THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Excellent "new" beginning Leander

A moment of thoughtful profundity from newbie Leander Hauri:

"Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic selfhood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. And as we do, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks, we will also find our path of authentic service in the world."

With this crew, one is far from certain that the phrases "authentic selfhood" and "authentic service" belong in the same sentence, but it's a lovely thought nonetheless.

VISITING ROTARIANS

Nancy Till -- 1979 Rotary exchange student, who stayed with . . .

Tim Henry -- Tasmania (that's a rather significant island off the southeast coast of Australia and part of the great country), who is not to be confused with . . .

Tom Henry -- Lafayette

Luis Alcon -- Concord, which is in neither Lafayette nor Australia

Polly Bernson -- Lafayette; word has it she does printing of some sort

GUESTS OF OTHER PERSUASIONS

Mark Rice -- learned about us through Tippy canoe

BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES, AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS GOODIES

Ron and Sara Brown celebrated 56 years of wedded bliss by visiting Chicago and cruising the St. Lawrence River, then down the Atlantic coast. Ron offered a $100 check toward his Paul Harris Fellowship by way of expiating his sins.

As was the case last week, Paul Bettelheim flew the coop before he could receive the appropriate flogging for whatever celebration he had. But B&A czar Mark Roberts is nothing if not persistent, so here's to guessing that Paul's time will come.

Nice going Paul!

In a way, Paul's time did come this week, although it was Paul Fillinger, not Bettelheim, who faced the music (and how's that for flagrant mixing of metaphors?). Paul turned 79 yesterday; Emperor Alex spoke for the entire assemblage by noting that Paul did not look a day over 78. Paul celebrated yesterday by attending the pumpkin carving at Garden Park (more on that below) and will celebrate further this evening by hosting the last TGITLFOTM of 2011.

Paul's age would make him one of the junior members at some clubs, but it does put him in the upper strata of Lamorinda Sunrise, chronologically speaking, but he still announced that he was sitting at a table with, and we quote, "a bunch of old farts."

You tell him Paula!

Tablemate Paula Bernard took exception to this, stating with a mix of mirth and mild indignation that "I am not a fart!" Touche!

Paul took our breath away with his generosity by handing over a blank check. Our breath came back when Mark Roberts, who is knowledgeable in these matters, noted that the check was not only blank in terms of amount, it was also blank in terms of signature. Mirth ensued.

ANOTHER GREAT DAY FOR LAMORINDA SUNRISE

Brad, you are the best!

Every year, Brad Davis schleps a bunch of pumpkins to Garden Park Apartments in Pleasant Hill for the annual Pumpkin Carve Fest. Every year, he and a bunch of his fellow Lamorinda Sunrisers and kids of same go there and help the youngsters carve their pumpkins. It happened again yesterday evening, and once again, Brad arranged a wonderful, heart-warming time for all concerned.

But there were some notable differences this year. One for which Brad was especially grateful was Dave Waal bringing his trailer to Westival (the source of our pumpkins, as they always have a bunch they want to get rid of and sell cheap at the end of the day), loading 'em up, hauling 'em away and bringing 'em to Garden Park, thereby saving Brad a bunch of loading, unloading, reloading and reunloading effort.

Thank you from the hearts of kids

Second, the event is all but unrecognizable from its first year or two. As Brad reported, when we first did this, the kids had little or no idea what Halloween pumpkin carving was about. They looked at us like we were from Mars (okay, that's not so unreasonable), put a few scratches in the pumpkins, and called it a day. Now, they know exactly what Halloween pumpkin carving is about. They were excited to see us, helped carry the pumpkins in, and dove into the project with glee. The pumpkins themselves run the gamut from splendiferous to superkalifragalistic. And the kids love it. They had made and hung up "Welcome" and "Thank You" banners for us, and they made a point of thanking us, both as a group and, for a significant number, individually.

Did I mention kids? It isn't just Garden Park kids who get into this. Our kids do, too. New generations of Johnsons, Bernards, Waals, Fillingers and others were there, too. This is especially great because, unlike us creaky-kneed oldsters, the young'uns have no problem getting down on the ground with the Garden Park kids and working with them, up to their elbows in pumpkin goo -- sometimes literally. (Well, technically speaking, we oldsters can get down on the ground with the kids, too. It's getting back up that presents certain challenges.)

