Rancho Bernardo Rotary March 17, 2016 Meeting Minutes & Images by James Kaspar

Posted by Sandie Dewane

on Mar 22, 2016

The club will be serving dinner at Ronald McDonald House this year 2016 on these nights:
Wed, April 6
Tues, June 14
Tues, Aug 9
Wed, Oct 5

Rotary – Meeting Notes

March 17, 2016

President Arilla St. Laurent called the meeting to order at 12:30 p.m. Prior to leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance, Dan Malloy said he had a story about St. Patrick that he would be happy to share privately. Larry Saunders gave an inspirational thought based on Rotary World Understanding and apropos to what is happening in our society today.

Greeter Gary Saks welcomed 5 guests today and led us in the “standard” welcome song.

President Arilla thanked today’s volunteers: Sgt at Arms Vern Cook and his set-up crew Judy Lutticken, Paul Donick and Dave Brooks; Joel Doss and Scott Robertson at the Front Desk; Secretary Jeanne Hawkins; John Hawkins for his Irish themed piano playing; photographer James Kaspar; Club Newsletter – Bill Angus; and Sandie Dewane, Scribe. She also thanked John O’Neill and Dan Malloy for the festive St. Patty’s Day décor and food.

Mira Bozanich and others gave the Family of Rotary Report: Suzie Lisio had two blood clots removed from her brain. While the surgery was a success, she is currently in a coma. Please no visits or calls to Don at this time. General Carl Hoffman hopes to be back next week per Jim Sommer and Brian Flaherty is recovering from surgery. Troy Daum mentioned that Jim Edwards is still having balance problems.

President Arilla had a special announcement from District Governor Janice Kurth. Our joint district conference is set for May 13-15 at Newport Beach. Arilla hopes that many of our members attend so we can participate in Hospitality Night, as we did last year in Palm Springs. To register, go to the District 5340 website.

On behalf of the RB Rotary Club Foundation, Gary Saks had the pleasure of presenting a check in the amount of $1,000 to Valerie Brown, Board member at the Ed Brown Active Adult Center, for a new intergenerational mentoring program focusing on the importance of volunteering. Gary mentioned that so far this year our Foundation has awarded $35,000 to community organizations. Awesome!

Fine Master John O’Neill was introduced as “the greatest leprechaun of San Diego County and the Irishman we all love to hate.” John, looking very dapper in a green derby hat, made his way to the podium amidst the usua

l cheers and jeers. He started by asking that all Rotarians stand, then those wearing green to sit down. Unfortunately for those still standing, John fined each one $10 for not wearing the green today. Several people generously gave happy bucks.

Charley Crew had the honor of introducing our very special speaker today, Marine Sgt. Toran Gaal. Toran was born in India and at the age of 2 months was adopted and moved to California with his new family. He was a talented basketball player, but decided he wanted to support our country after 9/11 and at the age of 21 enlisted in the Marines.

He has no recollection of the incident that occurred on June 26, 2011 when an improvised explosive device detonated beneath him, resulting in the loss of both legs and a severe brain injury. He was serving with the 1^st Battalion, 5^th Marines in Sangin, Afghanistan and was on his third deployment. Toran was in therapy for over a year learning how to talk again and walk on specially designed prosthetics. Being an athlete, he took it to the extreme and set his sights on competing – he became a marathoner, a CrossFit competitor and surf competitor.

His message of hope, courage, overcoming challenges and adopting a never give up attitude is amazing! He also speaks of moving forward after loss and building a meaningful life in honor of those who no longer have that option. Sgt. Gaal was recently married on March 6^th. The always improvisational Jim Hyldahl presented a book for Sgt. Gaal’s signature and remarkably connected the book title to the speaker presentation once again.

Next week’s guest speaker Dave Doerr, BHCC General Manager, who will talk about the changes coming to Bernardo Heights Country Club. President Arilla gave the closing inspirational thought: “May Irish eyes bring you joy and happiness in the coming year.”

Respectfully submitted,

Sandie Dewane, Scribe