Rotaract Club of Downtown San Diego
Rotaract Logo
Weekly Announcements
June 05, 2007


In This Issue:
Next Meeting
Rotaract Hits the Road: Tonight's Meeting Off-SiteDinner Included!
Recaps: Beach Clean-Up & Rock 'n' Roll Marathon
Prize Packaging Party for Ace of Hearts
Fifth Annual Ace of Hearts: Tickets Now Available
Professional Development
San Diego Rotaract is Growing: New Club
USCC 2007 Symposium & Rotaract Pre-Convention: Service Without Borders
San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary Meeting
Members' Bulletin Board
Rotaract & Rotary Trivia
Contact Info


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Next Meeting Off-Site

Our next general meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 05, 2007 at 6:30 pm at Father Joe's Parlor.

Important: Our meeting on June 05 will take place off-site at Father Joe's Parlor! We will be treated to dinner at the meeting. You can find the details below!

Also tonight ... Rotaract Roadmap to Leadership Topic #8 – Perseverance. More below.

We're looking forward to seeing you!
Rotaract Hits the Road: Tonight's Meeting Off-SiteDinner Included!

June 05 (Tuesday)
6:30 pm
Father Joe's Parlor, 39 16th Street

Our June 05 general meeting will take place off-site at Father Joe's Parlor at 39 16th Street, Downtown. This will be a unique meeting allowing us to see and learn about Father Joe's Villages (FJV).

Plus, we'll be treated to dinner! The FJV Culinary Arts students will prepare a delicious buffet style dinner for us. We look forward to this special treat.

Reserved parking is available at the corner of 16th and Commercial, just right of the parlor.
Recaps: Beach Clean-Up & Rock 'n' Roll Marathon

From the shores to the streets, Rotaract of San Diego serves! Thank you to the planners and participants of Rotaract's recent community service activities!

Members of both the Downtown and North County clubs participated in a recent Surfider Foundation beach clean-up outing to help pick up our local shore areas. Then, this past Sunday morning, Rotaractors from the two clubs again met, this time in the streets of downtown San Diego, to support one of our city's most renowned annual events, the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon.

Our volunteers from both Rotaract clubs were especially dedicated at the marathon last weekend as the start time for the event was 4:00 am! We helped set up and pass out water at the Mile 7 station. Many of the runners shouted "Thanks for being here!" or "We couldn't do this without you!" as they ran by. It was a very rewarding and inspirational experience.

In fact, a few of the volunteers discussed trying to run the America's Finest City Half Marathon in August. If you are interested in training, please click here for the official website.

Thank you again to all participants, who lent their hands and spirit to serve the local community!
Prize Packaging Party for Ace of Hearts

June 12 (Tuesday)
6:30 pm
Dean Koci's House, 3779 Centre Street, 92103

We're having a prize packaging party for our upcoming Ace of Hearts event. Wine, beer, and hearty snacks will be provided. Feel free to bring food and drinks as well.

Please call Dean for questions and to RSVP: 619.991.4088
Fifth Annual Ace of Hearts: Tickets Now Available!

On June 15th, the Rotaract Club of Downtown San Diego will hold its Fifth Annual Ace of Hearts event in Downtown San Diego. Ace of Hearts is a Monte Carlo Casino night, this year hosted at the Luna Lounge. We play poker, craps, blackjack and more... and all for a worthy cause.

Our Event Location
Luna Lounge is a fantastic new location with a great vibe near the ballpark in Downtown San Diego. The lounge is the "hotspot in town where urban chic and downtown sophistication meet. Luna Lounge, where timeless elegance and contemporary cool flow together to create the ultimate new restaurant/lounge in downtown San Diego ... classy, exciting, and unique."


Our Prizes
You will have three opportunities to win wonderful prizes that night: a raffle, a silent auction and a "most-chips-at-the-end-of-the-night" give-away. We have amazing prizes to offer you this year, so get ready to join the fun and win big!
Take a look at our grand prizes...

Grand Prize #1:
Trip for 2 to Las Vegas!

Grand Prize #2:
Vacation for 2 to Your Favorite Destination:
Choose from Cancun, Puerta Vallarta, Las Vegas and Others!

