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The Rotary Club GOOD NEWSGOOD NEWSGOOD NEWS

Volume 10 Number 11 November 2009

The Rotary Club of Menifee meets Thursdays at 12:10 p.m., Menifee Lakes Country Club, 29875 Menifee Lakes Drive, Menifee, CA 92584 Voted BEST local non-profit by Menifee Chamber of Commerce

CALENDAR OF EVENTS NOVEMBER 10 — Monthly Board Meeting at US BANK ***All Are Welcome *** 6:00 pm NOVEMBER 21 — Foundation Gala NOVEMBER 26 — DARK (Thanksgiving) DECEMBER 10 — District Governor’s Visit—Dinner Meeting with Spouses/Guests Invited DECEMBER 19 — Santa’s Workshop JANUARY 23, 2010 — Mayor’s Ball—Valley Wide Recreation Center SAVE THE DATE!

The Seed A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of

choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his com-

pany together.

He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you.” The young executives

were shocked, but the boss continued, “I am going to give each one of you a SEED today—one very special SEED. I want you to

plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will

then judge the plants that you bring and, based on them, will choose the next CEO.”

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excit-

edly told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other

executives began to talk about their seeds and plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed,

but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by—still nothing. By now, others were talk-

ing about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by—still nothing in

Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim

didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil—he so wanted the

seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for in-

spection. Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot, but she asked him to be honest about what

happened. Jim felt sick at his stomach. It was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he

knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the

variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful—in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty

pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed.; a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to

hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown,” said the CEO. “Today

one of you will be appointed the next CEO!” All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of

the room with his empty pot. He ordered the financial director to bring him to the front. Jim was

terrified. He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he’ll have me fired!” When Jim got to

the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed—Jim told him the whole entire story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim and then announced to the young executives, “Behold your

next Chief Executive! His name is Jim!” Jim couldn’t believe it. The others said, “Jim couldn’t even grow his seed. How can he be

the new CEO?”

Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and

bring it back to me today. But, I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead—it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except

Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for

the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one

who will be the new Chief Executive!”

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust; if you plant goodness, you will reap friends;

if you plant humility, you will reap greatness; if you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment;

if you plant consideration, you will reap perspective; if you plant hard work, you will reap success;

if you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.


Proposed Land Use Project for Menifee Hub/Town Center Lou Mongo, Randy Jackson, David Fields

Regent Properties

October 8 Guest Speakers

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Rotary Four-Way Test Of the things we think, say or do …

Is it the TRUTH?

Is it FAIR to all concerned?

Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

At our October 8 luncheon, we heard a presentation by Regent Properties people about all that vacant land on the southwest corner of Newport and Hahn Roads. Their proposal for multiple use of the land is proceeding through the Menifee Planning Commission.

When approved, the development will include not only commercial and residential space, but also parkland, a pro-posed school site, and even an area for a city hall. Develop-ment of the large area may start in 3 to 5 years and be completed in 5 to 10 years.

Menifee’s First Birthday October 3, 2009

The first annual birthday celebration for the City of Menifee was held

on Saturday, October 3, at Wheatfield Park from 4:00 to 9:00 pm. It was

a beautiful day in Menifee! The sky was clear and the winds were chilly

but pleasant. However, as the sun set and the full Moon appeared, sev-

eral of the Rotarians were glad they had sweaters and jackets.

The Rotary Club of Menifee had a booth to promote the eradication

of polio, as well as to give general information regarding Rotary Inter-

national and local community projects.

To attract the crowd’s attention, the Rotarians had a basketball toss

for the children. If you could get six pumpkins through the hoop, you

would win a piece of candy. We had more than 200 children playing

the game, ages 2 to 95. Tom Yuzer was the game master, with the

able assistance of Don Lunday and Red Sullivan. It is not known

who had more fun—the children or the game masters!

We also received donations for Polio Plus from the families of the

children, as Tom explained the importance of polio eradication in the

remaining four countries. It was a successful day for all.

The morning crew consisted of Don Lunday, Chuck Cena, Red

Sullivan and Joe Daugherty, all of whom quickly set up the booth

and were ready for the celebration to begin. Tom Yuzer, Don Lun-

day and Chuck Cena took their time assembling the District Rotary Wheel. It was very difficult and even required a call to Steve Wallace

to clarify the assembly instructions. The District Wheel was the focal point of the booth.

Our Booth was visited by Mayor Edgerton, Councilman Scott Mann and Councilman Fred Twyman. Even one of the new Plan-

ning Commissioners, Chris Thomas, visited us with his family.

The booth was taken down after the fireworks. The take-down crew consisted of Joe, Don, Dan Marconi and Red, and all the parts

were carted off to parts unknown until the next time they are needed.

