ROTARY SHRIMP FEED.

The Angels-Murphys Rotary Club holds an all you can eat Shrimp Feed each year as a fund-raiser. I’ve missed the last four years since I’m usually back on the road by now. It was fun to go to the park, listen to the music, visit with friends, eat lots of shrimp and feel like I’m supporting a good cause at the same time.

My son breezed through this morning and asked me a question. “I see Rotary uses that little gear on their literature, so, what does it stand for, Rotary? I basically knew they were a fraternal, charitable organization. But his question stumped me.  I hadn’t given it much thought. I went to Wikipedia and learned that they stand for Service Above Self.  The cogged wheel symbolizes a rotating wheel  because the original founders rotated their meetings at each others houses. Rotary was so popular,  it grew  rapidly and steady meeting places are used by all Rotarians, now.  If you’d like to check out the link and read more:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_Club



The park is friendly and summer casual. Not many places can you dance bare foot.

Everyone was having a grand time including the band members:

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I have a special spot in my heart for Rotary because they sent my youngest daughter to Egypt on a Scholarship after she graduated High School. Her experience there was life changing, meaningful and rewarding. I am ever thankful to this group,  as is she.

Another highlight for me, is visiting with friends like Ginger La Jeunesse.

Shelly and Gene Cervantes.  You never see this couple without big  smiles.

Cindy, whose daughter I had only met once, yet I’ve known Cindy for twenty years. (I’ve misplaced Cindy’s last name, somehow.)

And Matt, who owns a coffee roasting business, informed me he had given up drinking coffee. He said he doesn’t need a pick-me-up in the morning and he just got bored with drinking it. And, I’ve just started drinking coffee after 38 years without it. I’ve only had four cups of coffee, these past four mornings. I decided to do it after reading in my Medical newsletter how good coffee is for you. In moderation, no more than six cups a day.

And, I chatted for a while with Liz and Steve Milliaire, the winemakers I credit with getting the wine movement really moving in this area. Liz doesn’t make wine but she was chief promoter when they moved here to make wine for Bardon Stevenot in 1979. They produce wonderful wines under their own label as well.  Ahh! Time well spent is its own reward.

COMMUNITY CLUB AND ROTARY

 

Last night, I attended the Murphys Community Club Annual Christmas Party. President Jim Creighton started a short speech with a phone number: 728-1948. "That number is significant because it is the number of the Community Club, but also 1948 is the year the club was founded."

Just prior to that, my table companion, Cindy Neiman asked me,  "What does the Community Club do?" She and her husband are Rotarians from Copperopolis.

 I've been a member for 30 years and I realized that I didn't know how a Community Club functioned when I first joined either. Unique among small towns like ours, community clubs supply, as volunteers, the basic functions of government. They own and maintain the local community park; provide public restrooms, clean and stock those restrooms, place garbage cans and recycling bins around town, pay for street lighting, rent the park for weddings and other functions, mow the grass, maintain a stable playground and river bank, paved walkways,  and...well, everything a city should do. The area is high on volunteerism and people who visit have no clue that all is accomplished through the hard work of local citizens. And it has always been so.

The annual party was a combination of two area Rotary Clubs and the Community Club. Jay and Clayre Quick have been long time Rotarians, both having served as President at one time. They were given a special award from Rotarians for the many years of work they've provided to their club. But, Clayre and Jay have given years of service to the Community Club as well.

Jim and Peggy Lucas, active volunteers, were singled out for their efforts to Community Club.

As were the Friedmans. Bill Friedman solved a very knotty problem in an old fashioned way. The park was troubled with vandalism and Bill decided not to call the cops. Instead, he got them aside and talked with them about what they were doing, and taught them about the function of the park and what the local volunteers accomplish there. It solved the problem.

Tammie Lundin is a Rotarian who makes it a point to get to know everyone in the room. The Rotarians also have this reputation for doing good works in their communities. Just a great bunch of public spirited people who make volunteering worthy and fun at the same time.

 There are more pictures if you'd like to click on my link below. The dinner dance was held at Kautz Winery.

http://picasaweb.google.com/1579penn/121110ComClubRotaryPrty#