VISITING ROTARIANS: Sandy Schwartz, Past District Governor
GUESTS OF ROTARIANS: Guest Speaker: Brent Gill
PRESENTATIONS Mike Gibson:
Mike was recognized as a Rotary Man of Action, for all the work he has done on behalf of Rotary.
Santa Maria Breakfast Rotary:
Our club was recognized for our contributions to the Rotary Foundation, and support of polio ratification. We are one of 12 clubs that that has 100% giving by ever member.
James Thomas:
James donated $1,000 to the club Scholarship Fund from his award as Volunteer of the Year for Mechanics Bank.
Past District Governor, Sandy Schwartz announced that our club was awarded a Rotary Citation for our community service work last year. Our club does a lot of work in the community, and we don't brag about it. The award was presented to Mike Buhring, who thanked Frank Ortiz for all he does to support the club, and particularly the Club President.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Clarissa Nagy Benefit Wine Raffle: Pat McDermott announced that a limited number of tickets were available for the benefit drawing. The cost is $10.00 each and the proceeds go to help pay medical bills for Ms. Nagy's cancer treatment.
Super Bowl Pool
Sign-ups were made available for a Super Bowl Pool. Winners will split the proceeds, which will go to support a Rotary Grant for a Safe House for victims of human trafficking.
Another Super Bowl Pool
Mark Jackson also has squares for a Super Bowl for the Santa Maria Evening Club.
Santa Maria City Council
Jason Stillwell announced that on Tuesday at 6:30 pm, the Santa Maria City Council will be issuing proclamations to the Elks and four Rotary Clubs, in recognition of the support they provide to the community. They will also be recognizing Dave Wright, Mike Gibson, and Tom Martinez, for their work in the community.
Barn Party
Ryan Swack reminded everyone that our Barn Party, will be on Saturday, May 9th. Start thinking about auction items.
BRAGS:
This Week's Monthly Rotarian of the Decade
Betty Miller
Betty couldn't think of anything to brag about, except that she has cataracts, "so now she doesn't have to look at us". Thanks Betty for all you do for our community.
James Thomas: bragged on winning the award of Volunteer of the Year from the Mechanics Bank branches on the Central Coast.
Martin Testa: announced that they bought the Party Place Store and are moving into their warehouse. They are also leaving on a two-week RV trip, through Las Vegas and on to Texas. - $100
Ryan Swack: bragged that today his son Cooper turns six. He was also looking back through the log books for the Santa Maria Inn, and our Rotary Club has a long history with the Inn, meeting here since the 1930s. - $30
Mike Buhring: His son's grades just came out and he made the honor roll. He is scheduled to graduate in May. - $30
Shannon Seifert: Today is her last day being able to she has been on the earth 58 years. She bragged today, rather than bragging on her birthday tomorrow, this saved her a dollar - $58
FINES:
Frank Ortiz was fined $30 for not knowing how to tie a bowtie.
The following members were fined $30 each because they didn't do well answering questions on Western Music trivia.
Tanya Astrosky, Mark Bachman, Craig Bernard, Ken Bradley, Jim Bray, Michelle Newman, Doug Palmer, and Jerry Walsh.
Program
Brent Gill
Brent Gill is an author, who grew up on a ranch near Springville, CA. He attended Cal State Bakersfield, and writes a weekly column for the Porterville Recorder.
He was raised on a cattle ranch in the eastern Sierra foothills, in Tulare county. His dad bought 1,500 acres of foothill ground, right at the start of the stock market collapse. His dad used to tell stories about the ranch. where they used to run cattle on the mountains. Early one morning, the head of the forest service in Springville, called his father. There had been a lightning strike, and they knew that if they didn't get out there soon, they would have a huge fire. They called his Dad, because he knew the area, and could guide them there safely. Brent got to go along, which was a cool experience for a 12-year-old kid.
Fifty years later he joined a writing club, and turned this story into a book titled "Fire on Black Mountain". In his story he followed his father, and the characters in the story are from his family. He spent a year and a half writing the book. On December 12, 2018, Fire on Black Mountain went live on Amazon. After writing Fire on Black Mountain, he realized that so many things that you see and do on a ranch are things that most people have not experienced. He also realized that there were things that he has done and seen that could be a sequel to Black Mountain. This led to his second book, Snow on Black Mountain.
.jpg)