Last but not least were the spouses of the Rotarians who assisted with the booth, Jan Lunday and Michael Stout. Red’s grandson,

Brandon Duckworth, worked a couple of hours and Dan Marconi had his son help with the take-down and clean-up of the booth area.

The Club would like to give A Special Thank You for their assistance and company. We could not be the Club we are without the support

of our families.


Linda Denver October 1 Guest Speaker

Polio Plus Judy Handwerker

October 22 Guest Speaker

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Rotary International President Kalyan Banerjee

D5330 Rotarian Tom Yuzer of the Menifee Rotary Club is excited about the choice of Kalyan Banerjee, a member of the Rotary Club of Vapi, Gujarat, India, since 1972, as Presi-dent of Rotary International in 2011-12. ―I first met RTN Banerjee in 1977 while leading a Group Study Exchange team to Gujarat, India,‖ Yuzer noted. ―We reconnected in 1996 when he was selected as a member of the RI Board of Directors, which overlapped with my service as District Governor in D5960 in 1996-97, and we have stayed in casual contact since that time.‖ The photo, above, shows RTN Banerjee, center, with PDG Yuzer, right, at the Vapi Rotary Club in August, 2001. ―I

had returned to India for the dedication of a dam built through a 3-H Grant with my former district (5960). I traveled to several of the cities I had visited in 1977, including Vapi. He had hosted our GSE Team at his business location at that time. The Vapi Rotary Club meeting on this particular evening marked the official nomination of Mr. Banerjee for RI President,‖ Yuzer continued, ―and, incidentally, the club helped me celebrate my 60

th birthday that evening.‖ Yuzer and

Banerjee have visited on several occasions since 1996 at various RI events. Banerjee said he would like to see Rotary "blossom from being the world's most recognized service organization to being the most important NGO [nongovernmental organization] in the world. "Rotary, it is said, has the strength of a government and the tenderness of a parent," he added. Banerjee has served Rotary as a director, Rotary Foundation trustee, committee and task force chair, International Assembly group discussion leader, president's representative, and district governor. The chair of the Southeast Asia Regional PolioPlus Committee, Banerjee has served as a member of the Interna-tional PolioPlus Committee for many years and has attended international meetings with the World Health Organization and UNICEF in that capacity.

Linda was part of a group of Rotarians who recently visited Lima, Peru, for an important mission: to provide assistance during cleft palate and lip surgeries, a much needed operation in that part of the world. Welcomed with hospitable spirits, big smiles and wide media coverage, the medical group’s mission was the highlight of the town.

Medical research has shown that pre-op anxiety and stress places the patient at a physiological disadvantage. Hence, Linda’s role was crucial. She was assigned the task of ensuring patients (and parents alike) were as anxi-ety-free as possible before going through surgery. This anticipated event saw 92 patients go through ap-proximately 120 procedures with a 90% success rate!!!

Today, endemic wild poliovirus has been eliminated from all but four countries in the world (Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan). Today, more than 5 million children who might otherwise have been paralyzed are walking. Since 1985, Rotary has raised more than $800 million dollars for the protection of more than 2 billion children in 122 countries and is currently working to raise an additional $200 million toward a $355 million challenge grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Rotarians help recruit fellow volunteers to assist with transporting the vaccine, administer the vaccine to children, and provide support.

A ROTARY FOUNDATION UPDATE Fourteen of our 31 members have made pledges to the Annual Programs Fund of Our Rotary Foundation. Two of the pledges were for $100, six for President Don’s goal of $225, and the balance at a higher amount. Their total commitment is $4,985 equals a $356 per capita average. Tom Yuzer is our Foundation chair.


