Newsletter Vol. 18 No. 26 - Week of July 5, 2009 Hope Everyone had a Happy and Safe 4th of July J Reported by: Linda Rice & Howard Miereanu uly 2, 2009 — There wasn’t a lot of red, white and blue in the room until Dominique showed up armed with several dozen American flags, which she passed out to everyone in attendance. For her effort, Richard (who was filling in for our still-missing President Sylvain) pegged her to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Ron led us in a rousing version of “God Bless America,” and Shelly did a very nice job with the invocation. We were without Renee this week and that was pretty painful but, in the end, everyone got pretty much what they ordered - eventually - more or less. Our substitute server seemed to take everything in stride, however I’m guessing she won’t be too disappointed if she doesn’t see us again for some time! Club Curmudgeon, Gil, was passing out Stand-in Pres. Richard gets cookbooks to anyone who had not already meeting started. taken their allotment and haranguing those who had for money. The cookbook is beautiful and stuffed to the brim with some great-sounding recipes. Apparently, Sylvain knows a thing or two about bartending as he supplied several intriguing cocktails. Nice work, Gil, and many thanks to you and your committee. Was it my imagination or was Ron sporting a raffish new hair style this morning? Richard announced that the Board had met the night before and Ron hiccupped, “I knew there was something I was supposed to do!” Despite the absence of Sylvain, Ron and Jacquie, Richard insisted there was a quorum to vote to adjourn the meeting. It was, according to Pat, the shortest Board meeting in the Club’s history. The Board did do some business, however, like approving the new member application from Edward Fiszer, Principal of the New Academy. Congratulations, Edward, New member Edward Fiszer, is Principal of the Canoga we’ll look forward to Park New Academy School seeing you on Thursday mornings! The Board also approved $200 for the ladies in the Club who are forming a knitting group which will meet once a month to knit blankets to be donated to a worthwhile organization, the identity of which I didn’t get. This sounds like a fun way to spend an evening, especially since Eva and Naomi assured those with limited experience in knitting or crocheting that they would have plenty of help. Along with Peggy and Jacquie they are looking for anyone else that would like to join the group. Quentin is seriously thinking about joining now that school is out. Don’t forget our Summer Sandwich (Pizza) Social at BJ’s on Tuesday night. Members are treated by the Club for the cost of their dinner, but have to pay for guests. Someone - no one except Sylvain and (Cont. next page) (Meeting Cont.) Howard know who - will be honored at this event. It could be you! Eva reminded everyone that the next My Stuff event will be July 9th. If you can get away for two hours from about 10:00 to 12:00, you’ll have a good time and feel like you’ve accomplished much. The Woodland Hills Redneck Pig Roast is nearly upon us again. It will be held on July 25th and is simply the biggest and best party you will attend all year. It is held at Jen & Gary Waagenaar’s house and it’s worth the price of admission to see their 2+ acre spread. There is lots of food, good music and dancing and a well-stocked no-host bar. You simply have to be there! Richard reminded everyone that the next Ronald McDonald House Sunday Dinner will be on August 9th. To our newest members, if you haven’t attended one of these events before, put it on your calendar. It will be a very satisfying way to spend three or four hours. August 11th is our next social event at Cena on the north end of the Fallbrook Mall. The cost is $20 for a glass of wine and appetizers. Our many tennis fans were checking their Blackberries and iPhones throughout the meeting and announcing scores in the semi-finals at Wimbledon. Federer beat Hass to reach his 7th Wimbledon final, where he will play Roddick. The Williams sisters will face each other in the finals. As I heard on the radio, like death and taxes, one other thing is certain: someone named Williams will win at Wimbledon. Jen gave an update from the LAPD and, folks, things are bad. Very bad. Extremely bad. Oh, fewer people are getting murdered, to be sure, but that doesn’t usually happen in our neighborhoods anyway. Property crimes are up. Spanishspeakers are being victimized in a lottery ticket scam. So, if two Hispanic males (or one male and female) approach you and ask you to cash a winning lottery ticket, don’t do it. The good news (unless you have concerns about “Big Brother”) is that the police now have the ability to automatically scan every vehicle they pass. Jen gave a report on Police activity The license numbers apparently get processed by a computer to see if the vehicle is stolen or otherwise implicated in criminal activity. Kinda cool, but creepy. There followed a lengthy discussion about credit card fraud, prompted by Joane (who, by the way, cut her first record this week!) who discovered that participating in a quiz on Facebook can result in recurring credit card charges. Gloria recommended that you apply for a credit card with a very low limit of - say - $500 to use whenever making on-line purchases. Gil said it is possible to get a “virtual” credit card number from Citibank, which can be used