RKC (ROSEMEAD KIWANIS CLUB) REPORTER WEEKLY E-MAIL –  3/4/2010

Greetings to our K-Family (Kiwanis affiliated partner group of clubs), RKN (Rosemead Kiwanis Network) and other friends. 

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.          This issue of the RKC Reporter includes:

· NEWS: Recent developments and activities related to Rosemead - including focus on the next Rosemead City Council meeting and a special report on RIF activities in Rosemead area schools.  

· EVENTS: Activities in and around Rosemead, this month with emphasis on February/March Rosemead Kiwanis Club meetings and the monthly Safety Department meeting and the forthcoming Rosemead City Yard Sale.

· FAX OF LIFE: A link to an inspirational monograph posted each week to the rosemeadkiwanis.com website, courtesy of Scott’s Valley Kiwanis.

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NEWS

Rosemead City Council/CDC Meeting – The City Council and Community Development Commission will be  holding a joint meeting on March 9 at 6:00 pm in City Hall chambers, 8838 E. Valley Blvd. Significant agenda items of interest will include:

Glendon Hotel -  solicitation of proposals for disposal of the City’s present ownership, through the Rosemead Community Development Commission, of the 53 unit Glendon Hotel, aka Rosemead Inn., 8832 Glendon Way. This property was acquired in 2006 for $4.4 million as part of a conceptually larger development program that has now been abandoned.

Dinsmoor House – better known as Rosemead’s repository of city related historical materials, the Council is being asked to underwrite a number of exterior improvements and earthquake protection measures from general fund monies.

Investment Policy Modification – in light of minimal yields on demand CDs it has been proposed that the city’s investment policy be modified to allow investment in Certificates of Deposit with maturity dates of up to five years.

Recreation Department Improvements – as part of the city’s Master Plan the Rosemead Park and Recreation department is advancing several proposals for conceptual approval. These include replacement aquatic centers for Garvey and Rosemead parks (current ones are both over a half century old), Improvements at four playgrounds to conform to current safety standards, and redoing of the Civic Center parking lot to improve connectivity of the Library, City Hall and Rosemead Community Recreation Center.  Although tentative funding sources for these projects have been identified they are not presently final.

RIF Activities – a number of Reading Is Fundamental activities were held the past two weeks throughout the Garvey and Rosemead districts. See “Special Report” roundup, including links to pictures, below.

UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS:

TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2010 – CITY COUNCIL/CDC MEETING

 The City Council and Community Development Commission will

  be  holding a joint meeting – see location and agenda items in

  News section above.

THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2010 – RKC MEETING (Regular meeting)*

Community Report  -- Kiwanian and Rosemead City Manager Jeff Allred will review latest and projected changes in Rosemead as part of a special meeting in which  RKC members will bring invited guests.  Seating space is expected to be very limited so advance reservations are absolutely required.

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2010 – RKC MEETING (Regular meeting)*

Board Meeting -- In a continuation of recent practice the RKC and RKC Foundation boards will hold a joint meeting open to participation by all RKC members. The meeting will include Committee reports and discussion of upcoming activities.

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2010 – PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING

Monthly Safety Meeting – 7:00 pm at Rosemead’s Public Safety Center, 8301 Garvey Avenue for all Neighborhood Watch captains, concerned residents, school officials and business owners.  This month’s focus is on “Understanding Texting and Cyberbullying.” For more information, please call Mandy Wong, Public Safety Coordinator, at 626/569-2292.

SUNDAY, MARCH 21, 2010 – PUBLIC YARD SALE (Special Event)

Rosemead’s 2010 Community Yard Sale will be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Southern California Edison parking lot, 2255 Walnut Grove Avenue. Admission to the event is free. This event encourages the community to recycle unwanted items by selling them rather than throwing them away and overburdening landfills.

Space reservations are available to sell a variety of used items such as furniture, clothes, electronics, and a multitude of household items. Reserve a space by March 4 and pay the standard registration fee of $10 for residents and $25 for non-residents. Registration fees increase between March 5 and 11 to $20 for residents and $50 for non-residents.  Registration will not be accepted after March 11, and there are no refunds.

For more information about the Yard Sale, call the Rosemead Parks and Recreation Department at (626) 569-2160.

THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2010 – RKC MEETING (Regular meeting)*

(NOTE: Due to our normal California Mission Inn meeting facility being used for a CMI event this meeting will be held at Denny’s restaurant, 3643 Rosemead Blvd [just south of Marshall St] Rosemead.)

Spam, Scams and Viruses - Michael Lattimore of Southern California Edison’s Information Technology Risk Management Department will cover threats facing home computer users, desktop protection strategies and identity theft protection tips.

                           * - unless otherwise indicated, Kiwanis meetings are at 12:10 in

                                 California Mission Inn chapel’s multipurpose room, 4807 Earle

                                 (north of Mission and south of Grand ˝ block on west  side of

the street), Rosemead. Street parking is normally required.

· WEEKLY FAX OF LIFE INSPIRATIONAL E-MAIL – This week the Fax from Scott’s Valley had not arrived at press time.  In its place we have a classic from our archives entitled “Nouns and Adverbs” from April 23, 2006.

SPECIAL RKC REPORT – RIF ROUNDUP

The Reading is Fundamental program this past week continued to hold its second cycle of reading activities and book distributions for the 2009-2010 school year. RKC support was strongly evident. Activities included:

· Janson Elementary  School - the Cat in the Hat playfully disrupted classrooms where Kiwanians Jan and Ron Robertson, Ken Pike and Lou Reade were trying to read to the students.  The Cat, who behind his whiskers bore a striking resemblance to our immediate RKC past President Bob Bruesch, threw papers in the air & scattered  pencils & crayons. Reports Lou “The children loved his visit! This was my first time of having anything to do with the Cat in the Hat. I am now a true ‘Fan.’"

· Savannah Elementary – Kiwanians Jeff Allred and Stephen Li participated in the school’s book distribution event.

· Sanchez Elementary – another Cat in the Hat drop-in, this time talking baseball and reading “Casey at the Bat”

· Emerson Elementary – RKC President Carol Mahoney joined the Cat judging a potato sack race for Dr, Seuss Day (it was reminiscent of “Hop on Pop”, one of Dr Suess author’s Theodore Geisal’s  more famous tomes.)

· Shuey Elementary – Kiwanian Frank Quintanilla was joined by the Cat in the Hat and a six foot yellow chicken (who had the face of Principal Moran).  They got the kids excited about reading and gave away over 200 free books to kids in preschool, first grade, second grade, and third grade.  Wearing his Kiwanis jacket, Frank reports that “I spread the word about Kiwanis and had fun doing it!”

· Marshall Elementary (also reprised at Dewey Elementary) - The Cat read to groups of kids from 9 to noon. “Meowing. Cat-napping, speaking “Catenese” to teachers who had to translate and spitting out hairballs to everyone’s delightful disgust.” 

The second cycle of RIF activities is not over.  For example, on Thursday, March 18, 2010 the RKC’s Frank Dinoto will be one of the judges at a Reading Gallery event at Temple Intermediate.  

These efforts are part of the reasons credited for schools in both the Rosemead and Garvey districts having high state score levels. They continue despite renewed attempts to curtail historic Federal funding for the RIF program, which has been around since the sixties. The amount involved is only $25 million nationally per year, made possible only because of support from, Corporations, individuals, and groups such as Kiwanis.