President Jim Brubaker called the meeting to order and welcomed all members and guests. George Sullivan led the pledge, and “Mr. Spoons” Ed Rouquette led the Smile and Welcome songs. He thanked Richard Weston and his wife for hosting the club Christmas party.
REMINDER #1
Pres. Jim reminded all that an RSVP for the Monday meetings at our new location at the Holiday Inn is really needed. He will be sending an signup link the prior to each Monday meeting in order to give the hotel a headcount the Friday prior to the meeting. The hotel prepares for a few extra, but your RSVP helps the club keep its meal cost down, yet ensures enough food for those who RSVP.
REMINDER #2
CHNR is changing to two regular Monday meetings a month, with other opportunities for engagement to be offered. Because of speaker arrangements already made, we will be meeting the 2nd and 4th Mondays (mostly) until May, when regular meetings will move to the 1st and 3rd Mondays. Pres. Jim will be sending meeting reminders, and/or members can check the club calendar on ClubRunner for updates.
KEY HI-NOON DATES
(More details in the text below this list)
• Jan. 16 - Celebration of Life: Miguel de Jesus
• Jan. 17 - Poker Party at Wendy Wiegand’s
• Jan. 19 - DARK-MLK DAY
• Jan. 19 - Casual Lunch with Rotarians
• Jan. 21 - North Cty Rotary Get-Together
• Jan. 22 - North County Food Band-New Site
• Jan 26 - Next Regular Mtg-Holiday Inn
• Feb. 9 - Meal Packing Event-Carlsbad Woman’s Club
• Feb. 18 - Youth Music Competition
• Feb. 19 - Brother Benno’s Food Service
ANNOUNCEMENTS
• No meeting Mon, Jan. 19, due to Martin Luther King Day. Our next regular meeting will be Mon., Jan. 26, at the Holiday Inn off Palomar Airport Road, in Bressi Ranch. RSVP link to be emailed.
• Dues Reminder: Treasurer Viveka Kjellgren said third-quarter dues are now due—and some are still in arrears for second quarter. As a result of a vote last December, the club has returned to two levels of membership: Active and Rule of 85. The latter is an option for any member whose combined age and years of Rotary membership equals 85.
• Scholarship Fundraiser: JoAnn Ross said she and her team are in the planning stages for this event which lasat year raised $50,000 for college and vocational-study scholarships. Anyone interested in being on the team is invited to contact her.
• A Celebration of Life honoring our late member Miguel de Jesus will be held Fri., Jan. 16 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 890 Balour Drive, Encinitas, beginning at 2pm. A reception will follow. The family is requesting RSVPs, and Pres. Jim has emailed an RSVP link.
• North County Rotary Get-Together: A social gathering for members of North County Rotary clubs is planned for Jan. 21, beginning at 5pm at the Viewpoint Brewery in Del Mar.
PAUL HARRIS FELLOWSHIP
Yvonne Finocchiaro presented Past. Pres. Mary Fritz-Wilson with her Paul Harris-plus one pin: recognizing her donations totaling $2,000 to the Rotary (International) Foundation. Fritz-Wilson noted that because she had set up an automatic monthly donation, she didn’t realize she had accomplished her second Paul Harris. Past Pres. Velyn Anderson, who completed her fifth Paul Harris, received her Paul Harris-plus four pin, and Pres. Jim Brubaker has completed his sixth Paul Harris. Anderson and Brubaker also make their donations via automatic withdrawals. Finocchiaro reiterated that Paul Harris fellowships, representing each completed donation of $1,000, enable Rotary International to do all the charitable projects and programs it does worldwide, every year. For information on Paul Harris giving, contact Mimi Gaffey.
Yvonne Finocchiaro, Mary Fritz-Wilson, Jim Brubaker
and Velyn Anderson
NEW MEMBER INDUCTED
Velyn Anderson officially inducted new member Mark Stenoein, sponsored by Viveka Kjellgren. He is retired from a career in regulatory affairs and clinical science. He already has been active in some of our projects, including Brother Benno’s food service.
