Events

Ron Spelman was a member of our Rotary Club for almost 30 years from January 1982 until December 2021.

A funeral service for Ron will be held On February 14th at 11:00 AM at Mary, Star of the Sea Church, 7669 Girard Ave. in La Jolla followed by Interment at El Camino Memorial Park.

Dr. Kim Bell, PT, DPT is a Doctor of Physical Therapy with over twenty years of clinical experience. She specializes in root cause analysis and relief of dizziness, falls, vertigo, and imbalance. Patients travel from all over the world to consult with Dr. Bell. She offers private and personalized patient care services for people with dizziness and vertigo at her office in Encinitas, with house calls available if needed. 

After suffering with dizziness and vertigo herself for over 25 years, she has realized how limited the resources are for people with these problems. Dr. Bell’s new book, “Navigating the Health Care System as a Dizzy Patient” is a guide to help patients skillfully find answers and relief from dizziness and vertigo if they are unable to work with her in person. She is a regular presenter at UCSD Retirees Association and has been a clinical leader of the San Diego Fall Prevention Task Force since 2006. 

District 5340 is rolling out the red carpet for all our newest Rotarians, and you’re invited to join the fun!

This is your chance to connect, mingle, and network with fellow Rotarians who are just as new and excited about Rotary as you are! It’s   an opportunity to make meaningful connections, explore the world of Rotary, and discover all that District 5340 has to offer.

🌟 Highlights of the Evening:

• Socialize with other new Rotarians in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.
• Network with District Leadership and learn how Rotary can empower you.
• Enjoy delicious appetizers (on us!) and beverages (available for purchase).
• Who: All new Rotarians as of January 1, 2024—plus your sponsor!
• When: Wednesday  February 26, 2025, from 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
• Where: Stone Brewery, Liberty Station
  • 2816 Historic Decatur Rd San Diego, CA

🎁 Cost: FREE for new Rotarians and their sponsors. $20/Rotarian/Guests

REGISTER TODAY @ Celebrate Our Newest Rotarians (Social) | District 5340

San Diego has played an important role in the advancement of aviation over the past 150 years. This talk presents the evolution of San Diego as a center for the major milestones in both military and civilian aviation from the 1880s to today.  

For the past 3 years, Maud has been a docent at the San Diego Air and Space Museum. He serves on the museum’s Scholarship Committee and is a training coordinator for new docents. He enjoys engineering, history, and teaching, so being a docent at the museum is a perfect fit. He has extensive experience in preparing and giving talks on aviation and space history for the museum and is part of the museum’s Speakers Bureau. He is currently developing a course on Aeronautical Engineering for high school students to be offered through the museum.  He and his wife Linda live in Carlsbad.

Madhukar (Maud) Rao is a retired Chemical Engineer and currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer for Workforce Development at Innovation Impact Partners, LLC. He has more than 36 years of industrial R&D experience with major chemical and semiconductor materials companies, where he held senior positions in R&D management. He holds a and M.S. in Materials Science from The Pennsylvania State University, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from The New Jersey Institute of Technology. 

Our speaker on April 8 will be one of our scholarship winners who graduated from La Jolla High School and UC San Diego.  He is currently pursuing his Master's Degree at UC San Diego/Scripps Institute of Oceanography.  This will be a great opportunity for us to hear about the impact of our scholarship program has on the recipients and what people do as a result of the support our club provides.

Noah wrote our website: 

Hello Rotary Club of La Jolla, I hope you're doing well! My name is Noah Brown, and I was lucky enough to receive the Florence Riford Scholarship a few years ago. I graduated from La Jolla High [2020], studied oceanography at UCSD [2024], and now I’m a master’s student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. I just wanted to say a huge thank you for the support your organization gave me—it truly made a difference in my journey, and I’m so grateful. I’d love the chance to come speak at a Rotary meeting and share how much the award meant to me, what I got out of my college experience, and where it’s taken me so far. Let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in—I’d love to stay connected! Best, Noah 

Said will speak on Gravesian theory, and the subject matter contained in his third book, Second Sapiens: The Rise of thePlanetary Mind and The Future of Humanity.

Our newest Rotarian, Said Elias Dawlabani is a cultural economist, publicspeaker, trainer and writer specializing in the Gravesian approach to value systems and cultural change.

He is the author of the 2013 book MEMEnomics, The Next-GenerationEconomic System. His writings in the field of finance have been compared to those of Peter Lynch, Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet. His work hasbeen translated to several languages including Korean, Mandarin, Germanand Russian. He has given keynote speeches about the Gravesian approach to sustainability in many parts of the world.

Said, is the founder of The Memenomics Group that frames organizationaland cultural change issues through the Gravesian model. He works closely with renowned geopolitical adviser Dr. Don E. Beck.Before teaming up with Beck, Dawlabani had a prominent career in thebrokerage, development and investment counseling sectors of the real estate industry. He is a graduate of International Business and Economics D‘Amore- McKim School of Business, Northeastern University.

