banner
Rotopinion
 
January 15, 2017
Welcome to the Rotary Club of Woodland Hills!
Wed: - Noon - 1 p.m. - last Wed: 6 - 7:30 p.m., place TBA
Woodland Hills Country Club
21150 Dumetz Road
Woodland Hills, CA  91364
United States
DistrictSiteIcon District Site
VenueMap Venue Map
President's Message
Click to send email.

President Diane Nelson 

Please don’t miss our January 18th special lunch meeting:  our Religious Panel. This meeting will run from noon – 1:30 due to its content.  The program is: Religion; a Pathway or Obstacle to Peace Please join us! See information on the speakers below.
 
We started the year off with two very exciting meetings!
 
“Speedy” who is a counselor with New Directions for Youth, received a standing ovation for his very moving speech about choices he made in his life as a teenager and how they still affect him today.  He’s the perfect example of a pay-it-forward hero. Bernie Otis wrote more about this meeting below.
 
Bernie Otis wrote more about this meeting below. Thanks Paul Gross, for preparing for the January meetings!  Thank you Ron Supancic for your contributions to the Religious Panel on January 18th.
 
Our last meeting on the 11th was a Club Assembly.  Wow!  We have accomplished so much in a short period of time! Thanks to our chairs and co-chairs for all they’ve done for us.  You made a difference!
  • Thank you Alice Muntean and Elizabeth Tilkian – Community
  • c and Dylette Davis – Youth
  • Matt Schaaf and Paul Lawler– Vocational
  • Anna Salvarelidze and Arturo Velasquez – International
  • Lynn Miller and Sandy Rosenholz – Club Service
  • Ron Supancic – Peace Committee
  • Jay Saltzman and Jill Mellman, Foundation co-chairs
We couldn’t have done all these projects without you!
 
Here’s several things that I hope you were part of, because if you weren’t you missed out!
  • Valley Women’s Center fundraiser; our club was honored
  • City of Angel’s Ballet, supported and watched the kids rehearse at their studio
  • Pacific Boys Lodge picnic
  • Provided 40 residents of SFV Rescue Mission breakfast with El Camino Real High students
  • Halloween Family Faire fundraiser. Our first of many!
  • Participated in pumpkin painting booth at Calabasas Chamber Halloween event
  • Members spoke to Taft High students about their careers at Finding your Calling Club
  • We prepared snack bags for the homeless at our meeting
  • Provided 80 food baskets to families at Fullbright Elementary School
  • Provided 20 baskets to Foster Youths for Thanksgiving
  • Donated food to the SFV Rescue Mission
  • Santa and his elves and reindeers delivered 400 gifts to the kids at Fullbright Elementary
  • Foster teens Holiday party at Mimi’s Café
  • Coats for Kids project
  • Vision to Learn – provided glasses to kids at the WV Boys and Girls Club
  • Peace Walk at Cal Lutheran University
  • Woodland Hills Academy school clean- up project
  • Chili’s restaurant fundraiser
  • Concerts in the Park
  • Holiday party
  • Music Nights
  • Foundation Dinner on the Battleship Iowa
  • Cowboy Cookout
  • District Picnic and Cardboard boat race
  • Braille Institute Holiday party
  • Angel’s City Celebration – raffled bikes to the needy
  • Wednesday night meetings (socials) held last Wednesday of each month at Pizza Cookery, Sagebrush Cantina, Pacific Boys Lodge – more to come!
  • Fireside Chat for new members
  • City of Hope Cancer Walk
  • We’ve honored LAPD officers from Topanga Station Quarterly
Supported locally: Cancer Support Community, Stillpoint, Boys Scouts, Fleet Street, Reseda Elementary, City of Hope, Calabasas Rotary Thanksgiving for Seniors, Adopt a Senior, Miss San Fernando Valley, Hunger Food Truck, Transportation for WV YMCA to see a play at CSUN, sending kids to RYLA aka Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, Days for Girls, bikes for Angel’s City Celebration,
 
Supported internationally: Scholarships, Operation Smile -  Philippines, our Exchange student from Chile, projects in Columbia, Florence for Youth, Hippolyte Foundation, South African School projects in Mérida, Yucatan. 
 
Did you know that Ron Supancic is heading our Peace Committee? They meet on the third Tuesday of each month. So far this year, they have developed a relationship with LAPD through the Topanga Station, as wells the West Valley Islamic Center in Canoga Park. They’ve offered training through the Cerritos Youth Training Program. It’s endless!  Everyone is welcome. 
 
We did all this in 6 months! 
 
