accomplishments of many outstanding
MORAGA
ROTARY
NEWSLETTER
June 30, 2020
_________________________________
Next: July 7, Noon
We are now conducting regular
meetings on-line video or by phone!
Program: Lillian, Rich, & Deb R.—
Tales of Rotary Exchange
Students
____________________________
To participate next week:
Zoom connection information for July 7th will
be distributed early next week
Upcoming Speakers:
July 14 – Friendly Flash Fiction
July 21 – David O’Connell: Saklan
School
July 28 – Kid Power: Erica Leonard
Sept 8 – Mark Nagel: St. Mary’s College
Dec 1 – DG visit: Mark Roberts
~~DEMOTION OF CO-PRES ~~
The meeting was opened by moderator
Rich Render, who announced that for
Moraga Rotary (and most Rotary Clubs)
the last meeting in June was devoted to
recognizing the accomplishments of the
current President(s), recognizing the
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individuals, and installing the new
President. He led the Pledge of
Allegiance, and acknowledged guest
Larry Tessler, Honorary members
Lillian Roodveldt and Carol Irwin,
snowbird member Jody Parker, and
roving member Mary Hogan.
Moraga Rotary 2019-2020 Co-Presidents
Debbie Koo & Evie Michon
Accordingly, Debbie Koo and Evie
Michon were virtually (and virtuously)
presented plaques of appreciation for
their excellent service to Rotary Club of
Moraga during their year which ended
today.
Debbie Koo covered several highlights
of the previous year in a comprehensive
slide show presentation, beginning with
an acknowledgement of the many
Rotarians who do the “behind the
scenes” work in Club administration,
props setup and storage, and the many
other necessary things that make the
Club work well. She acknowledged
several new members this year that
have already contributed significantly to
Club success: Stephanie Dickerson,
Fran Rathjen (returning member), Jeff
Assadi, Adarsh Gupta, and Hubert
Ma.

MSD Superintendent Bruce Burns (center)

receives a big check

The second major project was the

fundraising and the District Grant to fund
a two-way communication radio for
every administrator and teacher in the
Moraga School District, and by January
2020, the radios had all been purchased
Cliff with Karen Orwig and Elena Toohy, and were in use. The leader of this
celebrating 60+ years in Rotary project was new member Stephanie
The first Club effort was the very Dickerson, who was also on the MSD
successful luncheon to honor Cliff safety committee.
Dochterman’s 60+ year anniversary as
a Rotarian, and many Rotary friends
and family members attended from as
far away as Arkansas.
This party was organized by Ron
Mucovich, Debbie Roessler, and
Roger Gregory, and the highlight was
the speeches and videos from former RI
officials, family, and friends. Cliff
donated Rotary treasures he had kept
from the many gifts he had received
during his RI Presidency to an auction,
which raised almost $10,000 for Moraga
Rotary.

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“Á Nite at the Races”, masterminded
again by Frank May and backed by the
usual suspects, raised a record amount
of net donations and was a great party
besides, with many guests in, shall we
say, a younger demographic group.
Frank was smart enough set the date on
the Saturday before the COVID
lockdown. Specific donations for school
safety items and the Congo Library
raised a record amount as well.
Other completed projects were:
• Completion of a new Club
brochure with updated
information, led by Jennifer
Brophy, who also updated and
improved the Club’s web site.
Jennifer Brophy and her posse
• Donated to the Moraga Junior
Women’s Society for their annual
Hometown Hoedown fundraiser,
and participated with them in their
annual Grandparents Day at the
Moraga Royale.
• Awarding Quilts of Valor to the
six Club members who served in
the Armed Forces. The most
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valorous by far was Al Simonsen,
who flew an A-4 from an aircraft
carrier off North Viet Nam, for two
tours of duty.
• Successful completion of the
Sierra Leone orphanage project,
with all the orphans taken care of
and assured of attending school.
Fidel Bafilemba and Goma-Tumaina
Rotarians
• Advanced the Lumumba
Community Library project in
Congo with the Goma-Tumaina
Rotary, with construction close to
starting. Many book clubs are
contributing $25 or more to the
effort.
• Payment of $28,373 to the Town
of Moraga representing surplus
funds raised for the All-Access
Playground, as promised.
• Sent more than $3200 (excluding
direct personal donations) to Polio
Plus to meet the challenge grant
by the Gates Foundation.

