President Liz Schuck was unable to attend, and so President Elect Irwin Cohen stepped up to lead the meeting.
For the Inspirational Thought, Stacy Trevenon offered her thoughts on last weekend’s 60th annual Kings Mountain Art Fair, an event she annually attends and at which she volunteers as a “booth sitter,” sitting in at booths when the artists need a break. She likened the art fair and the many volunteers that produce it, to our Rotary Club, given the boundless creativity, energy and resources it draws upon to do the work it does.
It was a quiet meeting, with no guests and no visiting Rotarians. When happy/crappy news was called for, Ralph Ely gave some sobering updates on Mike and Rose Serdy, both of whom were hurt recently due to falls.
Susan Kealey gave the latest on the Coastal Cleanup Day scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 23 at Dunes Beach. For this event we will be joined by members of the Rotary Clubs of Woodside and Palo Alto. Susan had brought posters about the cleanup day, to distribute to members to display from office or home windows.
John Evans updated us on the Interact Club and its co-Presidents Jacqueline Vasquez and Gracie Anwar (Gracie is a major force on the varsity tennis team.)
Barb Nielsen reminded us of the table that will be set up at our next meeting, focused on Interact at the high school.
There were two bottles of adult beverages left from the Lobsterfest, one of vodka and one of gin, which were offered for sale. Warren offered $20 for the bottle of gin.
Discussion turned to the 2023 Pumpkin Festival. Three large sheets of paper were set up on the walls for Rotarians to sign up for festival shifts and jobs. A gentle reminder went out of how Half Moon Bay Rotary regularly gives back to its community and will continue to do so.
Paul Wrubel acknowledged club member Bill Johnston for figuring out the system by which the boxes of 24 bread bowls each are set up in the I.D.E.S. hall, ready for the festival. Club members agreed this is a nice way to start and set a tone for the Pumpkin Festival.
John spoke of our involvement in Youth Exchange which has always been a vibrant program for us. Barb, noting how much fun our Interact volunteers had helping out at the Lobsterfest, said she will obtain names and email addresses in advance of Pumpkin Festival.
Discussion focused then on how Rotary touches and gives back to the community.
Irwin Cohen set forth a Pumpkin Festival “order of battle” beginning with regular club pre-festival meeting and discussions. Paul will pick up the bread bowls and chowder; Warren will pick up the gas canisters used to heat the chowder. All systems are go for final preparations on Friday of the festival weekend.
Paul discussed the minutiae of delivering the bread bowls and chowder to the I.D.E.S. Hall, and the “line of duty” in prepping, filling them and getting them to customers at the festival. Discussion touched on what still needs to be updated in the chowder brigade work, including ideas and topics that came up last year. Pricing for bread bowls and cups of chowder was debated. Irwin mentioned how the Beautification Committee has upped to 15 % what they get from our sales; Paul will check on the numbers. Stacy encouraged keeping the process simple, smooth and as easy as possible before and during the event. Paul mentioned getting thoughts from club members. Ten dollars for a serving is a nice round number, requiring simply one $10 or two $5 bills.
Warren mentioned booth setup and placement of the Rotary banner there, and welcomed suggestions on encouraging members to sign up for shifts.
Susan Kealey closed the meeting with a Thought for the Day which, given the discussion, was spot-on appropriate: “Teamwork makes the dream work.”
Posters that advertised the California Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept. 23, were distributed to members to put up in home or office windows.
The meeting adjourned with the business concluded, but fellowship continued.