NEXT MEETING: February 14, 2014

Richmond Summer Youth Employment Program

The summer of 2014 marks the tenth year of the Richmond Summer Youth Employment Program, which provides youth, ages 15-21, the opportunity to work in a variety of local jobs to gain vital work experience and earn money. Jay Leonhardy coordinates the program through the YouthWORKS Division of the City of Richmond in collaboration with several community partners. Jay will provide an historical recap of the program, its goals and objectives, its challenges and accomplishments, as well as its importance to each youth participant and to the community as a whole.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The annual Richmond Rotary Crab Feed took place at Salesian High School on Saturday night, February 8. Many hearty souls braved the welcomed winter rains and enjoyed an evening of good crab and conversation. Thanks to Henry Moe for overall event coordination, Don Lau for bartending (Sid caught a last-minute flu bug), Joe Bagley for making things happen in the kitchen, Alan Baer for handling announcements and the auction, David Brown for collecting auction-item money, and to all others who contributed and participated.

MEETING OF February 7, 2014

Welcome

President Liliane Koziol called the meeting to order at the Richmond Country Club. Herb Cole led the pledge of allegiance and Stoney Stonework asked for a moment of silence for freedom, peace, and justice on earth. Sid Chauvin offered this thought for the day: It’s better to give than receive – and besides, it’s tax deductible.

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

• Steve Lack is District Governor and a member of the Pleasant Hill Rotary Club.
• Fred Collignon is Assistant District Governor and a member of the Berkeley Rotary Club.
• Jeff Mulvihill is a visiting Rotarian from the Redding Rotary Club.
• Dominique Yancey is a visiting Rotarian from the San Ramon Valley Rotary Club.
• Ken Koziol is Liliane’s husband.
• Sam Kang is Stoney’s guest.
• Darlene Quinville is Jon Lawlis’ fiancé.
• Sister Mary Greenan from Salesian High School is the guest of Hank Covell.
• Richard Poe, Dana Stoehr, and Cheryl Vaughn are guests of Tom Butt.

Special Events

District Governor Steve Lack presided over a record number of new Club member inductions, special recognitions, and award presentations. He acknowledged it was the most he’s seen at any one meeting during his visits to District 5160 Clubs.

• The following new members were inducted into the Richmond Rotary Club: Sister Mary Greenan, Richard Poe, Dana Stoehr, and Cheryl Vaughn. Congratulations to all and welcome! Since it was a particularly special day for Cheryl, she was also treated to a remarkably on-key rendition of the Happy Birthday song.
• The following Paul Harris Fellows were recognized. Congratulations to all and thanks!
  • First Paul Harris: Ethan Heinrich.
  • Paul Harris Plus One: Alan Blavins, Rafael Madrigal, Doris Mitchell, Henry Moe, Markku Pelanne, and Josh Surowitz.
  • Paul Harris Plus Two: Sid Chauvin, Josh Genser, Liliane Koziol, and Norm Lundberg.
  • Paul Harris Plus Six: Pam Jones.
• Connie Tritt was presented the Energizer Award for her fine work as Rotary Foundation Chair for the Club.
• Tom Butt and Alan Blavins were also presented Energizer Awards for their can-do attitudes and service to Richmond Rotary.
• Henry Moe was presented the Unsung Hero Award for his many ongoing contributions to Club activities.

Recognitions and Happy/Sad Dollars

In view of the induction of new members and Paul Harris awards, we decided to forgo Recognitions and Happy and Sad Dollars today.

Norm’s Nonsense

Government surveyors came to Ole’s farm to do some surveying. When they were through, they informed him, “We discovered your farm is not in Minnesota but is actually in Wisconsin!”

Ole replied: “That’s the best news I have heard in a long time. I just told my wife Lena this morning that I don’t think I can take another winter in Minnesota.”

PROGRAM

A visit from District Governor Steve Lack

Liliane introduced current Rotary District 5160 Governor, Steve Lack, who has been a member of the Rotary Club of Pleasant Hill since 2002.

With his Indiana Jones attire and accompanying background music coupled with more than ample enthusiasm, Steve made it clear that his main theme this year as District Governor is to encourage everyone to celebrate Rotary as an “Adventure in Service”.

Steve saluted Richmond Rotary for its startup in 1920 as the second Club in District 5160. He reminded us of the early days of Rotary when Paul Harris, in February 1905, convened a dinner in Chicago with three buddies and said, “Let’s start a business fellowship.” The service component was added and Rotary began decades of growth.

Today, more than one million Rotarians around the world gather regularly for camaraderie and planning/implementing service activities. Broadly speaking, Rotary has six primary areas of focus: promoting peace, preventing diseases, providing access to clean water and sanitation, enhancing maternal and child health, improving basic education and literacy, and helping communities develop.

The update on Polio Plus is that, despite a few isolated outbreaks in Syria and Somalia, the persistence of new polio cases (less than 300 total now) in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan is still expected to be halted by 2015. With the required three years of monitoring for no new cases, the hope is that the year 2018 can see the declaration of polio eradication from planet earth. Since the first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979, Rotarians have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars and helped immunize more than 2 billion children against polio in 122 countries. As Steve would say, what an amazing adventure!

Steve brought a nice energy to the meeting. When mixed in with numerous new members and award recognitions, it was easy to leave for the weekend as a proud Rotarian.

Tom Waller, Rotating Scribe