the more we love, the more we’ll find,
MORAGA
ROTARY
NEWSLETTER
July 23, 2019
Next Celebration: July 30, 2019
Noon Meeting: Moraga Country Club
Program: Canine Companions
Greeter/Invocator: Herb Wehmeyer
Upcoming Programs:
Aug 6 -- TBD
*Aug 13 – David Scott; Scottish Vets
* Dinner Meeting at 6PM
Co-President, Evie Michon opened the
meeting with a ringing of the Moraga
Rotary Bell. Evie informed us that today
is peanut butter & chocolate day and
handed out Reese’s peanut butter cups.
(Is she making this up? Just two weeks
ago it was chocolate ice cream day! But
then, who cares – chocolate is good
every day. Please keep it up Pres Evie!)
Angelo Costanza did the Invocation – a
poem, “Life Is Good” which went:
The more we give,
the more we’ll get;
the more we laugh,
the less we’ll fret;
the more we do unselfishly,
the more we’ll live abundantly;
the more of everything we share,
the more we’ll always have to spare;
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That life is good and friends are kind;
for only what we give away,
enriches us from day to day.
Angelo then led the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Visitors at today’s meeting were:
• Larry Tessler, loyal friend of
Moraga Rotary.
• Mark Zinmen, incoming president
of the Moraga Community
Foundation.
(Today’s server was Espy and lunch
was salad, sticky rice, vegetables, asian
beef skewers & chicken drumsticks. It
was a full house today with a total
headcount of 26.)
~ Happy Bucks/Happy Fines~
Past Pres, Ron Mucovich had a
$Happy Buck because the special day
for Cliff is this Saturday.
Debbie Roessler had $2 Happy Bucks
to thank Gary Irwin for all his hard work
putting together the presentation for Cliff
and Carol Irwin for her photographic
work.
Larry Tessler had some Happy Bucks
because he met his 20-month-old
grand-niece.
Co-President Evie auctioned the Fine-
Free Hat for August. The bidding was
spirited, and Gary Irwin won it for $60.
~ Announcements ~
Evie asked club members to bring a
paperback book to the meeting next
week. It could be “paperback book day.”
Then she told the club about the Teddy
Bear project with the Moraga Police
Department and asked
Rotarian/Lieutenant/President-Elect,
Brian South to come up to the podium to
receive two of the bears. The trunk of
each patrol car will have two teddy
bears enclosed in a plastic storage
container. The plastic container
prevents the bears from getting dirty –
as Brain says, “There’s a lot of stuff in
those trunks we wouldn’t want the bears
to get in contact with (flares, etc.).” The
bears will be given to children who might
be upset due to a domestic violence
situation. Overall there are roughly
about a dozen bears in six storage
boxes spread thru the patrol cars. As
the department needs more bears they
will come back to Moraga Rotary. Here
is a photo of Lt. Brian receiving two of
the bears today.
Gary Irwin reported on the “Fire House
Liaison Meeting” – this is a regular
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meeting of representatives from town,
county and community organizations to
highlight things happening in Moraga.
Of note:
• The Moraga Orinda Fire Chief said
the recent Moraga evacuation drill
has been put into a computer
simulation. Although all went well
it is suggested that in the event of
an actual evacuation due to
wildfire – each household should
only take one car.
• The Public Affairs Representative
from Saint Mary’s College handed
out a one-page summary of the
new campus parking regulations.
The campus has been outfitted
with parking meters and fines are
enforced. (See attached summary
on last page.)
Cliff’s Luncheon Celebration of 60
years in Rotary service is Saturday, July
27th at noon in the Serbian Church Hall
on School Street, Moraga. Moraga
Rotarians will meet at the Serbian
Church Hall this afternoon to begin
setting-up.
Dianne Wilson said Moraga Royale’s
annual “Grandparents’ Day” is planned
for Saturday, September 7th. This is a
no charge event and there will be a
bounce house and refreshments.
Evie reminded us that the visitor day
and lunch at The Putnam Clubhouse in
Concord will be Thursday, August 15th.
Please see Rotarian Jennifer Brophy
for details and time.
Mike Metcalf said sometime in
September there will be a joint gathering
of Rotary Business Members from
Moraga, Oakland and Orinda. We are all
invited. More details to follow.
~ Program ~
Bob Fritzky and Mark Zinmen told us
about the things the Moraga Community
Foundation is working on. As mentioned
earlier, Mark is the incoming President
of the Foundation.
• Moraga Commons Park –
Bathrooms. The Foundation is
working closely with the Moraga
Recreation and Parks Director,
Breyana Brandt on a project to
replace the existing non-ADA
compliant restroom near the All
Access Playground with a prefab,
ADA compliant unit. The prefab
unit has a projected cost of
$275,000 and can be set onto a
foundation within 30 days from
commencement of construction.
They have heard comments from
some users of the All-Access
Playground that such a facility is
needed. Mark Zinmen commented
that if they do not have a
compliant facility the County could
shut the existing restrooms down
which might impact the All Access
Playground. The Foundation
would like any existing funds from
the All Access Playground to be
directed toward the new
restrooms. They have funds
donated from the Moraga Parks
Foundation, the Bruzzone Family,
the Brenner Foundation and the
Kiwanis Club of Moraga Valley.
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You can find details and drawings of the
proposed restrooms at the Moraga
Foundation website:
moragacommunityfoundation.org
• Rheem Theater – This is a
convoluted story. In 2018 the
theater went dark. The Moraga
Community Foundation stepped in
to help save the theater. An
agreement was reached with the
owner of the theater property,
some nearby business properties
and the empty gravel lot near the
theater” - to purchase the theater
for $150,000 and assist the owner
in getting the lot rezoned for
construction of 48 condo units and
some retail space. Upon receiving
word “that rezoning might be
difficult” the owner decided to
market the theater property
(including the restaurants,
Amoroma, Sushi Fighter and the
stores to either side of the theater
– Cell Phone World and the
Beauty Shop). These properties
have now been sold to Cinema
West which purchases and
refurbishes older movie theater
properties.
Cinema West indicates that although
their plans have not been reviewed or
approved by the Town of Moraga,
they would retain the historic theater
lobby, convert the largest theater
venue (the downstairs theater) from
364 seats to about 290 state-of-the-
art reclining seats, institute
waiter/beverage service, bump out
the back of the theater to
accommodate two new (roughly 30 to
36 seat) theater venues “which you
 wouldn’t see from the front of the
building” and retain the three upstairs
theater venues - but install reclining
seats in them too.