only once and, thus, makes online credit card thievery impossible. Good advice. Willy announced that he, Eva, Howard, Sandy, Ron, Pat, Vic and Peggy attended the Special Spirit Barbecue fund raiser. The event did not meet Willy’s standard for excellence, although he confessed to having a good time, nonetheless. Sandy said that any of their silent auction prizes that didn’t sell would be donated to the Equestrian Event. Photo’s (right) of the event were takes by Peggy… hence no pictures of Peggy! Kristin did the fining and did so in her own enthusiastic and inimitable style. She had lots of trivia questions we had a hard time answering, although Shelly knew that the maximum weight for a bowling pin is 3 lbs., 10 oz. Jen knew that a giant panda weighs just ounces (3 – 5 oz) at birth. Our speaker, thanks A very enthusiastic Kristin asked the questions and Sandy tried to think of an answer. to Peggy, was Soraya Deen, a lovely lady who is a lawyer, a children’s book author and founder of the Resolution Revolution. She talked movingly about moving toward non-violent and non-judgmental communication. Instead of saying, “Linda talks too much,” she might encourage you to say, “Have you noticed what a fine vocabulary Linda has and how she enjoys sharing it with others - all the time.” Instead of saying. “Sam is fat,” which is a “judgment,” consider the “observation” that “Sam weighs 324 pounds and is 5 feet 2 inches tall.” She couldn’t do justice to her presentation in the limited time we had for her, but we enjoyed meeting Guest Speaker Soraya Deen gave a wonderful talk about talking with each other. her and thank Peggy for bringing Soraya to us. Vic won the raffle and will do the fining next week. Happy & Safe 4th of July to all. Richard helps Soraya pick winning 50/50 ticket Photos by Peggy Fera Happy 4th of July from the Hollywood Bowl! One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on Submitted by Ron Guilbert inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘ wolves ‘ inside us all. One is Evil. - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.” Life Explained!! Save Your Ink Cartridges For Our Fund-Raiser! In addition to accepting & recycling cell phones, ink jet cartridges, and DVDs, they now pay for: Portable DVD Players, Laptop Computers, MP3 Players X-Boxes, Sony Playstations, Wii, Digital Cameras & Digital Video Cameras (DVRs), Digital Picture Frames, Portable Navigation & GPS Devices (Garmin, Magellan, TomTom) All manufacturers and models accepted. They will pay something for every item - working or not! We have a great and very easy Fund Raiser going here on a continuing basis. They pay cash for all these items regardless of whether or not they work. EcoPhones will pay all shipping costs to send collected items back to them - Working Or Not!. Please collect all of the above items and bring them to our next meeting. We will ship them back and continue to collect cash for our club. Happy Birthday Look who our next speaker will be! July 9 - Vic Fera - Gus Searcy, Identity Theft Protection. July 16 - Sylvain Fribourg - Evelyn Huang Designing Jewelry or Feng Shui! July 23 - Pat Goldstein - Broomsquire Rina Gardener Topic: Making specialty brooms. Check her web site: www.houseofbrooms.com. July 30 - Ron Guilbert - Joanne David, Director of Development at Haven Hills, a “transitional housing program” for abused women. Aug. 6 - Jim Hagemeier Aug 13 - Richard Halsey Aug. 20 - Eva Hostettler Aug. 27 - Willy Hostettler Sept. 3 - Robin Jaffe Sept. 10 - Janet Locar Sept. 17 - Pre-Show Here is a list of speaks… Daniel Frankl, Ph.D., Professor (August only) School of Kinesiology & Nutritional Science CSLA, (323) 343-4662 - [email protected]. Speaks on Gender Bias in Sports, Physical Fitness or Individual Exercise Prescription. Discuss with Dr. Frankl and decide. Dr. Alan Sherman - Healthy Life Style Cancer Prevention- (818) 888-8058 Sari Rose - Teaches a youth program to at risk kids to write songs and lyrics. [email protected] (714) 749-7728 Captain Steve Blackwell, Chaplin U.S. Army: [email protected]. West Chaplain Recruiting Team (877)-452-6896 John Staley, Mastering Public Speaking [email protected] (323).336.7189 If you need a speaker give one of them a call! ® Need additional info?… visit us on the web www.kiwaniswc.org Robin Jaffe July 6 You CAN make up that missed meeting! TUESDAY CALABASAS/AGOURA - Sagebrush Cantina., Old Calabasas Road. - 12:00 Noon CANOGA PARK/RESEDA - Weiler’s Deli Restaurant- Sherman Way At Shoup Ave. - 6:10-P.M. CHATSWORTH - Los Toros Restaurant - 21743 Devonshire St. • Lunch on 2nd & 4th Mon.-12:00 Noon; Dinner on 1st, 3rd & 5th Mon.- 7:00 P.M.. WEDNESDAY WOODLAND HILLS - 1st & 3rd Wed. Holiday Inn, 21301 Ventura Blvd.- 12:00 Noon. SAN FERNANDO VALLEY - Meeting at the Pickwick Pub 21010 Ventura Blvd. - 5:00 to 7:00 P.M. THURSDAY WARNER CENTER - Weiler’s Deli Restaurant- Sherman Way at Shoup Ave.- 7:10 A.M. NORTHRIDGE - Orange Grove Bistro, CSUN Campus, 12:00 Noon VAN NUYS - Airtel Plaza Hotel - 7277 Valjean Ave. 12:00 Noon The Kiwanis Kryer Staff Publisher - Howard Miereanu Editor - Sandy Miereanu Staff Writers - Linda Rice & Howard Miereanu Submitted Articles - Ron Guilbert Jot it down! Tues., July 7 - Sandwich Social @ BJ’s Sat., July 25 - WH Redneck Pig Roast Sun., Aug. 9 - Ronald McDonald House Tues., Aug, 11 - Cena Social Thurs.-Sun., Aug. 13-16 - SD Convention Sat., Sept. 12 - WCKC Installation Dinner