Andrew Stearns kicked off the meeting with a slap of the gavel, and asked if “everybody is happy”, and said that “the one acceptable response is 'absolutely'”.
 
Paul Christiansan led us in the pledge of allegiance wearing a US flag shirt.
 
John Pencer gave us inspiration with many great patriotic quotes:
 
"It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."
    --Samuel Adams
 
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
    --Thomas Pain
 
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    --Voltair
 
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
    --Ronald Reagan
 
"In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline."
    --Martin Luther King
 
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others”
    --Nelson Mandela
 

Guests:

Mike Norcia introduced Tom Anthony a LGHS graduate who is a commercial/residential contractor
 
We also celebrated the July birthdays of Todd Taylor, Art Rabitz, Rene Friderich, Sarita Johnson, Ron Cassel, Tom O'Donnel, Bill Pope.  Much to their chagrin we sang a zoom happy birthday to all of these members.
 

Announcements:

Currently we have the Club BBQ set for August 25, 2020 at 5:30
 
Tina discussed the club's morning at St. Luke's.  Since covid hit we were unable to come and help serve food, but our Rotary club has been helping to support weekly food provisions.  We provide food, containers, and really almost anything that's needed for the homeless. Tina wanted to extend a thanks to all of those who have participated, and provided a list of the many Rotarians who have lent a hand (Jeffrey Barnett, Angelique Pimentel, Grady Jeter, Michelle Myers Nelson, Meghan Burton, Avis La Grone, Greg Gomon, John Pencer, Art Rabitz, Andrew Howard, Gae La Torre, Marjorie Brent, Richard Konrad, Sandy Bocks, Patti van der Burg, Carol Abela, Suzanne Boxer-Gassman, Dan Snyder, Mike Norcia, Maddie Smith, Riley Barr, Greg and Cindy Gentile, Tony James, Wes Sadumiano, Randy Cobb and Kathie Benko, John and Betty Colwell, Marty and Barbara Fishman, Tom and Carol Boyce)
 
Second Thursday Happy Hour is July 9th from 5:30-7:30.
 
Marketing Material - Amy Potts asked that if you are delivering funds to please document that with a picture to share.
 
Uplift Backpack Drive - The backpack drive will happen in August and they are asking us to help stuff backpacks again.  They will be doing that work in small groups, so please let Gae know if you're interested.
 
Virtual Firecracker 5k/10k/1k - The Santa Cruz Sunrise rotary club is having a virtual race.  This club is very supportive of our great race, so please sign up and let's return the favor.  So for 25 dollars you can do this race, and 100% of the funds go to charity, adn you can get a cool Rotary mask.  In addition this counts toward the Caldwell cup so please sign up and help us take the cup this year!
 

Today's program is a club assembly. Andrew S. went over our 2020-2021 goals.

 
Andrew asked us to stay postive, to increase member participation, to create some diverse, creative, and interesting programs.  He said let's create a strategic plan that allows for new opportunities so that we can still have some of our events even with all of the social distancing requirements, and he gave an inspiring quote:
 
"The Pessimist Sees Difficulty in Every Opportunity. The Optimist Sees Opportunity in Every Difficulty" --Winston Churchill
 
Andrew continued on the topic of attendance saying that we are tracking the attendance through zoom, and we are looking to keep our members engaged.  We have a vibrant We Care committee this year and are helping to keep members engaged.
 
Membership Growth - Andrew said we may have a new opportunity with Zoom to get some members who wouldn't otherwise have joined - through other states, etc.
 
Strategic Plan – Andrew said we are well on our way of getting this done. Raj is helping to determine what we're going to do to raise money this year, and how to deal with other Covid issues that impact our club.
 
Andrew also emphasized the need to evaluate our meeting location - We are considering other locations including a proposed site in the North 40 development.
 
He also wants to update our club history - We have quite a rich history and it would be great to capture how our club has evolved over the last 25 years.
 
He also showed the yearly schedule and went over some of our annual events where will have to adjust and get creative on how we handle these.  For example the crab fest could perhaps be done as a drive through event.  Let's all get our thinking caps on and make this a great year.
 

 
 
Click here to view the slides from this meeting.