A year in retrospect

Wow, I can't believe that a year has gone by so quickly but in a snap, it's over. I have spent the last year as the President of the Rotary Club of Tehachapi and I must say it's been quite the ride.

For many of you, you don't know what Rotary is. Well, it's a service organization that meets weekly for lunch. We have excellent speakers, get to socialize and plan some cherished projects that benefit our local community. These projects include a senior smoke alarm battery replacement program in early November at no cost to seniors, a Senior holiday luncheon, again for free, which is a full turkey meal, a visit from Santa and a lot of wonderful prizes. We also do a Breakfast with Santa with several other service clubs that includes a free pancake and sausage breakfast and a free picture with Santa for families. The Rotary Club of Tehachapi sends 10 high school students to leadership camp for four days, and gives scholarships to graduating high school seniors. Rotary organizes the Non-Profit Showcase that highlights over 40 organizations for citizens to find worthwhile volunteer opportunities in April. One of our most beloved efforts is around literacy and in an effort to make reading fun, we give every kindergarten student in TVUSD a personalized book that includes their name, pet name, teacher name, parents etc. What a joy to see the expression on their face when they see their name memorialized in a book. The club supports an Interact Club, which truly engages high school students in active community service and leadership. Our Rotary club is working on a project at a park with TVRPD and in conjunction with the Lions Club, to furnish a kids korner at the new hospital. We also support an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico.

All of these projects give us ample opportunity to give back to the community that we live in and enjoy. But, by doing these things together, we form wonderful friendships and a sense of belonging.

As if projects aren't enough, we have to plan fundraisers to support them, so we do two Fashion Shows a year, have done a fun afternoon high tea, and we do the Wine Pairing Dinner at the end of January. We currently have a bike raffle with the bike on display and tickets available at Sail Thru Car Wash. We volunteer at the Beer & Wine Festival, Cheers to Charity and The Apple Festival to earn some additional income. Fundraisers involve the community and we so appreciate the support we get and try to make our fundraisers something memorable and enjoyable.

This year we had 41 different speakers on topics such as the silver mine in Mojave, wind energy, energy conservation, filming a documentary in Afghanistan, working at UCLA as head Baseball Coach, identity theft protection, wise investing, zika virus, progress in eradicating polio, etc.

Of course, our local club is a part of a Rotary district, which is part of a zone which is part of a country which is part of an International Organization. Rotary International with the World Health Organization and The Gates Foundation have put a worldwide emphasis on eradicating polio. Other then a few hundred cases in the Afghanistan/ Pakistan area, polio as a disease is just about cured. However, Rotary has been actively doing water projects, hunger projects, and poverty projects along with polio eradication.

Through this experience as President, I've gotten to know each and every member of the club better. I've improved my public speaking skills, my organization skills and my writing skills. I've been to every single fundraiser and most projects and met a lot of incredible people from seniors to kindergarten kids and all those in between.

I want to thank the Rotary Club of Tehachapi for this invaluable time. What an amazing group of people. What an unforgettable year. What a sense of accomplishment and joy. What a fantastic community.

If you want to know more about The Rotary Club of Tehachapi you can join us for lunch at Big Papas at noon on Thursdays or contact Tim Trujillo at 821-0086.