On Saturday, May 17th, between, 5:30 AM and 9;50 AM, our Club will once again team up to participate in providing water and electrolytes at our Rotary Water Station 6, for the runners, joggers and walkers who will be participating in the Historic Kiwanis La Jolla 1⁄2 Marathon. Because of the increase in runners this year Kiwanis is asking that we provide 20 volunteers.

Join us at THE LOT for a No Host Club Social  in lieu of a meeting on Tuesday, May 27, 2025 at 5 PM. 

Our speaker is our own Russell King, Retired Project Advisor to the Chancellor

30-year perspective: how did UCSD get to where it is now?

Our Speakers will be Lidia Rossner, the Executive Director and Phyllis Pfeiffer, the Chair of the La Jolla Community Foundation.

They wil give us an update on the La Jolla Community Foundation.

Our speakers will be Lidia Rossner, the Executive Director, and Phyllis Pfeiffer, the Chair of the La Jolla Community Foundation.

They will update us on the La Jolla Community Foundation.

Lidia and Phyllis Pfeiffer, Chair willl update us on their continuing efforts to Enhance La Jolla and maintain the public spaces in the MAD, Maintenance assessment District and their future plans for streetscape improvements

La Jolla Community Foundation (LJCF) raises funds through memberships and donations to support major projects in the community. Our purpose is to foster a sense of community and enhance the La Jolla experience. The LJCF is a public charity 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and all donations are tax-deductible.

Retired San Diego County Deputy Sheriff and SAY (Social Advocates for Youth)  San Diego Prevention Specialist William Perno is a subject-matter expert on synthetic drugs and will talk to us  about fentanyl in San Diego.

Shastity Urias, Community outreach specialist from the DEA will co- present with Bill

Dear Friends,

Our two speakers will be:

• William Perno, a retired San Diego County Deputy Sheriff and SAY (Social Advocates for Youth) San Diego Prevention Specialist.
• Shastity Urias, the Community Outreach Specialist from the DEA.

They will give us an update on the impact of Fentanyl in San Diego as seen by the DEA and Social Advocates for Youth. 

Please RSVP by 10:00 AM on Saturday June 14, 2025.

If you have any issues, email me at nataschavossen@san.rr.com and I will help you.

Kind regards,

Natascha Vossen

Rest up for an exciting new Rotary year beginning on July 1.  

Our meeting on tuesday, July 1 will the new rotary year and our new president Russell King and includebe a short talk  by Davis Crayroft  and a slideshow to honor and thank Bob Teraff for his excellent job as our president since January first.

Three special reasons to come to our July 1, 2025, meeting:

1. TO support President Russell King as he kicks off this new Rotary year and highlights all the activities and opportunities he has in mind for us this year.
2. TO be entertained as Davis Cracroft extols in word and picture some of the steps and missteps of our dearly departing past President Bob Teaff.
3. TO ensure a quorum so we can enjoy the excitement of voting on amending our Rotary Club Bylaws.

As a bonus, Fund-Raising Auction:

• There may still be some pairs of tickets available for Cindy Goodman to auction off for the Magical MOTOWN Concert at the Conrad on July 13.
• This is a fundraiser for our Club’s Foundation.
• It is a traveling show, and these songs are being performed by a world-class, superband, composed of musicians who have sung and recorded with many of the top groups, including The Temptations, The Jacksons & The Supremes.

Russell King will grasp the gavel and kick off the 2025–2026 new Rotary year as our new president.

Our program will be led by devoted Demoter-in-Chief Davis Cracroft who will entertain us and honor dearly departing President Bob Teaff.with stories, photos, and some facts about his life and  reign.

Keith is an advocate for preserving architecturally unique homes and maintaining & supporting our diverse communities.  He will talk to us about modernism and  mid-century modern architecture in and around La Jolla.

This week's speaker is Keith York

There are few people, if any, that are more knowledgeable with regard to Mid-Century Modern architecture in San Diego, CA. From the designs themselves, to the architects, and every story in between, Keith York is an encyclopedia of all things related to his craft.

Keith will present information about modernism design and architecture in La Jolla.

This week's speaker is Gary London, senior partner London-Moeder Advisors

Gary will explain to us what is going on with real estate and development in San Diego.

Please RSVP no later than Sunday morning. I tell Bobby from La Valencia how many people to expect on Sunday afternoon. I can't change that number, especially not on Monday or Tuesday, at that point the hotel is already preparing our lunch.

London-Moeder Advisors is a diversified real estate strategic advisory, development, management, investment, capital access and analysis firm.ondon Moeder Advisors 

It prepares residential and commercial market and financial feasibility studies. We also analyze real estate investments for prospective investors and prepare investment packages to assist in the marketing of real estate projects and portfolios. Our practice focuses on the states of California, Arizona and Nevada. Our clients include major developers and institutional investors in both the residential and commercial fields.

Tuesday, July 22th David Brockett is having an evening social at his house.

7804 Ivanhoe Ave, La Jolla, CA 92037

Please RSVP soon, so David can prepare for this fun event.