at Work” Day on April 27, 2024
   4. (No more “best-kept secret in town”!)
3. Grow Rotary:
   1. Let’s offer a great Club experience!
   2. Let’s each sponsor at least one new member!

• Humanitarian Trip to Ecuador April 2-12, 2024
• District Conference, Millenium Biltmore Hotel in LA, May 5, 2024
• RIP Gordon McInally’s Luncheon, May 13, 2024
• RI Convention in Singapore, May 25-29, 2024
• Japan Trip, May 30-June 5, 2024 (following convention)

(May 9, 2023) Pres Victoria opened the meeting with announcements, including the coming District Assembly Sat, May 20, to prepare for the new Rotary Year.

Treasurer Charley Ferraro reviewed our Club budget for the year so far. Income is ahead of expenses. Our charity fundraisers on July 4, PV Concerts, and Whale of a Day, brought in a net $6705.

Our Siany Orphanage & School project in Kisumu, Kenya, has been completed, with $8000 from our Club including generous help from our late member Astrid Naviaux. They sent us photos of the construction in progress.

Coming Club Service volunteer opportunities (sign up!):

• Club booth at the PV Street Fair & Music Festival, Sat & Sun, June 10-11, 10 AM to 6 PM, in the Norris Center Dr & Deep Valley Dr area.
• Club Beer & Wine booth at the Concert in the Park, RPV City Hall, Sat, June 17, 4-6 PM.

Our District Grant Project, the Lomita Sheriff’s Memorial Center, has been completed and will have its opening Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony & Dinner Tue, June 13.

We have openings for next Rotary year for:

• Opportunity Drawing Helper,
• Happy Bucks,
• Greeter,
• Youth Chair,
• Vocational Service,
• President-Elect for 2025-26.

Rotary Growth Opportunities for all of us:

• Spreading awareness,
• Community visibility,
• Bringing a friend to Rotary,
• Contributing funds to the Rotary Foundation.

(Apr 25, 2023) Wes Bradford presented his photos and experiences on the District 5280 Humanitarian Trip to Belize on March 23-28, 2023. About 100 Rotarians from our District participated with the Rotarians of District 4250 in Belize, for 15 life-changing service projects to improve the lives of their people, while enjoying international Rotary fellowship and unforgettable memories. Funding of about $215,000 was provided by both Districts and by Global Grants, and the projects were coordinated by local Rotary Clubs. This trip provided an opportunity for our Rotarians to visit the projects in progress and to do some hands-on work on-site with local Rotarians and students.

(Feb 19, 2023)

We met at the Maderos Cocina Mexican Restaurant on PCH in Redondo Beach for a Social Hour and dinner at 4 PM, prior to attending the Peninsula Symphony’s 2^nd concert of its 2022-2023 season, in the Redondo Union HS Auditorium at 222 N PCH in Redondo Beach.

The Pre-Concert Lecture was presented by new Conductor David Cubek at 6:15 PM, to discuss the evening’s performance starting at 7 PM. (Thanks to Chuck Klaus for the notes on the program.) The concert theme was “French Rêveries”, with Claude Debussy’s “Prelude à L’après-midi d’un faune”, followed by Maurice Ravel’s “Ma mère l’oye” (Mother Goose), and Georges Bizet’s “Carmen Suites Nos 1 and 2”.

Concert admission is free. Coming concerts will include April 23 (works by Mendelssohn, Mozart, & Schuman) and June 25 (works by Coleridge-Taylor, Dvorak, Ginastera, Piazzolla, & Márquez). The Peninsula Symphony is a non-profit community organization that presents 4 admission-free concerts per year, supported in part by memberships starting at $75/year. For more information and to support this organization, go to http://www.pensym.org/.

(Nov 22, 2022)

Pres Victoria set a Holiday mood by conducting a brain-teasing computer game, “Thanksgiving Answer-Battle!” Dividing the attendees into 2 teams, she had 4 events, with multiple answers in each event awarded points from 50 to 100 (accompanied by contest music).

The 4 events were:

1.    “Name a dish served at Thanksgiving besides Turkey”

2.    “What kind of pants are best to wear when you’re planning to overeat at Thanksgiving?”

3.    “Name a Thanksgiving craft children make at school”

4.    “Name a farm animal a turkey might imitate to escape being eaten at Thanksgiving”

One final Holiday reminder: Don’t forget to set your bathroom scale back 15 pounds the previous night at 1 AM!

(Nov 8, 2022, by Zoom) Eileen Smulson has worked in education, private entrepreneurship, and nonprofit development, with over 30 years of experience in fundraising, community building, business management, and strategic planning experience. She won top fundraiser awards as Director for 14 years of Corporate and Community Development for the Anti-Defamation League (the largest human relations agency in the US). She was also Associate Development Director for the American Cancer Society and Regional Director for the Western States for Magen David Adom (a relief/rescue service), increasing donorship by 400% and doubling financial goals.

In 2008, Eileen Smulson saw puppies shivering on a hard cold floor in cages at an animal shelter. She learned that animal rescue groups needed not only blankets and towels, but other comfort and care items such as leashes, collars, carriers, and crates. In several months, she had established 20 drop-off locations and collected over 3,000 items. She founded Operation Blankets of Love, a service organization with innovative solutions for both supporting and adopting these vulnerable shelter animals. OBOL’s mission is to inspire people nationwide to prevent animal cruelty and help these animals. Her efforts have been featured on national TV, radio animal shows, magazines, and news stations, and have been widely copied locally and nationwide. She showed 2 videos, one a feature of OBOL, and the other a recent ABC Channel 2 presentation:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmLPw_cEOYA&index=1&list=PLsSWLELMOQl0s1LlfjXhx8PucR2hQ4pK;
• https://abc7.com/operation-blankets-of-love-nonprofit-granada-hills-rescue-groups/12283323/.

OBOL information and contact (Eileen Smulson, Executive Director, Granada Hills, CA):

• https://www.obol.info/ for ways to help
• OBOL@OBOL.info
• 818-402-6586

(July 12) Wendy Wert is a registered civil engineer and a Manager for Consumer Education in the Los Angeles Sanitation District. She has a BS degree in Environmental Engineering and an MS degree in Water Resources Engineering. She works on advanced planning, design and upgrading of process treatment to integrate water supply and reuse, water conservation, storm-water management and wastewater facilities planning in the Los Angeles Sanitation Department. She evaluates long term costs in wastewater and solid waste management and energy recovery, and has published numerous technical papers.

