Meet Jennifer Henry, a powerhouse in the world of nonprofits and a proud member of the Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary Club since December 13, 2023. Sponsored by the amazing Kay Pitts, Jennifer brings her passion and expertise to our club, currently serving on the 1000 Flags committee.
Professionally, Jennifer is the Executive Director of Links for Life, a role she’s held since 2005 when the organization’s founder, Sharyn Woods, personally chose her to carry on the mission. Under Jennifer’s leadership, Links for Life has raised over $10 million to support the fight against breast cancer right here in Kern County, with every dollar staying local. Before this, Jennifer was making waves at the American Cancer Society, where she managed top fundraisers like Daffodil Days.
In addition to her impactful work, Jennifer serves on several boards, including the Kern County Cancer Foundation and Kern Alliance of Nonprofits. But if you think she’s all business, think again! Jennifer has a creative side too—back in high school, she spent a summer dancing her heart out at Interlochen Center of the Arts, perfecting her skills in ballet, pointe, modern, and jazz.
Jennifer’s personal life is just as fulfilling. She’s been married to her wonderful husband, Matt, for 26 years, and they have two incredible children—Madden, a recent graduate of Gonzaga University, and Jensen, currently studying at Cal Baptist University.
For Jennifer, Rotary is a gift because it allows her to serve the community in a new and meaningful way. She loves meeting fellow community members, discovering their unique talents, and working alongside them to give back to the place they all call home.
Shannon O’Brien celebrated a birthday on 8/5 Karen Bonanno was on 8/10 (was their wedding date on August 7 related to her birth date?) Honorary Member Carl Leech has a birthday on 8/9. We are still hopeful for a good recovery from his recent stroke.
Wedding Anniversaries
We look forward to seeing Neil and Pam Walker soon. They are celebrating their 45th anniversary.
BBRC Anniversaries
It is wonderful to have new members get involved quickly in the club, you learn about the club, about the good Rotary does in the community and the world, and how you can make more of a difference. (It is also wonderful to have long-time members actively involved.)
Freddy Walkover (International Service Director) – 1 year Art Esparza (many committees) – 1 year
Sharing Happiness
Dennis and Fran Scott celebrated their 50th anniversary in Kauai. Dennis made an attempt to bring back gifts of traditional Hawaiian gift food. Unfortunately most didn’t make it to the meeting. When Dennis said his happiness contribution to BBRC was $50, wife Fran intoned that it should be $250. President Dave kindly let him off the hook knowing how expensive the vacation probably was.
Birthday celebrant and BBRC web administrator Shannon O’Brien had a combination work conference and vacation when he took his son to Niagara Falls and Canada. Sounded like a wonderful trip. I’m jealous, Niagara Fall on are my travel list.
Jeff Haynes tried to disguise his annual fishing trip as a visit to Jackie Maxwell in Anchorage. He did fess up that he saw her at the end of a bountiful fishing trip. He brought back fish they had caught for President Dave. I’m hoping the fish had been dried or something.
We are all darn happy that Jeff Bell came to the meeting. His son and primary health helper, Josh, joined us. Josh returned from his mission in Brazil six weeks ago just in time to help his dad and family. We would love to hear more about his mission. Thank you, Josh, for helping our friend with everything! Jeff gave us the details about the accident, his and Amy’s injuries, and their recovery. He shared the four miracles he has experienced during his recovery involving family, the accident timing, his employer, support and love from his church, neighborhood, work, friends (including us), he won’t need surgery and most of all connecting with Josh.
The accident happened 6 weeks ago. He will be in the back brace 24 hours a day for an undetermined amount of time to get his L2 and disc to stabilize (?). Amy was slightly less impacted (Yay!) They are both expected to fully recover.
It was great to see Jeff and his smile again!
Your Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary Foundation donated $1000 on your behalf to the victims of the Borel Fire. Assistant Governor for Bakersfield, Jim Damian, coordinated the donations from all six Bakersfield clubs.
Supporting our members
Art Esparza’s father passed away a couple of weeks ago. We all understand that this is a tough time for Art and the family. We send our sympathies and caring to all.
FINALLY
August is membership month. Please share the joy and difference Rotary makes in the world with your friends, neighbors, acquaintances, business associates and community members. BBRC supports your efforts by covering the cost of two meetings for potential members. If you have any questions about the process please contact John Guerard (membership director), Willie Gordon (immediate past membership director) or any of the officers. The membership Proposal Form for you to fill out for your prospective member is on the BBRC.org website or through this link – membership form
Has anyone seen Duncan Harris? He is still missing from the BBRC family. President David threatened to call him this week.
Another outstanding meeting yesterday! President Dave led us ably and with humor; Program Chair Pete Leveroni helped bring us up to date with the California Living Museum (CALM) with a talk when Director (since 2000) Meg Maitland.
Meg presented the extensive2022 master plan to develop the Museum's unused acreage west of the current footprint to the soccer park. The link leads you to the final report. They have amazing plans that hopefully will be complete withing the 20-year planned timeframe. Each phase is planned to take 5-7 years to complete. The first phase is the Entry Plaza which sets the groundwork for the changing the impression of the museum on visitors and enables multiple entries for the different type of visitors (school children, rescued wild animals, and regular visitors like us.)
Meg shared photos of The Willows at CALM. See more photos and information at the website. A center for events, meetings, weddings and more.
The Holiday Lights at CALM will be back inside the park for the second year - post COVID. They are always treat for the family.
All of that beauty of course, needs volunteers to staff the Lights display to help keep guests and the lights safe. BBRC had crews out there for a night or two for a couple of years. If you think this would be a wonderful community project, please contact Community Service Director Char Vega and let her know! They need 30 volunteers each of the 37-night run. It really gets you into the holiday spirit and is FUN to volunteer there!
Fun at the meeting! (Note, photos are from last week, the photographer is still processing the photos.)
Can you pick out which photos have: Justin Salters - interim director of B3K, Cory Pratt -potential BBRC member (paperwork has been submitted), Tony and Past Pres (PP) Karen Bonanno, Pres David and PP Ron Nelms, Pres David and Vocational Chair David Perkins.
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