By Ashley A. Andrews, Esq.

Today’s program was small but mighty: teacher mini grants. The Arcadia Rotary Club recently gave out 16 mini grants totaling $3600 to teachers in the Arcadia School District. On behalf of all those who received the mini grants, three very eloquent teachers were present to accept the awards. They also shared with us how some of the mini grant funds were being used, for example, to plant a student garden. No doubt this garden is already imparting important lessons on children about where their food really comes from – no, not from the supermarket or the drive-through window, but from the ground!

While I would like to wax poetic about the subject matter and interject inappropriate humor about fellow Arcadia Rotarians, I simply cannot because the program lasted about ten or fifteen minutes. The teachers were concise, professional and direct. In fact, I had no idea this was the program as, more often than not, we issue awards and then a speaker gives a presentation.

So, rather than paying close attention I allowed a certain tall Rotarian, who owns an auto body shop and whose name rhymes with “Jeff Johnson,” to coax me into a text message debate about the importance of seizing life’s opportunities. I am not ashamed to admit allowing my attention to be diverted from our very deserving teachers because I was fined $25 for my behavior; however, this Mr. Johnson escaped this meeting with his wallet intact. Surely, the Club’s favorite retired dentist and retired Mayor will seize this opportunity and issue at least a $50 fine in the following weeks and for every missed meeting I recommend that 10% interest accrue until the fine is paid.

Shenanigans aside, I am very proud of our Club for carrying on the Rotary tradition of serving and helping our community and beyond and I am grateful for our teachers who tirelessly serve to make our children better.