Here are two heartwarming examples of the little ways this event is making a difference. On the one hand, there is Seth. Brad and I have seen him over the years, both at the pumpkin carvings and at the bike repair sessions. He was pushy, demanding, loud (often inappropriately loud - and this reporter knows from inappropriately loud) and sometimes had trouble playing nicely with others. Last night, he was involved, had a great time, and was just another kid having fun. It sounds like a small thing, but it is huge. He is growing up learning the socialization skills that are nearly impossible to learn without a stable environment.

Simone from two years ago.

The other example is Simone Raeth. We've known Simone seemingly forever. This once-shy little girl has grown into a self-confident high schooler. She was there last night. Thomas and Tamara could not be there, but Simone came. She told me that she had couldn't attend last year's event due to a scheduling conflict and missed it terribly. This year, she said, she made sure to keep here October Thursdays clear so she could be at the pumpkin carving. So there she was, on the ground with one of the Garden Park little girls as they worked together to make the gooiest, badest pumpkin. Seth and Simone are just two examples of how our ongoing involvement with Garden Park touches lives for the better.

Many thanks to Brad, who every year makes the effort to see that this happens and every year tries to deflect the credit to others. Not this time, Brad. You 'Da Man!!

THE DISTRICT GOVERNOR IS COMING -- LOOK BUSY!

Next week's meeting is the one that club presidents dread more than even club assemblies or weeks when the speaker doesn't show -- the District Governor's visit. This has nothing to do with the

Alex is NOT an afraidy cat! He's a COOL cat

DG's talk or anything like that - it's because the reigning president is always afraid (with good reason) that our club will embarrass him or her in front of the DG. Since Alex doesn't need our help to have reason to be embarrassed in front of the DG, there is a chance we'll behave. Maybe.

In any event, DG Dave Dacus will drop by next week to share his vision of his year as the Scheming Despot of District 5160. And for our intrepid board members (and the other board members, too), the DG visit means a session with the DG the evening before so he, in this case, can grill all of you about how Alex is doing and how close the membership might be to open revolt.

The word from here is: Lie shamelessly. Say everything is going according to plan, whether you think so or not. Ask any past prez or past board member -- this is the way to go, Four-Way Test or not.

CANOODLING IS COMING TO AN END

Tippy Canoe has been a kick!

Ron Brown announced that Tippy the Canoe (or, in the alternative, $2,000) will find a new home come this Sunday at the end of the Lafayette Reservoir Run. Gary Fulcher, Spike Speicher, John Fazel and Ron will be at the Res at roughly 6:30 a.m. for a last-chance ticket sales drive, with the drawing being made by Jay Lifson, Lafayette Club Member, Executive Director of the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and all-around Good Guy somewhere around 10:30 or 11:00 a.m.

But wait, there's more. The winner will be invited to join us next week to pick up hizzorher winnings. The idea is to Impress District Governor and try to leverage that into getting coverage of Tippy's saga into The Rotarian. (You know The Rotarian - it's the glossy mag from Rotary International that (a) you receive monthly via snail-mail and (b) only wishes its prose were as deathless as that in this august newsletter.)

BTW, as they say in text-message-speak, our God o' Finances Ernie Furtado reports that the final numbers are in to the tune of $16,750 worth of raffle tickets having been sold. This is not only a Good Thing from a financial standpoint, but, because of how the intrepid Tippy Crew has involved other Clubs in the fundraising project making it also a Good Thing from a Rotary fellowship and inter-club cooperation standpoint.

One more BTW: It appears that there is something of a split in opinion regarding which prize alternative is more desirable, Ron Brown seems to be pulling for the raffle winner to opt for the $2,000, apparently in the hope that we try to raffle or auction the canoe off again and raise more money. Gary Fulcher, by contrast, expressed a desire to have the winner opt to take Tippy herself, adding something about wanting to "get the damned thing out of my workshop." Turns out Gary gets his wish and the canoe will officially be awarded to the winning raffle ticket owners, Janet and Norm Pease of Orinda, on Friday.

