Yearly Archives: 2012
NEXT MEETING: October 5, 2012A Visit from the District GovernorDistrict Governor Laura Day returns to Richmond Rotary to give us her view of the Rotary World. As a no-cost extra Laura will also demonstrate the arcane and nearly forgotten art of toga-tying (not to be confused with tie-dying). Evidently both the attire and its proper display are de rigueur for attendance at the District Conference in Napa Nov. 2nd to 4th. More on that below. MEETING OF September 28, 2012WelcomePresident Jim Young repeated his “R” word opening. The Pledge of Allegiance was initiated by Dan Sanders. Stoney offered an invocation. Rotarians with GuestsJoshua Surowitz introduced his guest Judy Herman, a voice-over actor. Sunshine ReportA reminder: A celebration of Don Hardison’s life will be held at First Presbyterian Church, Berkeley, Friday, Oct. 12th at 2 PM. Announcements• Board Members we will meet al La Revolucion Restaurant (Hilltop) before next Friday’s regular meeting, from 10:30 to 11:30, and then go on to the Richmond Country Club. Location: There is parking across from the church. The location meets ADA accessibility standards. It is also a lot closer to Berkeley and South Campus than the RCC for those going to Don Hardison’s Celebration of Life and you may need the extra time to find parking and/or walk. The District Conference will be held in Napa Nov. 2nd to 4th. (Click “Learn More” link on right.) Besides the much discussed Hospitality Night/Toga Party Friday night the following ‘A List speakers will be addressing the Conference: • RI Director John Blount, Past District Governor, District 5130, Member of RI International teams including New Models, Rotary Action Groups & three PR President nominating committees. • Stoney, our Christmas Party chairman, confirmed the Party’s date of December 15th. It will be at the RGCC. Price to be determined. Special EventsInteract Coordinator Henry Moe introduced the new co-Presidents of the Salesian HS Interact Club who both attended Camp Royal last year. They produced a short Power Point program about the Camp Royal experience: confidence building exercises that make up the core of the camp experience. They thanked the club mightily for the opportunity and for the new confidence it helped them develop as Interact Leaders RecognitionsJim asked if anyone see something different on their way into the meeting today? Something you’ve never seen before in Richmond? That’s Right, a Rotary sign on Giant Road pointing to our meeting, and we have Joe Bagley to thank for that. Happy and Sad Dollars• Josh Genser happy dollars for a second chance (round) to experience his Scotch Tasing event. Nov 17th. $200 per head.. Norm’s NonsenseMore Ponderisms: PROGRAMBurning Man for BeginnersJim Young welcomed our very own Burning Person, or ‘Burner’ as they are sometimes called, Michelle Itagaki, to shed a little dark, fire & light on Burning Man for the uninitiatesd. A brief history… The annual event now known as Burning Man began as a bonfire ritual on the summer solstice in 1986 when Larry Harvey, Jerry James, and a few friends met on Baker Beach in San Francisco and burned a 9-foot wooden man as well as a smaller wooden dog. Harvey has described his inspiration for burning these effigies as a spontaneous act of “radical self-expression.” Today Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in the United States. The event begins on the last Monday in August, and ends on the first Monday in September, which coincides with the American Labor Day holiday. The 2012 Burning Man Festival took place between August 27 and September 3. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening. The event is described by many participants as an experiment in community, art, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance. Burning Man is organized by Black Rock City, LLC. In 2010, 51,515 people attended Burning Man. 2011 attendance was capped at 50,000 participants and the event sold out on July 24. In April 2011, Larry Harvey announced that the organization had begun the process of transitioning management of the festival over to a new non-profit called the “Burning Man Project”. Michelle gave us the rules and regulations to survive the week. They are:
Black Rock, Burning Man’s location, becomes the third largest city in Nevada, It has it’s own bank, airport, kids’ camp, police force. People get married here and there is a temple for all that is burnt on the last day. – Alan Blavins Apprentice Scribe |
NEXT MEETING: September 28, 2012Burning Man for BeginnersOur own Michelle Itagaki, an experienced “Burner”, describes her several trips to this gigantic art festival, a celebration of creativity, personal freedom and self- expression. MEETING OF September 14, 2012WelcomePrez Jim Young welcomed the assembly to the “last floating lunch meeting of the Relatively Rambunctious, Reasonably Ribald, Remarkably Resilient, Richmond Rotary Club.” Dan Tanita led the club in the Pledge of Allegiance. Prez Jim acknowledged our guests today. They include Interact Club members who are students at Salesian High School, and their parents. Today’s meeting will be a little more emotional than usual so consider restraint in our otherwise emblematic enthusiasm. Prez Jim led the Invocation as a tribute to Don Hardison. “It saddens me to report to you that our senior member and an Outstanding Rotary, Don Hardison passed away peacefully in his sleep Monday night with his family at his side.
