The Rotary Nature Center Is Back!

By C.J. Hirschfield

“I spent many happy hours here when I was growing up, trying to find the queen bee at the Rotary Nature Center’s hive,” said Oakland’s own queen bee, Mayor Libby Schaaf. She was referring to the hive that fascinated generations of kids and adults at this treasured institution in Lakeside Park. The center was closed for two years, but it’s back now, along with many new exhibits and programs, as we learned at the grand reopening last Saturday.

Inside the reopened Rotary Nature Center

For the last year, I’ve been honored to be part of a core team working to restore, reimagine and reopen the center. On Saturday we joined civic officials and center supporters to welcome the community back in – with some fanfare – to see some of the  changes that have been made, and to celebrate the 66-year-old institution that has meant so much to so many Oakland kids and adults.

The Mouse That Roared

By C.J. Hirschfield

Duarte, Calif., is a city of about 21,000 located on historic Route 66 in Los Angeles County. One of its claims to fame is that was the home of the first avocado tree grown in the state. Another is that in 1987, Duarte’s Rotary Club won a U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down the international service organization’s male-only membership policy. Later that year, Duarte Rotary elected Dr. Sylvia Whitlock as the first female Rotary president in the world.

Dr. Sylvia Whitlock

Last week I hosted this impressive lady at my home. She was in Oakland to give a speech in honor of the 30^th anniversary of women in Rotary. As a woman who has belonged to Rotary for 15 years – and who became friends with my future husband through Rotary – I count myself as one of her many grateful beneficiaries.