The Windmill

WESTWOOD VILLAGE ROTARY CLUB

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PP Mark Rogo hosted today’s meeting which was held at the Salvation Army Westwood location. Hillel is busy hosting summer camps, so the Club will be having its regular meetings through July elsewhere. Be sure to read the Windmill or the weekly email so you know where the meetings will be held.

PP Mark Rogo opened the meeting by recognizing Jim Crane as WVRC’s Rotarian of the Year for the 2024/25 year. Congratulations Jim, well deserved!

PP Mark then thanked Janet Schwartz for greeting, Jim Crane for leading the pledge, PP Steve Day for his “Thought of the Day on doing good in the world through Rotary” and, PP Ed Gauld for leading the crowd in singing “God Bless America”.

The 2025/26 Rotary Club of Westwood Village Board of Director’s was announced and everyone pinned including PP Ron Lyster who was recognized for his service in continuously updating Club’s website. PP Mark then discussed next year’s International Convention in Taipei encouraging everyone to consider attending as the opportunity to meet so many Rotarians from around the world is priceless.

PP Chris Bradford in attendance and Chair for the Rotary Foundation Scholarship Committee with this year’s recipient, Elma Flores.  Elma, a graduate of Berkley in California, spoke about the importance of receiving the Rotary scholarship and her work in nutrition, especially in developing nations. Elma has worked in Oakland California and, Senegal while in the Peace Corps. She is working towards her graduate degree and is in her second year having earned the Rotary Scholarship both years.

Bill Roen was then asked to introduce the day’s speaker Vanessa Zamarripa.  Vanessa is an American stunt actress and former competitive gymnast for UCLA.  Zamarripa was one of the most successful gymnasts of the UCLA Bruins. She was the 2010 NCAA Vault Champion and a member of the UCLA Bruins women's gymnastics team that won the 2010 NCAA National Championship title. She scored nine perfect 10 on vault in her NCAA career and was a school-record 19-time All-American. During her senior season in 2013, she was the NACGC/W Division I National Gymnast of the Year and AAI Award winner (awarded to the nation's top collegiate senior gymnast). She was also the West Region Gymnast of the Year and Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year for the second time in her career.

Vanessa spoke and told how her parents did everything to make her dream of being a successful gymnast a reality. They have always been her biggest cheerleaders.  When it was time to go to college, she was offered scholarships from Michigan and Georgia as well as UCLA. She felt most at home at UCLA, had relatives who lived nearby, and was convinced this would be the right choice.  During her competitive years she had the opportunity to meet and speak several times with John Wooden. Coach Wooden convinced her not to get down on herself after a loss because the losses are what would help her become a champion. He also taught her to always be positive as everything is a learning experience that will lead her to success. With his wisdom she learned to adapt to other areas outside of athletics such as writing (she is a published author) and, the real estate business. 

She is a strong proponent of helping others and feels she is successful because “UCLA builds champions on and off the court.” We have heard this mantra from other speakers from UCLA and judging by all of their successes, it appears to be true.

Vanessa was a wonderful speaker and PP Mark told her so, as he presented her with a certificate and gift from the Club.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• August 2nd is the first District Breakfast of the new Rotary year. It will be at the Intuit Dome and tickets are on sale now!

• August 23rd is the District Picnic at Seaside Lagoon in Redondo Beach. This is an annual even with chili and salsa competitions and of course, the famous cardboard boats! Plan to attend from 5-9pm wearing your favorite Hawaiian outfit.

• September 20th is Dodger Night in support of Rotary's youth club. Come support the Rotaract & Interact Clubs while enjoying a nigh of baseball. The game starts at 6:10pm and tickets are available on the District website.

• November 1st will be this year's Rotary Foundation Celebration. It will be held on the Battleship Iowa and the Westwood Village Club has two tables. Don't be left out of this wonderful event, sign up now with PP Mark Rogo or PP Diane Good.

FUTURE MEETINGS

• July 24th at the Salvation Army Westwood - Monika White returns to the lectern to address, "Part Two: What happened to us now." Monika last spoke to us on May 22. Her background includes a PhD from USC in Social Work and a former specialization in Gerontology and care management for older adults. However, her prior topic, upon which she will build for today's presentation, was "Surviving the Holocaust in Shanghai."

• July 31^st at the Salvation Army Westwood - Rabbi Sherman is Senior Rabbi at Sinai Temple, and his topic will be, "Antisemitism in America and in Los Angeles." At Sinai Temple, Rabbi Sherman oversees the Sinai Temple Israel Center, which engages the synagogue and the Los Angeles community in Israel advocacy and education through speakers, classes, trips, and programs. He founded the Sinai Temple Israel Center Rabbinical School Fellowship, which trains future Rabbis through seminaries across North America how to engage Israel in a deep and nuanced manner. He also directs the David and Angella Nazarian Youth Fellowship, inspiring the next generation of Jewish leaders to use their voices in Israel and civic conversations. He was recently named the Fifth top Visionary for Israel by the Jerusalem Post

• August 7^th at Hillel - Our new member, Matthew Yuan, will give his craft talk today. Matthew is founder partner of Burning Bush Ventures and a business startup consultant. According to his company website, "His mission is to help startup founders and VCs to navigate the waters of building a great company."

WVRC 2025/2026 Leadership Team