Dave Schapiro, Editor
This week’s greeter is currently our only member of the female persuasion, Shirley Lashmett, who, besides being active with two other Exchange Clubs in the OC, is President-Elect of the CA/NV District Exchange, and has taken on the responsibility of fundraising for our organization.
If she hasn’t hit you up for one or more fundraising activities, then you haven’t been attending many of our lunches!
Our meeting this week began with an expression of gratitude for food, family, and friends by our esteemed leader, Ken Dufour, which was immediately followed by the salute to Old Glory led by Deane Bottorf.
NEWS AND VIEWS – Past-Prez Richard Swinney was appointed to the Boards of Directors of both the Million Kids Foundation and the O.C. Child Abuse Prevention Center. As most of you know, we are major contributors to these organizations…Opal Singleton has notified us that Million Kids has received the $50,000 grant from the San Manual tribe so that we can now release our donation to Million Kids for production of the video on human trafficking…Newport Beach’s Lido Theater has closed for major renovations, and will not reopen until the spring. Prez-Elect George Lesley has announced that there will be no Movie Event this year and that we will try to reschedule the event after Lido reopens.
ANNOUNCEMENTS – Ross Stewart mentioned that there was a car show at the Oasis Senior Center this last Saturday morning and that Tom Naughton, Ken Dufour, and Mike Gertner were participants… Dr. Bob Wood again pushed the sale of this season’s football books at the discounted price of $20…. Shirley continued to sell Charity Raffle Tickets for the benefit of the South OC and CDM Exchange Clubs. She has a few left at $100 each, restricted to 150 tickets, so contact her if you are interested… Mike Gertner announced that the winners of the Week 1 Football Pool were Jeff Yeargain ($21) and Roy Shlemon ($5), with W.C. Fox getting the booby prize (his $3 entry fee) for lowest score…Richard Swinney announced that there are two upcoming golf tournaments: the O.C. CAP Center on 9/13; and the Newport Beach Golf Tournament for benefit of the N.B. Police Department. Contact Richard if interested.
PROGRAM
Our program chairman, Mitch Mitchell, announced our co-speakers of the day: Cynthia Strassman, President of the Parent Teacher Student Association of the Back Bay & Monte Vista High Schools; and Mike Wagner, Principal of Back Bay High. Cynthia presented the current agenda and vision for the school programs. This includes supporting student success, with a priority of reducing tardiness and absenteeism. She and Mike both emphasized that there is a direct correlation between success as a student and attendance, with positive incentives offered, such as gift cards, food, and recognition programs. Parents are strongly encouraged to be involved and will be notified by a postcard praising their children when they have good attendance.
They support a positive school culture by having regular school programs, such as “meet and greet”, notes of appreciation to the students, and campus beautification projects, such as murals. They provide enrichment opportunities, which will include a Cooking Enrichment Program, (which may include a competition similar to the “Chopped” Food Network TV Program); and a speaker series which will emphasize a variety of important life skills, e.g. budgeting, applying for a job, or for interventions as necessary. The issues of drug use/abuse, particularly the problems with “vaping”, were discussed, with school students treating their personal vaping devices as very valuable possessions! Mike mentioned that there is an attempt to oversee student behavior as much as staff and teacher time limitations will allow.
In concluding the program, Mike expressed his appreciation for the support that he and the school have received from Exchange. He is personally committed to becoming more involved with Exchange in the future.
RAFFLE – Joe Brown got the Grand Prize ($20), and Shirley Lashmett got the Second Prize of $10.
GREETER – George Lesley is currently our Prez-Elect, and will be serving a second term as prez beginning next year. George is a CPA specializing in forensic accounting and is often called upon to serve as an expert witness involving marital dissolution and business litigation. Please say hello and buy raffle tickets from him when you arrive!
