** Frank's Welcome**Hey we are getting a little used to these Breakfast Rotary ZOOM meetings. And we are getting better too! Yet, we look forward to getting together in person again at our meetings. Until that time, welcome each and every one of you. President Cheryl Scott called the meeting to order and Past President Jerry Starr lead us in our morning blessing, praying for the health and safety of our health care workers and first responders in their pursuit of battling the COVID-19 crisis.
Past President Mike O’Doherty helped get us started with our Nation’s flag salute, followed by Past President Denise Haynes singing Uncle Remus’s 1946’s Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah. Oh well, how about Breakfast Rotarians doing our part by carrying that Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah attitude to others throughout the day! It is very infectious and maybe even more infectious than COVID-19.
We welcomed visitor Cheryl Rydia, who is a promising potential new member. Cheryl is a guest of Marlene Heise, and she has been visiting us on a regular basis. It will be great to have her join in the wonderful projects we do for our community.
We had a lot of celebrations and I for one am pleased to see one of the celebrants dial in on ZOOM. Dear Adoree is celebrating a birthday as is the ever happy Athena Collup and Becky “Flag Girl” Brooks. Happy birthday, ladies!
This is also the week of the big 30th wedding anniversary for Breakfast Rotarian, and the businessman with an “aim”, Ken Quarnberg and his bride Susan. Congratulations to you Ken and the Mrs.
Finally, a Breakfast Club anniversary recognizing 3 years of dedicated service to Karen Bonanno. Karen gave us a very informative presentation last week and she has really demonstrated the Service Above Self in all she does as a Rotarian. You are a shining example Karen!
**Featured Program**
Our featured speaker was Dr. David Lyman. Kay’s introduction helps our speaker to lead right into his program and we saw how important his vocation is to the life blood of our city’s reputation and positive image.
Many Bakersfield residents don’t even realize that our city has a department that is totally positioned to create a positive image of Bakersfield. That department is managed by David and is officially called Visit Bakersfield. What I found most astounding during the presentation is that the cities of St. Louis and Pittsburgh are smaller than Bakersfield, yet they have allocated over 10 times more employees dedicated towards promoting their city’s images. You say to yourself, why would that be important? Well, they have professional sports teams…a lot of them. Do we? Well that is my personal spin, but seriously Dr. David furthered the importance of his support for promotion of Bakersfield by administering a Bakersfield IQ test. Okay, I have been here all my life, but you would not think so by how poorly I scored on Dr. David’s test. I am sure I wasn’t alone among by Rotarian brethren. The point being, David is working diligently upon promoting Bakersfield and stressing the point that it helps all of us.
David is a true cheerleader of sorts, touting Bakersfield. He stresses the relationship to encouraging Bakersfield tourism and hotel occupancy as the source of much needed tax revenue to the city coffers. Hum, I wonder if David has heard of Breakfast Rotary’s Coffer Management System. Oh well, regardless, taxes generated translates to Bakersfield jobs, public safety (police and fire), a robust economy and quality of life. In absolute terms, David reports an annual $90 million revenue take by businesses in Bakersfield specifically because of tourism to our city.
David told if he had been our speaker a month ago, he would have given us grand stories of Bakersfield’s projected 2020 “slush funds” along with a number of other revenue-driving forces. Thanks to COVID-19 shelter-in-place mandates which we are all too familiar with, David’s report to us is now grim. He said projections of future tax revenue are down 55% now compared to last year. Simply said, Bakersfield tourism and hotel reservations have gone cold…actually they are frozen. Instead of a long waiting list to book a reservation, major local attractions, conventions and the like have been CANCELLED.
We can choose to look at the downturn of the Bakersfield economy, Breakfast Rotarians, by standing around like flamingos, or like David suggests, become ambassadors for Bakersfield by promoting events towards our city until we upright the ship…and we will. There are online brochures available that share information about many of the traditional venues in Bakersfield. From real estate to breweries (Dionysus), the brochures share much sought out information, and we can do a lot to support Bakersfield tourism by promoting our city to out-of-town visitors.
David requests that we also keep his office apprised of upcoming events that we become aware of, as events can be promoted by his office on Visit Bakersfield’s Facebook page or webpage. This helps place Bakersfield front of mind to consumers. Do you like the “Sound of Something Better”? Yes, we do. So let’s help promote our city and partner with Visit Bakersfield so we can grow and live better together. To learn more, visit VisitBakersfield.com, or email David at DLyman@visitbakersfield.com Thanks for visiting with us this morning, Dr. David.
