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Hi-Jinx Bulletin-May 4, 2026 Mtg Posted on May 04, 2026 *NEXT MEETING:* *Monday, May 18, 2026* *Holiday Inn / Bressi Ranch* Volume 9, Issue 35 Reporter: Randy Ferrin Photographer: Nancy Starling Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary President Jim Brubaker President Jim Brubaker opened the meeting, Yvonne Finocchiaro led the Pledge, Ed Rouquette on spoons, led the Smile song, guests were introduced, and Ed and his spoons led the Welcome song. May Birthdays were recognized with our special song. KEY HI-NOON DATES (More details in the text below) • May 13 - Brother Benno’s Food Svc • May 16 - Rotary Epic Day of Service • May 21 - North County Food Bank • May 25 - DARK/Memorial Day • May 28 - Rotary Social/Finocchiaro home • Jun 27 - Demotion Dinner MONDAY MTG DATES We are now on our new meeting schedule of first and third Mondays. Our next regular Monday meetings will be May 18, June 1 and June 15, all at the Holiday Inn in Bressi Ranch. Pres. Jim will send details prior to each. RSVPs are requested to keep our lunch costs down. SCHOLARSHIP FINAL TOTAL: Our Scholarship Fundraiser Raffle is complete. Pres Jim thanked everyone on the raffle committee. Gross funds raised was $52,000 and net fund available for scholarships is $43,801. Our big winner, JoAnn Ross, donated back the full $5,000 Grand Prize. RI’s EPIC DAY of SERVICE: May 16 Bob Stonebrook said CHNR’s project will be trail improvement and maintenance in Hosp Grove Park, with CHNR organizing this as a community project. All skill levels are welcome, and the city will be providing any tools needed. We are looking for all members to participate and also spread the work about Rotary to non-member volunteers during the event. Bob will send another reminder with sign up link that can be forwarded to friends, family and co-workers. ANNOUNCEMENTS • CHNR 2026-27 Board Opening: Pres.-elect Kori Dolkas is looking for her Club Service Director as well as Program Chair, Sargeant in Arms and Roto-Rooter Chair for the coming Rotary year. f you are not currently on a committee, please consider joining one; there are plenty of ways to participate. Contact her for info: kdolkas@mypointcu.com • Club points available for Paul Harris Awards: Mimi Gaffey reminded the club about points, donate $500 to the Rotary Foundation, and our available club points will get you a Paul Harris award. • Jefferson Booke Fair: Maureen Taylor announced the annual book fair will be held May 21-22. Our anonymous donor again covered the cost of all books, but Maureen is looking for Rotarians to help setup and work the fair. • District Speech Competition: Maureen Taylor announced the CHS student who won our speech contest also won the districtwide competition! ROTARIAN OF THE MONTH Pres. Jim announced the Rotarian of the Month as Nancy Starling for all her work on the scholarship fundraiser, contributions to our Hi-Jinx bulletin and many other projects. Nancy Starling, Jim Brubaker COMMUNITY SERVICE • Brother Benno's Food Service, Wed., May 13: Contact Paul Kartzke to sign up: prkartzke@gmail.com • North County Food Bank, Thur., May 21, 1-4pm. Beth Garrow will send sign-up information for this monthly club service activity. Advance signup is required. Contact: Beth at 630-207-6979, bethgarrow@comcast.net CLUB SOCIALS • Bob Kreisberg has set up a casual members' lunch for Tue., May 12. He has sent out a Signup Genius. • The next club social will May 28 (new date), hosted by Yvonne Finocchiaro. The event begins at 4:30pm and will be a Spanish Night, with appropriate food provided. Spanish attire welcome. Signup Genius to be sent. • Wendy Wiegand is looking for someone to host the next Poker Party. Contact her for info: wendy@wendywiegand.com PROGRAM Our Incredible International Projects SPEAKER: CHNR International Service Dir. Rick Huenefeld The club’s International Service team includes, from left: Bob Stonebrook, Ed Rouquette, Tommy Hersant, Rick Huenefeld and Phil Urbina Rick Huenefeld introduced his International Service Committee: Phil Urbina – covering projects in Mexico, Ed Rouquette covering South and Central America, Tommy Hersant covering Europe, Bob Stonebrook covering Africa—and he is looking for a new committee member to cover Asia/Oceana (most relevant: the Pacific and Indian Ocean Island State facing climate change). For the 25/26 our total budget was $12,000, and with returned funds from last year and additional donations, that has increased to $13,275, and we have spent $12,851 of those funds. There was an additional $6,990 from Global Grant commitments. He said the club remains commited to doing good globally and establishing club-to-club relationships to both educate and inform our future program decision making. Mexico Projects Include: Tres Reyes Event for the Club Rotario de Tijuana.Contributed $1,000 to support holiday toys, bikes, blankets, etc. for 289 disabled children in Tijuana area. Bike Project for Club Rotario de Tijuana Indepencia. Contributed $1,500 to provide bikes for 32 kids that need them to get to school, some as far away as 6 miles. S/Central American Projects Include: Club Rotario de Santa Ana in El Salvador.Contributed $2,551 to the Las Cuevitas School Rehab Project to outfit and activity room at the school. European Projects Include: Lublin Rotary Club in Poland.$2,500 contributed to support Youth Mental Health Facility servicing youth in Poland, Ukraine and regional areas afflicted with mental health and addiction issues. $3,000 to help buy and install a generator in a hospital in Drohobych, hospital had been without power, running water or heat due to Russian attacks on civil infrastructure. African Projects Include: Kibera Girls Soccer Academy. Contributed $500 for a water treatment project.nteract club raised funds to contribute an additional $500. Atlantis Rotary Club of South Africa. Atlantis is a suburb of Cape Town established in the 1970’s during apartheid as an industrial hub for African American population. We contributed $1,800 to support school garden project for fresh vegetables for elementary and middle school kitchens. Uganda Mental Health Project-International Grant Project for $6,990. CHNR is the international sponsor, providing mental health counseling services to youth in imporverished area outside Kampala. NEXT MEETING: May 18 at Bressi Ranch Holiday Inn We are now on 1st & 3rd Monday meeting schedule PROGRAM Poseiden Water: The Bud Lewis DeSalination Plant	Hi-Jinx Bulletin-May 4, 2026 Mtg	Julie Walker	2026-05-04 07:00:00Z	0
