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So much to do at the  Virtual Convention. Enjoy the Walking Challenge, Virtual House of Friendship, and Breakouts.General Session 1 features the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres!
President's Message
Dear BBRC Friends,
 
I hope everyone had as much fun getting back to “normal” (somewhat, at least) by meeting at the Petroleum Club again!  We had more than 30 people IRL (In Real Life), plus our devoted Zoomers via computers and cell phones.  Congratulations to all of us, for staying connected throughout the COVID-19 crisis.  We continued to hold EVERY SINGLE scheduled meeting, if you can believe that, and the future of BBRC is every bit as bright as it was three months ago.
 
Also, kudos to us for helping the Petroleum Club comply with its health guidelines, all while keeping ourselves safe and well, too! 
 
I sure hope you all will try to make it to this week’s meeting, our last regular meeting of the Rotary year!  With all the juggling and improvising we’ve had to do, I admit the year-end snuck up on me!  Thank you all SO MUCH for entrusting me with the role of club president.  It has been a true honor, and one of the very best experiences of my entire life. 
 
As I’ve been looking through photos for the final meeting’s slide show, I’ve been reminded of all the fun we’ve had together, all the work we’ve done together, and all the support we’ve given each other and our community.   You are an amazing group of humans, and I count myself PROUD to be a Breakfast Rotarian!
 
In Rotary Service and Friendship,
 
Cheryl
 
PS -- Watch for a new Zoom link to this week’s meeting.  Mindy will be “hosting” this time!
What You May Have Missed at the Meeting
You should be grateful I only write The Beacon and I am not your songmeister. Past President Denise Haynes does a magnificent job selecting and performing age-appropriate songs for each meeting. If I was your songmeister I would have probably sung “Home, Home on the Range”, since we have finally returned to The Petroleum Club for our regular Breakfast Rotary meeting!  So, you better be glad for Denise’s singing and song choice as she led us in a COVID-conscious rendition of “America the Beautiful”.
 
Those who attended the Rotary meeting were ushered into the elevator by Past President Kay Pitts, who cleverly arranged to have attendees sign a special card for President Cheryl Scott whose “days are numbered” at her KEDC/KEDF jobs before she moves into her new office at Bakersfield College as the BC Foundation Executive Director. If it wasn’t enough to be COVID screened and sanitized by Kay, Ken Quarnberg met attendees at the 12th floor landing to safely guide us into the meeting.
 
After we obtained our Rotary Badges from the sterilized badge box and adorned our shirts with the badges, everything appeared to be close to normal.  Happily many members braved the COVID conditions to once again participate in our regular meeting format. The exception to the regular meeting format was the food buffet, or lack of it. Food was delivered by waiters at the tables where we sat. Sorry Past President Neil Walker, you missed out! There was no green in the eggs! Mary Jo Pasek blessed us with a wonderful Invocation, asking for thankfulness of our breakfast as well as a strengthening towards our commitment to others.
 
Celebrating Rotary Anniversaries were Nick Simmons, one of several members who attended the meeting through Zoom. Congrats Nick, it is so good to have you in our Rotary Club. Also, Dan Johnson, who played a little guitar before the morning meeting, has been a mainstay at Breakfast Rotary for 15 years. That’s a lot of guitar playin’ for us through the years. Thank you, Dan, for your passion and support of Rotary. Denise Haynes introduced a guest, Dr. Bani Singh M.D. who is a practicing physician with Dignity Health. Welcome Dr. Singh!
 
**Featured Program**
 
None better member to introduce our morning speaker than Sally Selby. Sally works at Kaiser Permanente with our speaker, Dr. Marvin Campos M.D. Sally shared that Dr. Campos is the newly appointed Kaiser Medical Director for the Kern County region. Dr. Campos Kern County region encompasses 113,000 health recipients. He has been affiliated with Kaiser since 2006 and became a Kaiser partner in 2009.
 
Chiefly, Dr. Campos discussed COVID-19 and societal concerns that come with the disease. Dr. Campos did a very thorough job explaining the local medical community response to the COVID virus as well as what we can expect to see in the coming weeks and months in Kern County.
 