Wendy presented an overview of the department’s current facilities and programs. She showed how human technological carbon dioxide production has diverged dramatically since the 1960s from the natural biogenic background production. She illustrated how Los Angeles recycling activities have progressed since the year 2000, producing recycled water, energy and recycled materials from wastewater and solid waste from garbage and sewage. Recycling food waste goes through processing and anaerobic digestion into biogas, to produce electricity, heat/steam, vehicle fuel, and biomethane (natural gas). Anaerobic digestion also can produce fertilizers and compost. One biogas power plant produces 20 MW of energy, enough for 20,000 homes, and total production is enough for 78,000 homes. Recycled natural gas is supplying an existing filling station.

There are 11 plants in the Los Angeles area treating about 400 million gallons/day and serving 5.5 million people. LA County generates 21 million tons of waste per year, including 4000 tons of food thrown out daily. Decaying food waste in landfills can release methane into the environment, a significant contributor to accelerating climate change. State laws now mandate recycling commercial organics (composting or anaerobic digestion to captured biofuels). The department’s goal is to process 600 tons/day of food waste slurry, equivalent to 5700 gallons of gasoline daily. Wastewater and stormwater recycling are essential for combating the increasing drought and climate heating in the Western states.

Wendy discussed what we can do in our local communities to reduce waste and excess CO² production. She responded to questions afterward, and invites further inquiries to her at wwert@lacsd.org.

• Timing is everything (such as children running on a beach);
• Magic hour: Mornings and evenings have the best light;
• Keep moving to get the shot (take multiple pictures to choose the best angle);
• Take portraits in shade (avoid tense facial squinting);
• Shoot many photos (choose the best ones later);
• Use every lens on your smart phone (wide & ultra-wide-angle, telephoto, etc);
• Use Burst Mode to stop action (choose the best-timed photo later);
• Long exposures (capture motion effects);
• Develop photos with apps (black-and-white, color alterations, cropping);
• Sunsets look better on smart phones;
• Try shots in the rain! (unusual photo effects);
• Try panoramic photos;
• Try low and wide for unusual perspectives (close-up of auto near grill).

• What’s in Season;
• Farmer’s Market Brochure with List of Other Markets in Southern California;
• Kitchen Tips & Tricks, how to use herbs and other food components;
• Guide to Asian Produce, with some recipes.

• Using the magic formula for attraction
• Finding out where to look for new Rotarians
• Finding out who is responsible for membership
• Learning how to recruit a diverse Rotary force.
• Learning why people join Rotary.
• Finding out why people do not join Rotary.
• Understanding the sales tools for attraction.

• Computer Lab for college & training center
• Improve farm irrigation
• Water pipeline
• Hire unemployed fisherman to clean up plastic & trash in Tarcoles River
• Upgrade Infant Unit of Women’s Hospital

• Matrix wheelchairs for severely disabled children
• Special children’s wheelchairs
• Backpacks & school supplies
• Kitchen equipment for seniors’ day care center
• Playground equipment
• Bicycles for women’s training center

• Afro-Costa Rican cultural project with Redondo Beach, Crenshaw & Inglewood Clubs
• Medical Equipment shipment with DTLA Club
• Proposed new Costa Rican Club in District 5280, with LA Cedars Club

• Promoting peace;
• Fighting disease;
• Providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene;
• Saving mothers & children from malnutrition & poor sanitation & health care;
• Supporting education; and
• Growing local economies.

• Youth Service includes sponsoring Interact & Rotaract Clubs, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), & Rotary Youth Exchange. A COVID-19 Response tab has been added to the https://rotariansfightinghumantrafficking.org/ website.
• Community Service includes the Warrior Warehouse for Camp Pendleton (collecting baby and children's items for military families).
• International Service includes the 2021 district 5280 Humanitarian trip to Costa Rica, and disaster relief to Beirut (especially important now).
• Vocational Service includes Pageant of the Arts, high school student competitions in art, dance, music, and speech, and the annual Literacy Breakfast focusing on literacy issues within our local communities.
• Club Service includes Club newsletters, Website (by Clubrunner), and Social Media.
• The 2020 virtual Rotary Foundation Celebration will be Nov 7, “Opening Opportunities To Tomorrow” (Tickets online).

• Camp Pendleton – Warriors’ Warehouse (Chase is available to pick up donations; details on Club website Calendar). Donation drop-off no later than Sun, July 19. List of items: Diapers, children’s clothing up to age 6, baby items, basic household items.
• WaPI Project (Water Pasteurization Indicator), making reusable thermometer-size devices to indicate when heated water is hot enough to be purified (150°F/65°C) without wasting fuel (International Project).
• Face Shield project (protecting essential health care workers caring for sick patients).

• Rise Against Hunger: Goal $500 by Nov 14.
• Costa Rica Humanitarian Project: Goal $1000, or cosponsoring a project with one or more other Clubs (District 5280 Humanitarian Trip to Costa Rica, Apr 17-26, 2021).
• Project EGO has lost its annual funding due to death of major donor; Robert Babb suggested that we sponsor a “GoFundMe” page (which would not be tax-deductible). Need is $10,000 annual operating cost, or $22,000 annual cost with student grants. Fundraiser idea: Saturday Night Online Poker has been suggested.

• Uncomplicated upper respiratory symptoms (nose congestion, sore throat, cough), with
• Fever, muscle aches, & weakness (flu-like symptoms).

• Shortness of breath (Get medical help!);
• Mild or severe pneumonia;
• Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS);
• Sepsis, shock, death (the body is overwhelmed by immune system response).

• Auto-immune diseases (especially if on immune-suppressing drugs);
• Cancer, especially if chemo or radiation, or if immune-cell cancers (leukemia, Lymphoma);
• Organ transplant (on immune-suppressing drugs).

• Toxic indoor air (out-gassing of paints, carpets, plastics etc);
• Outdoor air pollution (Smog) (Wuhan is reportedly equivalent to smoking 2½ packs daily).

Tapio Kartiala is retired after over 45 years experience as an aerospace structural engineer. He presented his experiences in advanced aircraft design at the Lockheed “Skunk Works”.

 It was started in 1943 by Lockheed engineer Kelly Johnson when his company was asked to design a jet fighter to counter a rapidly growing German jet threat in World War II. One month later he hand-delivered a proposal and began work “on a handshake” (the formal contract arrived 4 months after the work had begun). His team designed and built the first XP-80 Shooting Star in 143 days, by “breaking the rules and challenging the bureaucracy”. The effort was top-secret and operated in a rented circus tent near a malodorous manufacturing area, so one of the engineers answered the phone as “Skonk Works” (from the “Li’l Abner” comic strip). The name “Skunk Works” was adopted as its trademarked designation for the advanced aircraft design unit, and it is still an active team of Lockheed Martin.