Upcoming activities:
  • January 17th – Peace Committee meeting at Sheri Polak’s house at 6:00
  • January 25th – Dinner party at Hookburger in Woodland Hills.  20% of proceeds come back to our club!  6:00 – 9:00.
  • January 26 – 30th – District 5280 Humanitarian Trip to Merida, Yucatan.  See you when I get back!
  • Feb 1 – CPA panel.  Tax law changes, business related changes, Obamacare, solar credits.  Q & A time.
  • Feb 8th – Officers  of the Quarter – Topanga Station. Discussion on bunco crimes.
Don’t we rock?  Invite your friends and business acquaintances to our meetings.  We are always looking for new members who want to be active in our community. The worst they can say is NO!  Maybe they will join and become active members! Take a chance! I challenge you to bring one guest per month. The member who brings the most guests (prospective members) will win a prize at the Demotion Dinner in June. 
 
Thanks again for all the great work so far!
 
Yours in Rotary Service,

President Diane

New Directions for Youth Rehabilitation Programs
By Bernie Otis and photos by Neal Goldman
Following the opening of our meeting by our Rotarian of the Day Neal Goldman, who only led us in Pledge of Allegiance and recitation of the 4 Way Test. He also presented a most interesting Craft Talk about his life and career. The Club then voted to name Dale Barnes as our President Elect for 2018.

What happened next I must say was the most dramatic experience I have ever had in my 63 years as a Rotarian:

Monica Austin-Jackson the Executive Director of New Directions For Youth, Inc. our guest speaker introduced a 34-year-old young man “Speedy” Buenl (see pictures below) the organizations reentry counselor who kept all in attendance spellbound as he limped around the room with his damaged left arm dangling at his side as he told us of how his disabilities resulted from “Bad Choices” he made early in his life when he was involved with drugs, hanging out with the wrong people and being shot at.

He related how he came to his senses and has devoted his life to working with high risk youth at New Directions Rehabilitation Programs and amazed us with his spirited and emotional appeal to all of us to join in their efforts.


 
 
Neal Goldman opening the program on January 4. President Diane Nelson is holding one of Neal's photos.
 
Monica Austin-Jackson, executive director at New Directions for Youth.
 
"Speedy" Buenl, rehabilitation counselor at New Directions for Youth.

 
Rotary Youth Outreach: Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical
Rotary Youth Outreach is a program that gives Rotary Clubs the opportunity to share new experiences with under privileged children. Join us for Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical at the beautiful Segerstrom Center for the Arts on January 22. Thanks to the generosity of Rotarians and the Segerstrom Center the cost of this day has been significantly discounted. The cost includes the theater performance and lunch. Sponsoring Rotary Clubs are responsible for transportation and appropriate clothing for the children attending the theater. Clubs may purchase tickets for deserving children and an appropriate number of Rotarian chaperones. Child participants suggested age is between 7-11 years old.  Tickets are limited and cost $25.00 each. To purchase tickets, contact Downey Rotarian Diane Davis at dianedavis4sc@gmail.com 

 
Executives & Directors
President
 
President Elect
 
Immediate Past President
 
Treasurer
 
Secretary
 
Club Service
 
Club Service
 
Community Service
 
Community Service
 
Vocational Service
 
Vocational Service
 
International Service
 
International Service
 
Youth Service
 
Public Relations
 
Public Relations
 
Peace Committee
 
Sergeant at Arms
 
Fundraising
 
Fundraising
 
Rotary Foundation
 
Rotary Family
 
Rotary Foundation
 
Program
 
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Dana Sherman
January 4
 
Richard O'Linn
January 4
 
Alice Muntean
January 8
 
Michelle Goldwater
January 12
 
Bernard Otis
January 29
 
Mardon Lamb
January 30
 
Mark Stewart
January 31
 
Anniversaries
Mark Stewart
Lisa Stewart
January 23
 
Join Date
Bernard Otis
January 1, 1954
63 years
 
Charles Barbata
January 1, 1958
59 years
 
Marlowe Mogul
January 1, 1958
59 years
 
Neil Sokoler
January 1, 2008
9 years
 
Thomas Ludowitz
January 1, 1958
59 years
 
Steve Hornstein
January 19, 2003
14 years
 
Upcoming Events
Peace Committee Meeting
Sheri Polak's House
Jan 17, 2017
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
 
Religion Panel: A Pathway or Obstacle to Peace?
Woodland Hills Country Club
Jan 18, 2017
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
 
Rotary Youth Outreach: Matilda the Musical
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Jan 22, 2017
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
 
Evening Rotary Club Meeting at Hook Burger
Hook Burger
Jan 25, 2017
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
 
