The Rotary Club of Hilo Bay meets at the Grand Naniloa Hotel every Wednesday at 0700
Tim Hansen, President
From the meeting of November 19, 2025,
Rotary theme for November is the Rotary Foundation
Call to Order: President Tim Hansen called the meeting to order at 0704
Pledge of Allegiance: Kevin Hobson
Inspiration: Sharon Sheele—“If you want to touch the past touch a rock. If you want to touch the present touch a flower. If you want to touch, touch a life.” Anonymous
Trivia: What does EREY stand for? Every Rotarian Ever Year contributes at least $25
Guests: None
Paul Harris Presentation: President Tim asked Virginia Juettner and Kevin Hobson to come forward. Virginia presented Kevin with a Paul Harris +6 pin. Kevin acknowledged the great work that the Rotary Foundation does and the ease of using monthly direct deposits.
Birthdays: Sandra Wagner-Wright, Richard Cunningham, Hirona Sylvester, Sharon Scheele
Anniversaries: None
Inductions: Kumiko Usuda, Dwayne Mukai, Anita Cunningham
Announcements:
President Tim reported that the Club had a good presence at the Foundation Luncheon.
Polio Pig would be making a few more appearances even though the Club blew through the goal of $1.5K with nearly $3.5K raised.
Lunch Mixer or getting to know your fellow Rotarians. Tom Wittans will host on 11/29 at Pond’s Restaurant at 3 pm for pupus and then go to the Pond’s house for drinks around 4 pm.
Virginia Juettner announced that Birthday Books will begin Waikea School in January and classroom reading will be in December.
President Tim announced that there will be a Peace Poll dedication on Thursday at 2:30 pm in the park across from the Old Post Office. Please attend if you can.
Holiday Party will be held in the lobby of the Bank of Hawaii on 12/20
Steve Jacunski’s celebration of life will be held on 12/28
Chester Cabral was looking for a few more volunteers to join him at holiday luncheon for families sponsored by Hope Services at Aunt Sally’s this coming Tuesday from 11-2
Guest speaker: Gail Ervin Ph.D. via Zoom from CA.
She and Tim met at PETS and shared a deep concern and commitment to peace and conflict resolution.
Gail’s background included completing the peace program Bangkok and working extensively in Africa. She is now working on a global grant that will be submitted to the Rotary Foundation in 2026. The focus of the grant will be the pastoral people of Kenya who are nomadic cattle grazers . Because they live in a remote area of Kenya and are moving their herds continuously, there are conflicts with other pastoralists along with loss of traditional conflict resolution methods. Oh, did I mention that these folks along with their neighbors engage in cattle rustling as a way of life.
She just received a sixty page community assessment before she joined our meeting. It will be the basis of the grant proposal next year. While it is too early to anticipate what the scope of the proposal will be, it will definitely contain a plan developed by the people to mitigate disputes which can cause death in an instant given the presence of modern firearms as opposed to traditional spears. Will the proposal include other areas such gender issues, education and health? Time will tell.
Happy Dollars: Anita was not at the meeting so I apologize in advance if I make a mistake with your happy dollar thoughts
Happy Dollars:
Sharon Scheele wanted to explain that family issues have been keeping her from meetings lately.
Alan Okinaka related how a friend started happy quarters in their family. All quarters go to a charity when the jar is full
Richard Cunningham informed the Club that his daughter and family was arriving tomorrow for a visit.
JoB shared that long friendships can still provide surprises.
Closing Announcements:
JoB announced that the Salvation Army had received many more requests for Angel Tree gifts and she had additional request cards. She also mentioned that we have two opportunities to Bell Ring at KTA. They are 12/6 3-6 pm and 12/12 4-6 pm. She will get a sign up sheet going in December.
Door Prize Winner: JoB was chosen to receive a Pete Mueller box of Rotary items.
The $50 gift card at Ken’s went to someone other than me.
Four Way Test: Tim Hansen
Inspiration and door prize for December 3rd—Tim Hansen
Speaker for December 3rd—Roz Cooper
WE ARE DARK ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26th. Enjoy Thanksgiving with family and friends.