Paul Harris Awards

Harry Gabriel is now a Paul Harris Fellow +1


Sean McDowell becomes a Paul Harris Fellow


Janet Wang receives her latest Paul Harris Award

Don Kennedy

Donald R. Kennedy is the newest member of the Irvine Spectrum Rotary Club.

The Docs

Today we were honored to have our two medical doctors in the club, Dr Paul Strodtbeck MD and Dr. Bob Larsen MD, answer questions from club members. Members could submit questions by email, or ask them at the meeting. It was a fun, exciting meeting. Everything was asked from, "what should I do if my Doctor makes me wait 2 hours?" ( If you don't like it, change Doctors) to… "do vitamin pills really help?" ( You can get the vitamins you need from the food you eat…however if you feel they help, take them.) Members stayed late to ask more questions; many requested we have them give a similar talk every couple of months. It was truly enjoyed by the members.

Costa Mesa Dental Clinic

Photos from the Rotarians at Work project with the Costa Mesa Rotary Club and the Newport Mesa Unified School District to provide a free dental screening for all children entering the schools. Even the "tooth fairy" showed up.

Service Above Self

Our Rotarian call for service in our community was played out on Saturday, May 25 throughout Orange County on our "Rotarians at Work" day. This is the day designated for all Rotarians to make a difference in volunteering at various events and causes in and around out communities. One of the several projects Irvine Spectrum Rotary participated in was the FRONT LINE conference put on at the Kaiser Hospital by the NAMI organization. The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill planned out and facilitated a conference discussing the returning veterans and the problems that arise out of working in a combat area. The main discussion was the injuries we are seeing with the TBI ( Tramatic Brain injuries) and Post Tramatic Stress Syndrome.

8 members of the Irvine Spectrum Rotary arrived at 7:00 A.M. at the Kaiser Hospital on Sand Canyon and began by placing American Flags all around the perimiter of the hospital to announce the conference. Food and supplies were taken to the 5th floor where the conference was to be held. 125 people were expected to attend. We then stood at the various entrances with flags and gave out directions to the parking areas. Some of us manned the information desk in the main entrance and checked in the participants, giving out their booklets and directed them to the event room.

The conference was very important to our veterans and their families and  the Front Line conference committee was  most appreciative of our service. We were instramental in the success of the conference by doing the much needed support work.

The conference was attended by Social Workers, Veterans, Family members , and Clergy. There were veterans from the Vietman war as well as the current battle areas. Dr. Clayton Chou was the keynote speaker and he gave very valuable information regarding the brain and how we are affected by both physical trauma and emotional trauma. Just being in the area of Blasts from explosions can cause damage to the cells of the brain. Even though the head doesn't have visual injuries, the brain can suffer cell damage from the blasts from explosions and this can be life changing to the afflicted.

Irvine Spectrum Rotary answered the call and we supported a very worthwhile and necessary cause.

Mending Fences

Mayor Sukhee Kang

We had the honor of Suhkee Kang, the mayor of Irvine, speaking at our club. He was a member of Irvine Spectrum Rotary Club about 3 years ago. Since then he has become the Mayor. He is the first Korean mayor of a major city in the United States. He gave us an update on the City of Irvine.

For example, on the subject of econometrics, they have put funds away and with the current sales tax, hotel tax, and property tax how the city should be in good shape. Therefore, there are no planned cuts in the many services to both youth and seniors.

They have planned for a safe city by increasing their police force from 150 to 203 officers. One result is; Irvine has been the safest city for its size in the US for the last 4 years.

They have put money aside for schools so they can continue to maintain their class sizes and educational standards. This should permit their continuation of an exceptional educational system.

Finally, he explained the importance of being a GREEN city. and the steps they are taking in that direction.

Our past president, Richard Milo, also spoke today. He was our president from 2003-04. Being an engineer and the efficient person he is, he came equipped with a spreadsheet showing the accomplishments of his year.

