Sylvie Belmond, Editor for the Simi Valley Acorn gave us a quick update as to how The Acorn operates and how she selects editorials on a weekly basis.
Current Meeting Status
Due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 Pandemic, our meetings going forward will be conducted via video conference only. Stay tuned for updates and please feel free to contact us.
This is a first! We got to virtually tour San Fernando Brewing Company (@sanfernandobrewingco )!!! Our Club Service Chair, Mike Kort organized a virtual tour with Frank Martinez at the brewery. Mike even took orders and delivered beers to the club. As we learned all things hops and grains at the brewery, we were also able to taste the product.
President Markus did well for his second meeting. Organized and with a presentation. Quite the recovery, well done! Our speaker was Simi Valley's City Manager, Brian Gabler. It's always a pleasure to hear from him about city updates. He elaborated on COVID and a couple new businesses opening up soon. It appears that Amazon will utilize a new building in Central Simi for storage and shipping. Brian says that should bring in quite a few new jobs. Thanks for spending the time, Brian!
The New President's first meeting never goes as planned in Simi Sunset. While they try to conduct a true meeting, the club has a different agenda. Immediate Past President Joey planned for shenanigans. While Prez Mark thought we were struggling to get online (to the Zoom meeting), we all changed our names to "Reconnecting..." and a bunch of us went to the Birdie Bar to have some food and drinks. While there, Mark tried to get some words in, but the sounds of horns, birds, "elk calls," and the newly established chant, "Markus," were too overpowering. A couple times Mark was "muted" by the Zoom host so the club can talk about other things. Somehow, Mark was able to share his slideshow, but he was promptly removed from the Zoom meeting. He eventually made it to the Birdie Bar, showing off his, "where are my paaaants?" garb. We gave him a warm welcome and tagged his truck. As Mark said, we showed him nothing but love. It's gonna be a great year, Mark! Good planning Joe and Mike!
Trying to stay true to form... We couldn't exactly plan for a Simi Sunset Demotion the way we wanted during COVID, so we did the next best thing... Planned a prank online meeting on his birthday (with a special speaker) where our now Past President, Joey, waited for us to get on the call. After waiting a while we all did a drive-by with signs, decorations, and water balloons. We will get our demotion in when this is all over. This is just the beginning.
We had a great turnout for one of the best meetings of the year... Our Allocations Meeting!
By the end of the Rotary Year (June 30th), our club donates all the funds we have raised from our events to local organizations and charities. This is what Simi Sunset is about--giving back to our community. We invite representatives from each organization that will receive our donation to present a small speech about what their organization does and how our donation helps.
Some of the organizations that we donated to this year:
BACA (Biker's Against Child Abuse)
Free Clinic of Simi Valley
Moorpark College foundation
Royal High School Wrestling Team
Moorpark College Athletics
By the end of the Rotary Year (June 30th), our club donates all the funds we have raised from our events to local organizations and charities. This is what Simi Sunset is about--giving back to our community. We invite representatives from each organization that will receive our donation to present a small speech about what their organization does and how our donation helps.
Some of the organizations that we donated to this year:
BACA (Biker's Against Child Abuse)
Free Clinic of Simi Valley
Moorpark College foundation
Royal High School Wrestling Team
Moorpark College Athletics
Robert Brill, Deputy Chief at Simi Valley Police Department came to educate us on the precautions that the Simi police are using to keep both the public and the officers safe during the COVID 19 pandemic. He also informed us about the local protests and rallies that have peacefully occurred here with the cooperation of the attendees and the police.
A new member was proposed to the board of directors during the June meeting.
Jill Haney proposed Marin Kakachev.
The board of directors approved the proposal.
Dr. Jason Peplinski is the Superintendent for the Simi Valley Unified School District. He came to talk to us about the school year 2020-2021 during the pandemic. This was a very important meeting to attend for so many of our club members that have children or family members attending school. Dr. Peplinksi and his staff are working very hard to answer many parents' concerns over how they will continue schooling. So far they have several options that they are weighing. With changes in regulations happening every day, it seems Dr. Peplinski and his staff are always on top of communications to families with new updates. Thank you Dr. Peplinksi for all you are doing!
Amy Corneau, Director of Member Relations for the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce joined us yesterday to update us on all things new at the Chamber and how they are handling COVID. They've updated their website and have valuable information about what businesses and restaurants are open during the pandemic.