Tapio outlined the process of new aircraft design, through the conceptual, preliminary, and detailed phases. The engineering constraints include the aircraft’s purpose, regulations, financial availability, and environmental and safety requirements. The work is divided into wing design, fuselage, propulsion, weight limitations, and structural strength. While a bridge is typically designed to sustain 5 times its expected maximum load, an aircraft is allowed only 1½ times its maximum expected aerodynamic loading, due to weight limitations.

Tapio reviewed 3 aircraft. The U-2 spy plane was flown at 70,000 feet and could fly for 14 hours. At that altitude, a major design problem was preventing fuel evaporation from the low pressure at near-vacuum. It could fly higher than Soviet missiles could reach, until a newer missile design shot one down over the Soviet Union, with the pilot Gary Powers being held as prisoner until exchanged for a Soviet prisoner from the US 3 years later.

The SR-71 Blackbird can fly at 80,000 feet and 2100 mph (almost 3 times the speed of a rifle bullet). It has never been hit by hostile fire because of its speed. It is made of titanium to sustain high surface temperatures (up to 400-1200°F during flight). It takes on most of its fuel in mid-air refueling because a full fuel load makes it too heavy for takeoff. (Engineers were still using slide rules when its design began.)

The F-117 Stealth fighter has many flat surfaces at odd angles to confuse radar imaging, and also a special chemical coating to absorb radar signals. It is the stealthiest aircraft ever built.

After a brief introduction by Rotarian Steve Goldsmith (Hawthorne Club), Mediators Without Borders Lead Facilitator Scott Martin began the presentation. He is a former landscape architect who is now working to mediate conflict (this is related to the biannual District Peace Conference).

Tonight’s discussion was primarily about Human Trafficking, a cause promoted by District Governor Cozette Vergari. He reviewed how to have a peace conversation or dialogue. He compared dialogue to debate; debate is oppositional, with a goal to win, listening only to find flaws and refute arguments of the other side, reaffirming each side’s own point of view, and rarely resulting in apology or introspection. Dialogue is collaborative, working to develop a common understanding and working towards better solutions, enlarging and transforming both sides’ point of view, and encouraging apology and ongoing communication.

The ground rules include respectful speech, approaching the problem rather than attacking the person, agreeing on conversation rules regarding how long to speak and how to be interrupted, and using first-person accounting. We don’t need to agree in order to listen. We need to listen for what we don’t know, not just confirmation of what we already believe. Separate the person from the problem, and bring service to the solution rather than listening and waiting to give advice.

After this review, the meeting broke up into a separate group at each table, each with a facilitator and a notetaker. Human Trafficking was discussed, specifically about the problem of prostitution. Poverty and social stress often create potential victims who are often in their teens. They are tricked into working for someone and then find it difficult to get out as they are exploited, while the customers are typically unappreciative of the social implications, enabling the abuse.

At the end, a report was provided from each table on the points discussed, followed by a conclusion and increased awareness of the problems and what Rotarians can do to help provide solutions.

Our member Chuck Klaus majored in speech communications in college. He produced music programs for a radio station in Syracuse, New York, taught at the University there, and was a Drama and Music critic for the newspaper. He met his wife, Marylyn, at a concert there. When they married, he moved to California to be with her, and she brought him into our Rotary Club.

Chuck described brain function as having separate storage areas for images and sound, which need to connect their pathways for association in memory. Original silent films were accompanied by live music in the theater, with music and instruments specified for each movie, using a theater organ or a small orchestra. In 1927, the sound of recorded dialogue and singing was first synchronized with the film action, and soon most movies were talkies. David Selznick made fancier films with more action and drama, producing “King Kong” in 1933 and “Gone with the Wind” in 1939. The sounds were recorded on the set with the action, and music scores were written while watching the film. Music for dramatic scenes was timed with the screen action, as Chuck illustrated with a sword-fighting video clip.

In 1941, Orson Welles produced “Citizen Kane” (reportedly based in part on newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst), which won many Academy Awards. (Welles had become famous for his dramatic 1938 radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds”.) He was very difficult to get along with, and quickly “exiled” anyone who disagreed with him. Alfred Hitchcock, an English producer, produced “Psycho”, an American psychological horror film, in 1960, pushing the film boundaries for violence and sexuality. He reluctantly put music into his film.

Separate film score albums became popular in the LP records era for marketing their movies, which were getting competition from television. Although separate movie soundtracks are just music, the actual soundtrack in the movie also includes the voice and sound effects.

Juan Viteri, one of our Club’s newest members, was born in Quito, Ecuador. He described how encountering challenging circumstances in his early life changed his perspectives. At age 13, he had severe seizures, and was brought to the hospital, where neurologic studies showed 2 brain tumors. He was transferred to a military hospital for specialized care, and there he was told that he should go to the United States for the kind of surgical treatment that he needed.

He came to the US at age 14, where he was helped by sponsors and underwent neurosurgery at Kaiser. Although he has surgical scars on his head, he survived the ordeal and recovered successfully. He and his sisters live in Long Beach. His father is deceased, and the family had to move repeatedly due to housing costs, finally moving into a mobile home.

He began working in real estate, and was able to accumulate some housing properties, where he started helping other housing-affordability-stressed people in the community. With the help of some investors, he now has 35 housing clients in 3 homes in Long Beach. He wants to continue making a positive difference in the community, giving to others as had been provided to him at his time of greatest vulnerability. He heard about Rotary’s role in service to others, and began looking for an evening Rotary Club that he could attend after work. Palos Verdes Sunset provided what he was looking for, and we welcome his participation in our service projects!

The 4H Youth Development Program is sponsored by the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (www.ca4h.org). 4H focuses on helping youth to reach their potential in citizenship, leadership and life skills, and giving back to their communities, supported by adult volunteers. Boys and girls from ages 9-19 can join, and in some areas they can join as early as age 5. The ratio of youth to adult volunteers is 6:1.

Dee Keese reviewed the Palos Verdes Peninsula 4H Club programs. Young people can make friends and share interests in virtually any subject, now in  37 local projects including computers, automotive, etc. Girls as well as boys are now members. She has a variety of animals in her backyard, including llamas and pigs, providing unique experiences for local children..

