previous Moraga Rotarian,

MORAGA attended her third free lunch at the

Club and asked for a membership
application.
ROTARY .

NEWSLETTER
June 4, 2019
Next Celebration: June 11, 2019
6 pm – Dinner meeting; Moraga
Country Club

Speaker: Diabetes Testing

Greeter/Invoc: Tony Schoemehl
Upcoming Programs:
June 18 – TBD
*June 25: Demotion party
July 2 – Putnam Clubhouse
*July 9 – John Fenoglio: Boy Scouts
July 16 – The Hamburg Story
July 23 – TBD
July 30 – Canine Companions
* Dinner Meeting at 6PM
The meeting was called to order
by Queen Debbie Roessler, filling
in for President Ron Mucovich,
who was attending to wife Yelena
who was operated on yesterday
for a broken wrist. The Queen
was also the Greeter/Invocator,
and gave some examples of life
principles, and led the Pledge to
the Flag. We were glad to see our
Honorary Rotarian Jody Parker
attending, and Fran Rathjen, a
Jennifer Brophy with new blue badge.
~~RECOGNITIONS ~~
Jennifer Brophy received her
blue badge from the Queen, who
said that she had earned it in
close to record time.
Gary & Carol Irwin recently
returned from Alaska, where they
took their third annual voyage on
the MV Discovery. It’s an 87’
classic wooden motor yacht that
takes up to 10 passengers through
the straits and fjords around
Juneau, where they could
photograph the whales, bears,
birds, and bunnies, and eat freshly
caught crab and shrimp. The
Wheel nicked them for $25; well
worth it, they said. Ask them
about the trip through Ford’s
Terror (on the map).
Barbara Bruner celebrated her
birthday with a nice cake, going
wine tasting with her daughter.
Angelo & Suzanne Costanza
celebrated their anniversary with
their son Mitch at the Claim
Jumper restaurant. He likes
Suzanne because she is a “cool
lady” who is “tons of fun”, and he’s
blessed to have her. He guessed
that she likes him least because
he talks too much, and proved the
point with several pertinent
examples.
~~HAPPY BUCKS ~~
Evie Michon gave a High Five for
Debbie Koo and Brian South,
our attendees at the Rotary
International Convention in rainy
Hamburg, Germany. They have
met Rotarians interested in our
Sierra Leone and Congo projects,
and are very busy with all the
events and attractions.
Jody Parker gave a HB for her
grandson, who is a promising
pitcher in the Pittsburgh baseball
organization.
Queen Deb gave a High Five for
their selection of the Priest at the
Serbian Church as their contractor
to redo their deck and install a hot
tub. It’s always nice to find an
honest contractor.
~~ANNOUNCEMENTS~~
Rich Render announced that our
Odyssey of the Mind team from
Campolindo HS placed in the
middle of the pack of 55 strong
competitors, and had a great time
on the Michigan State campus.
About 800 teams of various ages
competed at Worlds; two of them
were sponsored by Moraga
Rotary.
Rich also announced that the
Demotion Party dinner on
Tuesday June 25 at MCC will cost
$35 per person, so please get
your checks in promptly so that we
can get a head count to MCC.
You may also bring your own
wine, with $10 corkage (or
screwage) fee in cash to Lad.
Dianne Wilson gave an update on
the Sierra Leone project, which
has taken a new direction, as
another philanthropic organization
has provided housing for most of
the Ebola Orphans.
However, Moraga Rotary and FC
Seattle still plan to house and
educate the nine remaining children
by purchasing and reconditioning a
walled property in Makeni by
September 1, 2019.
Dianne Wilson reports on Sierra Leone
The property will also be used as a
community center for others in the
village. We are also working to find
a local Rotary Club in Sierra Leone
to administer the funds so that we
can get a $26,500 matching grant
from The Rotary Foundation.
Evie Michon reported that the
Congo library project is still in
process but we will not do any
more fundraising for about a year.
~~ PROGRAM ~~
Our program consisted of a Q & A
session led by Queen Debbie and
answered by Rotarians. Here are
some examples:
