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!
RECENT ROTARY NEWS
Message from President Jim
Happy Monday my fellow Rotarians.  Hope you enjoyed a beautiful Mother’s Day weekend with sunny skies and warm temperatures.  It was a perfect weekend to be outdoors and enjoy living in this beautiful area.
 
We have a meeting this Friday.  Our guest speaker will be Rosa Paredes, the CEO of St. Vincents.  As I mentioned at our meeting last week, St. Vincent’s is the oldest non-profit organization in Santa Barbara, having been founded in 1858 as the Daughters of Charity, running a school and orphanage. In 1868, they constructed a new building on De La Vina Street, just south of Carrillo.  Their original building was destroyed by fire, but they then built the beautiful three-story building that is still there today. Presently, they have a 21-acre campus in north Santa Barbara which provides affordable housing, childcare, senior housing and much more.  Rosa will be talking about their organization and all they do for our community.
 
In case you missed it, our Rotary Club was featured last week, in. Noozhawk.  Here’s a link to the article:
 
 
We will be conducting our club election of officers this Fridy.  Thanks so much to all of our members who are volunteering for leadership roles for the upcoming year.
 
Hope to see you on Friday,
 
Jim
Message from President Jim
Happy Cinco de Mayo!

We had another excellent meeting last Friday. 
 
We were pleased to present our fourth Teacher Recognition award to Sterling Henken, a Special Education teacher at La Cumbre Junior High School. Sterling was given a plaque recognizing this award and a check for $1000 to be used in his classroom.
 

Our Rotary Foundation also gave out two checks to two organizations that we are heavily involved with.  The first was a check for $6,000 to Meals on Wheels, which was presented to their Executive Director Tracy Pfautch.  Many of our members are drivers for this program and its great to see them receive this financial assistance.
 

The second check for $5000 was presented to our own past President, Michael Baker, who serves as the CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara County.  This is a wonderful organization that provides a variety of services to some of the most vulnerable of the youth in our community. 
 

All told, our Foundation received over 20 grant applications this year, most nominated by our club members, Special appreciation to Kathleen Blake and Judie Lugo, who headed up the grant process this year for all their excellent work.

We do not have a meeting this week but will be meeting the following Friday.  Our speaker will be Rosa Paredes, who is the CEO of probably the oldest non-profit organization in Santa Barbara, St. Vincents.  They provide some wonderful programs in Santa Barbara and have an amazing history in Santa Barbara.

Jim
The Hub -- April 28, 2025
From President Jim

It’s another Monday in Santa Barbara. I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend, despite a little rain on Saturday.

We have a meeting this Friday. Our speaker will be Connard Hogan, who recently published a book entitled “Barbwire, Brothels, and Bombs in the Night: Surviving Vietnam." He will be discussing his experiences during the Vietnam War. As someone who was in my formative years during the war, and who has traveled to Vietnam, I am really looking forward to his perspective after so many years. It should be an interesting presentation.

We will also be handing out our last Teacher of the Year award of the Rotary Year to Sterling Henken, a special education teacher at La Cumbre Junior High School.

And finally, we will be presenting two more grant awards from our Rotary Foundation to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara County, and to Meals on Wheels.
It should be an excellent meeting to bring guests and prospective members.

By a separate email, I’ll be sending out the recommendations from the Nominating Committee for the Club officers for the 2024-25 year. Please look at this list carefully, as we’ll be having an election at our meeting on May 20. Please also note that additional nominations are welcome, both in writing ahead of May 20 or from the floor that day. Also, note there are still a couple of opportunities available to serve on the Board. Hopefully, some of you will be inspired to throw your name in the hat. Our club is most successful when we have many individuals serving.

Enjoy your week and I’ll see you on Friday.

Jim
Message from President Jim
We had a wonderful meeting last Friday that was action packed. DEspite being Good Friday, we had a great turnout, with several guests. 
 
First, Bob Fatch, Kathleen Blake and Judie Lugo, representing our non-profit Foundation awarded grants to two local organizations.  The first check for $6,000 was presented to Nate Grotenhuis, representing ArtLabbe.  ArtLabbé is a non-profit art gallery and resource center that provides free art workshops, classes, and programs to the most vulnerable in our community.
 
The second check for $5,000 was presented to Michelle Erikson, representing Mothers’ Helpers.  Mothers’ Helpers provides essential baby items to low-income families throughout Santa Barbara County. They gather baby items from families who no longer need them and distribute them to those who do,
 
 
 
We then presented four Paul Harris pins to those members who have made significant contributions to the Paul Harris Fund.  Recognized for their generosity to Rotary were Kathleen Blake, Bob Fatch, Chris Clemens, and Bill Dutton.
 
 
 
Our program, was presented by Past President Chris “Tarzan” Clemens. Chris described his “Anticomfortable” lifestyle which he describes as having three important tenets: physical challenge; live with less; and explore the world. He talked about his journey from being our Club’s youngest President to shedding most material things to challenge his body, live with few possessions, and exploring the far corners of the world.  And also working as an online marketing representative for a local Santa Barbara company. I think everyone who attended considered it one of the best programs of the year.
 
We do not have a meeting this Friday.  Our next meeting will be on May 2nd and the program will be Connard Hogan, to talk about his experiences in the Vietnam War.
Enjoy your week.
 
Jim

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)

UPCOMING EVENTS
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