• At Hubert Ma’s suggestion,
Debbie Koo organized a project
for our Club to make 1000 plastic
face shields, which took some
flexibility to obtain materials and
arm-twisting to get the workers,
unskilled as they were. The
shields were sent to major medical
complexes as well as 100 to
Contra Costa bus drivers.
• Successfully relocated our Club
meeting spot from Moraga Country
Club to Michael’s Restaurant,
where the food was good, the bar
was close, and the setting was
intimate. When COVID required
social distancing, we moved to
virtual meetings via Zoom.
Co-Presidents Debbie and Evie gave
“oceans of thanks” for the wonderful
support they received from Club
Members this year.
Then we get to the old timers who
started when perfect attendance rules
were much stricter: Lad Lynch (28
years); Angelo Costanza and Doug
Damaschino (43 years); John
Erickson (52 years); and (drum roll
please) Cliff Dochterman (62
years).
Remember, there was a time when Cliff,
and others listed above, had just one
year perfect attendance. Do you?
~~ROTARIAN OF THE YEAR~~
This award is given annually by a vote
of all Club members, and conducted by
Cliff Dochterman. It recognizes
outstanding service and dedication, and
he announced that this year’s winner is
Evie Michon AND Debbie Koo, a well-
deserved honor and just the second
time two Rotarians won the honor.

Perfect Attendance: Moderator Rich

stated that the requirements for perfect
attendance include not just meetings,
but other Rotary activities such as Board
or committee meetings, and projects.
Awardees are:
Jennifer Brophy and Brian South (1
year); Rich Render (2 years); Roger
Gregory, Ron Mucovich, Linda May,
Debbie Koo, and Dianne Wilson (3
years); Evie Michon (5 years); Frank
May (9 years); Tony Schoemehl (12 Rotarians of the Year
years); Gary Irwin (13 years), and Debbie Koo and Evie Michon
Debbie Roessler (16 years).
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Moderator Rich then recognized the
end of the very successful Co-
Presidency of Evie and Debbie, and
pronounced that they are officially
demoted, and that Moraga Rotary is
now in the care of President Brian
South for the 2020-2021 year!
President Brian South with Chief King and
Roger Gregory
~~PRESIDENT BRIAN SOUTH~~
President Brian complimented Debbie
and Evie for a very successful year
despite turbulent times, and said that
the “Party” part of this demotion will be
held as soon as we can socialize again.
He is grateful that the club culture is a
team effort, and is glad that he was fully
“in the loop” of Club business during the
year. He basically wants to what we
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have been doing, but will add some new
activities and items of fun and interest to
our meetings. He is open to new ideas
and suggestions, and wants to do a
simple club survey. He may even bring
back the raffle!
Emphasis will be on 1) completing the
school safety projects already
underway, 2) advancing the Lumumba
Community Library project, 3)
developing new fundraising ideas, and
modifying “Races” as necessary. E-
waste collections will continue.
New ideas to explore would be 1)
Teacher of the Month, to replace
Employee of the Month which wasn’t
getting enough nominations, 2) support
a Child Interview Center, which is a
neutral, comforting place where child
victims or witnesses of a crime may be
interviewed, 3) explore a “Ribs for
Rotary” fundraiser, which other Clubs do
successfully.
The meeting was adjourned with the
ringing of the bell by Debbie Koo and
Evie Michon.
Farewell to Michael’s restaurant
 Moraga Rotary Directors 2020/2021
President Brian South
President Elect Brian South
Past Co-Presidents Evie Michon & Debbie Koo
Secretary Jennifer Brophy
Treasurer Rich Render
Club Administrator Debbie Roessler
Foundation Chairman John Erickson
Youth and Community Service Chairman Tony Schoemehl
Public Relations Chairman Gary Irwin
Fundraising Chairman Frank May
International Service Chairs Dianne Wilson & Debbie Koo
Membership Chairman Roger Gregory
Director at Large Mary Sue Erickson
Director at Large Linda May
Advisor to the Board John Erickson
Advisor to the Board Jim Campbell
Advisor to the Board Cliff Dochterman

District Governor 5160 Mark Roberts

President, Rotary International Holger Knaack
June newsletter editor – Gary Irwin

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