CLEAN WATER PROJECTS

The Rotary Club of Menifee has committed to two Clean Water Projects in Guatemala, partnering with Fort Collins, CO, a local Rotary Club in Guatemala and other international Rotary clubs. Initially, our commitment was for a minimum of $3,000 for each project; the funds are from the Menifee Motor Madness car show last spring. Agua Zarca, Phase II – The Rotary Club of Menifee is the Lead International Sponsor for this Matching Grant which will complete the water distribution systems for two sections of the dispersed community of Agua Zarca in the San Jacinto municipality of the Chiquimula department of Guatemala that were started several years ago, but never finished. In the most remote part of Agua Zarca, called Agua Valle Nuevo (150 people), the municipality began construction of a spring-fed, grav-ity driven water distribution system. The intake structure at the spring and some of the piping from the spring to the location of the distribu-tion tank were built, and the site of the tank was excavated. The remainder of the system was not built. Components that remain to be built include the tank, the distribution system downstream of the tank, two aerial crossings between the spring and the tank plus testing the parts built years ago and a possible chlorination system. All design work is complete and a materials list will be provided by the new mu-nicipality leaders. In another part of Agua Zarca, the current distribution system, built 22 years ago to serve 63 families, needs to be replaced so that this entire part of the community of 86 families can be served from the spring now serving part of the community. A 1 ½ in. pipe will replace the older ¾ in pipe and more distribution sections will be added. The spring flow is enough for the increased number of families to be served. Members of the Fort Collins Rotary Club, the Chiquimula Rotary Club and technical personnel from Water For The Americas have visited these parts of Agua Zarca. Community members in both parts of Agua Zarca will provide all of the non-technical physical labor for the in-stallation of these systems. Water For The Americas will supply any additional technical needs. A further part of this grant will supply water testing equipment to the Chiquimula branch of San Carlos University, El Centro Universi-tario de Oriente or CUNORI. Currently water testing for any samples from this part of Guatemala has to be done in Guatemala City, three to four hours away. There are lab facilities and technical people to do the testing if equipment is available. The University will either not charge for the testing or the charges will be minimal, depending on the sample source. Testing for water systems that we have completed, that we are working on and future projects in this area need initial and periodic testing. Currently, no community in the area routinely tests their drinking water, whether it is treated or not. Easy testing of water samples is very important to the health of people in the area. The project will be completed within a year of receiving the funds from the Rotary Foundation. Each of the sections of Agua Zarca has a water board that will be responsible for the maintenance of the system. The communities will be able to maintain these water distribution systems like they have maintained the one small distribution currently in place. Since they will install the system, they will have the best knowledge about how to maintain it. If water treatment is needed, the community will be trained on how to treat the water and will be given instructions on how often to have the water tested. The staff of the municipality of San Jacinto will also be available to help with any maintenance problems. The water testing equipment purchased for CUNORI will be owned by the University and maintained by them. Total budget is $24,950. Los Limones School and Gualan Municipality Project --This is a joint effort of the Rotary Clubs of Gualan (Guatemala), Ft Collins (CO) and Menifee (CA) and Districts 5440 and 5330 to assist two very poor communities in the municipality of Gualan, Guatemala with water and sanitation infrastructure. Los Limones School latrine and water: The Los Limones school is a K-6 school that serves the poor people of the area of Los Li-mones, a ―neighborhood‖ on the outskirts of Gualan. Approximately 150 children are registered with the school. The Municipa lity of Gualan has recently completed construction of a new 3-classroom building. Members of the Interact, Rotaract and Rotary Clubs of Ft Collins worked with the Interact, Rotaract and Rotary Clubs of Gualan to paint the new school and repair broken desks during a service trip to Guatemala June 20-28, 2009. While the municipality has been able to fund construction of the school, they have not been able to fund construction of bathroom facili-ties or provide water to the school. The only sanitary structure that is present at this time is a decrepit outdoor set of toilets and there is no running water at the facility. This project will finance construction of a bathroom facility, including running water, for the Los Limones School. This Matching Grant will cover all material costs while the Municipality will provide the labor. Construction of the school latrine with water supply will be completed within 4 months of receipt of funding. Guasintepeque Arriba potable water and sanitation: The Rotary Club of Gualan, Guatemala has asked the international partner clubs to help the neighboring small rural community of Guasintepeque Arriba improve the year-round availability of clean water. Currently the community of about 200 gets water from three sources. First a few springs at the head of the ravine that runs through the community sup-plies a small amount of water to a concrete tank and a distribution line with four taps on one side of the ravine. In the six month dry sea-son this water is available for only a couple of hours each morning. Secondly, the Rotary Club of Gualan purchased a plastic tank that is hooked to the concrete tank and the municipality of Gualan fills this tank with trucked in water a couple of times a week. Third, there are a series of hand dug wells in the bottom of the ravine that are so contaminated that the water from these wells is not used for drinking or cooking as long as the municipality of Gualan provides the trucked in water. During the rainy season the ravine wells are periodically flooded, increasing the contamination level. The contamination comes from the latrines above the ravine floor and seeps down through the cracks in the metamorphic rock underlying the community. This project will supply reasonably accessible year-round clean water by building flood protecting structures around the best producing wells in the ravine, pipe the water from these wells to the existing small concrete tank, provide electrical power for the pumps, and install a chlorination system at the concrete tank. Also a new distribution line will be run to the school which is on the opposite side of the ravine from the existing distribution line. In anticipation of this project, the municipality of Gualan has already paid to have the best wells deep-ened by several meters. The community members will provide all non-technical labor and Water for the Americas will provide technical support for the project. This project will be completed within a year of the time the Rotary Club of Gualan receives the funds for the project. In addition to supplying year-round easily accessible potable water to the community, we intend to start helping to improve the sanita-tion in the community. The sanitation improvements will take two approaches. First, sanitation training will be given to the community by a trained local person. Secondly composting toilets will be built for several families as a trial to see if the community members will accept this sanitation improvement. Specific training will be given for this effort. The material improvements, water supply system and toilets, will be completed in one year. The training and support for the sanitation improvements will last into a second year. Total budget is $24,365.

