Home Page | Rotary Club of Nipomo

Speaking of history Mr. Bill Puccirelli told of the story of Rotary Club in Havana Cuba. Starting in 1916 with the establishment of the first club and by 1957 there were 60 clubs on the Island.

Sadly none exist there today as Rotary International dissolved the membership of the Island residents because they did not agree with the form of government established after the Revolution.

Time for some Braggs!

Peggy Hess bragged that the first meeting with her estate planning attorney was complementary. So she gave a little to Rotary in return.

Jim Harrison announced his granddaughter just gave birth. Apparently this isn't his first one as it sounds like he has enough grand children to start his own Rotary Club

Ed Harrison thanked Kelly for helping him Zoom the meeting from Quintessa Coffee Roasters.

Announcements

The demise of Bill Bettancourt's wife has been greatly exaggerated. Last reported she is alive and well.

Jim Harrison reported on the BBQ trailer.

Thanks Giving is fast approaching and decisions need to be made on plans for helping.

Kat discussed BBQing all the turkeys in lieu of oven baked this year.

We were encouraged to continue selling Raffle tickets.

This years virtual conference will be virtual. Some interesting speakers are lined up so be sure to register.

Our guest speakers were the owner and head Roaster from Quintessa Coffee in Oceano.

Owner Daniel explained his passion for coffee and walked us through the whole process with an occasional asset from Jack the roaster to make a great cup from procurement of the beans to the roasting process to cupping to selling the beans. An excellent product and an asset to our community. The business emphasis is on wholesale production but they are open to the public for a great cup of aromatic coffee or a bag of beans for home use.

October 7th Rotary Meeting

Sargent of Arms, John Brantingham, kicked off the Zoom meeting. Ken Shadle provided the invocation and John Brantingham led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Roger Ridley provided This Day in History.from Brevard, North Carolina. President Ed noted the passing of Hall of Fame, Bob Gibson, a pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals. Bill Pucciarelli provided the Rotary minute explaining the integration and application of International service to Rotarians. There was only one brag, Roger Ridley bragged that he had seen seven waterfalls on his cross country trip, including Niagara Falls and Idaho Falls. Bill Pucciarelli said we still need volunteers for four hour shifts for the Voter Center at Election time.

The club's bylaws have been updated. They are currently posted on the club's website. The club will vote to approve them before the end of October.

Jim Harrison announced that the club is going to help with the Nipomo Thanksgiving dinner to feed the homeless. Kat said the turnout will be muted this year due to the pandemic. The other organizations helping with the Nipomo Thanksgiving dinner are the Golden State Water, the Lions club, the Boy Scouts, 4H and community churches.

The Raffle Tickets for the Multi-club Mega Raffle and Electronic poster are now available. George & Ed Harris are distributing the raffle tickets.

The speaker was Jamie Herbon, the Lady Gaga of Trash. She appeared on Zoom with her cape of trash and a crown donning the green triangle of arrows symbol for Recycle, Reuse and Reduce. Jamie talked to the club about ways we can reduce trash. She provided some facts.

4 1/2 pounds of trash are generated for every person in the United States every day.

Landfill space will run out in 2035.

The amount of plastic spoons, forks & knives in the world could wrap around the world 300 times if placed end to end.

Her message was as a society and individuals, we need to reduce the amount of trash going into landfills, by reusing some items, watch what we purchase and recycle what we can. Her message was we can no longer live in a disposable world. Her recommendations were to use real china and glasses instead of paper plates and cups. Use a real dish towel instead of paper towels. Purchase a silicone lid for refrigerator storage containers rather than use plastic wrap. Bring your own draw string net bag for produce purchased at the grocery store rather than the plastic bags the store provides. Rinse out cans and jars that can be recycled and put them in the blue curbside bin. Plastic containers with the recycle number 1 or 2 can be recycled.

She informed that we can recycle plastic bags and amazon shipping envelopes at Vons. She recommended we put food waste in the food waste buckets provided by South County Sanitation rather than put the food in the land fill. The land fill gets so densely packed that air does not get to the food waste in the land fill and it does not decompose quickly, but fills up space. The food waste from the waste bucket goes into the green waste container that goes out to the curb. Hazardous waste (batteries, paint, etc ) can be dropped off in Nipomo on Saturdays between 11AM - 3PM and at the SLO dump during regular business hours. She mentioned that if there is just a small amount of paint left in a paint can, it can be spread out in an old box and thrown away once dried. The paint is no longer hazardous after it dries.

