As we enter the holidays (and the last two weeks of the decade!), I wish each and every one of you a special time with family and friends. I, for one, plan to take some time to reflect, refresh and recharge as I look ahead to 2020. What will the year hold?
One thing we do know…our local and global communities have innumerable needs, which translates to manyopportunities for us to serve our neighbors. While our budget for this fiscal year is set, we still have flexibility in exactly how some of those funds will be spent. If you have a suggestion for a service project or some other way we can impact our community, please let me, Kathy (Andersen) Berry, or any board member know about it!
Thank you again for the honor of being your president for the 2019-20 year!
What a difference a week makes! Instead of the wall of fog that met us last meeting, we were able to behold a glorious sunrise. What a beautiful view for our last meeting of the year and decade.
We had a full house, some in their holiday finery. Frank Tripicchio visited us once again, and many spouses joined us: Carole Holland, Jon Parnell, Nick Alvarez, Don Berry, and First Gentleman Darren Scott.
Happy 33rd wedding anniversary to Steve and Athena Collup (12/27), and second (second??) Rotary anniversary to Kathy Berry (12/20).
Happy Birthday to Mindy Wilmot (12/19) and Michael Turnipseed (12/30).
The Chamber Singers of Bakersfield College truly brought the Christmas spirit to us with their beautiful harmonies. This exceptional group of men and women, under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Garrett, is full of not only musical talent, but also of kind hearts. We were told of the multiple service projects they have undertaken throughout the year including collecting toys for a local church and singing at the Alzheimer's Center. Fundraising is underway for a 2021 tour to Vietnam. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to contribute $371 to their efforts.
We played a rousing rendition of Christmas Trivia and Reindeer Games. First and second place were awarded sugar cookies. Were you not able to play on Wednesday? Here are some questions for you; the answers will be below the announcements. No cheating!
Which holiday movie gave us these memorable quotes?
Son of a Nutcracker!
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?
God bless us, everyone!
Christmas Literature, History, and Song
What was the last line in “The Night Before Christmas?”
Teresa Ramos-Alvarez - $10 happy for some promising job prospects (we hope you can keep close to home and still join us)
Will Duerksen - $16 bittersweet for the 16 years his daughter played soccer. He recently travelled to Denver to watch her play in her last game. He visited the US Mint while there and gifted President Cheryl with 2019 coins and a moneyball.
Ron Nelms- $5 not so happy because American surveying will adopt the International Foot (surveyors currently use the US Survey Foot. Don’t know the difference? Check it out here: https://www.civilgeo.com/when-a-foot-isnt-really-a-foot/ )
Dan Johnson -$10 happy because he has three tickets available for when his band opens for Los Lobos on 12/28 at The Canyon in Santa Clarita
Mindy Wilmot - $40 happy; $1 to commemorate her first Rotary meeting one year ago 12/19 and 39 years of friendship with her sponsor, President Cheryl
Heath Niemeyer - $19 happy that although the planned 19th anniversary celebration did not go as planned due to a visit to the ER, everyone is safe and sound
Jeff Haynes and Denise Haynes were each $10 happy in reporting that their new grandbabies, who will be third cousins, are girls.
Congratulations to Marlene Heise for winning $63 in this week’s drawing. Her table won first place in trivia AND she won the drawing. Hope she bought lottery tickets on the way home.