He explained the four arms of Rotary service – Vocational, Club Service, Community Service and International – and what we accomplished in those areas. Also during his year was the largest increase in our membership, from 30 to 40 members, an increase of 25 percent.

During his year, he attended the International convention in Brisbane, Australia. He felt the most important element was his goal of making sure everyone was involved, and, after all, that is what Rotary is all about.

OCTA

Our speaker for the week was Peter Buffa, Chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). It was quite timely as there have been a number of newspaper articles about their plans. They are responsible for all ground transportation in Orange County; buses, trains and highways,with exception of the Tollways.

It was no surprise – money is tight. They have been affected and have had to make cutbacks, mostly in the bus system here in Orange county. However, with the stimulus money from the government, they plan to make advances and improvements in our highways, as well as local Metrolink stations to entice more ridership. They look forward to developing a high speed rail system from Anaheim to San Francisco (in about 2 ½ hours) in the near future, as well as someday from Anaheim to Las Vegas. They will be modeled after systems in other countries, and someday even hope to develop an air/rail system. The biggest problem is how to get Orange County people out of their cars!

Woody Jones was our president during 1999-2000. He spoke about what a fun year and a great experience it was for him. The club continued to hold the Golf tournament as well as a Night at the Improv as fund raisers, while again holding the Smiles Dental Clinic.

In addition, members built a house in Tijuana with the Corazon project during his term. He felt it was a fun and worthwhile project. It was such a wonderful experience to see a family receive a home you'd helped to build; something the family wanted and thought they never could obtain. Woody explained how he'd enjoyed traveling to the International Convention that year in Singapore.

We also had the honor of having Ed Hardenburgh's grandson and his mother join us. They extended an invitation to a cystic fibrosis walk on May 2nd. In addition, the club continued its support of the foundation in the form of a check presented to Ed's grandson.

Flying Doctors of Mercy

Today's meeting was presented by Greg Plammbeck about “Flying Doctors of Mercy”. He brought their story to us about their work in Mexico.

The program started in 1934 when doctors traveled to Mexico by horseback and mule. After WWII the program began using volunteer pilots to fly doctors to Mexico to save lives and improve the health of people in Mexico. Today they have established five medical sites in Mexico to give medical aid, from surgery to dental work, using doctors from all over the United States.

They help about 1,200 people a month and fly about 100 trips from throughout the United States to Mexico. They are widely supported by Rotary International, and receive help from several clubs in Orange County. Over the last 70 years they have improved the quality of life for the poor and sick in Mexico .

Roger McGonegal, our current District Governor, was our honored guest this week. He presented Mary Mar with an award for her outstanding work in the District this year. He thanked her for all she did to coordinate and make the District conference the successful event it was.

He also presented Jaap Laufer with his Paul Harris +2 award.

Ed Hardenburgh was our past president's speaker this week. He served as our 6th president from 1997-1998. He took over when Rick Topping was unable to serve due to business commitments. His term began by attending the International convention in Scotland with the previous president, Warren Willard, an enticement he couldn't refuse.

Ed reminisced about the good times and fond memories he had, as well as the promotion and continuation of the Dental Clinic and Golf Tournament started the previous year by Warren. Ed is our current treasurer and has served 4 years in that position.

Identity Theft

The speaker at today's meeting was Gus Searcy. His field is identity theft, the fastest growing crime today. He told us how easily we could be targeted, and what it could mean to our lives if we were. He offers a program to companies on how to protect themselves and their employees from this risk.

Our Past President speaker today was Warren Willard, a charter member, and President during 1996-1997. He was brought into the club by Dale Ford. It was a very busy year for him both personally and for the club. He spent a great deal of traveling that year on its behalf.

It was the first year for our Golf Tournament fund raiser. It was a great success, and continued to be our main source of supporting the club's various charities until this last year. During that same year the club began to hold its Smiles Dental Clinic. It was also the highest personal contributing club in our district to Rotary International.

The international convention that Year was in England/Scotland. It was the highlight of his term and he will always treasure it. He feels his dearest friends are those from Rotary.