President Cheri called the meeting to order.  She asked Joe La Mariana to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Guests:  Lisa Goldman introduced her guest, David Whitman with the Burlingame Library.  Emily Matthews had two guests, Margaret Glomstad, director of Burlingame Parks and Rec and our speaker, also from that department, Corrie Fuhrman.

 

Speaker:  As our presenter needed to leave early, we rearranged our schedule and invited Corrie Fuhrman, Recreation Coordinator, to the podium.  Corrie gave us a history and overview of the Memory Café.  When Burlingame was contemplating creating this service, they did a lot of research to help set up the program.  What is a Memory Café?  It is a social gathering for individuals with various forms of dementia and their care partners.  Events are held once a month, on the first Wednesday.  The need is there since 10% of those over 65 have some form of dementia and 83% of the caregivers are family members suffering from high levels of stress.  This program is designed to prevent social isolation and create a positive and fun opportunity for interaction.  It has led to an informal support system and the development of friendships.

 

Once the decision was made to proceed with organizing a Memory Café in Burlingame there were a number of steps that needed to be followed by the Burlingame Parks and Recreation Department.  A space, with parking, needed to be found.  A social worker with expertise in dementia had to be included.  And funding and volunteers were required.  These needs were met by a number of partnerships.  The Peninsula Health Care District not only agreed to provide funding for a year but also the location for the monthly meetings.  The social workers are members of Catholic Charities and the volunteers come from our very own Rotary Club.

 

There have been four monthly meetings to date.  The activities have included Chair Yoga, Music Memory and Photo Sharing.  The Recreation Department is doing various outreach activities to let the community know about this program.  They are utilizing social media as well as various websites.  There is also a documentary created by Catholic Charities called “Too Soon to Forget”.  It is being shown at various times and locations in the area.

 

Chuck Voltz, who helped spearhead the effort to create this program in Burlingame, spoke briefly on part of his motivation.  Mary Janney, a longtime member, past president and past district governor, has suffered from dementia for many years.  He noted that the role of a volunteer, i.e. Rotarian, is to be welcoming and interact as a host with the attendee.

 

President Cheri then asked membership chair Alex Buljan and past-president John Delaney to come to the podium.  It was their pleasure to introduce our newest member, James Young.  James is a real estate investor who was recently married and is now expecting his first child.  To add to this, James recently passed the Bar.  Welcome, James.

President Cheri requested that our Par3 servers, Julieta, Jesus and Omar, join her so that we could all show our appreciation for all that they do for us each week.  They were presented with a monetary token of our thanks as well as a standing ovation of those in attendance.

 

The bell was then rung and the meeting ended.