And many, many more great prizes!!!

Our Beneficiary
This year, our Ace of Hearts event will support Father Joe's Villages, a homeless rehabilitation organization dedicated to addressing the immediate and ongoing needs of underprivileged children, families and individuals who, for various reasons, have found themselves without basic life necessities.
Each of Father Joe's Villages provides "one-stop shopping" – comprehensive, essential care all under one roof. Programs such as education, job training, child care, medical and dental care and substance abuse counseling enable thousands of families and individuals to discover the confidence and the ability to succeed. Honoring the dignity of every child and adult encourages them to invest in their own future.
From a small center handing out peanut butter sandwiches 50 years ago (long before Father Joe arrived), Father Joe's Villages have grown to a family of seven large "villages" in the Southwest. And they are still growing. What began with a meal has evolved into a model program for serving the homeless.


Ace of Hearts – A Monte Carlo Casino Night
Luna Lounge
639 J Street
June 15, 2007 (Friday)
7 pm – 10 pm
A Benefit for Father Joe's Villages


Ticket Information
Take part and help raise funds for this great organization by purchasing your tickets today. Entrance tickets are $30 per person for Rotaract members, and $35 for non-members. Raffle tickets are $5 each, or 5 for $20. Both can be puchased online through PayPal using your major credit card or bank account. Tickets will be held for you at the door, so you don't need to worry about shipping. You may also purchase tickets at the door the night of the event, but there is a possibility that it will sell out. To purchase tickets, please go to our webpage.

About the Rotaract Club of Downtown San Diego
The Rotaract Club of Downtown San Diego is a community service and social organization made up of young professionals. Rotaract fosters leadership and responsible citizenship, encourages high ethical standards in business, and promotes international understanding and peace. For additional information about Rotaract, or for membership information, please visit www.sandiegorotaract.org.


See photos from Ace of Hearts Casino Nights 2005 and 2006 by clicking the respective year.

Can't attend, but would like to make a donation? Make a gift of your choosing through PayPal!

Please help the cause by sharing this e-mail with friends, family and co-workers and encouraging them to tell their friends. Thanks for your support!


We're looking forward to celebrating with you for a great cause on June 15th!
Professional Development

June 05 (Tuesday)
6:30 pm
Kansas City BBQ, 610 W. Market Street, Downtown

Rotaract Roadmap to Leadership Topic #8: Perseverance



June19 (Tuesday)
6:30 pm
Kansas City BBQ, 610 W. Market Street, Downtown

Make sure to make this meeting as we will be joined by Ralph Rubio of Rubio's Restaurants. Ralph will share some of his wisdom in creating a publicly traded company and how he managed to persevere throughout the entire process.

Ralph Rubio and his father opened the first Rubio's Home of the Fish Taco restaurant in the Mission Bay area of San Diego in 1983. Rubio's Restaurants, Inc., headquartered in Carlsbad, operates, licenses or franchises more than 150 Rubio's restaurants in California, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Colorado and Nevada and is publicly held: RUBO (Nasdaq).
San Diego Rotaract is Growing: New Club

San Diego Rotaract is growing! A new Rotaract club is forming in the Mission Valley area. Whether you personally work or live in that area, or you know of other young San Diegans who may be interested, please spread the word. The Downtown and North County clubs are exicited to help get the club going and to support the evolution of the new branch of our local Rotaract family.

Please contact Bridget with any questions or ideas. A general interest happy hour will be scheduled soon. Thank you for your support!
USCC 2007 Symposium & Rotaract Pre-Convention: Service Without Borders

USCC Symposium: June 13-14 (Wednesday-Thursday)
Rotaract Pre-Convention: June 15-16 (Friday-Saturday)
Rotary International Convention: June 17-20 (Sunday-Wednesday)
Salt Lake City, Utah

"Service Without Borders" – That is this year's theme for the USCC Conference and Rotaract Pre-Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. The annual gathering of the over 400 Rotaract Clubs in the USA, Canada, and the Caribbean is scheduled conveniently to precede this year's worldwide Rotaract pre-convention, at which clubs from all regions of the world will attend. You may check out specific info on USCC, as well as the Pre-Convention.