The leaders are volunteers. Volunteering is a good opportunity for older people to teach their skills to children. Many retired people have important experiences to pass on to the younger generation. If a child has an interest in any activity, the Club tries to organize a project for that interest if there are enough for a small group. In addition to building positive relationships with each other and with adults, the children gain experience at a young age in volunteering service. Local donation and volunteering information is available at www.pvp4hclub.com, or call Dee Keese at 310-377-9773.

Our new member Mario Santoyo was born in West Covina in the East Los Angeles area. He attended Catholic schools and was an altar boy. He participated in track and cross-country in high school. His parents came from Spain where his grandfather had a construction company, a business inspiration for Mario. He is single and lives with 2 older sisters.

While in college at California State University in Fullerton majoring in liberal arts, he worked at a Robinson’s store. Then he got a job with a Wells Fargo Bank in Compton. He worked his way up in supervisory positions. 2 years ago he transferred to Palos Verdes with the Premier Business Bank in Malaga Cove as Vice President and Branch Manager. (Our Rotary Club’s new meeting place will be handy for him after work.)

We have tested a number of potential Club meeting sites over the last couple of months after losing our previous location at Rolling Hills Country Club late last year due to its demolition and remodeling project. In addition to location of a new meeting place, we considered quality of food and service, acoustics, size and comfort of room, and cost. (All of the current possibilities cost somewhat more than the previous venue, which we have known would end with the onset of its long-anticipated construction project.)

President Jon Caplan led the discussion of the pros and cons of each place and receiving input from members (including email input from those unable to attend tonight). After much discussion, we filled out paper ballots ranking our top 3 choices. The top choice by a wide margin was La Venta Inn. It is a beautiful facility with a great view of nightlights in the winter and daylight coastline in the summer. We hope our members and visitors will not have difficulty finding this facility on Via Del Monte.

Congratulations to Alexis Dugel of Palos Verdes High School as our Club’s sponsored contestant in the District Dance Competition March 10 at LMU! She was presented a check for $200 from our Club, by Vocational Chair Lodel Caplan.

Alexis spoke of why she loves dance, an unspoken art of communication. She presented a video of one of her dance performances.

Dominique Alvarez is the president of the Marymount California University Rotaract Club. She reviewed her Club’s activities and service projects over the last year. (Dave Tomblin of the LA5 Rotary Club is the faculty advisor.) The Marymount Club has been very active with multiple service projects. District 5280 Rotaractors are selling T-shirts for $20 to honor Rotaract’s 50^th Anniversary.

They attended the Big West Rotaract Conference at CSU Long Beach in October. It is a multi-District organization founded in 2015 and registered with RI, to collaborate projects and leadership training for Rotaractors in Districts across the US West Coast including Alaska.

Their Club helped with the District 5280 Youth Conference in Hawthorne in October, helping Interactors become better leaders and public speakers, and developing skills to make their Clubs stronger.

Los Angeles Rotaractors from Marymount, UCLA, USC, San Fernando Valley, and Angel City Clubs participated in a District-wide community service project in November at the Downtown Women’s Center. It provides services for homeless women including promoting safe housing, health care and community support services. The Rotaractors hope to expand future participation in District-level service projects, including Interactors.

They are participating in Fundraising for the District St Patrick’s Day 5K Color Run To End Polio on Saturday, March 17, at Griffith Park. (Participants will have a “non-toxic” multi-colored powder tossed on them during the run, so they will finish looking tie-dyed!)

Another Club project, with Interactors, will provide water-pasteurization indicators to verify safe water, to Migori, Kenya, on February 18.

Our 2 Student Speech contestants are both from Palos Verdes High School. After introductions by Lodel Caplan, each gave a brief speech on the theme of “Making a Difference".

Isabella Hutcheson (on right) was the first speaker. She reviewed the history of bus riders in Birmingham, Alabama, trying to integrate the segregated transportation system there (Rosa Parks making a difference by refusing to give up her seat), and the events leading up to the Supreme Court’s schools desegregation decision. She also spoke of volunteering at a hospital and helping the homeless, showing how one person can make a difference.

Alexis Dugel spoke next, on making a difference by focusing on improving childhood literacy. 1 in 4 children in the US do not learn to read sufficiently for future job applications and workplace functions. 250 million people in the world are functionally illiterate. Alexis wrote and published a paperback children’s book, “The Sky’s the Limit”, encouraging children to reach for their potential. She organized an online writing contest, to which 500 children responded.

After careful deliberation, the judging committee designated Alexis Dugel the winner; she received a check for $200 from our Club, and will represent our Club in our Rotary District Pageant of the Arts on March 10 at LMU. The runner-up, Isabella Hutcheson, received $100. Our Club expressed thanks to both of the contestants and to their family members for participating in the contest.

Journey Out (formerly The Mary Magdalene Project) was created by a Sunset Boulevard Presbyterian church grant in 1980, where prostituted women were working the streets outside the church. A safe haven residence was established in the San Fernando Valley to hide women from their pimps and predators for up to 6 months. These victims have been intensely manipulated and coerced, and they have difficulty returning to society. The 3 necessary steps are Survival, Hope & Freedom. (See www.journeyout.org for more information, involvement, and donations. District Governor Cozette Vergari is also promoting this effort.)

The average age of entrance into prostitution is 12-14 years old. Victims are lured and coerced in by pimps and traffickers who then control their lives and subject them to physical and emotional abuse. >50% are runaway or throwaway youth, and 85% are victims of childhood sexual molestation and incest. 84% are US citizens. They suffer from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and are vulnerable to homelessness, mental health problems, substance abuse, rape and domestic abuse.

Journey Out’s programs include:

Direct Street Outreach, monitoring prostitution areas in Los Angeles and handing out discrete information packets.

Drop-In Center, a safe place to discuss issues of exiting from a life of abuse, violence and poverty.

Prostitution Diversion Program (PDP) works with the LA City Attorney & Police as victim advocates.

Sex Trafficking Prevention includes "Ending The Game" (to guide victims to recovery), and "My Life, My Choice" and "Word On The Street" curricula (to educate and warn girls on the tactics used to recruit victims).

Capt Daniel Beringer, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, was promoted to Captain in 2016 and assigned to the Lomita Sheriff’s Station. He joined the Sheriff’s Department in 1986 after graduation from CSU Long Beach, and served at Lomita Sheriff’s Station, followed by several other assignments in the Sheriff’s Department. The Lomita Sheriff’s Station provides law enforcement services to the cities of Lomita, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, and adjacent unincorporated communities . At any one time there are 4-7 officers on patrol in the area.

