Brian reminded us that this club has

MORAGA been meeting for over 53 years and this

year’s theme is Rotary Opens
Opportunities.
ROTARY Gary Irwin greeted the participants and
remarked in his invocation that he was
NEWSLETTER in the Army during the Vietnam era but
did not serve there. He pointed out that
many lives and dollars were spent there.
August 4, 2020 Today we trade with Vietnam and
_________________________________ tourists go there regardless of the form
Next Meeting: August 11 of government. He concluded there has
to be a lesson in all this. Gary lead the
Noon Pledge of Allegiance and supplied a full
We are now conducting regular sized flag to pledge to..
meetings by on-line video or by
phone!
Guests today were Mike Martin - our
speaker and Mary Caburi .
Program: Shawn Knapp, Moraga
Town Engineer on the Canyon ~~Happy Bucks~~
Bridge Mike McCluer had a Happy Buck for his
wife who works at the Kaiser
Greeter: Roger Gregory Permanente lab in Walnut Creek doing
____________________________ Covid -19 tests and has been working
To participate next week: 12 hour shifts. Kudos to Carmela!!!
Zoom connection information for next week’s
meeting will be distributed early next week. Linda May had 4 Happy Bucks to
celebrate the overnight visit from her
Upcoming Speakers: son..
Aug 18 – Dave Kemnitz – Cars 2nd
Chance Jim Campbell had a Happy Buck for a
Sept 8 – Mark Nagel: St. Mary’s College friend who thought he would lose his job
but did not.
Dec 1 – DG visit: Mark Roberts
Debbie Roessler had 10 Happy Bucks
for hubby Lou whose birthday was the
~~ Fourth Meeting of the day earlier. He should come home in a
2020/2021 Rotary Year ~~ week. He likes the food at Manor Care
and a nurse who looks like a young Liz
Taylor.
President, Brian South rang the
Moraga Rotary Bell to open the meeting. .
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~~ Birthdays ~~
Stephanie Dickerson celebrated her
42nd birthday at home with her family.
~~ Anniversaries ~~
Rich and Peg Render celebrated
their 46th anniversary but did not
have special plans.
Stephanie and Frank Dickerson will
be celebrating their 15th
anniversary shortly.
~~Club Business and Info~~
President Brian noted the new Moraga
Rotary fundraiser, initially titled “Ribs for
Rotary” , will be the subject of Fund
Raising Committee meeting after today's
regular meeting . The goal for the
meeting will be to get the event rolling,
set a tentative date and perhaps pick a
restaurant and menu for the catering.
We want to use our club website to
advertise the event, to take orders and
to accept payments. This dinner may
become a model for future such events
at various times during the year and
augment our big “Nite at the Races” in
March, 2021.
Brian reported that the virtual
evacuation drill for the Town went well
despite some spam alerts on some of
the messages
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Ravi Singh is proposing to have a
potential fund raiser by scheduling a
smog check day with proceeds going to
the club.
Greeter/Invocators
Don’t forget, we need greeters and
invocators! Herb says he is not getting
much response to the request for sign-
ups. There is an updated list below
showing people who have signed up
recently. Please let Herb Wehmeyer
know when you would like to do this
service for your club. Contact Herb at:
oherbw@att.net
The Club Mystery Box
President Brian showed a new
mystery box wrapped in blue paper. .
The firsts hints were “The item is worth
about $25" and was "donated by Cliff
Dochterman”. Guesses at $1 per were:
• Rich Render - Rotary tie
• Evie Michon - Rotary vest
• John Erickson - Rotary wheel
• Gary Irwin - Rotary tee shirt
• John Erickson - .Rotary banner
• Barbara Bruner - pen and pencil
• Debbie Koo - Rotary blanket
• Frank Bay - Rotary bag
• John Erickson - money clip
No correct answer. Guess again
next week..
(Each wrong answer cost the
guesser $1. Please send your Happy
Guess money to Moraga Rotary,
P.O. Box 122, Moraga, CA 94556.)
You can confidentially submit ideas
for box items to Brian. The box is
about 10 inches by 10 inches.

