DECEMBER 11, 2019
Wailea, Maui
Kihei Wailea Rotary delivering presents to St. Theresa’s on December 13
Today's Meeting
_JPG.jpg)
President Joanne opened the meeting at 12:02
Inspiration by: Charlotte
Quote from Gloria Steinem - ‪"The art of life is not controlling what happens to us, but using what happens to us."
Hawaiian Word of the Day: Mele Kalikimaka:
​
Mo’i Kamehameha IV declared Christmas a national holiday in 1862, this phrase was first published in the Hawaiian newspaper, Ka Nupepa Kuokoa (Independence, freedom, liberty). Bing Crosby song, 1949-50. Mele means ‘song’, Hawaiian has no /r,s/, so Kalikimaka is an approximation—sort of, and Mele has come to mean ‘Merry’.
Introduction of Guests:
​
Olga Kolenko from RC Millbrae. CA
Announcements:
-
December Celebration Christmas Party: Noon on Wednesday December 18th. Please free up your work-time, and get spouses/partners to join us. Bring a fun $10 gift and our Santa will help us exchange them. Wear red and bring your best Christmas memoir Talk Story to share. Special roast beef menu - $25.
-
Our Fundraiser has been set for Saturday, March 21st. Please signup to help. This will only work if we all pull together to raise even more funds for our service projects than we did in 2019! We need everyone to step up and take on 2 assignments if need be. If you are a Rotarian Visitor and staying until March or not, please consider signing up too.
-
Watch emails for new Board decisions.
-
On December 15th the Honolulu Rotary International Convention price goes up $100—sign up!!!
-
Joanne distributed handouts of "Hawaiian Firsts” from Dr. Ron Williams.
-
Margie announced the December 20 Rotary Kids/Christmas sing-along at Kalama Heights, starting about noon. We need to provide rides for the kids in our Lokelani Rotaract Club—contact Margie to volunteer.
_JPG.jpg)
Introduction of Speaker Host: Randy Miller introduced Ofir Banitez, and his wife, Zuki, co-owners of Roasted Chiles in Kihei.
​
Ofir told us of his wish to open a true Mexican restaurant and decided on Maui. He and his wife Zuki bought items for the restaurant in Mexico, including the chairs and crockery and moved to Maui on faith that things would work out. The restaurant has been in Azeka Mauka for five years and they have just renewed their lease for an additional five years. They are both from Mexico City. Ofir’s family has restaurants; Zuki, was a lawyer but decided to train as a master chef. Much of the food served in their restaurant is made from family recipes. Items like molé are made from scratch and several have been in Zuki’s family traditions for dozens of generations. The restaurant hours are Mon–Sat 10am–9 pm. Brunch is available until 1 pm and dinner from 5pm. There is a Happy Hour daily from 3 – 5 pm.
​
Ofir and Zuki gave the club two $25 gift certificates to be used at the fundraiser in March.
​
Phone: Roasted Chiles: 808 868-4357; E-mail address: Zuki (Erazu Romero, Executive Chef/Co-owner, pequeclau25@gmail.com; Ofir Benitez, Co-owner, nophir66@gmail.com
Acts of Kindness Pres. Joanne is trying to make an aloha habit of letting more cars through to do left-hand turns turn onto the road.
_JPG.jpg)
Magic Marble: Paige Fontaine Pot Amount: $191, Marbles to begin new Pot: 47 and 1 gold one; Person drawing: Al Ciera Results:_Blue marble drawn_
In the World of Wild and Wacky Commemoration Days: … and the Wild and Wacky Day is… drum roll please… December 11: Magnum PI Day—can you hear the theme song playing in your head?
Don’t like that one? Tomorrow, December 12 is Gingerbread House Day!
Post Meeting Gathering
President Joanne gave the members present some data on the club, a Reality Check.
We’ve come a long way in this club—our membership continues to increase, our Board is streamlining all procedures, decisions so as to 'Work Smarter, not Harder' for all our chairs and leaders and to embrace the KISS philosophy—Keep it Simple, Silly!
​
We are looked upon as a thriving, large club with somewhat deep pockets. Our reality is a wee bit different—we are actually three-clubs-in-one; a small club during the summer and early fall with only 14-18 or so local members in attendance, a medium sized club of 19-26 or so in the late Fall and early Winter, and a large club when our off-island traveling members return and we are in full attendance in the Spring. This is a fluid membership, to say the least and it puts a burden on those who live on Maui 24/7. We give thanks to Steve & Billie, Heather, and Sally Dean who work for our club while off-island. We also have at least four members sharing the Secretary job—not including our reporters at meetings.
​
Also some surprise news: Dennis Bagshaw has decided to extend his President-elect status to include the entire next year, July 1, 2020 though June 30, 2021. We thank you, Dennis, and know this will be a stellar year beginning with your PETS (President-elect Training Seminar) in California the Spring. We will assist you in any mentoring or listening/planning capacity we can.
​
We have an immediate need for someone to take over the newsletter layout function starting on January 1, 2020. Many thanks to Steve for doing this important service for a number of years!
​
Our 2020 needs also include getting a President-Elect Designee for the following year.
​
And, last, but not least, please give your support to Barry Rosenfeld, Kit Hawkins, John Moore, Paige and George Fontaine, Stuart Karlan and Dennis Bagshaw, who will be our Guest Presidents from January 8th through May 20th. Joanne will return to lead the meetings in June, forward district information to the GP’s and organize the January–June board meetings. Please check upcoming emails for more information.
​
Thanks for all who have signed up for our fundraising committees. We have assigned Chairpersons who should be beginning to meet to plan strategies.