**Announcements Announcements**
Memorial Day is forthcoming, but according to President Cheryl, our traditional Thousand Flags program may not be, due to distancing and safety restrictions. The Prez has placed us in a “standby”, until we receive more clarity from the City as to our permission to present Thousand Flags at Riverwalk Park. Stay tuned.
The Prez
added news of glee as she announced that following a recent meeting of the Foundation board, Breakfast Rotary is in a position to donate $10,000 to The Golden Empire Gleaners in order to help them meet the increased demand for food in our community. I went to the presentation Wednesday, following our Rotary meeting, and saw first-hand the gratitude of Gleaners’ Director Glen Ephrom when he received the donation for Gleaners. Well done Breakfast Rotary! (Editor's note: Thanks to Frank Wooldridge,Tina and Tom Burke, Dave Spalinger, and of course Prez Cheryl for attending the presentation!)
added news of glee as she announced that following a recent meeting of the Foundation board, Breakfast Rotary is in a position to donate $10,000 to The Golden Empire Gleaners in order to help them meet the increased demand for food in our community. I went to the presentation Wednesday, following our Rotary meeting, and saw first-hand the gratitude of Gleaners’ Director Glen Ephrom when he received the donation for Gleaners. Well done Breakfast Rotary! (Editor's note: Thanks to Frank Wooldridge,Tina and Tom Burke, Dave Spalinger, and of course Prez Cheryl for attending the presentation!)**Vocational Moments**
Temo Lopez has just celebrated his first year in Breakfast Rotary. Now here is another newer member that is really learning the meaning of Rotary through becoming more of an active member. Wednesday morning Temo shared with the membership his expertise in regards to computer security. Temo’s computer business is called Bakersfield Bytes, and after hearing his presentation, he certainly left me with an impression of the type of service he can provide to members of our club.
Temo wanted to impress upon us that because of the limitations his business has in coming to home and business to service computers, his company has found approved ways to work around the social distancing restrictions. Providing remote service according to Temo is the name of the game. To provide computer repair services to clients, Temo has been tasked with servicing client’s computers from a distance. He said computer services can proceed, but he admits there is no substitute for personal service. Temo says that until t
hat time comes, he and his staff are limited to “curbside” services.
hat time comes, he and his staff are limited to “curbside” services.What really impressed me about Temo’s presentation was his awareness of the numerous computer scams. Simply put, Temo said that one of the many scams is for a Microsoft impersonator to contact us online and threaten to reveal information about you if you do not comply with their demands. A little like blackmail, Temo says.” Don’t fall for this one”, as it is just another scam to scare you into giving the scammer information. Temo offers his professional services to us. My advice (since I am a state licensed investigator) is to give Temo a call if you suspect any mischief related to computer scammers, or if you just need to upgrade your current computer services for your home or business. Temo is your man!
** Final comments**
Michele McClure has a heart of gold. We know that. A dedicated Rotarian for as long as I can remember, Michele loves what we do in Breakfast Rotary. Furthermore, it is people like her that keep the rest of us energized. We are proud of Michele’s Rotary drive, but on top of that, she has spent countless hours lately working with local small businesses in need of COVID-19 relief. In honor of Michele’s commitment to the community during the pandemic, she has been named our latest Rotary Super Hero! Absolutely well-deserved.
How about three cheers for our Breakfast Rotarians who are continuing to provide excellent services at a great value, even during current conditions. There are a lot of us in the BBRC family that fit that category in our businesses, but let’s just name two. Pete Leveroni’s wife, Michelle, owns and operates the Subway Sandwich Shops located on Oswell, Columbus Avenues and at Stockdale next to Riverwalk Park. There is also marketing Guru, Marlene Heise of Heise Media Group, who specializes in marketing and communication strategy. She is an expert, indeed! Let’s consider the services they provide when we’re in the market. Tell a friend as well, as they love business referrals. Amen on that …
Finally, apparently some Breakfast Rotarians have been sharing their high school senior pictures for review on Facebook. Amusing! I really like this idea, I just wish I would have participated. 
Seeing the likes of Dr. Joe Nunez, Connie Bensusen, Dave Spalinger, The Prez, and Mindy Wilmot going back 10, 15, 25 years plus in a high school is truly fun to see. I can say one thing about those people so brave to submit their pictures…they have not changed much at all.
Seeing the likes of Dr. Joe Nunez, Connie Bensusen, Dave Spalinger, The Prez, and Mindy Wilmot going back 10, 15, 25 years plus in a high school is truly fun to see. I can say one thing about those people so brave to submit their pictures…they have not changed much at all.Hope to see you all next Wednesday on ZOOM, I suspect, but with any hope we can get back to the Petroleum Club soon. I miss my Breakfast Rotarian family!
Frank Wooldridge