Bascially, USCC is our opportunity to engage, share and learn from Rotaractors in our region. ...then, we are invited to stay on and network with Rotaract clubs. Truly, these events demonstrate the global span of Rotaract. We encourage our club members to attend.

If you have questions, please contact Bridget Johnson and/or Andrea Espinoza.
San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary Meeting

The San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary Club is meeting every Wednesday at 7:00 am at the Symphony Towers University Club, 750 B Street, Suite 3400.

Next scheduled speakers / events:
June 06 Stacy Jer
UCSD student in Ghana
June 13 TBA
June 20 Dark – No Meeting!
June 27 Celebration of Rotary's 2007 Projects

For last minute changes, please check http://www.sdrotary.org!
Members' Bulletin Board
  • Voices for Children Seeking Volunteers
    June 06 (Wednesday)
    "Help stop the child abuse crisis. San Diego's abandoned and neglected children desperately need you. Volunteer to serve as a child advocate. All training provided. Volunteers visit and lend support to the children, interview all parties involved, and make recommendations to the court. Men and bilingual speakers are especially needed." Volunteer information sessions will be held on Wednesday, June 6th. Call Voices for Children at 858-569-2019 or visit http://www.speakupnow.org.

  • "Blue Bella" – Monthly Blues and Soul Dance
    Every 2nd Friday of the month (starting on June 08)
    9:00 pm - 1:00 am
    Ciao Bella, 5263 Baltimore Drive, La Mesa, 619-337-0238
    **Monthly Blues and Soul Dance held at Ciao Bella** Blue Bella will be held every second Friday of the month. Grand Opening: Friday, June 8, 9:00 pm - 1:00 am, Free, at Ciao Bella (come early for authentic Italian cuisine, reservations recommended). Explore dancing to various music and tempos provided by DJ Firemark. Free lesson with Chris on variations of blues basics 9:00 pm – 9:40 pm.
    Brought to you by Rotaract member Elizabeth McGuire. For more information, email Elizabeth and Andra.

  • Heroes on the Harbor
    June 15 (Friday)
    6:30 - 11:00 pm
    USS Midway aircraft carrier, San Diego Bay
    Heroes on the Harbor on the USS Midway aircraft carrier, San Diego Bay: An Evening with Live Music, Silent Auction, Fireworks and a Wine/Chocolate Extravaganza. On June 15th, we honor these heroes aboard the USS Midway aircraft carrier on San Diego Bay. All proceeds will benefit the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund which provides financial assistance to those Marines and other service personnel that have paid a significant price in serving our country. Ticket Prices: $70 if purchased by May 15, $85 after May 15. All proceeds to benefit the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. There is a $3 service charge per ticket. For more information, please click here.

  • Make-a-Wish Foundation® of San Diego: 5th Annual Wags for Wishes
    July 06 - 08 (Friday - Sunday)
    9:00 am - 5:00 pm
    Del Mar Horse Park, 14550 El Camino Real, Del Mar
    The Make-A-Wish Foundation® of San Diego presents the 5th Annual Wags For Wishes, the largest and most comprehensive dog show on the West Coast. With over 2,000 competitors and 15,000 spectators expected, Wags For Wishes has everything: agility, dock dogs, herding, flyball, lure coursing, disc dogs, Jack Russell Terrier events, obedience, dockdogs and conformation.
    Admission is only $5.00, children 12 and under are free! So come out and help make wishes come true. Your support of this wonderful event will enable us to grant the wishes of children who are battling life-threatening medical conditions. Make-A-Wish Foundation® of San Diego granted wishes to 160 children and we expect to grant even more this year. From a laptop computer for a child who spends too much time in the hospital, to a dream Disney vacation for the entire family – no wish is too big or small.

  • Post your own message here!
    Do you need a roommate? Trying to sell your car? Let Rotaract work for you! Post your message here in the newsletter and have it be seen by over 100 like-minded people.
    Just send an e-mail to newsletter@sandiegorotaract.org with "Bulletin Board" in the subject line. Please remember to also include a general time frame for your message, e.g. 3 weeks, 2 newsletters, or until November 1st.
Rotaract & Rotary Trivia

Green Celebrations Help the Community and Environment
By Sharon Broom and Becky Buyers-Basso. For Rotary International News. 31 May 2007.