This is not meant to be a eulogy. A Celebration of Don’s Life will be held at First Presbyterian Church, in Berkeley In consideration of the Celebration of Don’s life, the October 12th Club Assembly meeting will start at 11:30 AM and end at 1 PM. This will enable Rotarians to attend both the Club Assembly and the Celebration of Don’s Life. Visiting RotariansConnie Tritt introduced her guest, Rich Ambrose, the Executive Director of the Richmond Art Center. Rotarians with GuestsPrez Jim Introduced Pate Thompson from the Berkeley Club who was visiting today in his capacity as BARSHEEP Membership Coordinator. Sunshine ReportPrez Jim reported that the word was out that Glenn Daggs is in the final stages of recertification as a Peace Officer and is about to start a new job as an investigator for the District Attorney’s Office. Jim read the following note, just received from Dan Tanita: “On September 28th at 9am the School District is doing a ribbon cutting for the newly remodeled, state of the art dental clinic at Peres Elementary School. Twelve years ago I started the clinic and have kept it going with volunteers. We do free services for the kids. I actually started it as a Rotary project. In November of last year the school board decided to name the clinic after me. I talked to Don Lau and I said that if anyone from Rotary was free they would be welcome to attend the ceremony. (…)” Prez Jim observed that the Peres Dental Clinic and his 12 year effort are the kind of thing that exemplifies ‘Service Above Self’ in Rotary. He encouraged all members who can to attend the Friday ribbon cutting at Peres. Announcements
• RI Director John Blount , Past District Governor, District 5130, Member of RI International teams including New Models, Rotary Action Groups & three PR President nominating committees. Did Jim mention the Hospitality Night & the Toga Party? Special EventsInteract Coordinator Henry Moe introduced the new co-Presidents of the Salesian HS Interact Club who both attended Camp Royal last year. They produced a short Power Point program about the Camp Royal experience: confidence building exercises that make up the core of the camp experience. They thanked the club mightily for the opportunity and for the new confidence it helped them develop as Interact Leaders. RecognitionsDavid Keystone got into the Recognitions groove, beginning with Jim Young.
Due to a sink hole that suddenly appeared in the scribe calendar, the scheduled scriber (who shall go unnamed) was absent from this meeting. Crisis. Jim and Nick, and David Keystone stepped to fore to exercise their powers of recall. Not quite. Happy and Sad DollarsDavid reconstructed the following version of Happy and Sad Dollars from memory (where all reporting begins anyway), hence the telegraphic quality of the rest of this report: David Brown had Happy Dollars for taking another huge step in his flight training. David apologizes for the guys and gals he may have forgotten, including Earle Brown, the happy-or-sadness of whose dollars David cannot now remember. (And he’s not even 50 yet. Jeez.) Norm’s NonsenseSam is at a bar with his friend when he tells him: “I found out that my wife has been lying to me.” PROGRAMCalifornia Initiative to End the Death PenaltyOn November 6th, Californians will vote on Proposition 34, the SAFE California Act. This measure that would replace the death penalty with a sentence of life without parole. Today’s speaker, Lt. Steve Fajardo, spoke in favor of the proposition. (More than a month ago, members were invited to suggest an additional speaker to present the opposing viewpoint but no recommendations were made.) Lt. Fajaro explained that he had not always opposed the death penalty. “As I matured,” he said, “my views changed.” He cited these reasons for his opposition to the death penalty:
Lt. Fajardo explained that, aside from the moral principles, one reason supporting the elimination of the death penalty is its high cost: $17 billion dollars for 17 executions in 7 years. Lt. Fajardo presented maps of California showing the large numbers of unsolved murders and rapes in each county. If Proposition 34 passes, it will create a $100 million fund to be distributed to law enforcement agencies to help solve more homicides and rapes. Questions posed to Lt. Fajardo revealed, not surprisingly, that opinions on the death penalty were split. Some members are in favor of its elimination while others feel strongly that we should keep it. To his credit, Lt. Fajardo was respectful to all members of the audience, regardless of their viewpoints. Calfiornia now has 725 people on death row. The last time a prisoner was put to death in California was in 2006. For more information on Proposition 34, visit the Ballotpedia page |
