banner

Escondido Sunrise Rotary; Meeting to Serve our Community via Zoom; and “John Beede, Inspiring All of Us to Reach Our Summits with Courage”… October 15, 2020

Editor’s Note…

As we all try to conduct our professional pursuits in new ways, it’s appropriate to remind ourselves of who we are as a Serving Organization… Our accomplishments, our fellowship and the reminder of our many successes is valuable as we await the time we can gather together again…

 

So, we met via Zoom… On October 15…  Sunrise Rotary members talking about service and connecting through fellowship in new ways…

 

President Chris opened the meeting… Even with a gavel and the familiar chime of a gavel striking a bell…  23 Sunrise Rotarians joined the Zoom meeting… Nice job all of you for joining us…

Past President Jim Ponder led the pledge to our nation’s Flag… 

Past President Jack Anderson offered an invocation…

Guests and Visitors:

    President Chris’ First Family was with us, Susie and Sami…             Welcome!!

 

Now, some Sunrise Rotary member milestones…

Birthdays:

    None this week        

Anniversaries:

    October    18:    Past President Mark and Glynna Hoekstra…                         Congratulations!

        

Rotary Anniversaries:

    October    20:    ‘Some day’ President, Joe Holtz… 4 Years in this                 current tenure… and many years prior as well…  Glad to be serving with you Dr. Joe…

 

Sunrise Rotarians Having Fun…

Past President John and Donna Boyce were in ‘famiiy heaven’ with children and grandchildren all visiting… It doesn’t get any better than this…

 

Club Secretary John and Marie Schwab enjoying some time in San Felipe… John was actually in the meeting, ‘Zooming’ from San Felipe…

 

A ‘Blast from the Past’… Little League days in Escondido; Past President Jeff Johnson and President Elect-Elect-Elect, Mark Maus were terrorizing their opponents… One wonders if their birth certificates were legit for this team??

 

And, a bit ‘o whiskey tasting in East Escondido… Past President Rich Aeling hosted this fun event as part of a virtual fund-raiser with the After-Five Rotary Club… Equity prevailed, as President Elect-Elect Tina Pope was sampling the ‘wee drams’ of the ‘honey of the mash’…

Actually, I think Tina was the designated driver…

 

Keep your ‘fun’ photos coming to President Chris…

Sunrise Rotarians Serving, and Announcements: 

Feeding San Diego Links in North County

President Chris shared a story on the great ‘linking’ opportunities through Rotary service. In a recent program, we learned about the non-profit organization, ‘Feeding San Diego’… Chris’ connections at Palomar College has seen more than one connection to serving our region’s hungry families through this great group… As we learn of service opportunities, we find connections that were not expected…

Youth Protection Certification

President Chris reminded all that Youth Protection Certification is required if you work with youth in any of our programs.

Past President Mike O’Malley oversees the certification and recently sent emails with the forms, procedure and all the details…

Project Mercy Tijuana House Build Project

Past President Rich Aeling reported on this next year’s Tijuana House Build Project; he reported that due to the Covid pandemic, our project will entail constructing the frame elements of the house in San Ysidro from which they will be transported across the border to the project site. Likely to take place on a Friday in March, 2021… Watch for more details.

Escondido East Rotary Thanksgiving Dinner Delivery

President Chris announced that East Rotary is seeking drivers to deliver meals on Thanksgiving Day… Contact is with Darrol Castor of the East Club, contact President Chris to volunteer and connect with Darrol.

Jump Ropes for Elementary Students…

The Escondido Education Foundation is still collecting funds for jump ropes so that students can fulfill PE class requirements at home… Contact Past President Barry Baker to lend a hand.

Peanut Butter for the Food Bank:

Past President Rich Aeling announced that donations of Peanut Butter are important for the Food Bank… You can drop off you gifts at Aelott Air Conditioning on West Washington…

Support for the North County Veteran’s Stand Down:

Our program last week highlighted the value of the Veteran’s Stand Down; Escondido Sunrise will contribute $1,000 in support of the event… Our generous Club Members have added another $400 to the gift… So, $1,400 will be used to benefit our homeless veterans…

Update your Rotary Calendar

President Chris shared some upcoming Rotary events… Mark your calendars.

