CARLSBAD HI-NOON ROTARY CLUB

The club meets at the Holiday Inn, Bressi Ranch, 2725 Palomar Airport Road (at Innovation), Carlsbad, the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month.  Please check this page or the website for specifics: carlsbadhinoonrotary.org. 
 

 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) the 2nd and 4th Mondays each 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 52 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. 

Additionally, CHNR also supports our Carlsbad students via the AVID program at Carlsbad High School with a business and ethics conference and initiates a scholarship raffle to raise funds for 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. Yes, we have a major focus on our young people. 

CHNR members provide extensive community: once a month at 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) and personal service to a variety of nonprofit organizations in Carlsbad affecting youth programs, food insecurity, homelessness and seniors. A club committee also deals with international service projects supporting water projects, school rehabilitation, mental health, refugee assistance and equipment. 

We are People of Action.

During the 2025-2026 Rotary year, club members provided over 2,400 hours of volunteer service to the local and international communities. Completing 50 projects, club members assisted:

1. Food insecurity - 24 projects for 555 hours delivering, packaging, serving, or organizing food products for the needy.

2.  Schools - for elementary schools the club 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 $52,000 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 #43 together with the Carlsbad Rotary to raise $20,000 for Carlsbad projects; and bought gifts for 14 needy families during the holidays.

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 the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month at the Holiday Inn, Bressi Ranch, at noon. Lunch is $34.  Come check us out . . . you'll like what you see.

   NEXT MEETING:   
Monday,  Oct. 5, 2026   
Holiday Inn / Bressi Ranch   
Volume 10, Issue 7   
Reporter: Paul Kartzke 
   Photographers:  Nancy Starling   
   
 
Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary
President Kori Dolkas
 

President Kori Dolkas opened the meeting, George Sullivan led the Pledge, Kori had Words of Inspiration by Ann Frank, we sang the Star Spangled Banner, and Ana Maria Fernandez visiting from the Tijuana club was  introduced.

Kori then inducted Tim Evanson, our latest new member. Welcome Tim.

 

 

KEY HI-NOON DATES

• Oct.    5 – *Regular Monday Meeting + Board Meeting

• Oct.  14 – Brother Benno’s Food Service

  • Oct.  15 – North County Food Bank
  • Oct.  16 - Texas Holdem Poker Party 5PM - Mark Stenoien
  • Oct.  22 - Halloween Happy Hr 5PM  - Wendy Wiegand
  • Oct.  23 - Rotary Cup - 6PM La Costa Canyon HS

• Oct.  26 – Regular Monday Meeting 

  * This CHNR meeting changed to first Monday

 

MONDAY CLUB MEETINGS are normally the second and fourth Mondays of the month, at the Holiday Inn in Bressi Ranch, beginning at noon. However, our first meeting in October, above, will be Oct. 5, the 1st Monday. Casual meet-up events may be scheduled for the remaining Mondays.

 

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR NEW FUNDRAISER

for our many 2026-2027 service projects!

(Remember, no more Oktoberfest)

        Recently, at our club meeting, we launched a small fundraiser that is a fun and easy way to support our club’s many projects. It's called Football Mania and involves selling e-tickets that will give buyers a chance to win cash prizes during the final 10 weeks of the current NFL football season. You don’t have to know about football to play or have to watch football to play; you don’t even have to like football to play! The online program randomly generates the teams on your card (see below) and tracks everything for you. If you win after each week’s games, you will be notified. You also can track it online. 

        It's a lot like getting multiple bingo cards, one for each week remaining in the 2026 NFL season, with 3 teams listed for each week via random selection. As in bingo, you hope for winners, but this will be based on your 3 teams’ total scores each week. You will have 3 new teams each week, as indicated by the date on your card. The e-program keeps track of everything. 

        For each $20 e-card, $14 comes back to the club to support our programs. Participants can purchase as many e-cards as they like. The more e-cards, the more chances to win! Members have already begun to buy e-cards . . . Yay .     Bob Stonebrook has emailed the information for obtaining tickets and for sharing with your family and friends or contact him at bob@aesynergy.com

 

Kori reminded the members that the Golden Envelope fund raiser is underway.  Funds can be donated by check or directly on the CHNRC website.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Pres. Kori is still seeking a programs director. Programs have been scheduled though December, BUT she really needs assistance with this for the rest of the 2026-27 Rotary year.

  • Thank you to Richard Weston and his wife, Maria, for offering to host our annual Christmas Party in their home on Dec. 12.

 

YOUTH SERVICE

        Jefferson Christmas Shopping: Wendy Wiegand said this shopping project for Jefferson Elementary families in need is being expanded this year. We will be helping 20 families, and this year will include a festive delivery event for the families that will include Santa.