~~Program~
Today's speaker was Mike Martin
from the Vietnam War Veterans of
Diablo Valley, an organization
formed in 2000. Mike provided
many interesting statistics
regarding our veterans of the
Vietnam War.
9,087,000 served in the military in
the Vietnam area including
2,709,000 in Vietnam.
Today Vietnam veterans have 18%
above average income and a
below average unemployment rate.
The average age of Vietnam vets
was 19 when they entered service.
The number of deserters was 250
versus 200,000 in WW2.
58,229 names are on the wall of
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial,
47,418 hostile deaths and 10,811
nonhostile.
8 nurses died.
61% of men killed were 21 years of
age or under.
303,704 were wounded in action of
which 153,329 were hospitalized.
There were 766 POWs of which
114 died in captivity
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Only 25 % of Vietnam vets were
draftees but they were 30.4% of
the combat deaths.
Not one combat unit surrendered.
Mike graduated high school in
1965 and originally received a 2S
student deferment as a student at
the University of Arizona. Later he
joined the Navy Reserves and
completed Officer Candidate
School graduating as an Ensign
and became a Navy Supply Officer.
After a brief stay at Camp
Pendleton, he was off to Da Nang,
Vietnam. where he worked 12 hour
shifts and managed 180 trucks.
Many of the incoming ships were
from Oakland and other west Coast
ports.
Upon his return to the USA via
Flyer Tiger airlines he was greeted
by protestors at LAX , one of which
spat on him.
Mike concluded his comments with
a discussion of the impact of Agent
Orange on returning troops with the
many diseases it causes and the
impact of PTSD or Post Traumatic
Stress Syndrome on veterans.
.
Brian South thanked Mike for his The meeting was adjourned with a
presentation and told him he would ringing of the Moraga Rotary Bell and a
receive a certificate acknowledging his wish for a blessed week to all. See you
presentation and a medical kit would be on the Zoom next week!
donated to a Moraga school in his
name. This week's scribe , Ron Mucovich,
could not join the meeting for the first
few minutes due to technical difficulties.
Many thanks to Gary Irwin , Roger
~~Final Words~~ Gregory and Rich Render for filling in
the gaps.
Brian announced the new "end of
meeting game" which he called “Encore”
with a prize of $20. He showed four
aces from a deck of cards and pointed
out that there were four suits
represented – Diamond, Heart, Club
and Spade. After shuffling the cards
Brian drew one. A randomly drawn club
member, Mary Sue Erickson, was called
upon to identify which suit the card
represented. She guessed “Aces" but
was incorrect. The actual suit was
"Clubs". Because no winner was found
today next week’s Encore prize will be
worth $30
Next week’s speaker will be Shawn
Knapp, Moraga Town Engineer and
Roger Gregory will be the Invocator.

Herb Wehmeyer needs • 9/01 – Open

Greeters/Invocators. We have the • 9/08 – Open
following club members signed up. • 9/15 – Open
Please help fill out the September dates: • 9/22 – Open
• 8/11 – Roger Gregory • 9/29 – Open
• 8/18 – Dianne Wilson
• 8/25 – Evie Michon
Please help fill the Open spots.
It’s Fun, it’s Easy! Notify Herb of your
preference at oherbw@att.net

Page 4 of 7
Debbie Roessler needs speakers. She
says a good source of potential
speakers are news articles in the local
papers. Per Debbie, “You can find
speaker ideas everywhere.” Please help
Debbie, particularly in light of the fact
that she will be facing unknown time
constraints when Lou comes home.
Please research speakers for August
and September.

Moraga Rotary Directors 2020/2021

President Brian South
President Elect Brian South
Past Co-Presidents Evie Michon & Debbie Koo
Executive Secretary Evie Michon
Secretary Jennifer Brophy
Treasurer and Youth Services Chair Rich Render
Club Administrator Debbie Roessler
Foundation Chairman John Erickson
Community Service Chairman Tony Schoemehl
Public Relations Chairman Gary Irwin
Fundraising Chairman Frank May
International Service Chairs Dianne Wilson & Debbie Koo
Membership Chairman Roger Gregory
Director at Large Mary Sue Erickson
Director at Large Linda May
Advisor to the Board John Erickson
Advisor to the Board Jim Campbell
Advisor to the Board Cliff Dochterman
District Governor 5160 Mark Roberts
President, Rotary International Holger Knaack
July newsletter editor – The Rajah - Gregory

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