Rotarians were welcomed to a festive Valentine Day celebration. Thanks to the creative efforts of Karina Vargas and Raul Pulido, with help from 14-month-old Mariana, they transformed the Elm Room into a delight of hearts, flowers and balloons. Raul offered each member a Margarita as they arrived. A big thank you to them, especially in light of coming all the way from their new home in Brentwood.
President Phil Siegle took the mic and asked Col. Alden Cunnigham to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Our Sunshine reporter, Jim Shypertt, was back in attendance. So good to see you!
Jerry Winges then came forward to deliver the invocation. He reviewed many of the humanitarian tenets of Rotary. He then segued into a report on our international committee projects. Our Club was awarded $16,000 in District Designated Funds (DDF), based on our past contributions to the Rotary Foundation. The committee has decided to contribute $2000 each to three district Rotary Club projects. That leaves $10,000 to commit to our most recent project in India. The plan is to digitalize another tribal girls school, as we did last year.
Fritz Brauner reminded us of the “hands-on” project planned for February 26 following our lunch meeting. We will gather to put together dental hygiene kits for Sonrisas Dental Health.
Jay Miller presented his monthly Rotary Magazine moment, reminding us of the wealth of inspirational Rotary stories that are out there. He featured two articles. One was written by a retired colonel in the Rotary Morning Club of Carlise, PA. Our own Col. Alden Cunningham is a member of the noon Club there and they are close friends.
There was some exciting news afoot that Joe La Mariana shared with us. The nominating committee, consisting of the last five past-presidents, has selected a President-elect nominee to serve as our president for the Rotary year 2026-2027. Drum roll, please!! That individual is Jerry Winges. To fulfill the mandate of our by-laws, Joe then asked the members gathered if there were any objections. None were raised. We were all thrilled with the choice!
Jennifer Pence was recruiting Rotarians to help with another round of mock interviews with BHS’ AVID group of juniors and seniors as they prepare themselves for their next chapter. Please sign up for April 10 and/or April 17 at BHS. Details to come.
It was now time for the program and Al Royse introduced our two speakers, Police LT Geoff Chenier & CPL Joshua Wang. Both have impressive law enforcement credentials. They are members of U.S. Secret Service Cyber Crime Task Force and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force They are currently in charge of the investigations of cybercrimes in Hillsborough. No one is immune as evidenced by the Hillsborough residents who have fallen victim and sustained very large financial losses.
The list of scams being perpetrated on individuals is lengthy. The scammers use many levers to dupe people into falling for fraud. The losses in California in 2023 were over $1 billion. They explained a few of these scams and provided some local case studies.
For additional information from this presentation, you can view the slides these officers provided. Use the link below.
One in seven Americans reports struggling with a substance use disorder, yet only one in ten individuals with addiction receives treatment. Steve Adami spearheads comprehensive recovery programs at the Salvation Army, emphasizing rehabilitation, reentry services, and homelessness solutions. His efforts have had a profound impact in San Francisco, where he champions effective alternatives to the city’s housing-first model.
