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The Rotary Club of Westwood Village has experienced two great weeks of presentations at their weekly meeting. On May 1st after President Benjamin opened the meeting, Chuck McCreary led the pledge, PP Michael Newman gave the “Thought of the Day” on events celebrated on May 1st around the world including National Prayer Day when we should all pray for peace and Janet Schwartz announced it was also National Holocaust Day, celebrating Jewish Independence in 1948.
Guest for the day with President Benjamin was Natalie Bausch originally from the Ukraine and now a practicing attorney in Santa Monica.
After being picked up at the airport early morning by PP Marsha Hunt, President Benjamin introduced the speaker for the day, Renald Giglione a Rotarian now from Nice, France but a member of the Rotary Club of Cherkasy Internation in the Ukraine. This Club has been very active in humanitarian help for Ukrainian citizens caught up in the war. He talked about how vigorously the Ukrainians' are fighting for their freedom and why he is traveling across the world raising funds and obtaining needed supplies for this effort. Some of the items needed are linens and towels, food, medical supplies, school supplies, wheelchairs, gas burners, drones and charging stations for them, sleeping bags, generators and hygiene products. Renald explained why these items were needed and where and how to donate. As President of the Rotary Ukraine-USA ICC, PP Marsha Hunt of our Club is overseeing his efforts in California. If you are interested in donating, please contact PP Marsha. PP Marsha Hunt is a hero and an angel to those in need.
Next up, May 8, 2025, was a Trivia Contest Day headed by another strong intelligent woman (the Club is very fortunate to have so many among its ranks) was Janet Schwarts who asked some pretty difficult questions that along with PP Tom Barron they came up with. There were five categories, Travel, Geography & Nature, Famous People, Movies and TV, Sports and History with five questions in each category. Actually, some questions required two answers. Thanks to donations from PP Tom Barron and PP Diane Good and Teya McCockran, those Rotarians who answered a question correctly went home with a prize. The prize of the day for answering the most questions correctly went to PP Chris Gaynor (a bottle of wine no less) but Sam, Matt, President Benjamin, Nathan, Bob, Christine, PP Nancy, Aaron, David, Bill, Jim, and even Rotaract Meagan won prizes!
The best part of the Trivia Contest, however, was Janet Schwartz telling us information that went far beyond the answer to every question. For example, she asked “What is the only one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world still standing? The Pyramids at Giza was the correct answer by Matt but then Janet went on to tell us all about the other 6 ancient wonders of the world no longer standing. It was a very interesting history lesson on each and every question. It would have been nice for me to have Janet as a History teacher. I might have actually learned more!
To begin the meeting President Benjamin opened with Jim Crane leading the pledge, PP Nancy McCready giving the “Thought of the Day” also mentioning the great work PP Marsha Day does in the world, while Matt Yuan was thanked for greeting and PP Diane Good for writing the Windmill.
Guest of the Day was Meagan Nakasone from the UCLA Rotaracts who will be leading this group next school year (and a current winner of one of the questions presented today)!!
PP Diane Good introduced the Rotary Club of Westwood Village’s Board of Director’s and Avenue of Service Chairs for 2025/2026. They are:
- Presidents: First quarter PP Benjamin Fisher; Second quarter PP Mark Rogo Third quarter PP Diane Good
- President Elect: Bob Simon
- Vice President: PP Peter More
- Secretary: Janet Schwartz
- Treasurer: Terry M. White
- Youth Avenue of Service: Samuel Botbol with mentor David Stover
- International: Nevin Senkan with assistance from Lynn Rogo
- Community Service: Christine Clayburg with mentor Aaron Donahue
- Vocational Avenue: Ethan Kim
Congratulations and a big thank you to the new Board Members for the upcoming year.
President Benjamin ended the meeting ten minutes ahead of schedule!!
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