Lynwood Rotary Update 11-19-2015

The November 19, Meeting,members and guests heard Mark Flores, Driector, Recreation and Community Services Department, City of Lynwood, and Jose Trejo, Department Manager, talk about programs and activities and new and upgraded facilities of the department.

Mark Flores through a very professional power point program talked about what parks do for the community. He described the grand opening ceremony with State Senator Ricardo Lara for his namesake park, The Ricardo Lara Linear Park. The park is divided into five distinct segments, to include: dog park, divided between small and large dogs; physical fitness, with workout stations; a childrens play area; a community gardens afrea; and a nature segment, planted with California native plants, as well as native plants throughout the new park. Among park facility upgrades include tennis courts and basket ball courts. There are also facilities and programs for youth with special needs, also programs for adults. One of the new coming attractions will be the community center in Ham Park scheduled to open in the Fall of 2016.

Jose Trejo talked about a number of coming activities to include the free Thanksgiving turkey give away event, the annual Candy Cane Lane Parade on Friday, Dec 4, and the Tree Lighting event on Thurs pm.day, Dec 3, at 5:30

Comments about the two presentations included the following: Oliver Oconner praised the department for the city's indoor swimming pool, noting that he swims and exercises regularly in the pool. Daniel asked about how the city is connecting with regional bike lanes and the LA River plans for increased use of the river trails. Mark noted that the city is in sync with regional improvements underway for both of these infrastructure improvements.

Announcements, Club President Martina Rodriguez, mentioned the importance of the December 3 Rotary meeting at which the club will vote on club officers for the year starting July 2016, as well as for the selection of the president elect for the year following 2016-2017. She also mentioned the importance of the plans for the Rotary club's participation in the annual Candy Cane Lane Parade on Friday, Dec 4. In addition to the Rotary float for the parade, the Youthact members from Roosevelt ES, along with some Youthact members from Helen Keller ES, are the major part of the Rotary participation in the annual Parade in Lynwood. There was mention of the need to acquire a new Rotary banner for the parade.

Concerning the week long Calderon home improvement project, Nov 9 thru Nov 19, Daniel took extensive photos of the event for both the Thur luncheon provided by the Rotary and for the thank you ceremony on Fri afternoon. Copies of these photos were provided to the Calderon family, along with a CD of the photos. Also Daniel brought to the Thursday Rotary luncheon meeting on Nov 19, a collage of some of the photos, with the Certificate of Appreciation in the middle, as a record of this important community charitable event, for which the Lynwood Rotary was most pleased to be a participant.

Also, guest Margaret Arajou commented that Lynwood residents can obtain from the city free sandbags for El Nino preparations.

Daniel Miller / Omar Franco

Public Relations and Community Outreach for the Lynwood Rotary Club