NEXT MEETING: June 26, 2020

Wrap-up of the Rotary year and Demotion

Jan Brown and Stacey Street, sinking roots for the Miraflores Tree Planting Project, January 2020.

Even in these unusual, some would say crazy, times, Rotary traditions continue. This Friday we will observe one of the most important of them: the annual transition of Club president, from Jan Brown to Stacey Street. As her last official presentation to the Club, Jan will provide a Year in Review. And what a year it was.

Don Lau will follow-up with a very different kind of review: “The Many Loves of Janet Hardison Brown.” Don poses a questions we perhaps should have asked before choosing Jan to be president: Do we really know much about our fearless leader? Folk singing legend, loving error prone mother, graphic design guru, community nonprofit’s best friend, Rotary legacy family … this and much more!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Our second set of COVID-19 Emergency Response Hygiene Bags to GRIP have been filled and probably delivered by the time you read this! Thank you Darlene Quenville, Jon Lawlis, Tamara Shiloh, Alan Baer, Pam Jones and all who generously donated products to this project. We also want to commend the quality silkscreening by Leftside Printing of Richmond. 
• The 2020 Rotary International Convention free special sessions continue throughout the week! Check it out here . 
• Membership dues are due for 2020-2021: THANK YOU Rotarians who have already paid. For those of you have not yet paid your dues, here are some facts you should know.
  – Active membership requires payment of dues.
  – Richmond Rotary dues of $200 is low for clubs our size.
  – Our dues have not changed since 2010.
  – Dues cover Rotary International (RI) and District fees.
  – Our club is obligated to pay the RI and District fees for members who remain on our roster as of the end of June, so please send in your payment by June 26. We do not want to terminate anyone over an error or misunderstanding. If you do not plan to renew or if you have questions, please contact our Treasurer or President.

RICHMOND ROTARY ALUMNI VISITS

Last Friday we had two past Richmond Rotarians join us. Joe Green, former Librarian of Richmond Rotary, now living in Florida, made a cameo appearance at our zoom meeting. Also attending was Gary Wong, an e-club Rotarian and former president of Orinda Rotary and son of our longtime member, Charlie Wong.

Richmond Rotary “Remembering 1968” Luncheon. Front row: Paul Soltow, Werner Schwarz, Charlie Wong. Second row: Fimi Schulze, Elaina Genser, Lea Schwarz, Jean Wong, Betty Hardison, Don Hardison. Third row: Jan Brown, Bonnie Foley, Josh Genser, John Nicol, Ren Partridge, Betty Granberg, Cindy Winter, Doreen Covell, Judy Morgan. Back row: SId Chauvin, Norm Foley, Elof Granberg, Mike Winter, Hank Covell, Russ Schulze, Aubrey Morgan, Dan Tanita. Photo credit: Byron Brown, 2009.

This was a ‘bitter-sweet’ day. It would have been Charlie and Jean’s anniversary, but Jean passed away July 9 of 2019. Charlie (95 in October!), unfortunately, was not able to join us on the Zoom call. But for the benefit of Charlie and his family, we present two photos from Jan’s archive.

Above is a photo of Charlie (seated front right) and Jean beside him with several other Rotarians and spouses taken in 2009.

On the right is a 1970 image of Charlie in front of Central Market in El Sobrante.

LAST WEEK’S PROGRAM

Ridding our beaches of plastics

Mary Barnsdale talked to us about the project she has organized, the East Bay’s first big beach microplastics cleanup, using a simple but effective sand-sifting technique pioneered by a sea turtle rescue organization in Oregon.

Several of our group voiced an interest in undertaking a plastics clean-up of our shoreline, employing the same sand-sifter. Stay tuned.