Jamie provided a recycling information sheet for her presentation.

Wasteful Information

County of San Luis Obispo – Integrated Waste Management Authority

Brochures, can stickers, general information about solid waste & recycling

870 Osos St, San Luis Obispo

805-782-8530

www.iwma.com

Recycling

Bottles & Cans – The locations to recycle California Redemption Value (CRV) containers have been severely cut back. The closest location to Nipomo is AGS recycling, 564 Mesa View Drive, Arroyo Grande (near JJ’s Market)

Reuse

A relatively new small business is helping residents with repairs versus dispose. Repair Café Five Cities supports reuse, repair, and waste prevention. Besides saving repairable items from landfill, our Repair Cafe is an amazing community of fixers and volunteers who are generous with their time and talent.

Upcoming Repair Café - Sunday, October 18, 2020, Time: from 1-5 pm

Location: Grover Beach Community Center, 1230 Trouville Ave.

Nipomo Household Hazardous Waste Facility
509 Southland Street, Nipomo, CA
Hours: Saturday 11am – 3pm

For more Information call: (805) 782-8530

Medicines & Prescription Drugs

The following Nipomo pharmacies provide a free disposal program for household over-the-counter and prescription medications, including pills, ointments and lotions.

Community Health Center Pharmacy (kiosk; use envelope for controlled substances)
150 Tejas Place | (805) 270-1821

CVS (kiosk)
610 Tefft Road | (805) 929-2740

Nipomo Rexall Drug (envelope)
695 West Tefft Street, #E | (805) 929-1929

Vons (envelope)
520 West Tefft Street | (805) 931-1850

Battery, CFL and Thermostat

The following businesses in Nipomo participate in the SLO TAKE BACK PROGRAM:

Miner’s/Nipomo Ace Hardware
Von’s

*Chevron Gas Station
*CVS Pharmacy
*La Placita Market
*Stop And Buy

†Nipomo Community Services District

* batteries only

† CFLs and fluorescent tubes only

Sept. 22 Rotary Meeting

The meeting convened on Zoom with John Brantingham introducing Ed Harris's 13th meeting. There were three guests, Jim Lewis, District 5240 Polio Plus Chairman, Brett Morey from La Jolla Golden Triangle club and Rose Parade Float Director, Mike Laughlin from Palm Pines Rotary Club and Katherine Hudson from the Cayucos club. Ken Shadle provided the invocation and Ron Willis led the Pledge of Allegiance. Bill Pucciarelli and Bob Sanders had BIG Birthday brags ( Bob - Sept. 9 and Bill - Sept. 27). Odell Lee bragged on his 51st wedding anniversary. Congratulations (or maybe condolences) to Nora!

A moment of silence was held for former member and the second president of the Rotary Club of Nipomo, Phil Henry, Jr. His obituary noted memorials may be sent to the Rotary International Foundation in his memory. Rotary was important in Phil's life.

Jim Lewis provided the club with a brief update on the eradication of Polio. He said there are still cases in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He told us Africa is polio free which is a significant accomplishment because the continent has to report no cases for three years to be certified polio free. Jim Lewis will be back as our speaker to present the entire Polio eradication story after the first of the year. Jim also mentioned how many Rotarians are participating the District Challenge - StepupforRotary.com, which raises money for Polio Plus. Jim thanked the club for it's past contribution to a clinic in India which helps kids with Cerebral Palsy.

Announcements - There will be no meeting Sept. 30. Members wishing to do so can go to Rooster Creek Tavern for dinner on Sept. 30. There is no group room reserved. People will be seated and served at individual tables as they arrive. We need volunteers to staff the Voter Center at the Edwards Barn 10/31 thru 11/3. Contact Bill Pucciarelli at pucciarelli49@gmail.com. The updated club ByLaws have been sent to all the members by secretary, George Dubois. The club will vote to approve the ByLaws after three weeks.

The speaker was Gordon Lu, former owner of the CoffePot restaurant in Morro Bay. Gordon Lu ( Lu Chi Fa ) was born in 1942 in Jiangsu Province of China. He grew up there and in Shanghai HongKong and Taiwan. As an orphan, he was shuffled from one house to another; he often was hungry, beaten and forced to beg to survive. In 1969, he immigrated to the United States, and through hard work and perseverance realized the American dream of success.