District Humanitarian Trip to Yucatan
Jan 26, 2017 – Jan 30, 2017
 
Topanga Officer & Employee of the First Quarter
Woodland Hills Country Club
Feb 08, 2017
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
 
Bulletin Editor
Michael Turner
Russell Hampton
National Awards Services Inc.
Sage
Stories
Religious Panel Speakers
Religion: A Pathway or Obstacle to Peace? is the topic of a panel discussion which will be held at the Woodland Hills Rotary Club luncheon on Wednesday, January 18, 2017, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The three experts that will be exploring this highly relevant subject are:
 
Rabbi Paul Kipnes, MAJE, who views Judaism through the prism of healing. “Each ofus carries around within himself or herself the burden of unfinished business or unresolved pain. Jewish tradition, through healing prayers, religious acts and teshuva (a path of change), invites us to bring age-old wisdom to recent problems. The results can be astounding as we transform our values and change our lives,” he says.
 
Kipnes is a popular lecturer on raising spiritually balanced and emotionally whole children and is the spiritual leader of Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas. He also is a former camp director and North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) regional advisor. Kipnes and his wife, Michelle November, MSSW, co-wrote Jewish Spiritual Parenting: Wisdom, Activities, Rituals, and Prayers for Raising Children with Spiritual Balance and Emotional Wholeness.
 
The second panelist is Shaykh Suhail Hasan Mulla, who has been an active member of the Southern California Muslim community for many years. He is a resident scholar at the Islamic Society of West Valley. Sh. Suhail has served as Tarbiya Coordinator for the San Fernando Valley chapter of the Muslim American Society (MAS); lectured at educational and religious institutions; conducted weekly courses on tafsir, tajweed, seerah and Arabic; and served as a mentor and online counselor for Muslim youth. He has taught ‘Fiqh of Fasting’ and ‘Introduction to Qur’an Sciences’ courses on SuhaibWebb.com.Sh. Suhail is a native of Los Angeles where he earned a bachelor’s degree from CSU Northridge in African-American Studies and a master’s degree in social wWork (MSW) from UCLA.
 
The final speaker is Dr. Ross Porter, who is a teacher, author, executive, spiritual director, and deacon aspirant in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Porter earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his graduate degrees in Theology (M.Div.) and Psychology (Ph.D.) from Fuller Theological Seminary. He specializes in the integration of psychology, spirituality, and virtue ethics. He also is the executive director of Stillpoint Family Resources, which provides services to the underserved, with a particular focus on special needs families. Porter has written seven books, and is working developing a virtue curriculum for teens. His popular radio series ‘Heroes You Should Know,’ focuses on ordinary people who have done extraordinary things, can be heard on Immaculate Heart Radio.
 
The luncheon will be held at the Woodland Hills Country Club, 21150 Dumetz Rd., Woodland Hills, CA 91364. Cost is $25 for the buffet lunch and RSVP by January 12 by calling 818-754-4743. For more information, contact Paul Gross:
pgross@wradvisors.com Note: This is a special 90-minute program.

Days for Girls International

Today I went with some of my Rotary friends to help with a project for Days for Girls International making cloth sanitary kits for young girls in impoverished countries. When I walked in, the lady in charge asked if I know how to use a sewing machine. I said yes but I haven't used one in more than 30 years. She sat me down and showed me what they were doing and it all came back to me just like riding a bicycle. However, in the two hours I was working, I think I made eight or nine bags. . . I kept thinking about how my sister Linda could have whipped out about 30 in the same amount of time. Great project though. I loved being part of it and being with Elizabeth Tilkian, Penny Leon, Alice Muntean, Sheri Polak and Diane Nelson among others.

Around the Club
Photos by Neal Goldman

 
Arturo Velasquez is co-chair of International Service.
 
Elegance Hippolyte is co-chair of Youth Service.
 
Ron Supancic is chair of the Peace Committee.
 
Sandy Rosenholz is co-chair of Club Service.
 
Kim Wall is the club's treasurer.
 
Past District Governor and Past President (X 3) is co-chair of the Foundation.
 
President Diane Nelson (l) wishes Michelle Goldwater a happy birthday.
 
Past President Matt Schaaf is co-chair of Vocational Service.
 
Alice Muntean is co-chair of Community Service.
 
Paul Lawler is co-chair of Vocational Service.
 
Past President is co-chair of the Foundation.
 
Sheri Polak is chair of Family of Rotary.
Michael Turner, editor ► michael@bearsworth.com
 
P.O. Box 144 ► Woodland Hills, CA 91365 ► (818) 344-5776