The four main take-aways Dr. Campos wanted to emphasize were:
  • What is a Virus?
  • What does it mean to “Flatten the Curve”?
  • Is it just better to get the virus and be over it?
  • When are we going to just get back to normal?
Dr. Campos told us that as Rotarians, we should be familiar with viruses, because polio is a virus. Viruses do the damage to our body when, after entering our body they attach to live organisms, “that’s us”, and begin to take over and destroy those healthy organisms. Called, “the perfect parasite” viruses replicate themselves by hijacking living cells. This is what happens in a polio patient, or a Hepatitis C patient. The difference is that in Hepatitis for example, the virus attacks the liver. In the case of COVID, the virus attacks the upper respiratory system. COVID is most concerning to physicians and scientists because it had not been previously identified (it is “novel”.) Therefore, there is not a protocol for treatment or a vaccination. That is what makes COVID so frightening. He said treatment is progressing, but the medical society is still not 100% solid on a protocol for treatment and control.
 
Dr. Campos said comparatively, Kern County’s numbers of persons becoming inflicted with COVID is faring better than many other counties in the state. He said it is very important to flatten the projected curve of active COVID-19 cases. This of course, helps keep us stay safe in Kern County, and it steers us towards near normal operating conditions for our businesses and schools. Furthermore, flattening the curve frees up medical personnel to administer health care to other areas of need, opens up hospital beds to others, and allows a surplus of ventilators (which we have now). Essentially, if you were to contract COVID now you would be assured a much better chance for availability of medical response than if you would have if you had become sick in March. Whew, but we are certainly not out of the woods…not even by a long shot. Dr. Campos urges using COVID precautionary best practices.
 
A cautionary caveat to the good news for Kern County, Dr. Campos released BREAKING NEWS to our Breakfast Rotary Club. This unwelcome caveat is that recent local data has revealed a noticeable spike in positive tests for COVID beginning the first week of June. The sad news is that these numbers include those persons who are sick enough to be admitted to the hospital! The source for the spike is not known, but I would speculate perhaps it is due to people not exercising best practices in April. This trend only compromises the good work we have done thus far, until we arrive at a vaccine. More on that in a moment.  
           
Just getting over COVID is a good thing. Dr. Campos seems to be confident in the prospect for finding a vaccine and solid protocol for treatment. He was very reassuring, telling us that there has been a history of potentially pandemic level illnesses that have struck us. He said with the levels of sophistication of today’s medicine he anticipates a cure. Dr. Campos was optimistic that a vaccine will be ready for distribution in the second quarter of 2021!
 
“Small spigot of water, over a large bucket of water”, says the doctor. Approaching normal, or what appears to be normal will come. Handling the treatment of current and new patients is more manageable if infections come in small numbers as opposed to large, and that is exactly what Dr. Campos is referring to when using the “spigot of water” analogy. So, what do we as Breakfast Rotarians do about this? What is our part, and do we even have one? Taking a lead from Dr. Campos’ outstanding presentation, we can do our part by promoting best practices and keeping ourselves, our families, and others safe to help “flatten the curve” in Kern County. We have been doing a great job, so let’s continue to be good examples.
 
And what does “normal” look like? I liked the way Dr. Campos stated, “Remember how after 9/11 airline travel and TSA changed”? Well folks, airport security does not seem to be changing back to pre-9/11 days. Based on what the doctor said it seems clear that we are going to be bound by new practices keeping each other safe from illness for the foreseeable future. Get used to the new normal. Please hurry second quarter of 2021! 
 
We would like to thank Dr. Campos for joining us and providing the latest updates on COVID in Kern County. The doctor had a large number of Breakfast Rotarians wanting to ask questions, so consider reaching out to Dr. Campos through Kaiser’s public information department, or to your own health care provider for updates on the availability of individual testing centers and best practices until a vaccine can be administered safely.
 
**Announcements Announcements**
 
When the Prez said she had a special announcement I got excited. Not unlike I remember in grade school when the teacher said she had a special announcement. It was a “code word” for extra recess time, or an assembly in the auditorium. Well the special announcement from the Prez was not about recess, she called up Past President Ron “Buford” Nelms. I figured this must be good…and it was! Ron announced that that the BBRC Board of Presidents had unanimously selected our next president elect nominee designate, Karen Bonanno. Within two weeks if there is not opposition Karen will become our BBRC president after the reign of Dr. Jeff Haynes. I am thrilled about Karen’s nomination! Before we could chase Ron away from the podium, he reminded us that those of you that would like to participate in the planning of Prez Cheryl’s Step Down scheduled at the Broken Yolk, June 26th, to contact him ASAP. 
 
