Lynwood Rotary Meeting Update 10-30-2014

At the October 30 meeting, Lynwood Rotary members and guests heard the presentation of Ivan Esquivel. Introduced by Daniel Miller, it was noted that members and guests know Ivan and his younger brother Ricardo or Ricky as part time employees of the catering firm owned and operated by Rotary member Lucy Avalos. Ricky could not attend the meeting, so his brother Ivan talked about the accomplishments and career goals of both brothers. Both attended Salesian High School in East LA. Ivan graduated from this high school, while Ricky completed his last year of high school at South Gate High School. They both have continued to get a formal education through Cerritos Community College. In Ricky's case, he has pursued technician training for several categories of automobile repairs and is working at a Toyota repair facility. Due to the scheduled move of the Toyota facility to Texas, Ricky is now considering going with a Chevrolet / General Motors plant. Ivan has applied for a position in aeronautical engineering with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), but has been advised of a long wait list. In the meantime, he expects to complete his four year BA degree at the UC Santa Barbara campus.

Before Ivan's presentation, members and guests in attendance walked over to the Senior Center for a group photo with Lucy Alvalos of the large and beautiful Dia de Muertos / Day of the Dead Altar, in the middle of the inside patio, that Lucy constructed with the help of Ivan the day before. Also before the speaker, two parent leaders from the Roosevelt ES Youthact Group, encouraged everyone to contribute to Thanksgiving Family Baskets that will be used for an opportunity drawing through ticket sales. The items needed are listed in a flyer that was distributed at last week's Rotary meeting, and also was attached to last week's update email. However, as explained by the two parents, the date for donating all the listed items is now one week earlier, that is, the donated items should be brought to our next weekly Rotary meeting, on Thursday, Nov 6.

Another announcement with flyer, was the scheduled annual Candy Cane Parade on Friday, Dec 5, starting at 7pm. Everyone was encouraged to participate in the parade, along with all the Youthact participants from Roosevelt ES and from Helen Keller ES. As is our custom, before the parade starts, parade participants need to meet at Martina Rodriguez's home on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., which conveniently is where the parade starts.

Daniel Miller and Victor Ortiz-Jaime – Public relations and community outreach for Lynwood Rotary