Meeting Minutes
June 24, 2021
President Alex Robertson brought his Demotion Party to order via Zoom at 5:30 pm and led us in reciting the 4 Way Test.
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by PDG Mel Gallegos accompanied by his wife Judy.
Bobbi Spinner-Flack, past president of the RC of San Diego Downtown Breakfast, inspired us with two quotes she found in old Rotary bulletins. The first is from Rabindranath Tagore:
“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.”
The second is from Margaret Mead:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
President Alex welcomed centenarian Max Gurney, who brought him into Rotary, and Tim McCully of the Pt. Loma Rotary Club. Gary Saks then welcomed Patty Fuqua, Barb Crew, Deborah Goodrich, Jess Dawson, Joanne Hyldahl, Rob Knudson and somewhat belatedly, his wife Didi. Charley and Barb Crew thought that was pretty funny. Joel Doss sang them our welcome song accompanied by his mom, Mary Beth. They sounded great.
We had a moment of silence for Ed Knight, pictured here with Glenda at the 2019 Holiday Party:
In recognition of his extensive service in providing many Global Grants to Ecuador, the trustees of the Rancho Bernardo Rotary Club Foundation have approved a matching grant to support another project in Ecuador in Ed’s name.
Alex then turned the event over to Immediate Past President Dave King who called on Jim Sommer to present proclamations to Alex.
Jim introduced Rob Knudsen of Assembly member Brian Maienschein’s office, who got disconnected for a moment. In the interim, Jim read the proclamation from City of San Diego Councilmember Marni von Wilpert.
Rob returned and Alex learned that both of them had declared it “Alex Robertson Day” in their respective jurisdictions.
Alex then discussed his accomplishments for his year.
Dave then recognized all living past presidents in attendance. Note that Larry Valente was omitted; his year was 1986-87. Dave gave Alex his past president’s pin and plaque. He thanked Secretary Jeanne Hawkins for getting these items, and then presented Alex with a stack of cards from club members.
Jim Hyldahl then presented the club’s gift.
Alex loves cars and so the first gift was tickets to the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Second, he received tickets to the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard. Lastly, he now has $186 in gift certificates to use at Carvers in Rancho Bernardo. Many club members volunteered to help him use these.
Dave conducted the installation ceremony for co-presidents Athenea and Alex; then President Athenea inducted her officers and directors. She thanked the outgoing officers and directors for their service.
Mike Fuqua then presented the Rotarian of the Year award to Mike Stelman.
Athenea then provided remarks about her year. She is excited about returning us to in-person meetings and will be providing a description of her goals and objectives at the July 1st meeting. She requested that you wear something red to this meeting in the spirit of Independence Day and independence from Covid-19 restrictions. She announced that the cost of lunch has increased to $30 and that our evening meeting will move to the first Thursday of the month. The meeting will also be available on Zoom for those who do not wish to attend in person.
The Governor’s Dinner was held at the Del Mar Hilton the evening of June 28th. Here are Athenea with Gayla Williams and your humble scribe. With us is Hortencia Armendariz, the president of the RC of Calexico. Her club later received the “Small Club of the Year” award from outgoing district governor Steve Weitzen.
Athenea and Alex were sworn in (AGAIN!) as co-presidents by incoming district governor Dan Gensler. It was great to feel that Rotary positive energy in person again.