Mark Stenoein
COMMUNITY SERVICE
• North County Food Bank: New address is 2260 Oak Ridge Way, Vista. CHNR will continue to provide a team to help pack food items the third Thursday of the month this year, beginning Jan. 22, 1-4 pm. Beth Garrow has sent out signup information or contact her at bethgarrow@comcast.net
• Annual Meal Packing Mtg: Our next meal-packing event will be Feb. 9, and the goal is to again pack 20,000 meals in less than 90 minutes, via assembly lines, so family and friends can be invited to participate. Because we need a larger site, that meeting will be at the Carlsbad Women’s Club, 3220 Monroe St., Carlsbad. Volunteers also needed for set-up and teardown. SignUp Genius info has been emailed.
• Our next Brother Benno’s food service event will be Wed., Feb. 19. Paul Kartzke will be sending out signup information.
• Jefferson Christmas Project Update: Beth Garrow thanked the many members who participated in this event (shopping, wrapping, delivery). The club and some individual members together adopted 20 families in need, providing a grocery gift card per family as well as gifts and blankets.
At Jefferson Elementary School with some of the club’s Christmas boxes for the adopted families, are from left: Bob Stonebrook, Kori Dolkas, Richard Weston, Julie Walker and Wendy Wiegand, plus Kristy, our Jefferson liaison.
YOUTH SERVICE
• Bob Kreisberg invited all to our annual Youth Music Competition, to be held Feb. 18 in the Army Navy Academy Chapel. He said local students already have signed up to participate. The winner will move to the next level in the Rotary District 5340 competition.
SOCIAL EVENTS
• Poker Night: Wendy Wiegand is hosting a Poker Night at her home on Sat., Jan. 17, beginning at 5pm, with a chili dinner. BYOB, and there is a $20 buy-in, with half the winnings going to a charity of her choosing. She has sent a signup link.
• Bob Kreisberg is organizing Lunch with Rotarians events, a casual gathering for a non-meeting Monday each month. The first one will be Mon., Jan. 19, from noon to 1pm, at a location to be determined once Kreisberg knows how many. He has sent a SignUp Genius link.
PROGRAM
SDG&E: Working Behind the Scenes
Speaker: Joe Gabaldon, SDG&E Senior Public Affairs Manager
Joe Gabaldon
Rocco Ciesco introduced Gabaldon, who in addition to his post with SDG&E, is the new board chair of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce.
Gabaldon discussed several topics: outages (planned and unplanned), the Seaside Agreement regarding SDG&E land at Cannon Drive and Carlsbad Boulevard, and the undergrounding of utilities.
1. Outages: Planned outages are those mostly due to maintenance needs, Gabaldon said, often the result of salt corroding the wires. Regarding unplanned outages, SDG&E continues to work to reduce unplanned outages, by improving wildfire safety measures, having meteorologists on staff with the goal of knowing seven to 10 days ahead of major weather shifts, having roving personnel in the field during major events, and sending information out to the public quickly.
He urged everyone to make sure their contact information is up-to-date, noting it is important to the utility has everyone’s preferred method of contact listed. Go to sdge.com/psps.
2. Seaside agreement: SDG&E is continuing to explore options with the City of Carlsbad and NRG Energy for transferring a portion of SDG&E’s land along Cannon Drive and Carlsbad Boulevard to the city. He said they are having to work through a lot of competing needs, interests and opinions, and then the Public Utilities Commission has to approve. Gabaldon said, however, that there “is a significant commitment by all parties.”
3. Undergrounding: There is funding for undergrounding for wildfire safety, Gabaldon said, but not for aesthetics purposes. SDG&E is looking for and at options for that funding.
Also, he talked about briefly clean energy, saying the utility is looking forward, “preparing for a clean-energy future.”
DARK Jan. 19
NEXT MEETING / NEW LOCATION
Mon, January 26, 2026
Holiday Inn, 2725 Palomar Airport Rd., in Bressi Ranch
PROGRAM
Hospice of the North Coast
