Meeting was called to order by club president Jim Ripley. He paid his respects to the atrocities that are taking place in the Middle East, referring to Israel and Palestine fighting over the Gaza Strip. “We are fortunate to be Americans. Also, I reflect how appreciative I am that I was introduced to Rotary, especially this club, a diverse group of people.” CIA updates from Cathy Gach, our contributions are now up to $13,000 with the goal to reach the $20,000.For our Commencement Ceremonies, Jordan Garcia gave us our Patriotic Moment, leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance, “while we pledge our flag today, let it be a reminder that what we are pledging is a symbol of peace.” Dan Kiernan gave us our Invocation, leading us in prayer, “Dear Lord, please bless the world. The good people that are trying their best to make it out. Amen.”

Today’s guests include Rob Coghlan from the Fullerton School District and guest of Bob Pletka. Kevin Zullinger, guest of Jin Sung. President Ripley acknowledged Daniel Stewart who hasn’t been at a Rotary Meeting in a while. Welcome to all guests!

Our Song Master today was Bob Muschek who led us in the Rotary International traditional song, Smile. Great job Mr. Muschek.

Our Recognition Master today was Allyn Lean, “I looked at the weather report and it said air quality was excellent. So, we are good to go. I am up here to recognize certain individuals in the club and it’s actually quite a privilege to be standing up here after several years of issues.” Mr. Lean first recognized our illustrious president Jim Ripley and asked him to recognize his board members. He fined them all $5. He then asked all Newest Nine members to stand and give a 30 second elevator pitch on who they are. Sally Williams, who has been associated with Rotary for 45 years now has officially become a member of the Fullerton Rotary Club. Before, she was known as a “Rotary Ann” an antiquated term for the wives of Rotarian’s who attend events. This moniker came about from Mrs. Ann Brunnier, wife of Rotarian Brunnier. Congratulations to Sally Williams on becoming a member of Rotary International! Mr. Lean fined all Newest Nine members $2. David Gillanders was asked to stand and be recognized. David jokingly said that he never comes, and the day he comes, he gets recognized for his Rotary Anniversary. He was fined $5. Daniel Stewart was asked to stand and be recognized for his Rotary Anniversary. He was fined $5 and $5 for his good looks. Raco was asked to stand and be recognized for his 38th Rotary Anniversary. Dr. Thad Sandford was asked to stand and be recognized for his wife’s birthday. He was fined $5 for it. He then played a round of questions with each table. The table that got the answer incorrect was fined $5 each, and if they answered correctly, they would all be fine free. The topic was on Oktoberfest knowledge, which began in the year 1810 in Munich, Germany, and is currently being celebrated. Allyn Lean generated money for the club and did an awesome job as fine master.

Today’s announcements, President Ripley announced the District Chili Cook-off on Saturday at the Santa Ana Zoo. Zoot Velasco made the chili that won the Fullerton Rotary Club first place and the Afterburn Cup trophy. Leslie McCarthy announced the Halloween Party at Twisted Vine that took place on Monday, October 16.

Our program at hand was introduced by Jim Williams, “our program committee is doing a heck of a job. Today, we will hear from 3 of our nonprofit members to give us a quick update about the impact of their organization.”

Brett Ackerman, the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Fullerton, whose mission is to enable all young people, especially those who need it most, reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens, was up first. He personally thanked everyone involved at the auction that took place the weekend before, “I think it might have been one of the most fun events that we’ve actually done in the last 10 years, which is hard to pull off sometimes.” He spoke about the Leadership Keystone Group program that the club offers, which teaches character building and leadership skills. Aside from that, the Boys and Girls Clubs are involved in academic success, sports and teaching how to live healthy lifestyles. He thanked the Fullerton Rotary Club for all the years of service towards his organization, “you guys have been here 100 years. My club has been around 70 years. We’ve been crossing paths for many years, and you are the reason we are able to do these events and help support our mission and the kids in our community.” As for the future, Brett wants to integrate more kids into the fundraising of the clubs and at the same time, reach out to teens from underserved communities and take steps to draw more kids back into the club. A new program coming this school year is the literacy program, “we have kids that don’t know how to read. Literacy is highly important, so we are putting 45 kids with one-on-one mentors to help with reading.” Brett ended his speech by taking questions from the club.

Next up was Kendra Tankersly-Davis, vice president of external affairs at Crittenton Services of Fullerton, which is a national accredited behavioral health and child welfare nonprofit servicing the most vulnerable system-involved children, youth, and families. Kendra shared new stories with the club about past clients, and how Crittenton helps them in their toughest moments in life. She thanked the Fullerton Rotary Club for its continued support, and she also thanked, Joyce Capelle, Monica Fernandez, Theresa Harvey, and Bill and Robin Mathy for all of the work and donations they make toward Crittenton Services of Fullerton. Last up was Farrell Hirsch, CEO of the Muckenthaler Cultural Center and Foundation.

Farrell thanked everyone from the Fullerton Rotary Club, in Spanish, for the continued support of the Muck over the years. “The reason I chose to start this speech in Spanish is to highlight an event you probably don’t know about.” The event is the Annual Quinceñera event which is done for the members of the Fullerton community who want to continue the tradition and don’t really have the means to do it on their own. Farrell says that a lot of organizations and Rotary connected people help make this event possible. He thanked Duane Greenleaf, owner of Collette Catering, who is paying for all the service and the Fullerton Rotary Club which is paying for the food for the quinceñera event. The young ladies chosen for this event are girls that need assistance in many possible ways, so The Muck teaches them financial services, etiquette, and confidence learning, but they have to commit to the program first. Farrell also talked about the new arts education center opening this week, that is made possible by 11 Rotary members of this club. “One person I really do want to mention is Rick Crane, because it was Rick’s architecture company that worked on it.” Farrell called it an honor to be able to personally thank the club for all of its continued support toward the Muck. Jim Williams ended today’s program by thanking all of the nonprofits that our club works with.

Last thing on the agenda was the 50/50 drawing. Lucky ticket number 4241 wins the money! “Thank you for being here. Next week’s program is New Member Craft Talk with Sunny Hills High School Principal Craig Weinreich. So, invite a friend, please hit that like button and subscribe. With that, I call this meeting adjourned.”