What would a meeting be without Foundation Treasurer Mindy Wilmot saying something? Oh, I don’t mean that in a negative way, Mindy always has something positive to say that inspires and keeps the membership informed on what matters to them most. One thing that matters is urging the membership to stay current on Rotary International and Bakersfield Breakfast Foundations Pledges for the 2019-2020 fiscal year ending June 30, 2020. Mindy asked that you contact her if you have any questions or concerns about your pledges. Before little Mindy could get off the “stage”, the Prez acknowledged Mindy for all her efforts in her demanding role as Foundation Treasurer - which she makes look so easy. For Mindy’s leadership, the Prez bestowed the “Super Hero” award to her! Congrats!
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, it has been many weeks since we have assembled together as Breakfast Rotarians at the Petroleum Club, and well…it was just darn good. We can only hope and pray that all of us and our loved ones stay safe during these very stressful times. As a Breakfast Rotarian, my membership gives me assurance that not only are we there for the community, but we are there for each other. We must have strength in order to help others, you know when flying as a passenger in a plane you put your oxygen mask on before you place it on others... I would urge you to consider that, take care of yourself and if there is an internal need of support to anyone in this club do so. We are in this together!
 
See you next week at the Petroleum Club for the last standing meeting of the Prez’s princessdom. 
 
In Rotary,
Frank Wooldridge  
 
 
What are "Rotary Areas of Focus"?

Rotary is dedicated to six areas of focus to build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world to support our peace efforts and end polio forever.

For the next six weeks, we will look a little more at each of Rotary's causes, the Areas of Focus. Today, we will read about the "Promoting Peace".

Promoting peace

Rotary encourages conversations to foster understanding within and across cultures. We train adults and young leaders to prevent and mediate conflict and help refugees who have fled dangerous areas.

Today, over 70 million people are displaced as a result of conflict, violence, persecution, and human rights violations. Half of them are children.

We refuse to accept conflict as a way of life. Rotary projects provide training that fosters understanding and provides communities with the skills to resolve conflicts.

Rotary creates environments of peace

As a humanitarian organization, peace is a cornerstone of our mission. We believe when people work to create peace in their communities, that change can have a global effect.

By carrying out service projects and supporting peace fellowships and scholarships, our members take action to address the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, discrimination, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources.

Our commitment to peacebuilding today answers new challenges: how we can make the greatest possible impact and how we can achieve our vision of lasting change. We are approaching the concept of peace with greater cohesion and inclusivity, broadening the scope of what we mean by peacebuilding, and finding more ways for people to get involved.

Rotary creates environments where peace can happen. 

 

Upcoming Programs
Jun 17, 2020 6:45 AM
Bakersfield College Football (In person and via Zoom)
Bakersfield College Football (In person and via Zoom)
Jun 24, 2020
Demotion week!
Jul 29, 2020 6:45 AM
Golden Queen Mining Co.
Aug 05, 2020 6:45 AM
Your FBI
View entire list
Upcoming Events
2020 Rotary Virtual Convention
On-line
Jun 20, 2020 – Jun 26, 2020
 
Cheryl Scott's Demotion
Broken Yolk Patio
Jun 26, 2020
6:30 PM – 9:00 PM
 
Virtual District Celebration - must register!
http://bit.ly/D5240StepDown
Jun 27, 2020
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
 
View entire list
Meeting Duties - June 17, 2020
Greeter
Reagor, Marilee
 
Greeter
Parnell, Sandra
 
Invocation
Simmons, Nick
 
Flag Salute
Paggi, Patrick
 
Visiting Rotarians
Selby, Sally
 
June Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Jason Williamson
June 1
 
Anniversaries
Jeffrey Haynes
Cheryl
June 2
 
Joseph Nunez
Wendy Nunez
June 2
 
Nick Simmons
Catie Simmons
June 3
 
Darin Blunt
Shannon Blunt
June 26
 
Gerald Starr
Robin
June 27
 
Jeffrey Bell
Amy Bell
June 28
 
Bulletin Editor
Kay Pitts
Russell Hampton
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