Gordon told the club that he came to the United States at age 26, landed in Honolulu and realized his visa was only good for 38 days. He quickly tried to enroll in college with little prior education. Somehow he obtained a student visa to stay for four years. He moved to Denver where he applied for permanent residency. He became a US citizen in 1983. He purchased a fast food restaurant in LA near the airport and owned that for less than 10 years. He then moved to Morro Bay and started the CoffeePot restaurant, coffeepotmorrobay.com. He owned the restaurant for 30 years and closed it this March at the start of the pandemic.

Gordon told us how lucky he is. His book 'Double Luck' tells of his life story of struggling as an orphan in China to immigrating to the United States. He said it was required reading by many schools in California and by Cal Poly in the past. He has spoken to many school groups about the tremendous opportunities there are in the United States.

He believes and appreciates that the United States is the land of opportunity, but it takes hard work also. He said at one time he was financially well off, on top of the mountain as he called it, but the past recession and now the pandemic have set him back. He now lives in a 1200 square foot mobile home and is happy and grateful. He gives the profits from his book 'Double Luck' to the Morro Bay Library. He said the community has been good to him while he operated the Coffee Pot Restaurant and he wanted to give back to the community. His donations to the Morro Bay Library total $35,000. The book can be purchased from the coffeepotmorrobay.com website or Amazon. He lived the American Dream and is grateful for all the American has provided for him.

Sept. 16, 2020 Zoom Meeting

President Ed Harris invocated Wednesday's meeting with a short prayer. Ken Shadle had technical difficulties and was unavailable when the meeting convened. Jim Harrison led us in the pledge of allegiance. Bill Pucciarelli, Cees, Ron Willis, John Brantingham and Roger Ridley all had brags. Roger was tuning in from Cody, Wyoming! Roger puts Rotary right up there with vacation, both are important. We noted Bob Sanders birthday with Bill Pucciarelli singing Happy Birthday to him (not quite the same as Marilyn Monroe).

Roger presented this day in history from Cody, Wyoming. Bill Pucciarelli presented the Rotary minute on the Rose Bowl Parade Rotary Float. The float is a collaboration of Rotary zones in southern California. It does not receive any money Rotary International. It costs about $100-$150,000 to produce and enter a float in the Rose Bowl Parade. The Rose Bowl float is a great public image project for Rotary, as the parade is viewed by 125 million people worldwide.

Announcements - The board meeting is Sept. 22 at 5:00PM. We need to cover approximately 36 four hour shifts at the Voter Center at Edwards Barn on 10/31, 11/1, 11/2 and Election Day, 11/3. Please sign up on line on Rotary Club of Nipomo Clubrunner or contact Bill Pucciarelli at pucciarelli49@gmail.com. Please ask your spouse, significant other, kids, grandkids or other relatives if they will help us. The volunteer has to be a registered voter.

The speaker was Sarah DeYoung from San Luis Obispo Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). She told has there are about 225 CASA advocates in the county and they represent about 500 kids a year in SLO county. She said CASA is always looking for volunteers. She said the volunteers at 90% women and 10% men. She said men are needed as volunteers because many of the kids have not had a positive male role model in their lives. She indicated that 80% of the cases they stand up for the kids are neglect or abuse cases to get the kids removed from the home. This is usually because the parents have problems and/or addictions and cannot care for their children. CASA advocates hold the educational rights for the children and represent them with the school district. She indicated that with distance learning it is difficult. The school district is supposed to loan children without a device a chrome book. However the chrome books are over loaned and there is a shortage. She said sometimes lack of WiFi can be a problem.

CASA now trains the volunteers on line via Zoom. They have had three new groups of volunteer this year.

CASA gets their funding from two sources, grants and fundraisers. There is going to a virtual fundraiser Oct. 23, 2020. If you would like to participate go to slocasa.org. CASA usually receives holiday gift cards from shoppers at retailers. However during the pandemic, they are reaching out to the public for $25 Target gift cards. If you would like to contribute, purchase one and contact them at the website to donate it.

Next week's speaker is Gordon Lu from Morro Bay. He will tell his story of being an orphan in China, escaping Communist China and immigrating to the United States.

Tefft Street Street

Saturday morning September 12 a crew of 6 showed up for the Tefft Street cleanup as a service to our Nipomo community.

Thank you Ed Harris, Ken White, Mario Igleasia, Harry Walls, George Dubois & Lee Baggett.

The group was able to trim plants, remove trash and sweep up.