Meeting was called to order by President Ripley, he couldn’t believe that September is almost over, and that October is right around the corner. He informed us with some interesting facts, “did you know that a camel can work 10 days straight without drinking? And did you know that I can drink 10 days straight without working?” He is warming up the crowd. “I actually had to curtail my drinking. I don’t go out to bars anymore. I just drink at home, but that’s not working out either because the other night, I asked my wife is she wanted to go home with me.” He now has the club members’ undivided attention; he received some great reactions. He announced a message from Cathy Gach on the CIA awards, he says that our goal to reach $20,000 is close but we are still stuck at $12,000. Please contribute if you can.

For our Commencement Ceremonies, John Phelps led us in our Patriotic Moment with the Pledge of Allegiance. Our Invocation was given to us by Rashad Underdue, who led us in prayer. “Dear lord, we gather here today as members of this esteemed Rotary Club, united in our commitment to service with humble hearts, seeking guidance and strength. Amen.”

Today’s guests include John Kawase who is the son of Frank Kawase, visiting us from Japan. He shared that he was turning 60 in October and as his birthday present, he is having his first grandchild. Jane Minkley, guest and wife of Howard Minkley was also in attendance. Welcome guest.

Our Song Master and Fine Master was Bob Muschek. He first led us with “God Bless America” acapella. “I think we ought to have a song in our Rotary meeting.” He started off with his list, and he knew that he would hold a lot of power as the fine master. He recognized a few people that were not present, Amy Gaw, whose husband Jason Gaw is celebrating his birthday on September 27. Leslie McCarthy was recognized for her husband Kevin’s birthday on September 27. Mr. Muschek recognized and fined himself for his wife’s birthday, Doris Muschek, on September 27, “When I get home, I am going to tell her that I told everybody how old she was. But nobody believed her,” joked Mr. Muschek. He said that every year he takes her to the Summit House because they have great Martinis, but since he changed his medication, he can no longer drink alcohol, so a change in venue to The White House for this year’s birthday celebration is the plan. Travis McShane was recognized for his Rotary Anniversary of 7 years. Larry Bennett was recognized and fined for his birthday, which he does not remember how old he will be turning. He was fined $5 but bargained to pay with his 50/50 raffle tickets, “because Pat Hartnett is going to win anyway.” President Ripley was recognized for his wife Karen’s birthday on October 2. He will be taking her to Mimi’s Café in Perris, California and not Paris, France. Dr. Bob Simon was recognized for his wedding anniversary on October 2. He was fined $5 for it. Jim Thompson was recognized for all his work he does for the Jim Thompson Track Meet and for his birthday on October 2. John Kawase was asked to stand and be fined for bragging about his first grandchild, jokingly he asked for his father Frank Kawase to pay the fine because it is his great grandchild. Zoot Velasco self-fined himself because next week is his wedding anniversary on October 5 but he will not be present for the meeting because he will be out of town in Palm Springs for work. He placed $10 in the fine net. Farrell Hirsch bragged and fined himself $5 about an event at the Muckenthaler Event Center on Friday, September 29 at 07:30. The Dr. James Young Arts Legacy Award, honoring Aimee Aul, who has worked in arts education for over 40 years. She has served as the Museum Educator at Fullerton Museum Center. “It’s Rotary related because it’s a program that Zoot started, and it is named after a legendary Rotarian and one of our main sponsors is Marty Burbank.” Allyn Lean bragged about Rick Crane’s hard work on the Jim Thompson Track Meet. Rick Crane thanked everyone else who is always involved in making the event a success. Both got fined for bragging. Dan Ouweleen bragged about last year’s Chili Cook off second place ranking. He credited Zoot Velasco’s chili as the sole reason why they did so well. Dan contributed $5 to the fine net. Mr. Bob Muschek did an awesome job as Fine Master.

Today’s program at hand was introduced by Dan Ouweleen, “Amy has over 20 years combined experience as a Business Development Executive, Nashville Recording Artist, National TV Host, and Bestselling Author. Amy helps professionals of all industries to create effective communication skills, public speaking skills, on camera confidence, along with branding strategies to increase visibility for their business or nonprofit. She spoke at our district conference, and she is here to help our Rotary Club grow. Also, Amy and her husband Brad are proud members of the Rancho Santa Fe Rotary Club.” Amy thanked everyone for having her at the club and gave us a nice speed round version of her usual presentation and at the end of it, she put her musical chops on display with a medley of pop songs. “Why in today’s world are we still being asked what is Rotary? When we have such amazing technology tools.” Amy’s career started here in Orange County in the mortgage and real estate industry. After the ’07 housing crash, she decided to get into the music business using the business skills she had acquired in the real estate industry. For the first six months, she was her own publicist. She was booking her own television and radio gigs. “I spent the next 7 years in music, but for 3 years of that time as well, I had the privilege of being the spokesperson for the American Veterans for the State of California.” She got to meet some of the veterans and created more growth for the service club so that they could serve more veterans. She remembers that the lack of social media and smartphones hurt the service club’s growth, “it’s amazing what we have today. We’re using our digital technology to reach the world.” She emphasized that social media platforms like Tik Tok, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram are a step above traditional media but that calling the local news and informing them that Rotary is having an event that day is still the way to go. “What if one of you calls the newspaper or the radio station, Tv Station and say, ‘we’re out here doing an event to end Polio,’” she said about using traditional media. Amy encourages the use of Reels on Instagram and Facebook and using the active keywords to let people know that there is a Rotary event going on. Amy introduced the Resting Face concept, the act of listening face. “What is your face saying when you are listening.” She says that learning how to show and engage in a conversation is a way to represent ourselves as Rotarians, “you want to show that you are excited to be here. When you are in zoom meetings, look at the camera. If someone is conducting an interview with you, look at the camera. It makes all the difference.” She ended her presentation with a song medley and took some questions from members in attendance. President Ripley presented Amy Scruggs with a certificate in her name to Working Dogs 4 Warriors, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping our Nation’s Warriors by training and donating service dogs to veterans and first responders.

Last thing on the agenda was the 50/50 drawing. Amy pulled the ticket ending in 4175. Congratulations to the winner! “Thank you for being here. Next week program is Election Issues and Predictions with retired CSUF professor Barbara Stone. So, invite a friend, please hit that like button and subscribe. With that, I call this meeting adjourned.”