 

Special Announcement:

 

Grape Day 5K Update:

Time is creeping up on us…

Keep making your contacts and encouraging participants to join the fun…

 

Our virtual event is Saturday October 24… 

 

Our fundraising progress to date is $31,415 with a tight race between Teams Dragon and Kraken…

192 participants have registered to date… As shared by President-elect, Richard Agnew… Each of us Sunrise Rotarians can register as participants…

 

 

 

This effort is significant to our ongoing ability to serve and support those in need in our community… Do your part!!

 

 

 

Make your contacts, and solicit your donors for support…

 

This is an ‘ALL HANDS’ effort… Your Club and your community need your active support…

 

High Fives:

Past President and Foundation Chair, Kevin Svetich, commenting that Escondido Sunrise Rotary has 100% Paul Harris Award status, announced that Liz Phillips will be receiving her first Paul Harris Award… President Chris will deliver her award via a ‘social distanced’ drive-by… Congratulations Liz, thanks from all of us for your generosity…

Past President Dave Herbert offered a ‘Hi 100’ honoring Team Dragon for being the first team to reach $10,000 in contributions toward the Grape Day 5K… Thanks, Dave!

 

Program:

 

Past President Jim Ponder introduced our speaker, John Beede… John is an accomplished mountaineer, John has summited on the highest seven peaks on earth, and has trekked with Jim on Mt Kilimanjaro… John has also ‘kite-surfed’ on every ocean in the world… In his spare time, John is also an inspirational speaker at our RYLA leadership camp…

John Beede speaking to Sunrise Rotary Members…

 

John shared with us an adventure in Indonesia, climbing the Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia… This adventure included encounters with warring tribes fully equipped with bows and arrows and cell phones…

Arrival in the challenging countryside...

 

John’s experience was as much mountaineering as it was understanding the challenges of traversing various tribal territories when the tribes are at war…

 

Climbing the Pyramid and summiting was the group’s first major achievement; many more challenges awaited them as they reached their base camp and attempted to return ‘home’…

 

 

These adventures included porters disappearing with the hikers’ boots, satellite phone challenges as they attempted to reach safety, fear of becoming hostages among the warring tribes, and negotiating with the world’s largest gold mining operation for support and safe passage through the tribal areas…

A photo depicting the magnitude of the gold mining operation...

 

As in all adventures, there are lessons to be learned… John shared these thoughts that apply to all of us as we negotiate the impacts of the COVID pandemic on our families and our businesses…

 

‘Be Present’… The importance of being connected to the issues at hand, and not dwelling on what and if could have been.

‘Ask for Help’… Pride in self-accomplishment is often overrated as a character trait; John encourages all of us to ask for help when needed, and also to offer help when asked… Always being part of a team effort leads to success…

‘Ingenuity’… Always seeking the best possible solution for the situation at hand from whatever means can be applied. In their rescue from the tribal warfare, help came from a distant connection in the past to the US State Department… All because of trying again and again in different ways to reach their goal…

‘Determination’…Don’t quit!! Draw on all of the grit you have within yourself and your team to reach your objective…

 

John has written a book directed toward young men to learn these skills… “The Warrior Challenge; 8 Quests for Boys to Grow Up with Kindness, Courage and Grit”

More on John and his adventures can be found on his website; johnbeede.com 

 

 

 

Next Week’s Meeting:

Our program will feature Kevin Crawford, speaking about fires, hurricanes and terrorists…

The next meeting will be via Zoom on Thursday, October 22…

 

 

 

Support for our Escondido Community …

Our great community and the success of its businesses is all of our responsibilities… Support the businesses that are doing all they can to survive during this challenging time… Take out some chow… Be ready to support them when the economy begins working again…

The ‘Giving Arch’ on Grand Avenue and Centre City Parkway reminds us that Escondido is a caring, giving community… 

 

 

To all; be safe and be well…. God Bless those men and women that carry the load at our medical facilities, and God Bless the first responders… May our governmental leaders be wise, thoughtful and smart as this pandemic is overtaken by our hard work and collective support… 

 

 

Online Meetings:

Technical Support for Online Meetings: 

Our on-line meetings continue to be technically managed by President Elect Richard Agnew… Thanks for that Richard… And, Richard is prepared to support all of our attempts at joining the on-line meetings… Look for his email with details and links to log on to the upcoming Zoom meetings…

Watch for emails defining the next online meeting. The system works fine, dependent upon your technical support available through your PC or laptop…

SEE YOU SOON… ON LINE OR IN PERSON….. Next meeting; Thursday October 22; 7:30 AM… Check President Chris’ or Richard Agnew’s email for the Zoom Link…