California criminal law changed in 2014 to allow early release of state prisoners to city/county jails (to alleviate overcrowding in prisons). Many felonies such as drug crimes were reduced to misdemeanors. Little support was provided for homelessness and mental illness. Confinement became a revolving door with less penalties, and property crimes such as shoplifting and theft from vehicles increased. Crime spiked and then leveled off, but is now increasing again, although the Lomita Sheriff’s Station has the 3^rd lowest crime rate in Los Angeles County. License plate cameras help to detect stolen cars and wanted suspects. Surveillance cameras also help identify suspects. More helicopters are used now, and a team of detectives works undercover to solve and prevent crimes.

Capt Beringer spoke about preventive measures for property crimes (burglars like easy targets). Simple precautions include clearing overgrown shrubs near the home, and verifying that windows and doors are secure and that external lighting works and is sufficient. Motion detector lighting is helpful in detecting intruders. Don’t keep tempting items visible in parked vehicles, and always lock vehicles when parked outside. Stop newspaper delivery when absent, and coordinate with trusted neighbors to watch the home. House numbers should be clearly visible from the street for emergency responders.

Motion-detection cameras can connect to a Wi-Fi router for easy installation. Two-way sound communication helps when a visitor is at the door. Night vision video can help identify people and vehicles. Cameras can have features allowing the view to move and zoom. Active camera systems can send alerts to smart phones and can even be viewed remotely. Capt Beringer passed out a homeowners guide brochure for better home and neighborhood security, and a home security assessment checklist.

Helen Dosta has been the Director of Habitat for Humanity in Los Angeles for 6 years. 800 homes have been built by Habitat LA in the last 25 years. Habitat is building 10 houses in the 405/Sepulveda area in Culver City, with the help of 5 participating Rotary clubs including PV Sunset.

Los Angeles is one of the least affordable housing areas in the US, with high costs and overcrowding. Habitat's goal is eliminating substandard housing and providing decent sustainable and affordable housing for everyone. Habitat for Humanity provides affordable home ownership programs for families earning 30-80% of the median family income. Habitat coordinates volunteers, participating families, corporations, congregations and donors to enable home ownership for hard-working low-income families.

Habitat LA renovates as well as builds homes. Homeowners must provide down payment and monthly mortgage payments and invest "sweat equity" hours working on their future home and homes of other Habitat home buyers. Habitat homes are sold at no profit and financed with affordable loans. Educational resources help to promote financial independence. “Green building” principles are used to promote environmental and health sustainability. Many community organizations and individuals donate time, skills, materials and household items. The “ReStore” sells donated household items from contractors, companies, movie & television studios and individuals, and is open 7 days a week. Volunteers are needed for sorting, selling and computer work.

Habitat LA needs volunteers on its construction sites, in the offices, for special events, and in the ReStores. Signing up and confirming your volunteer date can be done on the website at http://www.habitatla.org/get-involved/volunteer/.

Ingrid Hempell, Concord (CA) Club, is a frequent visitor to our Club (with Volker Schäferbarthold of the Minden Rotary Club in Germany). She grew up in East Berlin during the Soviet occupation after World War II. She remembers a very difficult life with hunger and deprivation, and the lack of basic consumer goods that we take for granted.

At the end of World War II, Germany was divided into 4 occupation zones by the US, UK, France and the Soviet Union. The capital, Berlin, was in the Soviet zone but had a corridor connecting it to the 3 other zones to the west. In June 1948, Soviet authorities blocked access into Berlin from the west. The Allies blocked shipments into the Soviet zone of coal and steel, hindering industrial development there. The Soviets stopped food shipments and electricity to the non-Soviet sectors of Berlin, which was surrounded by Soviet military forces.

In response, the Allies began a Berlin Airlift with urgently needed supplies on unarmed humanitarian cargo aircraft into West Berlin in July 1948, gambling that the Soviets would not shoot them down and risk World War III. This aerial conveyor belt unloaded 5000 tons per day around-the-clock with the help of German civilians. Some aircraft, on approaching the airport, dropped candy bars with little handmade parachutes to eager children waiting below, a major propaganda success to a beleaguered population.

The Soviet blockade of Berlin was lifted in May 1949. The 3 Western zones merged into West Germany with its capital in Bonn. A Communist East German government was formed with its capital in East Berlin. Marshall Plan assistance from the US helped West Germany recover from the War, while reparations to the Soviet Union from East Germany slowed economic recovery there. Soon, large numbers of impoverished East Germans were escaping to West Berlin, and in 1961 the East German government built the Berlin Wall to stop them from crossing.

In 1990, the East German government collapsed, Germany was reunited, and the Berlin wall was torn down in jubilation. The German government spent large amounts of money helping the East revitalize its economy. In 1991, still recovering from poverty, Ingrid collapsed in illness, and her mother was able to take her to West Berlin for help, where there were now more and much better supplies of basic necessities and services. Ingrid had a difficult life during those years of deprivation, but started working in 1967 and ended up in Northern California as a thankful survivor.

Volker Schäferbarthold is a member of the Rotary Club of Minden in Germany, and is a frequent visitor to PV Sunset Rotary Club due to his international business activities in San Pedro. He was born in 1937 in Germany and experienced Nazi rule during his early childhood.

Hitler came to power in 1933 during the great worldwide Depression, which was worse in Germany because it was still required to pay reparations to the Allies after its loss in World War I. With 6 million Germans out of work and increasing hopelessness, and with the 2 major political parties unable to turn the economy around, Hitler promised relief and his minority party was allowed to form a government. Then the Reichstag (Parliament building) “mysteriously” burned down, Hitler flew into a rage and blamed the Communists, and declared a state of emergency to rule by decree. With no parliamentary meeting place, he was now the absolute dictator.

In 1938, Hitler ordered the end of Jewish institutions and businesses, beginning with the Kristallnacht (night of broken windows, when Nazi thugs vandalized Jewish businesses who were blamed for Germany’s problems). This was the beginning of the Holocaust. There were no independent courts or freedom of speech or the press. In September 1939, Hitler began World War II by invading Poland with Nazi propaganda being the only news available.

Volker was born into a Christian family and went to church every Sunday. In school the children were required to greet their teacher with the right stiff-armed Nazi salute and saying “Heil Hitler”. Volker’s older brother and sister were in the Hitlerjugend (“Hitler Youth”) and in uniform. In 1944, a high-ranking German officer attempted to kill Hitler with a bomb at a meeting in his office, and the radio news urged everyone to pray for the life of their “beloved Führer”.

