From the "Empress" - 6/23/08

Rotary Shares…What an incredible mantra for our Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo this past year.  We have shared and accomplished so much in 2007-2008. I am continually amazed and exceedingly proud of all of us.

Let me see if I can highlight some of the things we have done this year, definitely not in any particular order – and, though so very hard to do, I’m trying to keep it brief!  I think you will agree this certainly illustrates what a marvelous club we are!!

• The 4th of July Celebration in our Mitchell Park was again a great success and sets a standard of excellence for a time to enjoy Family & Friends and pay tribute to our country’s independence.  From this wonderful day, we were able to donate about $2,500 to the City/County Library.

• The Home Tour, now our premier annual event in the City, highlighted 5 unique homes for about 500 guests and raised over $24,000 for our designated charities.

• The BBQ Team, revered by all of us that love to eat, drink and be merry, continued its usual top performance at several events.

• We had a fun, fantastic celebration of our club’s 84th Anniversary in December 2007, honoring many past presidents.

• Our Spring Fundraiser, the Rotary Cadillac Event, was marvelous, with much fun, fellowship and superb entertainment, food and wines…AND great auction items.  We raised over $27,000 from this event, to add to the coffers for the designated City Railroad Safety Bicycle Trail.  Wow!

• The Sergeant-at-Arms was truly entertaining with the roving microphone, with the help of our crew of audio-visual experts and battalion of good, strong, organized men always at the ready, making every meeting a delight.

• The Music Committee expanded our range by adding several dozen new songs; it continues to increase our fun each week.

• Programs were especially excellent this year.  This was strongly evidenced by the least number of “Early Leavers” I have ever seen…usually almost none!

• Our Rotaract Club at Cal Poly began with only three returning members but reached about 15 by the end of the year.  These young members helped wherever they could in our events throughout the year, and we have great hopes for its growth.

• We had a superb Veterans’ Recognition program in November and were able to actually view the photos and honor the history of many of our own veterans.

• “Choices” and a “Virtual Enterprise Program” were presented at the high school to encourage and stimulate our youth in their future vocations.

• The Annual Gary Suggs Distinguished Employee Awards continued in April, turning out to be an excellent program and a very nice way to honor many of our employees.

• The Bulletin went Online with a website specifically designed by one of our own members, and will continue and improve through the coming years with the addition of our Roster and Projects.

• We met at the beautiful Tolosa Winery for a great offsite meeting in our quest to learn more about other businesses.  Other offsites included an evening at the PAC (being among the first to hear the new Organ), a great “Firesides” meeting at the American Legion Bldg. and our annual “Rural Urban” event.

• Our Youth Exchange participation continued strongly with Vincent Song Weijun.  He enjoys us and we certainly enjoyed him.

• Early in the year, a group from our club joined with the Daybreak Club, the Morro Bay and Templeton Clubs, and Cal Poly students and advisors to kick off plans for fundraising for the Cal Poly Wheelchair Foundation projects in Malawi and other needy areas.  We donated seed money and participated in their activities, with all their efforts reaching $91,000 for the year.

• The Club’s Izmir, Turkey was completed previously and the Bostanli Club will soon be proposing another joint project with us.

• We hosted about 15 Compostelans from our sister club in Mexico and joined with the Paso Robles Sunrise and Templeton Clubs in sharing our area.  Last December, we applied for and received a District Grant to equip the Compostela Health Clinic’s first Emergency Room, suitably named to honor our own Hal Larson.

• We continue our work with members in Compostela to help improve their schools and senior home, planning a trip in October.

• The Rotary Foundation was a primary focus of mine, and our club members responded with nearly $24,000 in direct contributions…including 61 Sustaining Members, and averaging over $100 per member in total.  I would like to see us do more and especially have everyone sign up for an EREY (all of us committing to a mere $100 per year every year)!!  We can be proud of our many, many Major Donors, Benefactors and Bequest Society members…and don’t forget, this is so easy.