PROGRAM

Every year, we send two area high school students to Camp Royal for a week just after the end of their junior year. This year was no

Experiences greatly exceeded expectations

exception. Today, we heard from Tessa Johnson and Chris O'Keefe, the two most recent attendees sponsored by Lamorinda Sunrise Rotary.

First, a quick editorial comment about Camp Royal. It is District 5160's annual camp for up and coming leaders. 144 or so kids from all over District 5160 - meaning from San Ramon, Lamorinda, Berkeley, the I-80 corridor to Davis, the I-5 corridor to Weed, east to Chico and west to Weaverville and Hayfork (Hayfork?) -- all sponsored by local clubs, get together for a week to learn about leadership and, more importantly, about themselves. It is billed as a Leadership camp, but it is both more and less than that. In this reporter's experience, Camp Royal's biggest gift to its attendees is the gift of self-awareness and self-confidence, giving its campers greater insight into their strengths and skills, especially as they apply to being able to positively affect the actions and outcomes of a group they happen to be in. Camp Royal is not about teaching everyone to be a rah-rah, stand-in-front-of-the-group, fire-'em-up public speaker or a hard charging "follow me" type. Instead, it is about helping each camper understand and tap into their potential to motivate, encourage, support and positively affect others, whether is it one person or 1,000 people at a time.

Camp Royal also creates a bond between the campers that one has to see to fully appreciate. At the beginning of the week, 140 more or less strangers come together in the Trinity Alps. By the end of the week, 140 incredibly close friends have to pried apart to go home with their parents. This reporter has seen both ends of this phenomenon, and this is not an exaggeration.

Tessa and Chris took us through an excellent sampling of the activities that fills the week at Camp Royal. The first activities are a series of ice-breakers, things that jump-start the process of turning nervous friends into close friends and confidantes.

We heard about the incredible speakers that come to Camp Royale. For example, there was Jerry Bates, the "Hope Dealer" who shared his upbringing (it sounds like it makes the Garden Park kids have had it easy compared to him) and his message that you can succeed it you want to badly enough. Then there was Chau Yoder (wife of Walnut Creek Rotarian Jim Yoder). This tiny woman packs a big punch when it comes to inspiring the campers by encouraging them to find their inner calm and inner strength and giving them ways to access them in times of stress.

Speakers are only part of the Camp Royal experience. The campers also spend a great deal of time with each other in various activities that give them a chance to explore their skills on problem-solving, teamwork and facing one's fears. All the activities are fun, but all have a deeper purpose and often result in very emotional moments (in a positive way).

A highlight of Camp Royal is always the Ropes Course. Whether it is overcoming a fear of heights on the Zip Line or the Absolute necessity of teamwork and mutual trust required in the Flying V or the Flying Squirrel, the Ropes Course never fails to be leave the campers exhilarated.

Then there was The Wall. It is 10 feet straight up and over, and the goal is to get everyone over the wall. But this isn't just a physical challenge or an exercise in team-building, although those things are a big part of it. But each camper also is instructed to imagine a challenge or difficulty they are facing in their own lives. As they get ready to climb The Wall, each camper touches it and thinks of that difficulty, and then up they go. Chris and Tessa are the latest of a long string of Camp Royal campers we have sponsored to report that getting over The Wall -- and getting all of their fellow campers over The Wall - provided an emotional lift they did not expect.

And of course, it would not be Camp Royal without The Board. Each camper is given a board, roughly 18" by 12." On one side, the camper illustrates The Board with words or images of challenges they are facing, things they wish to change about themselves or their environment - basically, things in their life they wish were different. The other side of The Board is illustrated by the campers with words or images of the change they are hoping for.

Then, one by one, the campers break their Boards. With their bare hands. Specifically, with the heels of their hands - no broken knuckles, please. A counselor holds the board, and the camper breaks through the negative into the positive. It may take more than one try, but every camper breaks that Board and makes that breakthrough. Again, Tessa and Chris are just the most recent campers to comment on how powerful and emotional this seemingly simple task was.

Thank you, Tessa and Chris, for coming by to tell us about your experiences at Camp Royal. It is always good for the club to hear back from our campers and be reminded how great an experience it can be.