Mark Steffens
  Canines Companions for Independence
 
Art has two more meetings as Club President, then Harvey Ulijohn will take over July 1.  The Kickout is June 25th.  All Rotarians should sign up with Karen Johnson or Joann Hilton; $30 for tickets for a great meal and a roast of Art at Turkey Creek. Bring your check to next meeting or send to Rotary P.O. 663, Lincoln 95648 with message that you are coming. 
 
Book Buddies is done for the year. Alan told a moving story of his Book Buddy Erica who asked how old he was (guessing 29!) and gave him a bookmark so Alan would not forget her. Similar feedback from some other Book Buddies makes us appreciate that the project was successful. Similarly, Books for Bikes (or is it Bikes for Books?) will be complete this week.
 
We were pleased to have as a guest Rod Hensley, an ex-Lincoln Rotarian who is now with the Chapala Sunrise Rotary Club in Chapala, Jalisco Mexico. He updated us on the latest activities of his Club, some of which our Club provided funding for.  Thanks for stopping by Rod. 
 
 
Mark Steffans, accompanied by his Service Dog in Training Rex, both spoke to us!  Mark has been training companion dogs since 1991, and Rex is his 17th trainee. He keeps the laboradors or golden retrievers from about 8 weeks to 18 month, teaching the dog about 30-45 commands and taking them to all sorts of places (theaters, grocery stores, streets ...) to get used to later accompanying someone in need of a companion and to become "four-legged miracles". Canine Companions' main office is in Santa Rosa, with six centers throughout the USA. There is a DogFest Walk 'n Roll Fundraiser Event at Johnson-Springview Park in Rocklin September 26th 10am-1pm.   You can find out more about Canine Companions at  www.cci.org .  Mark is actually a Lions Club member, and Lions sponsors a terrific program www.lpcci.com (see this site for much more info about what they do).  They are always looking for more people to act as trainers + donations are accepted.     
 
 
You can make a tax deductible donation to support Rex's Team for 2015 DogFest at www.cci.org/DogFest.  
 
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                or Pictures