Nazi propaganda reported the bright side about “heroism” in the war, especially on the German defeat in the battle of Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. Volker’s father could not serve in the Army due to an old arm injury. Volker’s older brother on the Belgian Front watched a battle with a friend, who suddenly collapsed and died from a bullet; his brother vowed never to touch a weapon again. Air raids with systematic bombing of German cities became an almost daily experience with sirens and bomb explosions, endured in bomb shelters by a population of mostly elderly, women and children. Electric lights would go out in the shelters until after the raid, and were lit by candlelight.

When Volker later asked his mother about the Jews, she said, “Yes, they gradually disappeared, but nobody knew exactly what had happened to them.” When she finally learned the truth, she could not believe how misled and ignorant she had been. His parents had thought of their beloved country as the land of poets and philosophers (Gutenberg, Goethe and Beethoven).

Guity Javid, Co-Chair of our District’s Humanitarian Trip to Colombia in March 2018, is a member of the Rancho Park Rotary Club. (The other Co-Chair, Mark Ameli, is also in the Rancho Park Club.)

Our District is partnering with 2 Districts in Colombia for 2 sets of projects for our 2018 Humanitarian Trip, to Bucaramanga March 21-26, and to Bogotá March 26-30. Volunteers can choose either one or combine both.

Bucaramanga in northern Colombia will have 6 projects, 4 of them Global Grants, 3 in water & sanitation and the other in organic farming. The other 2 are local projects — an after school project for painting & upgrading schools, oral hygiene teaching, school supplies & backpacks, & teaching organic farming; and a community project for providing soccer balls & athletic shoes.

Bogotá in central Colombia will have 7 projects, 4 of them Global Grants — water and sanitation, malaria diagnosis & prevention, technology training & audiovisual equipment, and Operation Smile (surgical correction of cleft lip & cleft palate deformities). The other 3 are local projects – providing shoe-making machinery & equipment to rural women for self-support, providing farming supplies & educational materials for vocational skills for improved self-support, and providing bicycles to schools to lend to students for encouraging attendance.

Guity encouraged interested Rotarians to apply. For info & Registration Form, go to

Kathleen Terry, District SAG for Membership, is Past President of Manhattan Beach Rotary Club 2013-14. She is a founder of Participative Management Systems and has presented many programs on business teambuilding, customer relations, and working with today’s diverse high-speed workplaces, and has also facilitated community leadership programs.

Even small Clubs can be strong. Looking at our Club: small-medium-size (growing or shrinking), fun, exciting, dynamic, serving the community, and gender and race mix (think of the future). Look for sustainable growth over time. The challenges are recruitment, retention, and attracting younger members to maintain a good age distribution. Find them and bring them in, but don’t just follow old habits (“But we’ve always done it this way!”).

Retention begins before induction — why did you join Rotary? (Friendship, helping community, networking, etc.) What Creates the First Impression? 3 steps: Asking, Website, & First Meeting. (You only have one chance to make a first impression.) Who invited you to join Rotary? Each one reach one (customers, associates, friends, etc.). Think of someone you could invite.

Attracting younger members — 90% of Rotarians are over 40 years old. Younger members may be concerned about inconvenience of meetings, time, cost, “hanging” with friends, different ways of communication (social media). Compare this to cost of gym membership and pop music concerts. Rotary District & International dues are actually $135/year. Is our cost structure prohibitive? Younger members look for fellowship, service, fun meetings, family-friendly, flexible schedules, low cost. Do service projects involve family members? Are “traditions” a turnoff? Are younger members offered leadership positions?

Our website has been updated. Our Facebook page needs more photos. What do people experience in their first meeting? (How do we treat our guests?) In 2016, RI suggested more flexibility, relaxed attendance & meeting types, and inviting Rotaractors to be members. Retention: ~50% leave within 3 years of membership. They stay for friendship and serving the community. How to keep them: everyone knows your name and is glad you came. Identify, inform, and engage. Be willing to change and adapt, with commitment of the entire Club. (We need to get our photos and biographies on our website, and get an up-to-date group photo.

Induction of Mario Santoyo (Premier Bank), by DG Vergari & PDG Lew Bertrand

District Governor Cozette Vergari has her own law firm in Family Law and Trust & Estates. She has served as legal counsel for minor children in high-conflict custody battles. She graduated from USC in Dance and a Master's in Education. She taught high school and college dance, operated dance studios and retail dancewear, and was a professional choreographer, before her legal career.

She joined the Westchester Rotary Club in 1995 and chaired the opening-night event at the 2008 RI Convention in Los Angeles. She is also on the Board of Directors for 1736 Family Crisis Center and the US Selective Service System. Her husband is also a Rotarian. She has a grandson, and a new granddaughter is on the way in several days.

DG Vergari's theme this year is “Make Dreams Come True”. She reviewed the types of District support resources for the Clubs, including the District leaders, the office staff, and the District newsletters and website. She also reviewed her goals for this Rotary Year.

The goal of $18.20/member raised for polio has been exceeded. Rob DeCou's (Playa Venice Sunrise) Run To End Polio, from Death Valley 232 feet below sea level to Mt Whitney 14,494 feet above sea level over 3 days in August raised an amount to be revealed at our annual Rotary Foundation Celebration on October 28. (Our Club still has 6 spaces to the Celebration available.)

The District Humanitarian Trip to Colombia March 21-30, 2018, will have 130 Rotarians from our District (10 spaces are still available). The trip will be split between Bucaramanga and Bogotá; participants can choose either or both.

Our District sponsored a Child Sex Trafficking Forum in March at Loyola Marymount, with presenters from Homeland Security, the FBI, LAPD, and the LA County Sheriff’s Department. Court representatives explained how it deals with child victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Elected officials, mental health professionals and nonprofit organizations were also represented. Our District is creating a Human Trafficking Task Force as a model for Rotary Districts in California, Nevada, and Arizona; Cozette will be the state coordinator for California. (RI is also looking into this kind of project.)

Our Club donated $100 tonight to the Rotary Foundation in DG Vergari's honor.

Our long-time Club member Larry Andrews describes himself as an engineer, “watchmaker”, rocket scientist, program manager, and reader, with interests in the arts, travel, people and other cultures. He published his first novel, “A Space Oddity”, but the publisher went bankrupt (Larry denies any responsibility for that), so he had to republish it himself to keep it in circulation.

Larry writes about places he’s been, in situations he is familiar with and/or can imagine. He has just published his 2^nd novel, which he self-published with the help of Amazon. He had to edit and design the book himself (including front and back cover and layout), but he hired a designer for help. Amazon publishes ~1000 books/week, so social media marketing is essential for successful writing and publishing today. Writers need to read others in order to write well. He meets with a writer’s group at the Library, writing ~2000 words/week and getting feedback on each section from other writers.