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Membership July 2009

CALLAWAY, DR. LINDA—672-1851 School Superintendent

CARPENTER, TOM ESQ.—654-7417 Attorney at Law

CASTILLEJOS, DARCI—600-7396 Restaurateur

CASTILLEJOS, MIKE—672-1971 Bank Manager

CENA, CHUCK—679-5869 Investment Advisor

CROSBY, CAL ―CROZ‖ —246-2202 Realtor

DAUGHERTY, JOE—679-3088 Tax and Bookkeeping

DAVID, PAUL—246-3530 Health Club Trainer/Owner

DENVER, JOHN—672-1731 Real Estate Broker

DENVER, LINDA—672-1731 Retired Educator

DUNAJ, LYNNEA—672-7573 Bank Manager

GARRETT, URSALA—679-2610 Certified Public Accountant

GREENBERG, DR. JONATHAN—943-6369 X126 School Superintendent

HANDWERKER, JUDY—672-9860 Fiduciary

HARRIS, WILLIAM ―SHAWN‖ - 246-3336 Asset Protection Major Retail

HOEHN, ―KATEY‖ —672-1851 School Administrator

LAGRANGE, DR. REX—301-0560 Medical Doctor

LUNDAY, DON– 676-2640 Hospice Chaplain

MARCONI, DAN—301-5333 Real Estate Sales and Investments

MARTIN, DENNIS—926-4665 Tax Preparation

O’DONNELL, MIKE—210-1038 Sheriff Detective Lieutenant

PRATHER, DAWN—756-4888 Charity Management

RAUSCHER, MARTIN ―MARTY‖ - 301-5297 Retired Mortgage Broker

ROARK, ROBERT ―BOB‖ — 800-824-6561 Insurance Agency Owner

RUBIO, SEWA—491-3282 Visionary Solutions

ROSE, JEFF—757-1813 Real Estate Investing/Remodeling SCHUBERT, ―BERT‖ — 301-3590

Association Management SMOLINSKI, JOE—672-0777

Mortuary Management SULLIVAN, CAROL ―RED‖ —672-1523

Clinical Research VASQUEZ, PAMELA—768-0607

Security Systems WOLONS, DOROTHY—672-1991

Chamber of Commerce CEO

YUZER, TOM—679-8541 University Fund Raising

Honorary Members

BAUSTIAN, CAROLYN—301-6071 BAUSTIAN, KEN—301-6071

LUSK, MORRY ―MORY‖ - 679-8211 SOTERO, MARJORIE—679-8211

WESTFALL, LINDA—830-6380 WILLIAMS, REAGAN

WILSON, JAMES—301-5604 WRIGHT, PAUL—679-3429

All area code 951 unless otherwise indicated.

Governor’s Visit December 10, 2009

Menifee Lakes Country Club

Dinner Meeting 6:00—7:30 pm

The theme is “The Gift of Rotary.” Spouses, family, significant others and guests are encouraged to attend to better understand Rotary, the Rotary Foundation and our Rotarian ideals and goals.

2009-2010 Leadership President—Don Lunday

President Elect—Dan Marconi Vice President—Darci Castillejos Secretary—Carol ―Red‖ Sullivan

Treasurer—Dawn Prather Immediate Past President—Judy Handwerker

Membership—Linda Denver Foundation—Tom Yuzer

Public Relations—Mike Castillejos Sergeant at Arms—Chuck Cena

District Governor—Rich Dell’Acqua Assistant Governor—Ralph Priem

Newsletter—Jan Lunday

November Birthdays

11/02 Judy Handwerker 11/15 Neki Harris 11/21 Joyce Crosby

November Anniversaries

11/16 Tom & Vicki Carpenter 11/17 Paul & Christine David

November Guest Speaker Schedule

Date Topic Speaker Rotarian 11/05 Foundation—Part I Tom Yuzer 11/12 TBD 11/19 Foundation—Part II Tom Yuzer 11/26 Thanksgiving—Dark

At the October 1 meeting, Tom Yuzer awarded John Denver his Fellow +6 and Linda Denver her Fellow +5 Paul Harris Awards.

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