It was wonderful to hear from Aimee Sagan, Marketing and Communications Manager of Chapa-De as our guest speaker at our lunch meeting on September 25. Chapa-De is sponsored by the United Auburn Indian Community and began 50 years ago with one dental chair in North Auburn. Now they have 25,000 patients and a $48M annual budget. Their mission is to advance the health of Native American and low income people in our area. They provide medical, dental, psychiatry, optometry, pharmacy and wellness services. They are expanding prenatal care, delivery and maternal and child health programs. Chapa-De is surely a treasure in our community and we are so happy to know more about them.
Big thanks to Andrea Mason who served as our REGL chaperone this past weekend at Grizzly Creek in Portola. Rotary Eighth Grade Leadership is a program of Rotary District 5190 to build leadership skills in 8th grade students who are selected by their schools and principals. In this three-day residential program students build leadership skills focusing on personal ethics and interpersonal relationships. We were proud to sponsor the Mount St Mary's team and deeply moved by their transformational thank you letters to the Club. Read what Andrea has to say about the experience from the adult mentor point of view, in the story below. Wow, just wow!
Thursday Social at Bright Futures for Youth
Please note that for our social event at 5:30 October 3 we will NOT be at Round Table. Program chair, Christine Newsom has arranged a field trip for us to see the new Bright Futures For Youth venue. It’s located at the top of Litton Hill at 200 Litton Drive, Grass Valley. Our tour will begin on the 3rd Floor near the elevator at 5:30pm on Thursday. We will plan to gather at 5:20pm outside at the bottom of the front stairs for those not familiar with Bright Futures and the Litton Building. I hope to see you there!
I’m getting my costume ready for our annual Pumpkins for Polio event on October 17 at 5:30 PM at Round Table. The Pumpkins are busy growing; Cathy and Company are busy tending to growing pumpkins; and our artists are busy painting pumpkins.
Then, don’t forget, it’s all hands-on deck for our first annual Paws and a Cause event on Sunday, October 20 from 12:30 – 4:30 in Pioneer Park in Nevada City. October sure is going to be a busy and fun month!
Wahoo! Look at what Cathy and Tom harvested this week and there are more to harvest on Tuesday in preparation for our October 17 Pumpkin For Polio Harvest Fest Social!
Tuesday (Sept 24) harvest = 35. 20 are already painted, 15 more are on Cathy's porch plus 40 more in the field = 110.
Nevada City Rotary’s Pumpkins for Polio in Farmer John Drew's Bakbraken Acres fields are plump and more abundant. This year the soil was tilled with added nutrients thanks to several truck loads of manure generously donated by Tim Reid from the Reid Family cattle and horse ranch. We also extend special thanks to Peaceful Valley Farm Supply for donating two dozen pumpkin seedlings and NutriRich fertilizer pellets to kick start our pumpkin patch!
Members are invited to join Cathy, Tom, George and anyone else who shows up for what may be our final harvest for 2024! BakBraken Acres is at 14283 Judy Ln, Grass Valley, CA 95945 (take Powerline Rd off Hwy 174). Cathy can provide scheduling info.
Paws and A Cause will be a tail wagging community event with fun games & competitions, animal &food vendors, prizes, auctions, a photo booth, and more. While the event is a FUNdraiser to support Nevada City Rotary's youth and community services, we are looking to promote local pet and animal related services including Animal Control’s H.E.A.R.T, Sammie’s Friends, Animal Save, NorCal Golden Retriever Rescue, and many others who will host booths and mobile clinics, etc.
Excitement is building as we confirm pet & animal loving businesses. In addition to EventBrite sells, we will have printed tickets available for Rotarians to sell starting Thursday!
A special thank you to Club member sponsors: John Hensley & Nevada County Properties/Recreation Realty for sponsoring our doggie bandanas!
Andrea Mason - Personal Reflections as Rotary Eighth Grade Leadership (REGL) mentor
When I joined Rotary last year, I knew I wanted to somehow be involved with kids again, so when the opportunity to serve as a mentor at REGL popped up, I gladly jumped at it. The weekend started out a bit rocky though because my RYLA cabin counselor had to withdraw last minute, and I was told it would just be me in the cabin with the girls. My first thought was absolute panic. "I know nothing about this program! It's my first time here! How am I supposed to make sure these girls have a great weekend with no guidance about what to do with them?"
