RI Centennial Project
Community Gazebo

Middle School
Scholarship Program

Star Quest
Youth Talent Show

College Park High School Bench Project

Rotary celebrates its 100th birthday...
and the community gets a new gazebo!

As a volunteer organization with over 31,000 clubs in more than 165 countries, Rotary International initiates humanitarian programs that address today's challenging issues, such as hunger, poverty, and illiteracy....and has been doing that for nearly 100 years!

Rotary club members represent a cross-section of business and professional leaders worldwide. These 1.2 million men and women donate their expertise, time, and money to support local and international projects that help people in need and promote understanding among cultures.

Rotary's flagship program is its effort to protect children against polio, with the goal of ending the disease throughout the world. Rotary is the leading private sector contributor and volunteer arm of the global effort to protect the world's children from this crippling disease.
As part of RI’s 100th anniversary on February 23 the Rotary Club of Pleasant Hill is planning on funding and building a 20-foot gazebo for the community. It will be located in the park adjacent to the Community Center for use by all of the greater community of Pleasant Hill. Groundbreaking will take place within a couple of weeks, and the gazebo should be completed by late May.

The 51-member club is energetically planning and moving forward with their fund-raising efforts. Here's how you can help and become part of the history of Pleasant Hill!

n Sponsor a portion of the gazebo..."buy" a railing or cornerpost!

n Sponsor a brick used in the pathways...engrave your name, business, or personal message! Download our handy brick order form and order your personalized brick today!

n Purchase See's candy for Valentine's Day and Easter...the Christmas sale was very successful!

n Attend the St. Patrick's Day Dinner & Auction on March 18...this annual event is an hilarious way to celebrate this Irish holiday! Co-sponsored by Houlihan's Restaurant, Wilma Lott Catering, and Irish Vineyards.

Watch the media for more information on these activities!
Or if you are ready to jump right in to help out—and become part of
Pleasant Hill's history, contact Mike Maxwell at 250-6412. You're gonna love it!   (back to top)

Middle School Scholarship Program

Joe Ovick, Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools,
the three scholarship winners, and
Rick Flier, President, Pleasant Hill Rotary Club.

Kalika Kanitkay
Sequoia Middle School

Jennifer Smitheram
Pleasant Hill Middle School

Roxanne Calimeris
Valley View Middle School

Three deserving students were recently awarded $600 scholarships and agreed to participate in the unusual Middle School Scholarship Program offered by the Rotary Club of Pleasant Hill. On November 30, in the office of Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Joe Ovick, three young women—Roxanne Calineris, Jennifer Smitheram, and Kalika Kanitkar—and their parents signed contracts with Ovick and Rotary Club President Rick Flier. The girls, now all freshmen in high school, have promised to maintain their grades through their four years of high school. In return, for each year they maintain a grade point level of at least 3.0, they will each receive another $100 added to their scholarship fund.

The funds are held and invested during the 4 years the students spend in high school, and hopefully upon redemption may be worth more than the $1,000 ultimately awarded them by the Club. Upon each student’s graduation and acceptance into college, the Rotary Club will then issue her a check  for the full amount of her scholarship awards plus any accrued investment.

This unusual program was launched 5 years ago in order to reward students other than just the ones with the highest grades upon graduation from high school and has been well received by the middle schools and students.   (back to top)

Star Quest—Searching for the Stars of Pleasant Hill!

2004's show , with the "Disney Dazzle" theme,
was a rousing success!

Rotarians did producing, graphic design, printing, set building, prop moving, emceeing, and anything
 that was needed to
 support this popular show.

Pleasant Hill's Famous Youth Talent Show!

 The centerpiece of the Club's youth programs is undoubtedly a springtime show—Star Quest—with Pleasant Hill youth performing around a new theme each year. The Club has co-sponsored this show for the past 13 years. This annual show, the brainchild of club member Jim Nunes, began with the intent of providing a positive program where young people of the community, grades K–12, could showcase their artistic and theatrical talents and strengthen their confidence, stage presence, self esteem, and ability to interact with an audience.

Since Star Quest began in 1993, over 800 young entertainers and artists have been given the opportunity to audition, perform, and display their talents for their family, friends, and the community. Rotary Club members serve on the Star Quest Steering Committee and assist during the production which is held at Diablo Valley College Performing Arts Center in Pleasant Hill.

The Club supports this positive youth program monetarily as well. All the proceeds go towards the show's production and awards for the performers. You can see and learn more about this terrific program at http://starquest.dynamicaudio.net.   (back to top)

New benches for College Park High School!

Rotary Club launches school "Campus Cleanup Week"
with installation of new bright purple benches

One early Saturday morning, February 26, 15 members of the club, along with several family members and a couple of volunteers who jumped in, gathered at College Park High School for a "bench project." Using a backhoe, one crew proceeded to rip out and dispose of some of the older benches located around the campus, while another crew began assembling the new bright purple benches (College Park's color!). The next step was to dig new holes for the benches, a job well handled by a four-man crew with a gas powered post-hole digger. Finally, with the benches assembled and the holes waiting, the trailer of cement arrived and the fun part began....the actual placement of the new benches.

In addition to the time and labor donated by the many volunteers, the Rotary Club  is grateful for donations from Matt Dandoise of Cresco Express (rental equipment) and John Beaumont of Tri-City Concrete (cement).

By early afternoon, 10 new purple benches had been placed in cement, perfectly leveled, and propped in position until the cement could set (this was necessary because the benches have only two legs, not four). The old benches and cement had been properly disposed of, our work areas were cleaned up, and the Rotarians dispersed in various directions with the feeling of another job well done.

The entire project was well organized by Rotarian Ken Jacobson and went very smoothly.   (back to top)

Rotarians participating were...
Ken Jacobson, Joe Rudd, Joe Thibedeau, Raleigh Davis, Faye Donaghu, Tom McHale, Rick Flier, Alex Macdonald, Dick Miller,
Steve Wallace, Amy Wasser.

Rotarian family members...
Pat Hurley, Devon Hurley, Dennis Donaghu, Nate Wasser.

Camp Royal

Camp Royal was such a wonderful experience. I not only learned how to become an effective leader while having fun, but made great new friends that I am still keeping in contact with to this day.

On the first day I moved into my dorm at UCSB we had a hall meeting.  During the meeting I was looking around at everyone who is on the same floor with me and I saw this guy who looked extremely familiar.  He noticed me too and we went up and talked to each other after the meeting.  His name is Jimmy, and we then put together that we knew each other from Camp Royal.  We found it so funny that we ended up on the same floor just a few doors down from each other.  Ever since then we have been really good friends.  It was so great to have seen a familiar face here from the beginning when I didn't know anyone on my floor.  It made the transition into starting school and making new friends a whole lot easier.  Jimmy and I have been really good friends ever since and hang out every day. —Kari Flaskerud, 2003

Each year a boy and girl from College Park High School is selected by the Club to attend Rotary District 5160's leadership Camp Royal (ROtary, Youth And Leadership). Located in Hayfork in northern California, the one-week camp offers a forum which is geared to character development, self-motivation, and enrichment of the leadership skills of high school juniors. Carefully selected speakers present the basics of leadership in general assembly sessions, and Rotarians from a variety of occupations come to the Camp to discuss their careers with the campers. The campers, young men and women who'll be seniors in the fall after they participate in Camp, are selected for their leadership abilities. Grades are important only as evidence of a camper's ability to lead while meeting educational responsibilities. At the conclusion of the camper's attendance at Camp Royal, they are usually invited to a Rotary meeting to give a talk about their adventures—always a very interesting and enlightening program!

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