Toy Drive for the Probation Department: Toys are needed for the children of moms on good behavior, please sign up.

Annual Rotary Christmas Breakfast: Thursday December 20 at the Santa Maria Country Club @ 7:00 AM. This is for all Rotary family members and yes, Santa usually makes a surprise appearance as well. Please e-mail Wendy with your attending child's name and age so that an appropriate toy can be purchased to help out Santa (not that he needs it of course)

Meeting during Christmas : We will be dark (no meeting) on December 27th. 

Check Presentation:

A check for $500 was presented to Lee Ann Luongo, Executive Director of the Orcutt Children's Arts Foundation (OCAF).  This non-profit organization works to provide arts opportunities for all students in the Orcutt Union School District.  Lee Ann shared with the group that the annual OCAF Gala will be held on Saturday, February 23 at the Santa Maria Country Club.  Local star from The Voice, Pryor Baird will be performing at this year's Gala.  

We are thankful to Jerry for his passion in everything that he does. 

Jerry shared that he is thankful to be a part of this group.  It is a lot of fun, you make good friends, and can be part of a hard working group.

Jim Bray bragged on the Santa Maria Air Show which was awarded the best in the nation - $25

David LeRoy wanted to thank everyone who participated in the Good Samaritan Shelter Thanksgiving dinner -  $50

Terry Dworaczyk shared that Thanksgiving weekend he participated in an off road motorcycle ride, it was a success given that there were no broken bones or motorcycles - $50

Laurie Tamura congratulated Mike and Dave on a great Parade of Lights.  She also shared that she was driving down the 101 yesterday near Nipomo and saw a sign about the Air Show. She wanted to thank the community for the sign; what a great community - $50

Dale Johnson shared that he spent the last three days in Sacramento with a friend who has Alzheimer’s.  He also went to the train museum, which was extremely interesting - $20

Our Speaker this morning was Noontime Rotary Club member Fred Pratt, who was a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War.  He was originally from New York and joined the US Navy in 1966.  He flew numerous missions and earned over 40 air medals, several personal awards, a Distinguished Cross, and 2 Purple Hearts.  After his service, he embarked on a career in real estate.  He has been married to his wife for 51 years.

Fred shared that he loved flying helicopters, and went through navy flight training program.  He first learned to fly fixed wing planes, then transitioned into helicopters, which he found his true love.  It always reminded him of being a humming bird. 

There were tens of thousands of helicopter pilots in Vietnam, all pretty much doing the same thing, no matter what branch of the military they were from.  The best way to describe the use of the helicopter was that it was a bus, a truck, and an ambulance.

He paid tribute to all the pilots and air crew, particularly those who did not come home.  There were many losses, and it was a very difficult time to be in Vietnam.  This was the first war where a helicopter was used in combat, and will probably be the last -too vulnerable to be in combat. 

The work could be terrifying and depressing; it was hard to lose friends.  It could also be boring.  However, being a helicopter pilot was the best job in Vietnam because your missions were supporting the troops and saving lives.