• Responsibility for the theater

facility will shift from the Moraga
Community Foundation to Cinema
West as of July 31st.

• During the question portion of the

discussion Mike McClure, current
Rotarian and Town Council
Member, noted that the Moraga
Town Council has seen plans for
the facility, the owner never ~Raffle~
applied for a rezoning of the gravel Mark Zinmen drew today’s winning
lot property and can still come in raffle ticket which was held by Doug
“about the gravel lot.” Damashino. Unfortunately, Doug could
not find the winning/green marble and
~Closing~ had to settle for $10. (The green marble
Co-President, Debbie Koo presented was worth $95.)
both Bob Fritzky and Mark Zinman
with Certificates of Appreciation for their
talk today. It certainly cleared up a lot of ~ Greeter/Invocator Schedule List ~
interesting questions on local property 7/30/19 Herb Wehmeyer
issues. A donation will be made to 8/06/19 Bob Fritzky
Shelter Inc., our designated local charity 8/13/19 Ron Mucovich
in the name of the Moraga Community 8/20/19 Linda May
Foundation. 8/27/19 Roger Gregory
9/03/19 Frank May
9/10/19 Open
9/17/19 Fran Rathjen

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MORAGA ROTARY DIRECTORS 2019-2022
Co-Presidents Evie Michon & Debbie Koo
President Elect Brian South
Past President Ron Mucovich
Secretary Kevin Reneau
Treasurer Rich Render
Club Administrator Debbie Roessler
Foundation Chair John Erickson
Youth & Community Service Chair Tony Schoemehl
Public Relations Chair Gary Irwin
Fundraising Chair Frank May
International Service Chair Dianne Wilson
Membership Chair Brian South
Director at Large MarySue 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 Tina Akins

President, Rotary International Mark Maloney

Newsletter Editor July – Roger Gregory

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Remember when a Saint Mary’s Visitor Parking Permit was free for Rotarians? And the meeting room in the Soda Center
was free but we paid for lunches from Sodexo? Times do change.

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