NEXT MEETING: September 21, 2012California Initiative to End the Death PenaltySteve Fajardo, retired Lieutenant of Police with the Oakland Unified School District, will discuss why he is voting Yes on Proposition 34, an initiative on the November ballot to replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole. Learn more about Proposition 34, and all the ballot measures, at Ballotpedia. The goal of Ballotpedia is “to cultivate a strong democracy(…) by building up a comprehensive almanac of information about elections, politicians and candidates at all levels of government. Voters have different values. We want all voters to have the information they need about candidates and ballot measures to cast a vote in accord with their values.” -From the Ballotpedia website. MEETING OF September 7, 2012WelcomePresident Jim Young repeated his “R” word opening. Then recognized that due to the special nature of the meeting room and the fact that there was no voice amplification. He said more, but I couldn’t hear. It was a little ironic that our noisy room was known as “The Library”. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Joe Bagley, and the invocation given by George Egan. Sid Chauvin offered this comforting thought: “Worry is like a rocking chair…it will keep you busy but you don’t get anywhere” Rock on Sid! Rotarians with GuestsJonathan Lawlis brought his lady friend Darlene, who by now needs no introduction. Felix Hunziker introduced his lovely wife Audrey. Sunshine ReportRaphael Madrigal had a brief in and out hospital visit. He’s now back to work. Glad you’re better! Announcements
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Rotary Conference
Nov. 2-4, 2012 WHY ALL ROADS LEADS TO ROTARY Meritage Resort Hotel Napa Valley Learn more.
RecognitionsHappy and Sad Dollars
Norm’s NonsenseWhen Dan’s house burned down, his first phone call was to the guy who’d sold him his homeowner’s policy. “I need a check for the cash value of my house, and I need it as soon as possible,” he said firmly. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way,” explained the insurance agent politely. “See, yours was a replacement policy, which means that we’ll be rebuilding the house exactly as it was before.” “I see,” said Dan, after a long pause. “In that case, I want to cancel the policy on my wife. PROGRAMCandy Pierce updates us on campaign to end polioJim Young introduced Past District Governor & Ace Rotarian, Candy Pierce. Candy udated us on the status of Polio Plus and its eradication. She was hindered by the fact that the restaurant could not project her PowerPoint presentation, “A Foundation for the Future”. Being the resourceful sort, Candy soldiered on and managed fine without the tech. Candy started by reviewing the growth of the Foundation. And what growth! 1979 3-H grants and club partnership In 1988 polio cases covered three quarters of the world. Today there are 131 cases in three countries. You can remember the countries with the acronym, NAP: Nigeria has 84. Afghanistan17. Pakistan 30. Rotary has a PR and outreach poster program. Candy showed a poster on her laptop screen by walking it around. The poster show a man in a t-shirt with the slogan “END POLIO NOW” and holding up his hand with thumb and forefinger just a little apart to illustrate “We are that close”. But Candy also had an image in which she’d Photoshopped in Jim Young’s head. This caused much merriment. Candy pointed out that every contribution helps. You can make a benefactor pledge, effective upon your death, of $1,000-$9,999 to Rotary. She held up her hands to show that only her pinkie fingernails were painted purple. People ask why? It’s a talking point When children have been treated for polio, their pinkie finger is painted purple. This was her way spread the word about
Candy pointed out that by creating Annual Programs fund there is support for today, and with a permanent fund there is support for tomorrow. Because Polio Plus incorporates both, it is a true foundation for the future. -Alan Blavins, Apprentice Scribe |