Rotary Club of Santa Monica

There is no greater distinction than that bestowed by District Governor Mendoza, “ Best in Overall Club Service”.  Moreover, in addition to being named a Club of Distinction, and receiving the Governor’s Award of Excellence, we earned either first place or merit awards for: Electronic Communication; District Participation; Programs/Best Club Program; Membership Development; Red Quill Award; Give of Yourself Organ Donor; Community Development; Special Projects; Vocational Service; Literacy; Rotoract; and International for Polio Plus

Nat Trives continued to earn honors to make us proud.  He was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Martin Luther King Jr., Westside Coalition.

None other than William H. Crookston, Ph.D., was given the Award of Distinction by the National Conference for Community and Justice…and justifiably so.

Speakers who could not refuse Dave Rimer’s gentle persuasions educated and enlightened us. Where else can one have lunch and learn from the likes of: Governor Michael Dukakis; First Lady Sharon Davis; Rick Auerbach, Tax Assessor; Gary Small, MD, memory expert; Stan Stahl, electronic security expert; and Jerrold Green, Ph.D., terrorism expert.

And from the list of dignitaries who joined us and shared their experiences, we welcomed Rotary International Past President Richard King, and Rotary International President Bhichai Rattakul.

Rotary District’s Group Study Exchange Program, through Paul Gualke, hosted four students from Italy.

Annie Bird, our Ambassadorial Scholar, is thriving in Buenos Aires with aid from our Rotary funds.

Literacy won out as Shirley Dowling, Norma Barnes & Susan Dawson collected 11,000 books, read to school children, raised money for literacy in impoverished nations, and otherwise improved the human race.

More Immunization Clinics were organized by Jim Reidy, which greatly improved the health of our community.

The Santa Monica Rotary Boys & Girls Club project is beginning, thanks to the fortitude of John Deasy, Bill Crookston & Allan Young. Another saving grace for at-risk kids in our neighborhood.

The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Day was augmented by $4772 of Rotarians’ money. Frank Lavac asked us to dig deep.

$2,000 was given to Tod Lipka for Step Up On Second, where he feeds the homeless.

Dick Rice made sure we pitched in to purchase 151 wheelchairs, which will give disabled people worldwide a little extra boost.

Nancy Freedman went all the way to Timbuktu (literally) to promote Polio Plus.

$2,000 was raised by our club, and matched by the Foundation, to continue to eradicate polio internationally. Marv Levin’s impassioned pleas touched our hearts.

Diversity triumphed as the first-ever International Food Fest, coordinated by Karim Jaude and held at the lovely home of Tom Loo, introduced us to the flavors of our world.

Host-Hostess dinners added their own flavors as camaraderie was extended in the name of Rotary.

Barbershop singers thrilled us in four-part harmony, and the young musicians vying for the Esther Johnson Music Award reminded us that the future of music is loud and clear.

Our membership ranks swelled to 180.

There are 27 living past presidents, many of whom came for the annual recognition of their leadership. For those with perfect attendance (Frank Blenkhorn with 57 years is in the lead), they didn’t need a special occasion to show up.)

We mourned the loss of long-standing and new members: Judd Hummer, Bruce Blickensderfer,  Rev. Ronald Williams and Jim Cayton.