Due to the COVID-19 Threat and Shelter In Place Restrictions, All In Person Club Meetings are being postponed until further notice. Check Your Email For Virtual Meeting Invites. Stay Safe Everyone!
April 9th
Mike Fuqua started the Zoom meeting by announcing members as they showed up on the screen. We had in excess of 40 members which is really good. He then asked Gary Saks if he would update the club on his sons' kidney transplant last week. It was a great success and he and his wife( the kidney donor and perfect match) are already setting up residence at the Saks home until they recoup for a little longer. Hard to believe such a serious surgery only requires a week or less if all goes well. Congratulations to them, Gary and Didi!
Next on the agenda was a recording of John Wayne and a host of other celebrities (filmed 25ish years ago)
singing God Bless America and sent in by Mike Stelman. It was beautiful and heart warming. Just what we needed after all the uncertainties going around.
Mike then passed the baton over to President David who led us the opening scenario of our meeting with the Four Way Test, pledge and flag salute....just like a real meeting! As President of our Club Foundation, Don Glover reported the sad news that several programs that Rotary supports have been cut due to the Corona Virus i.e., Interfaith, Vista Hill, Poway Unified School District and Vines and Vittles. We had already allocated $5,000 to V & V which has been set aside to buy gift certificates from most of our participants at last years event. The closure also freed up $20,000 that would normally have been given out if our other recipients above were back in business. We also received a grant of $5,000 from The Terry Caster Foundation!!
Cathy Glover announced that she raised another $141 in Sees Candy sales which brought us to a grand total of just over $3000 to fund scholarships for our high school students. Everyone was paid up and the candy was delivered in time for Easter. Great job Cathy!
Our president, David King, told us he volunteered to become an aid at a hospital after completing an additional 35 hours on line before he becomes official. Good for you David!
Dan Barrios (Our Rotary Int'l representative) Gave out a new Paul Harris pin (a $1,000 donation) to Brian Flaherty. It was from an anonymous donor and caught him completely by surprise. That's the best!
Then it was our Fine Masters turn and Arilla just asked for a show of hands if anyone had Happy Bucks and several did. She also fined those that were not wearing their Rotary Pins to the Zoom meeting. Pat Chaffee is our new treasurer and he reported that after the meeting, our fines and Happy Bucks added up to a whopping $2409 in a matter of weeks. We should stay away from meetings more often and raise a fortune! Arilla is also our Family of Rotary person and she had not heard of anyone having a problem. If you know someone that could use some sheering up or a card from the club, please let her know.
Our speakers today were two club members doing a "Who Am I". These are always so interesting and a wonderful way to get to know each other! My apologies if I didn't get everything right while taking notes. They were both so interesting to listen to that I missed writing down some of the things they did. Just know they are both amazing guys and an asset to our club!
Speaker #1. DAVE BROOKS
Turns out he is a "brainiac" and graduated from college in Chemical Engineering. We already knew he was and is still very smart. He worked for Kaiser and then Hewlett Packard in Palo Alto, CA. He retired in 2001, moved to RB and joined Rotary. Since then, no grass has grown under his feet. He has spent years with the 4th of July Parade committee (and several years as the President of the board). He is also a member of the Rancho Bernardo Business Association and volunteers tirelessly at almost all of our Rotary Projects. Least we should forget, he's our Visual Aid champ, coming to the rescue when things go wrong. The best thing that happened to him just took place last month. His hearing had deteriorated over about a 20 year period and none of the hearing aids could correct his serious condition. After many tries applying for an operation, he was finally chosen to have his surgery for the grand slam of hearing aids. He not only wears his new hearing aids, he also wears the biggest smile I've ever seen! Congratulations Dave.
Speaker #2 JIM SOMMER
Jim started right off announcing that he and his wonderful wife Karen have been married for 63 years!!! He took up the guitar when he was only about 12 years old and fell in love with it. He performed with the school bands and on the outside. He made a song for a friend that made the radio and had an article in the
popular music magazine. However....it didn't enhance his career but that didn't stop him from playing and he still loves it. He went to college in Florida where he met Karen. They moved to Annapolis after college where he spent 3 1/2 years in the Marine Corps. Then they moved to Denver where he joined his first Rotary Club in 1971. They moved to RB in 1981 and he chose to join Rotary again and has been a great addition to our club ever since.
Hope you had a Happy Easter.
Stay safe and stay well!
Yours in Rotary, Karen Stelman, Scribe
