ROTARY CLUB OF SANTA BARBARA

Serving Santa Barbara And The World Since 1918.

CLUB MEETINGS

Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Meeting

First and third Friday of each month.


Costa Kitchen and Bar at the Mar Monte Hotel

1111 East Cabrillo, Santa Barbara, CA 
View our Calendar to see upcoming meeting dates.
Time: 12:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

ABOUT THE ROTARY CLUB OF SANTA BARBARA

The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara was chartered by Rotary International on January 1, 1918 and has been serving those in need in Santa Barbara, our region, and the world since.

Our Club Members are dedicated to community service projects, both at home and abroad, including supporting foster youth in Santa Barbara County, working with Mayan families in Guatemala, and more.

Rotary Club of Santa Barbara members are a diverse group of local leaders in business, non-profits, education, government, and more.

Are you interested in making Santa Barbara, and the world a better place. Join our next meeting and talk with members about how to get involved!
UPCOMING EVENTS
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RECENT ROTARY NEWS
The Hub -- September 2, 2024
Happy Labor Day fellow Rotarians.  Hope you are enjoying the holiday weekend.
 
Linda and I are in the Pacific Northwest on a brief flying trip.  Flew into Everett, Washington last week and took some old friends over to Port Angeles where we boarded the ferry over to Victoria, British Columbia.  Afterwards, we were supposed to fly into Newport, Oregon, but due to a very low ceiling we ended up in Eugene, where we rented a car.  We are now in Yachats, Oregon, for an annual visit to a long-time friend.
 
We have a meeting scheduled for this Friday at the Costa Restaurant. Grace Neuman and Gary Caesar from Hub Insurance will be talking about the insurance market in California and the recent challenges facing the industry.  Living in Santa Barbara County we are well aware of the many potential natural disasters our region faces, and now we can learn more about how wildland fires, more intense storms, and other factors are impacting our ability to secure affordable insurance. It's a good meeting to bring a guest or a potential member.  Please remember to RSVP, so we have an accurate count for the restaurant.
 
As I mentioned last week, please consider attending the District Conference, which is scheduled for 25-26 at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.  You can stay overnight, or go up just for the day on Saturday.  As an added incentive, the club will cover half of your registration costs, should you decide to attend.
The Hub -- August 26, 2024
It’s another beautiful day in Santa Barbara!!
 
Wanted to remind everyone we do not have a meeting this Friday due to the Labor Day holiday weekend coming up. So take off early on Friday to enjoy the holiday weekend and be safe!
 
However, we do have a great program coming up the following week with Grace Neumann and Gary Caesar from Hub Insurance to talk about the insurance crisis facing California.  I know from personal experience that homeowner’s insurance is becoming difficult to find, and auto insurance premiums are rising rapidly.  This would be a great meeting to bring a guest or potential member.
 
The Board of Directors of the Club at our meeting last week decided to continue to meet at the Costa Restaurant at the Mar Monte Hotel. The parking seemed to be much improved at our last meeting and the venue staff are working with us are accommodating and helpful.  And of course the view of the beach across the street in fantastic.
 
The Board also discussed the upcoming Rotary District Conference, which will be held on October 25-26 at the iconic Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.  Details can be found on the District 5240 website.  I encourage all members to consider attending to better understand the larger Rotary World and get new ideas that we can implement in our club.  As an added incentive, the Board has agreed to reimburse half the registration fee of any member who attends. 
 
I am off tomorrow for a flying trip to the Seattle area and the Oregon Coast for the next week.  Hopefully, smooth skies and lots of tailwinds.
President's Message
Happy Monday after a beautiful Santa Barbara weekend!
 
Thanks so much to Past President Michael Baker for organizing last week’s program.  We were able to hear from ten past Presidents about their respective years in office, and most importantly about all many activities our club has been involved in over the years.  Activites like Fine Arts Santa Barbara; wheel chair races at the beach; park and beach cleanups; foster children Christmas gifts; to so much more.  Our club has certainly been involved and active.
 
Here are the distinquished Past Presidents of our Club who presented last Friday!
 
We also had the annual meeting of the Santa Barbara Rotary Club Charitable Foundation.  Andrew Hicks and Bob Fatch talked about the activities of the Foundation over the last year, including making contributions to nearly 15 community non-profit organizations.  And congratulations to Jim Stretchberry and Kathleen Blake, who were unanimously re-elected to the Foundation Board of Directors.
 
We met once again at the Costa Restaurant on Cabrillo across from the Cabrillo Arts Center.  Fortunately, there was plenty of parking!
President's Message
Happy Monday on another beautiful summer day in Santa Barbara.
 
Want to remind everyone that we have a meeting this Friday at the Costa Restaurant at the Mar Monte Hotel on Cabrillo.  Michael Baker will be our speaker, presenting past presidents from the past to talk about their years as President.  This is a great way to hear from prior presidents and to get ideas for future fundraisers, events, community service projects.
 
There should be plenty of parking on adjacent streets or at the waterfront parking across the street.  But suggest you arrive a few minutes early just to give yourself time to find a space. For those of you who arrive early, there will be four spaces reserved for our club directly adjacent to the restaurant on east side. I have scouted out the neighborhood and there seems to be plenty of available parking on Orilla Del Mar Drive and on Por La Mar Drive.  And for those of you with a Waterfront parking pass, there will be plenty of parking across the street adjacent to the Cabrillo Arts Center.
 
At our meeting on Friday, we will also have a brief meeting our Charitable Foundation to receive an update on the Foundations activities over the past year and to elect directors to the foundation.  As a reminder, the Foundation was created by our club decades ago to serve as our 501 (c3) non profit charity organization, with an independent board of directors. 
 
Looking forward to seeing everyone on Friday.
 
Jim