Meeting Highlights – November 27, 2018

David Rocha, Chief of the Alameda County Fire Department The Club was happy to welcome back Alameda County Fire Chief David Rocha for another presentation, especially considering the recent California fires and the concern regarding potential fires in our community. David grew up in San Lorenzo and attended Chabot College and graduated from the University of San Francisco with a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration (B.P.A.).

Meeting Highlights – November 20, 2018

Russ Hobbs – The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Russ Hobbs is a member of the Rotary Club of Santa Cruz and is a Past District Governor (PDG) and current The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Chair for District 5170.

Meeting Highlights – November 13, 2018

Alan West – Chief Rabban of the Aahmes Shriners & Castro Valley Rotarian Al West, a Past President of the Rotary Club of Castro Valley and current member, updated the Club on the work of the AAMHES Shriners, especially the Shriner’s Children Hospital as well as the role Al is playing in the Shriners.

Meeting Highlights – November 6, 2018

Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern - Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern was the lunch speaker today. Dwight Perry’s great introduction shared that after starting his career with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office in 1980, Greg quickly moved through the ranks becoming Sheriff on January 8, 2007, the 22nd Sheriff in Alameda County since 1853.

Meeting Highlights – October 30, 2018

Julie Menack, Owner of Fiduciary Services and Life Care Management, was the speaker of the day. She discussed how the country is being hit by an Age Wave and the impact that it is having. Almost 10,000 people per day are turning 65 years and this trend is likely to continue over the next 20 years. Nearly 70% of the individuals over the age of 65 will become cognitively unable to complete at least two "activities of daily living" including dressing, bathing, or eating at some point in their lives and over 50% of people over age 85 will have some form of dementia. All these individuals are going to need some help in managing their affairs as they get older, less mobile, and less lucid. Some fortunate ones can depend on their children or other relatives who live nearby and can take on the additional responsibility of managing their affairs. Most others will have to look for help from other sources (e.g., government programs such as Medicare and MediCal; subsidized housing;, County Area Agency on Aging;, Meals on Wheels;, paratransit; nonprofits such as Senior Information and Assistance, Senior Centers, faith communities, diagnosis- based organizations such as Alzheimer’s Association and Parkinson’s Foundation; free services such as placement services; fee-based services such as Aging Life Care Professionals, Independent and Assisted Living Facilities, CA Licensed Private Professionals and Fiduciaries, Adult Day/ Health Programs and many others.

Meeting Highlights – October 23, 2018

2018 Motorcycle Cannonball Race: Doug Feinsod (member of the Rotary Club of Freedom) and Steve Gonzales described their participation in the 2018 Motorcycle Cannonball Race as well as past races. Doug (#18 on a 1909 Excelsior) has participated in the Race 5 times and Steve (#59 on a 1915 Harley Davidson 11F) 2 times. There were 123 riders in 2018. (Click here to see the riders and their motorcycles.)

Meeting Highlights – October 16, 2018

Dave Nolting – Appraiser: Guidelines for Property Appraisals Dave Nolting has worked in the real estate market for more than 45 years. Initially, Dave worked as a Real Estate Agent until the mid-1990's when he began working as a Property Appraiser. All property appraisers work for mortgage finance companies (e.g., banks, mortgage lenders) and are responsible to these companies. Their business, however, is regulated by Real Estate Boards. The Property Appraisers are certified by these boards and they operate in compliance with the requirements and principles of the Boards under uniform procedures and forms approved by the Boards.

Meeting Highlights – October 9, 2018

David Stark – Update on the Current State of the Real Estate Market in Central Alameda County David Stark, Bay East Public Affairs Director, spoke to the club about the local real estate market. David started with an overview of how we got to where we are statewide with the housing markets (creating more jobs but not enough housing to keep up) and then focused on the local housing market showing multiple charts to illustrate his conclusions that the housing market will remain strong due to supply and demand. He stressed multiple times that we are blessed to live in Castro Valley where the average residential home now sells for $880,000 . . .

Meeting Highlights – October 2, 2018

Castro Valley Rotarians Murline Monat and Gary Howard stepped up to provide the program for the day. Murline is currently serving as the Vice President of the Castro Valley Arts Foundation (CVAF). Rotarians Bernie Kempen and Bill Nott also served as members of the Board of Directors. The Rotary Club of Castro Valley has supported the CVAF in many ways since it was founded by Erma Smith and Terri Liebowitz in 1998 (read the history). Murline provided an update on current happenings with the CVAF and programs at the Castro Valley Center for the Arts (CVCFA).

Meeting Highlights – September 25, 2018

Brad Howard – Update on the Challenges of Growing Rotary in the U.S. Brad Howard, Rotary International Director and holder of multiple other positions in Rotary over the last 40 years, spoke to the club about how to ensure the future of Rotary as a vital, contributing organization in the 21st Century. He shared the trends we are all familiar with as Rotarians: While membership is expanding rapidly in many areas globally (notably India,
Taiwan and other Asian nations) membership in the original Anglophone countries of the U.S., Australia and the U.K. is falling.