ALL my insecurities kicked in.
- I don't have all the information.
- I've never done this before.
- What if I suck at leading these girls?
- A 45-year-old with gray hair everywhere is WAY LESS COOL and fun to hang out with than a HS senior.
- What if the girls think I'm super lame?
Eventually, we got it sorted that one of the camp directors would bunk with me, and I gained some clarity about not having a cabin RYLA student, but assurance that I'd have a RYLA leader for our working groups during the day. Cool, okay, so long as someone knows what they're doing, all good.
And it wasn't just "good". It was pretty freaking epic. I'm not a particularly emotionally effusive person, but this weekend tugged at my heartstrings for sure. I watched a group of 90 8th graders arrive all nervous, sticking to their friends like GLUE, uncomfortable, uncertain, and generally insecure and then watched, literally before my eyes, as they opened up, gained confidence, learned trust, practiced courage, stepped out of their comfort zones, made new friends, and left the grounds as teenagers who didn't feel quite so alone and felt empowered to be agents of change.
The curriculum focused a lot on shared experiences to create a sense of unity. It focused on courage and why that feels scary. It focused on what it means to be a leader and how that may push them to speak up more, be more authentic, stand up for others, be a voice of compassion and understanding amongst their age group.
As they started to unwind and trust that they were in a safe space of non-judgement... y'all... some of their stories broke my heart. Some of what they've had to deal with at such a young age is truly staggering. I had a couple of moments of genuine connection with students from Nevada County whom I fully intend to keep in contact with.
But my overall takeaway from this weekend was this: HOW WE SHOW UP IN OUR OWN LIVES AFFECTS EVERYONE AROUND US.
Do we stand up for the downtrodden? Do we advocate for those who are bullied or overlooked? Do we present our authentic selves to the world? Do we wear a mask to hide the insecurities and shame and embarrassment? Do we dare risk judgement when we take courage and go out of our comfort zones?
I know a lot of adults who could reap the lessons and benefits of the weekend I just experienced.
What an INVALUABLE gift these kids have been given to start learning these life lessons and tools at such a young age. I cannot wait to attend again next year.
And FWIW, I was not lame, apparently. After "fearlessly" grabbing a hunk of hair to unclog a bathroom shower drain making jokes about fungus, one of the girls came up to me in the bathroom last night and said, "You're like, hella chill. I can tell you're one of the cool moms."
I died. My heart is full.
Andrea, thank you for sharing! You are a REALLY CHILL ROTARIAN TOO! Congratulations and thank you for your incredible service to REGL!
Board Meetings are held on the second Monday of the month. Our October 14 meeting is at 5:30pmto better accommodate schedules among our new board. It will be via Zoom with President Louise.
Not a Board member but want to join us? Contact Robin or reply to this Rotario for instructions. All club members are encouraged to attend a meeting. Location subject to change, please ask.
Big thanks to Andrea Mason who served as our REGL chaperone this past weekend at Grizzly Creek in Portola. Rotary Eighth Grade Leadership is a program of Rotary District 5190 to build leadership skills in 8th grade students who are selected by their schools and principals. In this three-day residential program students build leadership skills focusing on personal ethics and interpersonal relationships. We were proud to sponsor the Mount St Mary's team and deeply moved by their transformational thank you letters to the Club. Read what Andrea has to say about the experience from the adult mentor point of view, in the story below. Wow, just wow!
And it wasn't just "good". It was pretty freaking epic. I'm not a particularly emotionally effusive person, but this weekend tugged at my heartstrings for sure. I watched a group of 90 8th graders arrive all nervous, sticking to their friends like GLUE, uncomfortable, uncertain, and generally insecure and then watched, literally before my eyes, as they opened up, gained confidence, learned trust, practiced courage, stepped out of their comfort zones, made new friends, and left the grounds as teenagers who didn't feel quite so alone and felt empowered to be agents of change..png)
