Meeting Location

South Hills Country Club
2655 S. Citrus Street
West Covina, CA 91791
Tuesdays @ 7:15AM

 CSR Gets Their Hands Dirty:

Covina Sunrise just finished working on a local community project that really was “hands on”. We spent a Saturday morning at the Rowland Convalescent Home doing a major cleanup and upgrade of the inner courtyard. Huge amounts of dead plants and tree trimmings went out, and beautiful new plants and garden decor items transformed the area into a pleasant garden. Residents and staff alike were ecstatic with the changes. Robert Avila initiated the work at the Home, and Pam Pomeroy headed up the team that did all this great work. Click on the photo to see all the Rotarians that helped out with this project.

Operation Santa Clothes - 23,000 Kids Clothed!

This year, CSR again paid tribute to the many donors and volunteers that have helped us with Operation Santa Clothes, our primary project undertaken by CSR every year to provide clothing and shoes for needy children at local elementary schools. Our normal Tuesday meeting became an awards banquet with nearly a hundred groups and individuals receiving plaques in appreciation for their help. Click here to see photos! So far we’ve been able to accomplish a milestone of nearly 23,000 needy kids having been clothed at the Covina K-mart store. OSC began in 1994 serving 73 children from one Covina school. With a goal of clothing 2000 children per year, the project focuses not only on provided clothing, but given self esteem, character development, and a sense of caring to these kids. See our Santa Clothes page for more information. You can also click here to see the photos of our Afterglow Awards Banquet. If you’d like to help and make a financial donation to this program, please click the DONATE HERE button.

 CSR Gets Top Award at District Conference:

Covina Sunrise co-hosted a hospitality suite with the Covina Noon Club at the District Conference this year. This has become a tradition with the Clubs and has led to a series of the most memorable and must-attend gatherings at the conference for many years now. WIth a theme of “Arabian Caravan”, Covina once again showed their hospitality with a lavish food table and extensive bar for all to share, this year adding a bit of Nubian drumming and dancing that helped the Clubs take home the coveted “Spirit Award”. Click here for some photos and a few movies of the event.

 Bootlegger’s Ball - A Wild Success!

Covina Sunrise Rotary has once again amazed the community with its wildly successful fundraiser The Bootlegger’s Ball! The fantastic party was a hit with over 600 in attendance! Held at the A1 Event & Party Rentals building, this party was themed in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Gangsters, Gun Molls, Bootleggers, and Flappers were the order of the day as guests joined in on the fun with period attire. The entertainment included the fantastic “Big Band Theory” from JPL once again (www.BigBandTheory.com), with music selections chosen for the theme. All the great food, drink, games, and auctions were there for the price of admission with a great selection of some finer items auctioned off live. The Casino Room was a big hit with a lot of happy people. It was a fantastic celebration that will help fund Operation Santa Clothes and other projects from CSR. Photos from the event will be posted here soon, so check back often.
(Click on the picture at left to see the full flyer)

 Trivia Contestants Share the Wealth:

Covina Sunrise attended the Covina Library’s 2009 Trivia Contest once again this year in April with the team of Terry Wysocki, Al Marino, and Wes Uptergrove. The CSR team has been legendary in the contest, winning it a record setting three times. This year the team, after a stunning display of their trivial knowledge in the early rounds, decided that it was time to let the glory pass to other, less fortunate teams, and so gracefully stepped back from the pole position. This benevolence is part of the Rotary credo of “service above self” and is just one more example of CSR giving back to the community.

 Covina Police and Fire Officers Honored:

Covina Sunrise held a very special meeting on March 16th this year. That day is normally used to pay tribute to policeman and fireman of the year. However this year, due to the extraordinary circumstance of the Covina Christmas Massacre, the entire group of first responders was honored at the meeting. Hugh Ledford led the ceremonies which had over 30 officers in attendance. The Fire Battalion Chief Bryant and Police Chief Kim Raney (a member of this Club) brought their men forward to receive the plaque and commendations from CSR for their outstanding courage, bravery, and leadership during that horrendous event. Click Here to see photos of the awards ceremony.

 Meet the President:

Covina Sunrise Rotary’s latest in a legendary lineup of leadership is Galen Metz, the 27th head of our executive branch. Galen has been a key player in the Club for several years, working on almost every CSR project and furthering social activities in the Club. Coming into the Presidency after chairing the last Bootlegger’s Ball Party in 2008, Galen runs a progressive agenda for the Club. For example, he will be hosting the upcoming Texas Hold-em Tournament at his Azo-Vino gallery and wine shop in Covina. He’s a newly-wed since tying the knot with his lovely bride, Kathy last year and enjoys fine wine, food, cigars and Chihuahuas. Galen has served the community well as president or chairman of more groups than we can count and we have had an exciting year of Rotary with him at the helm. Now with his Kickout party coming up on July 11th, we’ll try to remember him fondly as Bill Hammett takes over the gavel!

 Texas Hold-em Tournament!

On September 13th we threw another fabulous fundraising party. The Texas Hold ‘em Poker Tournament was held at AzoVino Gallery in Covina and was a great success both financially and in fostering the fellowship that CSR is known for. Six prizes valued between $500 and $1000 were awarded and all those present wanted to see this event happen again. We’ll be glad to oblige them - check back here for upcoming dates!