The Wheel – January 13, 2021

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Due to the recent concerns about the COVID-19 virus and a desire to follow the suggestions of health care professionals, the club will be having virtual meetings until further notice.

“The Rotary Club of Stockton Begins the 2nd Century of Service to the Stockton Community”
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Activities

• Call to Order and Welcome! In President Gary’s absence, Past-President Melanie Vieux stepped in and welcomed members and guests to the Virtual Rotary Club of Stockton 2021 meeting!
• Pledge of Allegiance & Four Way Test – Diane Stauffer.
• 

  Corie Stewart

  Thought for the Day – Corie Stewart: Shared the new year resolution. The theme of her resolution is “Kindness”. She challenged the members of the club to do the acts of kindness like Complementing people, return carts at the stores, donate blood, donate to food banks, bring laughter, say hello to strangers etc.

• Special Thanks Today to – Matthew Grizzle for orchestrating these meetings, Dudley Drake for his work on speaker recruitment, Leena Mittal for continuing to taking notes (thank you Leena), and Eric Duran’s role of keeping The Wheel rolling.
• Guests of Rotarians – Chheavy Lema’s son, Chris who is 4 years old. The cutest one in the attendance today!

• Rotary News: Rotary Direct – Total members registered in Rotary Direct for Foundation giving are 15! Please consider signing up; it’s easy to do! Please call President Gary (209-601-3631) or Linda Guinn (209-639-1482) to sign up. Van Young is the newest sign up.
• Club Service & District Calendar for 2020-2021 – Click HERE for the latest list! Don’t miss out on some great activities that may or may not happen in the near future (due to the COVID-19 virus.)

Directions for members on how to make a payment to Rotary Club of Stockton: Click on “$ Online Payments” in the blue bar at the top (or click the blue box)

Club Announcements

• District Governor 2023-24 – Immediate Past President Melanie said she was happy and excited to announce Past President/Assistant District Governor Waqar Rizvi as being selected as the District Governor for 2023-24 Rotary Year. Melanie had kind words for Waqar and how he helped her during her year as the President. She asked Waqar to say few words.Waqar thanked the Rotary Club of Stockton and its members for the inspiration that he had received from them in the last many years. Waqar acknowledged the three recent Past District Governors from the Rotary Club of Stockton that included PDG Jim Anthony, PDG Joe Serra, and PDG Susan Drake. He thanked PDG Joe Serra for all his services for Polio eradication that got recognition at the International level. He thanked PDG Susan Drake who guided him and got him involved both at the Club and at the District. PDG Susan had a clam aura and had answers for any Rotary related questions. He also thanked his family for all the support, especially to his wife Maria. He said he was humbled to be given this honor by the leadership of the District 5220
  

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  Message by District Governor Sherry Cotta:

  ANNOUNCING OUR NEWEST TO THE 5220 GOVERNOR LINE!
  Assistant Governor and Past President WAQAR RIZVI of Rotary Club of Stockton!

  This morning our 5220 Nominating Committee met via Zoom. We spent over an hour in interview with Waqar and his representative Chris Currie. Through a unanimous opinion the Nominating Committee selected Waqar Rizvi to by your District Governor for the Rotary year 2023-2024.

  The committee agreed Waqar has shown a passion and understanding of Rotary both at home and abroad and has supported his club and our district for over ten years as a stellar Rotarian. His goals include maintaining continuity among the Governor line, increasing our impact and our community awareness, encouraging clubs to work together in the district and in their areas, developing a better collaboration between our clubs and the other non-profits in our communities. As we support those non-profits, perhaps they can better support our clubs. He is a good listener, calmly leads through challenging events, is organized and, most important to me, he always follows through. He believes in team development and is a team player himself. He states “we often hire for skill, but we fire for lack of character” and insists character is the number one trait for his team members. His district teams will be ethical, motivational and inspirational. Although all Rotary Areas of Focus are important, he is humbled by what he sees in developing countries which makes Water and Sanitation his particular passion. He states fellowship and Rotary knowledge is the glue to our organization, and bringing all of our newest members to a better understanding of the fundamentals of Rotary should be every club’s goal. He states that family is everything, and bringing our families into Rotary, as well as continuing to develop more Rotaract Clubs, can be a positive element in our district. Although we have done a good job with our district giving to the Rotary Foundation, small monthly giving to Rotary Direct can have a huge impact on not only TRF, but our clubs’ DDF grants as well. There is a demographic we can reach through social media, and he feels we need to increase our efficiency on our websites to draw people into our club websites quickly and without requiring “too many clicks”. We’ve lost many members, primarily due to covid, with our larger clubs continuing to shrink while smaller clubs seem to have a tighter bond. We should make a conscious effort to continue to develop new ways to help our clubs maintain and grow their membership while developing new clubs where there is support or demand. He states that everything starts at the club level and comes back to the club level.

