Our opening dinner Thursday evening with Carlo Ravizza will be a very special event, particularly with the pageantry offered by the Marine Corps Band.

Friday our focus will be on youth. Morning presentations will include discussing problems in education today and suggestions (for Rotarians and others) to address these problems. In this regard, we will hear from the superintendent of a major California school district, the Dean of Education at a prominent California university, and an individual charged with establishing a "High Tech" Charter High School. These presentations and the subsequent panel discussion will be followed by breakout sessions.

During lunch University of California Regent Peter Preuss, (former international student involved with Rotary) will provide his views on education and his motivation in providing a $5,000,000 donation to help establish a charter school affiliated with the University of California in San Diego. Following the luncheon, we will hear from Sandra McBrayer who was designated the "National Teacher of the Year" in 1994. (She was selected in part for her work in establishing a school for homeless children.) We also will have a panel discussion. Participants include a recently retired police chief, a chief judge of a Juvenile Court, a prominent leader of an African American community and an ex-gang member.

We will finish off the day with a visit and bus tour of the San Diego Zoo. The evening will be free to explore further. We hope to share this experience with youngsters from several of the local Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs.

Saturday’s programs will examine "Rotary Tomorrow." We will review the recommendations of the Dreams for the Future Committee, learn more about Rotary’s long range plans and then engage in discussions regarding the same. Much of our focus on Saturday will relate to membership development and retention. Rick King, who successfully lead Herb Brown’s membership drive, will share his thoughts on membership over lunch. Our program after lunch will open with a panel discussion on broadening our membership base. We will hear from Rotarians and non-Rotarians regarding how our organization could be more attractive to qualified individuals from different segments of society.

Additionally on Saturday there will be presentations relating to the important role community foundations play in our local communities, the use of the Internet generally, and in particular, use of Rotary’s sites on the World Wide Web in carrying out the work of Rotary. Participants will enjoy their reunion dinners Saturday evening.

Sunday will be World Affairs Day, starting with a presentation by an astronaut who has had several recent experiences in space with her next one scheduled for spring of 2000. We will then focus on the Rotary Foundation and the direction its programs are going. Over lunch we will learn more about the world in which we live. Following lunch we will hear reports from the facilitators of our different breakout sessions sharing action items for participants to consider. The evening dinner will include the annual presentation of the 1999-00 Governor’s and partners. Cliff Dochterman will reflect on "If I Could Be Rotary International President Again." (Cliff apparently hasn’t read the MOP.) That evening we also will be able to eavesdrop on a rather disturbing phone call Paul Harris received the morning after the first Rotary meeting.