Men’s Club: June News

Mike Roberts and his team put out an amazing blueberry pancake and sausage breakfast on June 6. Yes, amazing, with the same excellent recipe we will use for the coming 4th of July breakfast!
The Men’s Club encourages everyone in the community to join us from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Independence Day for our terrific pancakes, eggs, meats, and all the accompaniments with proceeds going toward our annual scholarships.
At the June 6 meeting we heard from Michael Rosenthal and Jazi Jon, this year’s outstanding scholarship winners whom we awarded $1,000 each for college.
Our scholarship committee head Bob Borland said they had considered 14 applicants, all of them remarkable in their achievements. Thank you, Bob, for filling in so beautifully for Jerry Pearl who headed this committee for many years.
Our speaker that day was William (Bill) Cunningham, the creator and President of BERT (Business and Family Emergency Recovery Training). Bill explained how BERT works by invitation in the U.S. and abroad to assure that businesses, cities or families develop a plan for what to do in the case of natural disaster or terrorism before professional first responders arrive on the scene. He indicated that timing in these instances is crucial, and BERT teaches how to plan and assign roles right on the spot for safety and recovery during the critical first minutes. For practice, he had club members come up with a common sense plan for rescuing passengers in a bus crash, surviving an earthquake while in the club house, and dealing with a shooting terrorist if one were to enter the room during our meeting.
In the case of a physical attack or act of terrorism, according to Homeland Security, three choices of action would be run, hide or fight in order of what makes sense at the moment. The presentation was reinforced with an excellent short film produced by Homeland Security to reinforce Bill’s message. Club members participated readily and the information was spot-on.
Our June 20 meeting featured Bill Green, Vice-President of the South Coast Water District Governing Board. He brought us up to date on the new water situation and the progress of desalination plants, including our local one. Bill Tally officiated in President Bob Oakley’s planned absence.
All men living within Niguel Shores, and beyond, are welcome at our friendly and entertaining Men’s Club breakfasts on the first and third Tuesdays of the month from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m.
—C.W. Gruenig