Rotagram for Wednesday, February 10, 2021

President Kaisch welcomed everyone to the Rotary Club of Fullerton and gave his opening remarks: Like many of you I watched the Super Bowl on Sunday and I was intrigued by the number of Kumbaya announcements and advertisements. At first I was amused and then a little irritated. Finally, I felt a sense of appreciation for what I was hearing. We have been through perhaps the most difficult time of our lives. A year ago we began hearing about Covid, but no one really understood what it meant at the time. A month later we got the order to quarantine ourselves in our homes. Businesses were shut down and many of them have gone under. We all went a little stir crazy. (Of course, I’ve always been crazy so I hardly noticed the difference.) In retrospect, it was kind of amusing. First, we were told that a two-week shutdown would be sufficient to handle the virus and its depredations. Then, if I recall correctly, we were told that we needed another two weeks, and then another month, and then until summertime. In the summer, we were warned of the surge that would come after July 4th, and then the surge after Labor Day, and then Thanksgiving Day, and then the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The quarantine was alternately lifted and reimposed and lifted again. To be honest, it looked like fools were in charge, and indecisive fools at that. In the meantime, over 460,000 of us have died, and 27 million infected. The summer prior to the quarantine we had widespread riots and civil unrest, as the racial and social inequities of our culture were brought to light. I learned, along with many of you, that while we live in the land of the free, some of us are more free than others. That inequity is simply unacceptable. In the same breath, the civil unrest that it sparked was also unacceptable. What an insoluble conundrum! And then of course we have one of the more bizarre presidential elections of all time, with a contested election and a sitting president who very reluctantly stepped down. The prevailing party then impeached Trump for a second time and the trial began yesterday. All of this is extremely upsetting. It is as if the ground under our feet is moving and we have no idea of the ultimate outcome. Will we survive? Will we perish? At this point, we have no idea how things will turn out. And into this mess we have the Kumbaya advertisements of the Super Bowl. On reflection, I rather think we needed this “Come together/be at peace” message. We desperately need to resolve are many differences. We need to respect one another and accept that many of these differences are okay. This month, Rotary focuses on promoting peace around the world. I have always thought that meant fixing the folks “out there” who were fighting one another. I’m coming to realize, that it means fixing the folks here at home.

Mike Oates led us with the Pledge today and Joe Lins provided the invocation. Guests today included Alexander and Jenette Lopes, Rikki Bains, Chris and Janny Meyer (while driving to who knows where?), and Don Gach.

Club news and announcements: This month is Rotary Peace Month for Rotary International. Promoting world peace is one of the core functions of Rotary. We are currently looking for qualified young adults interested in promoting world peace. Rotary offers Peace Fellowships each year. Thad Sanford is looking for applicants for the Rotary Global Grants for young adults who desire to study peace studies overseas. Raco is looking for 11th and 12th graders for eRYLA leadership camp. Once again, eRYLA is just around the corner! We have an opportunity to send 11th and 12th graders (Juniors & Seniors) to "camp" via electronic RYLA! Our only fund raiser this year, Fullerton’s Schools Got Talent, is set up for April 24. It will be a virtual event, so it will be safe for all. We need volunteers to help Christian and Zoot, and we need sponsors, and those willing to go out and get sponsors. Zoot will be putting on a Valentine’s Virtual Happy Hour on this Friday, Feb 12 at 5 p.m. If you have not been to one of these, they are great fun. This is also a great opportunity to invite guests. A virtual invite will be sent out the week of the event but mark your calendars now. President Kaisch mentioned that Carol Bankhead, wife of long-term member Don Bankhead passed away on the 31st of January. Zoot conducted a live poll to see how many members have received their COVID-19 vaccine. 47 members have received the vaccine, 44 have not, 6 members have received the second dosage and 3 members do not plan to get the vaccine.

Today’s recognition masters, Christian Esteban. Roy Harvill is having birthday on the 13th, Leland Wilson is celebrating his 2-year Rotary anniversary, Karen Xie is celebrating her 5-year Rotary anniversary. Wearing a heart on his sleeve (virtually) Christian asked members to volunteer to self-fine and recognize another member of the club. Zoot Velasco, Jim Williams, John Phelps, Mike Oates, Leslie Mc Carthy, Raco, Bob Jahncke, Joe Lins, Farrell Hirsch, Ken Kaisch, Bill Mathy, Faisal Qazi, Thad Sanford and Rick Crane all took part.

Joe Lins introduced today’s speaker, Robert “Bob” Dunn, police chief of the Fullerton Police Department. Chief Dunn discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the department. Several officers and staff have contracted the virus and one had to be hospitalized. St. Jude’s Hospital has stepped up by providing the vaccine to all officers and staff. The city budget woes have required the department to impose layoffs at a time when crime in the city is on the rise. Violent crimes are on the increase and the city just recently experienced a gang-related homicide. Officers have had to be less proactive to avoid increased exposure to the virus and the department is having to consolidate its efforts to maintain critical services and enforcement. The Chief continues to work with the city council and is waiting for a final budget, which he hopes will increase his funding. The department recently launched the “This Is Us” campaign to share duties and concerns with the public-at-large.

President Kaisch brought today’s meeting to a close with a couple of quotes: “Peace is the beauty of life. It is sunshine. It is the smile of a child, the love of a mother, the joy of a father, the togetherness of a family. It is the advancement of mankind, the victory of a just cause, the triumph of the truth.” Menachem Begin. And “God’s dream is that you and I and all of us will realize that we are family, that we are made for togetherness, for goodness, and for compassion.” Desmond Tutu. With that, my friends, “Go out and be good people and great Rotarians!” The meeting is adjourned.