Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa

Rotary de Tolosa had a very timely and informative presentation on current vaccine technology from Dr. Kevin Parzych. We heard about the amazing promise of mRNA vaccines and also that once treated, we are not immune from COVID but we are much less likely to get seriously ill. During our meeting SLO County announced that they will start setting vaccine appointments for people 65 and older in the next few weeks. We also recognized our virtual head table members and had a great craft talk from Phil Koziel who paid a fine to celebrate his latest promotion.

Last week Rotary de Tolosa had a nice visit from Mary Harris, the President of the Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo, the club that gave us our start in 1984. We also celebrated our head table members and the recipients of last year’s grants, Cal Poly Arts, Assistance League Operation School Bell, Undocusupport Fund, YMCA Camp Care, and SLOCOE school Closure Fund.

"Rotary believes in developing the next generation of leaders. Our programs help younger leaders build leadership skills, expand education and learn the value of service." The Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa has a focus on youth, and we have several ongoing programs that we sponsor, including 4H Judging, Teen Track and ChildSpree, to name a few. We also sponsor the Interact Club at Mission College Prep. Learn more about Rotary's commitment to youth here: ... https://www.rotary.org/en/our-programs/youth-programs See more

Membership Monday: Meet Santa Claus Santa Claus works tirelessly all year to bring joy to children around the world on Christmas Eve and during the early hours of Christmas Day. Santa has always espoused Rotary values and abides by the Four-Way Test. He honors the importance of truth, fairness, and goodwill which in turn makes a positive impact on all he crosses paths with though most never see him. ... Leading up to Christmas, Santa Claus works closely with his elves. His team is incredibly important to him so he always treats them with grace and respect. He lives his passion everyday by bringing happiness and joy to children around the globe. When Santa is not preparing toys for Christmas, he is taking care of his reindeer or baking cookies with Mrs. Claus. Thank you, Santa, for bringing joy, unconditional kindness, and generosity to our community. If you and your family want to track Santa this Christmas Eve, visit noradsanta.org.

Reminder - Rotary de Tolosa will be dark on 12/23 & 30 and will resume in January. Today we heard from Dr. Eric Pratter, our hard working and inspiring Superintendent of Schools. We also heard from our grant recipients, Assistance League, YMCA, Cal Poly Arts, SLO County Undocumented Support, and the SLO Education Foundation. Congratulations to our member spotlight Chris Miller and happy holidays to all.

Rotary President Tom Zehnder created Raffle with a Cause to support our local community. Members participate in a weekly raffle to win items donated from other members. The proceeds are then donated to a different not-for-profit each month. In January, $923 was gifted to The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County. Its mission is to conserve and care for diverse wildlands, farms, and ranches of the Central Coast by working cooperatively with both landowners and government agencies.

Membership Monday Spotlight: Meet Chris Miller When things open up again, and the arts community can welcome patrons back to SLO’s Performing Arts Center, Chris Miller will be ready to toast this momentous occasion with a cask-strength, Speyside single malt whiskey. Chris joined Rotary three years ago, sponsored by de Tolosan and Cal Poly Arts ED Steve Lerian. He has enjoyed serving on the Community Grants Committee for the past two years and appreciates that Rotary provides... an opportunity for fellowship and service both internationally and locally (even during these times), and he is gratified to see Rotarians living the motto Service Above Self every day. Chris serves as Managing Director of the Performing Arts Center, stepping into what he calls, the very big shoes of Ron Regier after Ron retired four years ago. Chris relocated from Seattle, where he worked in the performing arts for 30 years, most recently as General Manager of McCaw Hall, a 2900 seat theatre that is the home of Pacific Northwest Ballet and Seattle Opera. He holds a B.A. in Drama and an M.F.A. in Performing Arts Management. As Chris puts it, he got bit by the theatre bug in high school, and hasn’t looked back since! Chris and his wife, Barbara, have been married for 36 years, and their daughter, 20-year-old Siobhan, is a junior at Cal Poly, studying history and music, with aspirations to become a teacher. Barb has been with Edward Jones for the last 16 years. The Millers live in Arroyo Grande with their two cats and like to spend their time hiking and enjoying the Central Coast. He looks forward to the day we can all attend performing arts events again, and also getting back to doing some travel. Thank you, Chris, for bringing your talents and skills to the Central Coast, and to Rotary de Tolosa!

Rotary de Tolosa enjoyed a presentation from Asst. City Manager Greg Herman about the tremendous efforts by the city to light up downtown for the holidays and to support local businesses with over $3 million dollars in incentives. We also had a craft talk from our member Fatma Spanton who shared her Turkish heritage and love of travel, great friends and her wonderful boyfriend, Ron Brown.

Membership Monday: Meet Jon Pollock Jon Pollock is a life-long traveler, an enthusiastic volunteer, and a hard-working insurance advisor. Feeling honored to be a Rotarian since 2015, Jon was sponsored into Rotary de Tolosa by fellow Morris & Garritano team member Mark Anelli. He has served as the club’s Program Director and supported our activities by participating on a number of different committees. Jon is perhaps best known by his fellow Rotarians for his performance as ...Freddie Mercury during a club meeting when our fundraiser One Night of Queen was being promoted to members. Jon wants potential members and the community to know that Rotary is more than a business networking group. More importantly, it is a gathering of our community’s leaders with the goal of donating their time, treasure and talent to make SLO, and the world, a better place. As an Army Brat growing up, Jon has lived in the American South, Germany and Japan. Now settled on the Central Coast, he is an Employee Benefits Advisor at Morris & Garritano, and he feels fortunate to have built close relationships with many of his clients, many of whom he now calls friend. Jon enjoys playing golf and tennis, traveling and just hanging out with friends. Thank you, Jon, for donating your time, treasure and talent and dancing skills to Rotary de Tolosa!

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