Independence Day in Bar Harbor, Maine, USA, this 4 July will be red, white, blue – and green. The Rotary Club of Bar Harbor (Mount Desert Island) has taken steps that can be replicated by almost any club to make its warm weather celebrations and fundraisers good for the community and the environment.

The Bar Harbor Rotary club aims to make its 37th annual Fourth of July Seafood Festival as environmentally responsible as possible by using good recycling practices. The Sysco Corporation will donate to the Rotary club biodegradable plates, cups, bowls, and napkins for the event. The Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce will donate compostable cutlery – forks and spoons made from cornstarch. And these measures will make a difference. On the Fourth of July, the club plans to serve 1,500 pancake breakfasts and more than 1,000 seafood dinners.

Last year, Rotarians set up a waste recycling and composting center at the town athletic field, where the festival is held. The event yielded hundreds of pounds of paper waste for recycling and gallons of organic material for composting, including lobster and mussel shells, corn cobs, and watermelon rinds.

The Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce took notice of the Rotarians’ effort to reduce, reuse, and recycle the waste created by the crowds of eager pancake eaters and seafood feasters. Hoping to follow their lead, the chamber president contacted the club to see if the business organization could help expand the effort town-wide in 2007. In addition to providing the biodegradable cutlery for the festival, the chamber is planning to replicate the Rotarians' waste disposal stations downtown and buy reusable tote bags for retailers to replace plastic bags.

The Seafood Festival is the club's major fundraiser of the year, along with the Fourth of July Blueberry Pancake Breakfast held at the same site since the late 1980s. The day before the doubleheader event, club members spend hours setting up tents, tables, chairs, grills, and lobster cookers for the 1,000 pounds of lobster sold each year.

On the Fourth, Rotarians work from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. to cook, serve, and clean up. The club expects to raise about US$13,000 this year, and it will donate the funds to a variety of community organizations. Recipients in the past have included the local YMCA and YWCA; Island Connections, an organization that provides transportation for older people; Acadia Affordable Housing; the Bar Harbor Food Pantry; and the Maine Sea Coast Mission.

The festival is attended by thousands of people, and, along with the town's parade and fireworks, helps to make Bar Harbor one of the Maine coast's major destinations for the holiday.

For information, contact the Bar Harbor Rotary club president, Benni McMullen, at 207-288-5008 or e-mail her at ywcamdi@verizon.net.

© Rotary International
http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/programs/070531_july4.html




Contact Information

If you have information, suggestions or feedback that you think the board might use to improve the club, we'd love to hear what you think, so please send your ideas to info@sandiegorotaract.org, snail-mail them to

The Rotaract Club of Downtown San Diego
P.O. Box 86702
San Diego, CA 92138

or contact any member of the board directly:

President Bridget Johnson
Vice President Chava Dean
Treasurer Armond Croom
Secretary Andrea Seay
Deputy Secretary Tanja Wrage
Community Service Cade Fulton
Fundraising Andy Gerber
Historian Muriel Croom
International Liaison Chantelle Swaby
Professional Development Jeff Haskin
Public Relations Dean Koci
Sergeant at Arms TBD
Social Chair Mark Adams
Website Chair Derrick J. Usher
Past President Andrea Espinoza
Rotaract / Rotary Liaison Martin Blair

Looking for information from one of our past newsletters? Accidentally deleted one of our Weekly Announcement e-mails? Click here to get to our Newsletter Archive!

If you have an announcement you'd like to have included in the weekly newsletter, please send it to newsletter@sandiegorotaract.org with "Newsletter" in the subject line no later than Friday evening.

You are receiving this e-mail, because you have come to a meeting of the Rotaract Club of Downtown San Diego and have filled out your e-mail address on one of our forms. If you would like to be removed from all (!!!) Rotaract Club of Downtown San Diego e-mails, please write an e-mail to newsletter@sandiegorotaract.org with "Remove" in the subject line. We'll miss you!





© 2007 The Rotaract Club of Downtown San Diego
http://www.sandiegorotaract.org