• Late in the year, we had the pleasure of an Ambassadorial Scholar applicant, Hannah Juul-Borre, a 2007 Cal Poly grad…Hannah came in 4th after District interviews and is First Alternate.  They are all wonderful!

• As I write this, the brand-new, beautiful fencing surrounding our historic Jack House will have been installed and finished by our members, the culmination of a two-year project for our District Workday and ongoing community enhancement.

• Membership this year was especially successful.  We added 9 new members (plus 2 just at the end of last year) to total 131, a great accomplishment for our club and, hopefully, one that will continue in the future.  At the latest printing of the District Bulletin, which shows all 72 clubs in District 5240, we moved UP in ranking for membership and attendance from a #6 at the beginning of the year to #2.  Great work!

• A unique Member Survey was conducted to identify strengths, weaknesses, trends, and member involvement, to hopefully improve each.  It was very interesting and informative.

• Members were honored for their tenure in our Club, ranging anywhere from 10 to 20 on up to 50 Years!


• Rotary Information Cards (“Sharing Rotary Facts”) were prominently displayed at the tables at each meeting, along with some Humor on the back…hopefully everyone learned more about Rotary in this way, its amazing history and accomplishments.

• New Membership Guidelines were reviewed and revised to bring them current; an informative, complete New Member Packet was finalized and used, hopefully speeding approval of applicants and improving the early years of a member’s commitment. 

• A Public Relations Press Release Form was distributed and is available to all members to complete and forward to the PR Chairperson. We continue our efforts for more frequent press.

• Superb photography was accomplished with the help of our best amateur photographers.

• The Club Bylaws, Policies & Procedures were painstakingly analyzed, amended, read, reread, revised, edited and released at year-end.

• Fun Birthday celebrations took place once a month, enhanced of course by our superb Singing!

• We continued our tradition of ringing the holiday bells for the Salvation Army, and I am told we always collect the most $$!

• The Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo awarded 27 Scholarships this year, totaling well over $30,000!  In this way, we helped outstanding young people from SLO High School, Cuesta College, Cal Poly and trade schools.

• Our Cancer Awareness event, joint with the deTolosa Club, continued at the Sands Suites & Hotels, bringing attention to cancer needs and dollars for its support and outreach.

• We contributed dollars for books and volunteers for reading for the annual Literacy Project, even sending money for the RI Rose Parade float, headed “Sharing World Literacy Day.”
• Holiday giving was enhanced by our Rotarians purchasing specific gifts for children from under-privileged homes.

• The Club’s annual Rural-Urban event, which honors the agricultural and viticultural contributions to our community was a great success with a packed room and good fun and fellowship with these important groups.

• We continued our support of RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards), the annual three-day event at Ojai for energizing outstanding young leaders.

• A new “Senior Project” was accomplished with Club members donating time and talent to sing at senior centers.  Of course, they were more than appreciated and well received.

• Cooking and serving meals at the Homeless Shelter took place at least four times, with members making marvelous dishes and helping others in need enjoy them.

• The “Missing Link” to help finish the Railroad Safety Bicycle Trail for the City was chosen as our main community project, and we promised $50,000 plus our efforts for additional community fundraising.  This was our first ever “Clean and Green Project” as identified by RI as a pressing need.

• We had many fun fellowship events – the Holiday Party with a sunset cruise and cavorting in Morro Bay; the annual trek to Truckee for great skiing in February; a mystery trip that took us to the Piedras Blanca Lighthouse followed by French cuisine at a local restaurant; a day at the Disney Music Hall to hear our own SLO Symphony; and a wine/water/munchies gathering after work at Embassy Suites with new members as our guests.
• We had two Club Assemblies this year, with these programs being a presentation by each of the Directors to highlight and discuss their responsibilities and plans.

• My President’s Club broke the record of all time, we think…over 100 joiners and nearly $18,000!

Don’t you agree we are grand, in all the very best ways possible?…and we can continue to improve and grow and help others.  We know there is more ahead, yet to be done, yet to be accomplished with everyone’s help…that is why we are Rotarians.

Thank you for a really great year,
 Empress Roxanne 

    “Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.”
Kahlil Gibran