His book starts with a collection of scenes, outline of characters and environment (places he has been, in this case 12 days on a Caribbean cruise ship), with mystery, murder & suspense. His characters include 2 young CIA agents (undercover as newlyweds), a NY Mafia boss with an attractive daughter and a security guard (a boyhood friend of the male CIA agent), and an attractive Italian female Interpol agent. They observe a partnership forming between the Mafia family and a Colombian drug cartel, but a competing cartel complicates the action. See website for more information, https://www.larryandrewsnovelist.com/.
 

Eileen Hupp, a member of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Rotary Club, has been President & CEO of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Chamber of Commerce for 6 years. Previously, she was a consultant for business development strategies, and has worked with national retailers for mergers and acquisitions, strategic planning, marketing, advertising and finance. She has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins and an MBA from The University of Chicago.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1956 and has over 400 business members. Its new office address is 4040 Palos Verdes Drive North, Suite 205, in Rolling Hills Estates. Its economic programs include the Local First Campaign (shop, dine and do business locally), Community Showcase, Palos Verdes Street Fair and Music Festival, the Salute to Business Award, and economic forecasting. When businesses thrive, quality of life improves in the community.

Business promotion includes discounted advertising, business ribbon cuttings, social media, displaying members’ business literature in the Chamber’s lobby, Human Resources consulting, and Office Depot discounts. The Chamber’s website lists businesses with maps, and it sends emails on monthly nonprofit events. (All employees & individual members of member organizations, including our Club, are also members.) Business members can advertise on the Chamber website. There are morning and evening mixers for young professionals. Chamber members can receive business referrals and serve on committees to build business relationships.

The Chamber advocates for business interests with local, state and national government officials, holds Legislative Forums for candidates for public office (without endorsement of candidates), and holds an Annual Legislative Lunch. It partners with other local, state and US Chambers of Commerce on areas of common interest. The chamber sponsors educational activities such as high school seminars and the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (a 3-hour weekly students’ program for learning how to start a business; volunteers are needed). Eileen invited us to a Chamber event on Friday, September 8, honoring first responders in commemoration of 9/11. They will also deliver cookies & coffee to them on Monday, 9/11 (volunteers are welcome).

Our Rotarian Jackie Crowley was the 2014 Volunteer of the Year. Our Palos Verdes Sunset Rotary Club was recognized as an Outstanding Community Service Organization during the year that Sandy Farrell was our President. Eileen recommends that we send photos documenting our community service projects. The website is https://www.palosverdeschamber.com/, phone (310) 377-8111.

Dominique & Raymond described their experiences at the 2017 Big West Rotaract Institute, representing Rotaract Clubs from many universities. The keynote speakers were Richard King and Brad Howard.

The attendees divided into separate groups (called Lions, Golden Retrievers, Beavers, & Otters), writing about their individual characteristics and personalities and how they translate into leadership principles.

Among the issues discussed were membership recruitment & engagement, leadership, delegation, and shared experiences, reinforced by group exercises to build experience and confidence. They studied the process of goal-setting, such as “active members by end of semester”, then evaluating at the end of the interval for feedback. They reviewed social events, projects, (such as Boys & Girls Clubs), and Club T-shirts. (It sounds like what we do in leadership training.)

Wally Christmas (RAdm, USN Ret) was stationed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from June 1974 to April 1975 while the Vietnam War was winding down. Wally was stationed with the Military Equipment Delivery Team assigned to support the Cambodian military and government against the Khmer Rouge which had taken over the countryside and was closing in on the capital city. (The insurgents were mostly illiterate farmers who resented the educated “westernized” city people.)

On April 3, 1975, air evacuation began (Operation “Pull Eagle”) of US and other foreign personnel and selected Cambodians. Wally was on this flight (to Thailand) after his in-country duties had been terminated. By April 10, the road to the airport was cut off, and helicopter evacuation began on April 12 with the closure of the US Embassy. On April 17, the Khmer Rouge forces entered the city, greeted by cheering crowds (possibly hoping to avoid harm to themselves). By the end of the same day, the Khmer Rouge began force-marching the city inhabitants into the countryside to “live off the land” with no other assistance. Other foreigners left behind described these chaotic events; they took refuge in the French Embassy until they could be evacuated. (A video clip from the “Killing Fields” film was shown of this day’s events; the film was about a New York Times reporter who had stayed behind.)

The Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot were ultra-Maoists who wanted to return their country to an agrarian Marxist “past”. They summarily executed anyone who showed signs of education, literacy, or foreign influence. An estimated 1.8 million lives were lost, a massive genocide of their own people.

Steve and Meredith Shaw retired in October 2012, and bought a 45-foot boat in the Miami area to navigate the Great Loop (see map). With rivers and connecting canals, the eastern 1/3 of the US can be circumnavigated like an island. Their year-long trip of a lifetime covered ~7000 miles, passing through ~140 locks and under many bridges, illustrated for us with a series of travelogue photos. They met many other “Loopers” and friends along the way.

They started from Key Largo and Key West in Florida, going up the East Coast. They showed photos of manatees, Cape Canaveral rockets on display, container ships, and occasional biking into a town for supplies. They saw Staten Island 8 months after hurricane Sandy, and New York Harbor. They went up the Hudson River past West Point and took the Erie Canal to Canada, where they passed through the Trent Severn Waterway to Georgian Bay (northern Lake Huron).

They reentered the US and visited Mackinac Island in Michigan, then along the east coast of Lake Michigan to Chicago. They entered the Chicago River and then the Illinois River, where invasive Asian carp were seen characteristically jumping out of the water (when they hear the boat motor). From there they went down the Mississippi River with its many horseshoe bends, to the Tennessee and Tombigbee Rivers and to the Gulf Coast. They ended up at Fort Myers in Florida, where they were greeted by a large school of dolphins in celebration. (If you have a year of spare time and a boat on your hands, it sounds like an interesting experience.)

Eddie Varón Levy was introduced by Bob Welbourn, a defense attorney who has worked with him for many years. Eddie Varón was educated at Torrance West High School, El Camino College and CSU Long Beach. He received his law degree in Mexico City. He has offices in Mexico City and in Torrance, managing international criminal & civil litigation (“Justice Knows No Borders”).

