Quite a line formed in front of Greeters Temo Lopez and Tony Castiglione as

smiling Rotarians were happy to part with some hard-earned dollars for 50/50 tickets. Queen Jackie’s opening song was in honor of the Kentucky Derby; nobody guessed the song nor the artist: The Race is On by the Grateful Dead. Queen Jackie admitted to having attended a few Dead Head concerts. Stephanie Baker led the flag salute, and Carol had us bellowing out “I’ve been working on the railroad”. Art Esparza introduced NO visiting Rotarians and Queen Jackie asked Myah Salinas to introduce the visitor sitting next to her as he wasn’t attached to anyone. Martin is Club searching and Breakfast Rotary was his first experience with Rotary. He needn’t go anywhere else.

Appreciation goes out to Denise Haynes, who served as our scribe this week. Her attention to detail ensures every meeting’s highlights are captured for our members.

Program: Brynn Carrigan – Kern County Public Health:

Pete Leveroni introduced Brynn Carrigan, Director of Kern County Public Health. Brynn last visited us during Covid 19. Today she shared public health statistics that astounded and educated us on Valley Fever. She, herself survived a very serious case of Valley Fever several years ago.

Public Health Department is responsible for these main programs:

Infectious disease incident reports. In 2025 there were 178,000 reports.
The 911 Emergency Response System. In 2025 there were 140,000 calls, the highest on record.
Food Vendor permitting. There is an extreme issue with unpermitted food vendors. They are handled using progressive measures up to impounding their equipment.
Food Recover Program. They partner with Kern County schools to collect unopened packaged food. The food is retrieved from the schools and taken to shelters. In 2025 1.2 million pounds of food was not wasted.
Public Health Lab. In 2025 the Lab processed 32,000 specimens which included rabies, Valley Fever and STD’s.
Annual programs to promote healthy living in Kern County. This year’s is “Thrive Like a Poppy”.

Valley Fever (VF) was the focal point of Brynn’s presentation. Kern County reports the highest cases in CA and the 3^rd highest in the nation, the highest being Maricopa County, Arizona. VF is also found in New Mexico, Texas, Oregon and Washington. Experts predict it will eventually be in all states. 2024 saw a record high of 4,000 cases in Kern and more deaths than ever. 2025 was the third highest, 3,300. The high 2024 number was due to the very wet year we had followed by dry years. The fungus thrived in the soil in the wet and dried and flew around in the dry. Everyone is at risk because everyone breaths and that is how the fungus enters our body. There is no vaccination, no immunity, no cure. It is not contagious. Dogs can contract VF the same way humans do and are given the same anti-fungal medicine. The most used is Fluconazole. Unfortunately, the side effects are nasty: hair loss and liver issues; and the drug is very expensive. Of those who contract the fungus, 60% are symptom free, 40% have symptoms. Of the 40%, 5-10% are severe. In 1% of patients, VF disseminates beyond the lungs even to the brain.

Public Health’s role is to educate the public about VF. The Public Health website has information on how to reduce the risk of contracting VF, the symptoms of VF and what people need to do should they suspect they have it and when they have it. Currently there is the “Faces of Valley Fever” campaign. Public figures and community leaders who have had VF are featured in commercials and other media to educate the public. There is an ambassador program which uses trusted messengers to encourage discussion with family and friends about VF.

Before a barrage of questions, Brynn mentioned a few preventative measures: stay inside when it’s windy, use the recirculation vents in the car, wear an N95 mask if you work in dry conditions, after working in dry conditions undress outside and wash your clothes immediately. She shared that there is a high incidence of VF in the Hot Shot fire crews.

Happy Spots & Recognition:

Queen Jackie proceeded with her portion of the meeting.

She sadly announced the resignation of Heath Niemeyer. She read a lovely letter from Heath.
The San Miguel Grove Day was successful with several Independence High Interactors, Park Rangers, Park staff and Rotarians there to clean, plant trees and put up a new sign that has Breakfast Rotary as one of the sponsors of the Grove. Queen Jackie hinted to President Elect Sandra that perhaps an offsite could be scheduled during her year. Scribe notes we did an offsite there many years ago, it was fun.
The by-laws committee spent many hours putting together an updated set of by-laws that now resemble the RI model. Queen Jackie urged everyone to please review the proposed by-laws and be present at the May 6^th meeting for the vote. One third of the club is needed for a viable vote.
Congrats to Karen Bonanno who has been a great Rotarian for 7 years.
Happy Spots: Cheryl Scott traveled to Denver for work and returned still “high” from her many strolls down 16^th street, pot capital of Denver. She also had a nice t-shirt for the Pres. She was $20 happy. Dave & Melody Spalinger went to Charlston and Savanah. He concocted a hilarious story about asking a sidewalk bum what he should get for the Pres. The bum directed him to a block comprised of only liqueur stores where Dave bought a fancy bottle of sweet tea bourbon. Dave got a frig magnet from Savanah. Dave was $237 dollars happy (shared with Ron Nelms) and directed it to the endowment for the endowment pins. Troy Fringer was $20 happy for his trip with his wife Jody Fringer to Washington DC. Jody attended the First Lady’s luncheon and snagged a bar of soap for Pres. Troy also brought a “gold” coin from the White House.

Announcements:

Thousand Flags: Marti Sanders said there’s a few spots left for the Info Booth. Sandra Parnell said the Fun Run registration price increases on Thursday. Dave Spaliger asked for volunteers to fabricate 60 new flag poles. The fundraising is at $57,500. Pres. did a pep talk to get that figure up to $60K by the April 30^th deadline.
Twilight Rotary Trivia Night is May 1. BBRC has 2, 4 person teams. Pres. named the teams the Eggheads (for breakfast) and Dated Data (for the older of the 2 teams).
Next week we will enjoy listening to the RYLA participants who will have the entire speaker time.

Wrapping Up:

Before the gavel, Queen Jackie had Frank Wooldridge draw the winning 50/50 ticket. 2253749 was in possession of Jennifer Henry who took home $48, enough for lunch at McDonalds or 8 gallons of gas.