CHNR Reminders Posted on May 04, 2026 MEMBERSHIP PUSH: PLEASE HELP Pres-elect Kori Dolkas and her membership committee are trying to boost membership, by getting CHNR involved with chamber and city events. HOWEVER!! All CHNR members are part of the CHNR Membership Committee! Please do your part by inviting potential members to club meetings and/or events. POLIO PLUS PIGGY Got spare change? Drop it into the Purple Piggy bank at each meeting, and the total funds will be sent to Rotary International's End Polio Now campaign at end of this Rotary year. ROTARY ELEVATOR PITCH Share Rotary with others! Here is an example: We are a group of your neighbors and professionals who want to make the world a better place. We put food in kids' tummies, shoes on their feet and books in their hands. We feed seniors and homeless, and deliver it with a smile. We provide Christmas gifts for families, do improvement projects in our community, and provide clean water to communities without. We provide shelter for war widows in The Ukraine, support youth behavioral health at home and abroad, and send youth to leadership camps. Last year, we raised $42,000 for scholarships, and we are going to eliminate polio from the world. And we have fun doing it! We are your premier non-governmental, non-political action group in the world. There are 1.4 million Rotarians worldwide, and we are people of action. We would love to have you join us at a meeting.	CHNR Reminders	Julie Walker	2026-05-04 07:00:00Z	0
Welcome to Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary Club Welcome to Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary Club! The Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary Club (CHNR) welcomes Rotarians and other visitors to its Monday meetings. The club meets at the Holiday Inn (Bressi Ranch at Innovation Drive) two Mondays per month. A buffet lunch with salads and hot entrees is open at noon, with the business meeting beginning at 12:20 pm. Please check this page for scheduling or the website for specifics: carlsbadhinoonrotary.org. The Club, chartered in February 1980, has 58 members. The membership is very active and committed to the Rotary principle of "Service Above Self." The club sponsors an energetic Interact Club at Carlsbad High School and each year sends both facilitators and students to the annual RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) conference for high school juniors and the Rotary LEAD symposium for eighth graders. The club sponsors Oktoberfest a Family Fall Festival--Oktoberfest 2025 is Number 42 and will be held on September 20 at The Strawberry Fields in Carlsbad. It includes German food, German music, costume contests, games and a beer garden. Check out the website for event specifics: www.RotaryOktoberfest.org. This event has been designed and implemented since its inception by BOTH Rotary Clubs in Carlsbad: Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary and Carlsbad Rotary. Proceeds from Oktoberfest are shared with Carlsbad charities and used by each club for its many local community service projects. Additionally, CHNR also supports our Carlsbad students via the AVID program at Carlsbad High School with a business and ethics conference plus college and trade school scholarships, a literacy project and book fair at Jefferson Elementary School, Junior Achievement and What Grown-Ups Do For Work, music instruction and a competition for middle school students, an essay contest for middle school students, and a speech contest focusing on the Rotary Four-Way Test for high school students. CHNR members provide extensive community: service every weekday, all year, through meal delivery to seniors; once a month to Brother Benno's to serve breakfast to the homeless; once a month to the North County Food Bank; and a massive 20,000 food packaging event to assist the Food Bank. Additionally, the club provides financial support (resulting from our fundraising events) to a variety of nonprofit organizations in Carlsbad assisting food insecurity, the homeless, Solutions for Change, the Carlsbad Educational Foundation, Hospice of the North Coast, Casa de Amparo, the North County Food Bank, the Veterans Association of North County, La Posada, Stand Up for Kids, the Carlsbad Boys and Girls Club. We are People of Action. During the 2024-2025 Rotary year, club members provided over 5,400 hours of volunteer service to the local and international communities. Through over 60 projects club members provided: 1. Food insecurity - 24 projects for 1,308 hours delivering, packaging, serving, or organizing food products for the needy. 2. Schools - for elementary schools built/gave away 40 bikes and provided a book fair for 500 students; for middle schools provided speakers to open eyes to What Grown-Ups Do For Work on a routine basis throughout the year and taught the Junior Achievement curriculum; for high school students coordinated the Interact Club at Carlsbad High School, created two competitions (speech and music); designed and implemented an AVID conference, raised $45,500 for scholarships for college and trade school students; and analyzed and interviewed students for those scholarship awards. 