        She will need shoppers and wrappers, plus a team to deliver gifts to the school event on Dec. 16. Each shopper will receive wish lists from a family and shop on their own schedule. Shoppers can wrap their gifts or bring the gifts to a planned wrapping party.

        Anyone who wishes to actually adopt one or more of these families is invited to do so, covering the family’s shopping costs themselves instead of using club project funds. Wiegand has emailed details for this program that will begin in November.

 

        CHS Interact Club: Mary Fritz-Wilson is looking for additional assistance with this club of dynamic and service-minded high-school students. Our Interact club had several successful service projects last year, and the students have some great ideas for this year.

 

        What Grown-ups Do for Work: Bob Kreisberg is seeking members, including retired members, to speak to CHS middle school students this school year on a date of the speaker’s choosing. Speakers share their career-path stories with the students, a program that has proved to be very popular with the students.

 

COMMUNITY SERVICE

        • Brother Benno's Food Service, Wed., Oct 14:

Use SignUp Genius to sign up, or contact Tom Applegate or Paul Kartzke with questions: prkartzke@gmail.com

        • North County Food Bank, Thur., Oct. 15, 1-4pm:

Contact Mark Stenoien to sign up: mark.stenoien@gmail.com

 

        • Advance notice: Harvest Food Packing, Mon, Feb. 8, 2027. This is the meeting where we pack 20,000 meals in about an hour, with the help of family and friends.

 

TRESURER’S REPORT

        Viveka Kjellgren advised that Club Runner has been updated with a new platform. Members are advised to go to the Members section and check their personal profile information, particularly email and street addresses to ensure they are valid.  In addition, 2nd Quarter invoices will be issued in the next couple of weeks.

 

ROTO ROOTER – Mary Fritz-Wilson

Mary’s format consisted of requesting the members to tell the club what is currently going on in their lives.  Some of the answers were:

Mary - new home with major renovations.

Kori - many SD attraction are free for kids in October.

Wendy - major celebration of Lisa Rodman’s birthday in Julian, including archery and axe throwing.

Velyn - granddaughter Kaitlin cross country race.

Beth - big halloween surprise for grandson.

        

PROGRAM

We Belong Institute

 

Aly Vrendenburgh

 

Mental Health/Suicide Prevention

 

Aly began the program by telling us that she herself attempted suicide at age 14 and was saved by her mother who happened to come into her bedroom in time to save her life.  One of her best friends unfortunately was not so lucky.  She has passionately devoted her life to research and application to help people feel that they belong and that they are not a burden.  She has written a book “Out of Focus” on the subject and believes that her personal efforts at helping have saved nearly 300 individuals from ending their lives.  Statistics show that globally 150 individuals die every hour due to mental health crisis.  The motto for We Belong Institute is See, Share, Sustain.  Diligently following these steps with a depressed individual is key to saving them.  Activities include:

        After school programs to deal with belonging/community

        Community events to promote connection.

        Cell phone detox camp. A phone-free retreat.

A major push is to generate support for a licensed clinician in all CA middle schools.  If you want to sign the petition, go to CaliforniaCANTWait.com. To directly contact the We Belong Institute, go to Contact@webelonginstitute.org

                                                NEXT MEETING: Oct. 5

                                       Note: This is a first-Monday meeting

Instead of the normal second Monday

PROGRAM:

CA Alliance Against Trafficking

at Bressi Ranch Holiday Inn

 

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Welcome
Carlsbad Hi-Noon

Service Above Self

We meet In Person
Mondays at 12:00 p.m.
Holiday Inn (Bressi Ranch area)
2725 Palomar Airport Road
(off Innovation Road)
Carlsbad, CA 92009
United States of America
Phone:
(760) 672-4454
Meetings are the SECOND and FOURTH Mondays of the month; please check website for specific days or other information carlsbadhinoonrotary.org. See you there!
Officers and Directors
President
President Elect
Past President
Treasurer
Secretary
Executive Secretary/Director
Sergeant at Arms
Club Service
Community Service
International Service
Vocational Service
Youth Service
Foundation (TRF)
Bulletin
Model United Nations
Speech Contest
Speakers
Brian Smith
Oct 05, 2026
CA Alliance Against Trafficking
Dr. Merryl Goldberg, CSUSM Music Professor
Oct 26, 2026
Music Education--Personal Experiences in Russia
Warrior Bonfire Program-Support for Purple Hearts
Nov 02, 2026
Improve lives of Purple Heart recipients
Mimi Gaffey / Beth Garrow
Nov 16, 2026
Rotary Foundation
Michael Calderwood
Dec 14, 2026
City of Carlsbad Fire Chief
Rachel Antoine
Jan 11, 2027
Braille Institute
Geoff Patnoe
Jan 25, 2027
City of Carlsbad - City Manager
Upcoming Events

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Rotary Leadership
Rotary International President Olayinka Babalola
Rotary District 5340 Governor Jeb E. Bakke