The US-Mexico border spans ~3000 miles, some of which is in the center of the Rio Grande River, making the recently-promoted concept of building a border wall there problematic. He reviewed the long history of US-Mexico relations and the many areas of mutual cultural & economic interdependence. Political controversies on the international drug trade rage on both sides of the border. There are many cross-border families and cultural relationships.

Eddie Varón’s legal services deal with unique border-related criminal issues, advocating for constitutional rights of defendants. Other areas include administrative law, personal injury claims, and corporate and business law. He has helped clients accused of crimes in Mexico and the United States, and clients facing extradition, and has arranged prisoner exchanges with these governments. He has participated in international arbitration proceedings and discovery, administrative hearings for Social Security and Workers’ Compensation, and arbitration before regulatory agencies of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He has pursued compensation for injuries from negligence, product liability, auto accidents and wrongful death. He helps clients with business formation and setup in the US and Mexico, international business disputes and regulatory hurdles.

Then he began working for the Pacific National Bank on Manchester Avenue. He did every job in the bank as a management trainee. About this time, he married Kathy. Then he transferred to Malaga Cove. He described his adventures in bank management (never a dull moment). He moved up the management ladder and worked in San Pedro.

He was sponsored to Rotary by Sylvia Benko & Marilyn Klaus. He became President of our Club in 2007-2008, and District Governor in 2012-2013. In 2015-2016 he became our Club President again (environmentally-friendly recycling program). He has also held many District positions as well as Club offices.

Club Vocational Co-Chair Audrey Dahlgren introduced the 2 Students of the Year, Dean Dellovade (Palos Verdes High School) and Max La Forest (Peninsula High School), their parents, and their school counselors, Teresa Hoffman, Joanne Lewis, and Julie Arico.

Their counselors reviewed the students’ high school contributions, including good grades, initiative, leadership, and extracurricular activities. Each received a $1000 Scholarship and a plaque from our Club.

Dean has been admitted to the University of Washington where he plans to major in business. Max has been admitted to California State University at Long Beach where he plans to major in microbiology. We extend our congratulations to these outstanding students and wish them the best in their future careers! Thanks to Audrey Dahlgren for her work in planning and coordinating these awards, and to the school counselors for nurturing our future generation.

Jim Hartman is a member of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Rotary Club and twice Past-President. He grew up in Ohio and completed his education at Ohio University with MEd in Counseling and Student Personnel Services, MA in Sociology, and PhD in Higher Education Administration and Counselor Education. After moving to California, he became Director of Institutional Planning & Accreditation at The Salvation Army College for Officer Training at Crestmont, on Hawthorne Blvd in Rancho Palos Verdes. (This campus was formerly the Loyola Marymount College, which moved to the Miraleste area of Rancho Palos Verdes.)

The Salvation Army was formed in London in 1865 by Rev William Booth, who left his ministry in the Methodist Church to minister to the poor in the East End of London, England. To further its religious commitment for meeting the needs of the disadvantaged, it became a military-like organization with military ranks and uniforms. It spread to other countries, and helped provide important community services to victims of the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Since then, it has grown into one of the world’s largest charitable organizations in 107 countries. It has 4 administrative Territories in the US, including the Western Territory (13 states), providing hundreds of centers for feeding seniors and homeless, low cost senior housing, day care centers, energy assistance programs, addiction treatment services, vocational training, youth centers, residential and day camps, and education and tutoring programs.

The College for Officer Training in Rancho Palos Verdes trains officers to give leadership to these programs and services. There are 4 such colleges in the US, offering a 2-year program for ministry, Bible study, social studies and supervised field-work. Families can live on campus, and spouses who work together are given equal ranks. Graduation is Friday this week. Jim Hartman showed photos of the beautiful campus.

Dinner was served, while award recipient Gabriel Lamas played his guitar and sang.

Robert Babb, MFT, introduced the 18 graduates and reviewed their progress and educational/career goals. Project EGO Chair John Turner presented checks from the PV Sunset Rotary Club, and PVPUSD Coordinator Kelly Baranick assisted.

Congratulations to the 18 graduates of the 2016-17 Project EGO Program, who received the following awards (totaling $26,500 from our Club) toward their educational and career goals:

$2000  Jenevieve Ghaly                                     $1250  Manal Gill

$2000  Christopher Vallejo                                 $1250  Austin Jacks

$2000  Rhiannon Prine                                      $1250  Gabriel Lamas

$2000  Muneeb Khan                                        $1250  Sally Ishizawa

$2000  Jeffrey Jimena                                       $1000  Kevin Dill

$1500  Joshua Sanchez                                     $1000  Maverick Marcellana

$1500  Natalia Moreno                                      $1000  Mia Martinez

$1500  Cameron Hosmer                                   $1000  Eric Hauschildt

$1500  Courtlyn Foster                                       

$1500  Brianna Garcia                                        

Martín Flores was introduced by Bob Welbourn, a defense attorney who has known him as a consultant for many years. Martín graduated from Roosevelt High School and grew up in a gang-influenced neighborhood in Boyle Heights, where 88% of the students perform below grade average. Many of them have single parents and lack role models. However, he received a Rotary scholarship, and attended UC Berkeley and UCLA. While in college, his 17-year-old brother was killed by gang activity.

After college, Martín worked for the city of Inglewood, organizing youth activities. He did community relations work in Watts. He discussed how providing educational opportunities for incarcerated people provides better opportunities for them when they return to their community after release, and reduces recidivism. Building leadership skills and self-esteem help provide viable alternatives to criminal activities.

Martín has been a gang expert for 10 years, and has served as an expert witness in court cases for homicides and capital offenses. Being familiar with different gangs in the Los Angeles area and their territories, tattoos, “signs”, graffiti, and vandalism, he has been able to provide expert testimony when the penalty depends on whether a defendant is a participating gang member. He gave the example of riding in a car with associates when someone else in the car pulls out a gun and shoots a victim. Prosecutors usually allege that all individuals present are in the gang, but this is not necessarily true. Associates, friends and relatives of gang members are not necessarily gang members themselves. He works to assess these relationships and testify about this information to the court.

Karla, our newest member, works in Lien Resolution Service. She was born in León, near the Pacific coast in Nicaragua, where her father was a Rotarian. She attended school there (K-12) at the Colegio Pureza de María. The Nicaraguan Civil War was going on, and she wanted to see the world. She came to the US in 1981 and attended CSU Los Angeles while working part-time. (Her son was born here in 1986.)

She works on resolving liens for denied claims in the California Worker’s Compensation System, for medical providers and interpreters. (Enforcement and collectability of judgments depends on the debtors’ assets.)