3. Seniors and Families: designed and implemented Oktoberfest #42 with the Carlsbad Rotary to raise $117,575 for Carlsbad projects; bought gifts for 14 needy families during the holidays repaired elements of two seniors' homes. 4. Environmental: Worked at the Buena Vista Lagoon Nature Center to clear trails and separate wood pulp from debris for 107 hours. 5. International: Bought desks for a school in Kenya, Africa; provided funds for gardens at three schools in Cape Town, South Africa; provided funds for solar energy generation and wastewater treatment in Poland; distributed funds for food supplies and music therapy for mental health of PTSD refugees at a peace shelter in Ukraine; helped rehabilitate a school in El Salvador; helped fund gifts and special needs supplies for disabled children in Tijuana, Mexico; continued work on a water project in Kibera, Uganda; and helped the club's CHS Interact Club gather and ship books to schools in Africa. Making a difference is important to each member of Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary Club . . . if YOU want to make a difference too . . . come JOIN US. For further information look at carlsbadhinoonrotary.org for membership information. CHNR meets Mondays, noon, at the Westin Hotel (above the Flower Fields); buffet lunch is $25. Come check us out . . . you'll like what you see. Read more...	Welcome to Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary Club	Yvonne Finocchiaro	2025-01-06 08:00:00Z	0
AVID Seminars AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a college prep program targeting students who will be first generation college attendees in their families. Students and parents make a commitment to participate in the program for all four years of high school by choosing to take the AVID Class as an elective all four years of high school. The AVID class supports students in succeeding in challenging academic programs using peer coaching strategies and study skills designed to support student learning and achievement. Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary Club (CHNR) began their support of the AVID program in 2008. Working with other Rotary Clubs, a Conference was put together for Senior AVID students from Carlsbad, Oceanside, El Camino and Vista High Schools. Students joined Rotarians for breakfast and panel presentations from Rotarians and representatives from potential career areas. The next year, CHNR decided to focus on Carlsbad High students. The Club invited the Junior and Senior AVID students and followed this format until 2013. At that point, the event was renamed the AVID Seminar and the focus was changed to engage the students in an interaction with successful Rotarians and successful former AVID students. Rotarians became facilitators during Breakfast and talked to students about their goals and shared their struggles and successes. Then, in smaller groups, selected Rotarians and former AVID students shared their experience and offered ideas for building success in life through a small-group format. A debrief of the small group work and a keynote presentation on a specific leadership skill closed the seminar. A highlight of the event is the recognition of the top Senior AVID Students by their teachers. March 22, 2019 marked the Twelfth Seminar. This year Hi-Noon Rotary reached out to Sage Creek High School to involve their AVID Juniors and Seniors. There were 44 students from Carlsbad High and 24 from Sage Creek. The 68 students were supported by their teachers, school and district administrators, counselors and 20 Rotarians. To support the student experience, the Club began to collect “Words of Advice” from members in 2016. A group of students created a set of questions that were then asked of all members of the club. The responses were recorded and presented to the students. The documents are used as reference materials in the AVID classes and have documented the variety of experiences that Rotarians bring to our Club. Each year the students select a different set of questions to ask the members. April 3, 2020 was to be our 13^th AVID Seminar. Unfortunately, 13 did not end up to be our lucky number. Along with many other activities, this event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a wonderful experience for students and our members was lost. However, we did continue to recognize the Top 5 AVID Seniors for 2020 from each school. Their pictures are attached as are several years of pictures of the Top 5 and group pictures from past events. We want to take a moment and express our deep appreciation to the AVID Teachers on each campus. They are: Jeff Spanier and Laurie Britton at Carlsbad High School; and Aida Salah and Allison Williams at Sage Creek High School. For 2021 we are going to move forward to the 14^th Seminar! Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary Club Top 5 AVID Seniors Class of 2020 Carlsbad High School Analaura Flores Makella Nordquist Jasmyn Lemus Christen Opp Bianca Herrera Sage Creek High School Angelica Venancio Cavaughn Higgs Destini Perkins Hayat Sherif Roxana Dominguez The Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary Club would like to thank the following people for their continued support of the AVID Program: AVID Teachers, Jeff Spanier, Laurie Britton, Aida Salah and Allison Williams, Principals, Dr. Brian Brockett and Jesse Schuveiller, Superintendent, Dr. Ben Churchill, the District Leadership Team, and the Carlsbad Unified School District Board of Trustees	AVID Seminars	Ken Clark	2020-10-13 07:00:00Z	0