On June 10, 2020, we had another Club meeting via Zoom. Our Past-President, Kat, talked about her greatest challenge being doing some renovations to the club to patch things up as the club was getting older. Some club members moved out of town and we lost some members. Her greatest accomplishment was that the Club took a step into the spotlight. We were one of the youngest club of the district and we had an astronaut come and talk to the club.

Past-President, Jeanne Tunnicliffe, joined us from her new hometown. According to her, her biggest challenge was the growth of the club and changing locations. Her greatest accomplishment during her Presidency was all the individual things that were done to get the presidential citations such as birthday bags and packing meals.

We had another wonderful Zoom meeting. On May 15th, it is our club's 11th Anniversary. Laura's father, Lawrence, joined us on Zoom as Laura's guest. Our speaker was Dr. Mary Berge, a Rotarian herself and a Clinical Psychologist in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. With the time difference, it was nice of Dr. Berge to get on our Zoom meeting and give us tips to deal with COVID-19 emotional fatigue issues. Her first tip was to limit information allowed in. We are being overwhelmed with information. We should check in on the latest news once in the morning and once at night, but not after 7 p.m. We need at least three hours to psychologically wind down. She also recommended that people stick to normal routine if they are working at home, but leave the computer and the room every couple of hours for 10 minutes each time. We should also write down own fitness, hydration and healthy eating goals and exercise on a regular basis as exercise keeps inflammation low and increases serotonin. She also recommended that we hug our family since intimacy releases oxytocin. Also, we should take five seconds as often as possible to reflect on what we are grateful for since that releases dopamine. We need to smile even if we fake it. Apparently, studies have shown that our brain doesn't know the difference between a fake or real smile so by smiling, we release dopamine. Finally, Dr. Berge taught us that anxiety is the enemy since it can destroy dopamine and oxytocin. Anxiety happens when we live in the future by always thinking "what if ....?" According to Dr. Berge, we may not be able to control situations in life such as COVID-19, but we can control how we handle situations in our lives. Overall, this was a great, informative meeting.

On May 6, 2020, we held out fifth club meeting on Zoom and again we had double digit showing. Ms. Ronda Newport, the President of Bakersfield Association of Realtors, spoke to us about Kern County real estate market and how it has been impacted by COVID-19. Ms. Newport reviewed Mr. Gary Crabtree's report about the state of real estate market in Kern County. It appears that while other places have suffered due to COVID-19, Kern County's real estate market is holding strong. That is partly due to the fact that we have affordable housing in our County compared to other counties in California. About fifty-one percent of our residents can afford to buy a median-priced home in our town compared to other parts of California where as little as thirteen percent of the residents can afford to purchase a median-priced home in their area. Following some announcements, our meeting was adjourned by President, Nancy Pollard. Another great meeting where we got to see out fellow Rotarians. Thank you Past-District Governor, Jim Bell, for arranging another wonderful Zoom meeting for us.