Dianne Wilson: What do you
take away from Rotary meetings?
Inspiration!
Roger Gregory: Why did you join
Rotary? I went to one of the
socials, and talked to Ron, Tony,
& John (and maybe drank a lot).
He’s still dizzy with all the stuff we
do.
Alaska bear cubs. Photo: Carol Irwin
Linda May: What goal have you
achieved? I’m still trying to retire.
One goal was to pick the green
marble from the raffle cup, which I
had never done, but this year I did
it twice!
Evie Michon: Most memorable
travel? Great question for
someone who has followed her
husband’s railroading career.
Paraguay was weird, Russia was
worst, but best was Poland where
they spent 12 years with friendly,
intelligent people.
Gary Irwin: Best Rotary project?
We have done a lot, but the All-
Access Playground is a no-
brainer. When I was President,
the Town asked us to take down a
wooden playground that kids really
liked, and we help put up its
plastic replacement, but our efforts
aren’t as evident.
John Erickson: What are your
hobbies? John used to make
balsa model wooden airplanes,
and then light the tail before he
flew them off their garage roof.
After ending his pyro career, he
collected stamps, coins, clocks,
etc. He collects old cars and fixes
them up with his son. His
hobby?—running hardware
stores.
Fran Rathjen: Favorite summer
activity? Going to summer camp
in upstate New York and getting
out of NY City where she lived.
Raffle: Doug Damaschino won
$10, but was out seeing a man
about a dog, so Lucky Linda drew
the marble for him, which wasn’t
green.
~~ Cliff’s Corner ~~
Your Dividends From
Rotary
When you invest your time, just as when
you invest your money, you hopefully
receive some reasonable dividends. That is
the question I frequently hear when I
discuss “joining Rotary” with a prospective
member. What do you get out of Rotary?
That certainly is a reasonable question. My
reply is usually along this line.
Rotary gives us the opportunity to become
acquainted with a cross-section of our
community to meet and visit once a week.
Rotary gives us information and
viewpoints about many topics by listening
to interesting speakers and programs at
each meeting.
Rotary gives us opportunities to reach out
and take an active part in worthwhile
service projects in our community.
Rotary gives us opportunities to become
‘world citizens,’ as we associate with other
Rotarians who live in 200 nations and
territories of the world.
Rotary gives us a special kind of fellowship
and fun into our daily lives.
Rotary gives us an opportunity to
demonstrate our personal assistance and
compassion for the poor and less fortunate
people of our community and worldwide.
Rotary gives us a rewarding dimension to
our lives which enriches our families,
friends and daily experiences.
The dividends from Rotary are really more
than we might ever expect. Certainly, they
are far more valuable than the time and
money originally invested!
Greeter/Invocator Schedule
6/18 John Erickson
6/25 TBD

Coming Events

• June 1-5: Rotary International

Convention in Hamburg, Germany
• June 25 – Moraga Rotary Demotion
Party at MCC.
• July 27 Afternoon - Cliff Dochterman
Luncheon Celebrating 60 Years of
Rotary Service at the Serbian Center,
School Street, Moraga
 MORAGA ROTARY DIRECTORS 2018-2019

President Ron Mucovich

Co-Presidents-elect Debbie Koo & Evie Michon
Past President Dianne Wilson
Co-Secretary Vickie Devlin & Evie Michon
Treasurer Lad Lynch
Foundation Chair John Erickson
Youth Service Chair Rich Render
Public Relations Gary Irwin
Newsletter Editor Frank May
Community Service Chair Tony Schoemehl
Co-Chair, International Services Barbara Bruner
Co-Chair, International Services Linda May
Membership Chair Debbie Koo
Director at Large Mary Sue Erickson
Director at Large Roger Gregory
Director at Large Debbie Roessler
Advisor to the Board Jim Campbell
Advisor to the Board Cliff Dochterman

District Governor 5160 Jon Dwyer

President, Rotary Barry Rassin
International

Newsletter Editor – Gary Irwin