Lynwood Rotary Meeting Update 08-14-2014
At the Lynwood Rotary Club meeting on Thursday noon, August 14, members and guests heard two speakers. It was a two-fer meeting. The first speaker was high school student Oscar Avila, and the second speaker was Craig MacDonald, the author of 18 books on the West and Pulitzer Prize nominee.
The first speaker was Oscar Avila, who completed the 9th grade at Lynwood Middle School and will be completing his next three years at the California Academy of Math and Science in Carson, which is a magnet school within the Long Beach Unified School District. Oscar talked about his two summer experiences. Using a series of photos on the screen, he described his week in the Florida Everglades through the auspicies of the organization, World Strides. (Oscar has a career interest in becoming a marine biologist.) Then Oscar attended a training program through the Center For Talented Youth in Lancaster PA, which training program was organized by John Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. The training was a writing course, at the end of which there was a Salon Reading. Oscar chose as his topic, Confit De Canard, which is French for a roast duck dish. Oscar stated that how the dish is prepared, he believes, relates to his life story. In the Salon Reading, he and two other students made a formal presentation of their written report to other students participating in this writing course.
Oscar has agreed to be the speaker for the Rotary Meeting on Thursday, Dec 18, during his fall semester break. (Oscar is the son of Jose Avila, who is an employee in the Public Works Department of the City of Lynwood.)
The second speaker, Craig MacDonald, a member of Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society, talked about the Gold Rush, not only the history of the late 1800's in California, but also how the California Gold Rush is still with us today in language, fashion, food, businesses and diversity. He also described current gold-mining operations, which are producing billions of dollars in gold. Also described where we can look for gold and how we can get jobs in a gold mine. For book purchases, Mr. MacDonald autographed his latest books which were on display
In the absence of Marisela Santana, the Public Information Officer (PIO) for the City of Lynwood, Daniel Miller, again encouraged attendance at the weekly Lynwood Farmer's Market on Thursdays from 4pm to 9pm AND the important Mariachi Under the Stars event, presented by Gregorio Luke, on Friday, August 15, from 7pm to 10pm at Ham Park.
Also there was discussion about plans for the Rotary District Annual boat race for Rotary youth in the Redondo Beach Seaside Lagoon which will be held on Sunday, Sep 14, from 11:30 am to 4pm.
Daniel Miller and Victor Ortiz, Public relations and community outreach for Lynwood Rotary