  Going forward, this is us! We thank you for the support you’ve given to us and the confidence you’ve shown to us.

  Sherry Cotta District Governor DG Year 2020-2021

  Tim Madden District Governor Elect DG Year 2021-2022

  Chris Daly District Governor Nominee DG Year 2022-2023

  District Governor Nominee Designate Waqar Rizvi

When (if) we (ever) resume regular meetings..

• Use That Credit Card at The Meeting – You may now pay for lunch, raffle tickets (minimum Credit Card Purchase of $5.00) and other purchase at the Club meetings with a credit Card.
• Potential Members – To encourage Club members to bring a potential member to the Wednesday meetings the Rotary Club of Stockton will pay for the 1st meal of a potential member brought by a Club member. For the proper procedure when proposing a new member, read this document.

Meeting Note takers needed for the New Year! Thank you Leena Mittal for volunteering to continue taking notes! Your help is much appreciated! Now it’s time for someone else to step up! PLEASE Consider volunteering (Like Leena has done) for a once a month (or more) opportunity to keep the Wheel rolling along. Our Wheel editor will appreciate you stepping up to assist! What’s a better way to know what’s going on in your club? -editor. Contact Corie Stewart at corie@gemcorp.com

Guest Speaker

Speaker: Christopher J. Lema
Introduced by: Chheavy Lema

Chheavy Lema

Introduction
Chheavy Lema introduced Chris Lema. Chris is 6th generation family in Elk Grove. He grew up on a ranch and understood the
significance of hard work early in the childhood. He started his career as a Computer network technician. Chris likes to keep his experience of a “Computer Network Engineer” concealed under the hood. One of his fun gigs was being a DJ at a night club. Chris went to California State University for his Bachelor’s of Science degree, where he met his lovely wife Chheavy. He is currently a Financial advisor and also owns a Dry cleaning shop. Chris and Chheavy have two young and energetic children. Chris has a huge passion for the outdoors.

Chris Lema – Off Roading
Chris did a beautiful presentation on his love of outdoors and how he loved to explore the nature’s paths without boundaries on his Jeep. He said that there are a number of misconceptions and fear for off road driving. He went on to explain, how his love for outdoors began. His family used to have a ranch, long time ago. Inside one of the sheds, at the ranch, Chris found a Honda Trail 90. That is when he got into dirt biking. Then he developed a passion for mountain bike racing. He had a number of injuries and even got a few broken bones while mountain biking and dirt biking. He said, “With age comes cage”. As he aged, he went from bikes to Jeep. Jeeps can literally go anywhere. He shared his journey on Rubicon road/trail with his Jeep Wrangler. He did a lot exciting and adventurous trips in his Jeep. Some of the trips were accompanied by his wife, Chheavy, but a lot of crazy trips were accompanied by his passionate friends. He shared pictures of his travels and it was amazing to see they took the Jeep through the rocks, mounds of snow, river and other nature’s wonders. He said, “I have spent more time under the Jeep than being in the Jeep”. The vehicle required a lot of maintenance. He also shared his pictures with Kuy’s family, who went with him on the Rubicon trail. Mr. Ky has bought that trip on a fundraiser event. Chris does not own a Jeep anymore. With his busy life and kids, he likes to explore nature with the trailer RV now.

Next Meeting: January 20, 2021
Julie Morehouse and Eric Firpo – Owners of the In Season Market and Nursery, “Plan for Spring- Go out and grow something!”

Julie and Eric own In Season Market and Nursery in Stockton. After successfully starting their own landscape and farm businesses respectively, they joined forces and opened In Season in 2016.

They enjoy sharing their knowledge of gardening and farming through classes, presentations and interactions with their customers.

Upcoming Speakers

(Virtual unless otherwise noted)

January 2021

• 27 – Chief Eric Jones, “Stockton Police Department”

February 2021

• 03 – Dr. Alan Carpenter, “9 Ways to Boost Health and Well Being”
• 10 – Peter Jaffe, “A Musical Valentine”
• 17 – Kevin Lincoln – Mayor of Stockton
• 24 – Chuck Myers, “The Hornet Aircraft Carrier”

Recognitions

• $1,000 – Lema Foundation gift of $1,000 is for the purpose of giving a Paul Harris recognition to Chheavy’s parents from them and her siblings instead of a traditional Christmas Gift.  They all wanted to do something that was special and meaningful instead of a material item this year.

Birthday Celebration Challenge!!!

July finals 14/15 or 93.3%
August Wrap up – 10/11 or 90.1%
September Birthday Celebrations: 15/15 for 100% participation!
October Finals 14 of 14 = 100%
Both September and October were 100 percent participation.
November birthday challenge was 87.5%.
December Challenge Wrap Up: 90% Participation

2020 Challenge Total:  76 of 81 for 93.8% – Thanks!

January Birthday Recognitions

January 2021 Birthdays…

Photos…