NEXT MEETING: December 12, 2014

2014 Holiday Auction

So how are you coming with this year’s holiday shopping, Bunkie? Thought so.

You’ve already visited the Holiday Auction page, but have a another look. It grows by the day, and now it’s brimming with creative, fun, and useful gifts and enticing get-aways. (Scotch is a get-away, isn’t it?)

So be sure to show up for the Holiday Auction next Friday. Bring money (plastic accepted), bring friends and business colleagues, and bring a spirit of giving — because every dollar you spend will go to a worthy organization in our community. Giving and receiving is a restorative win-win for the holiday season.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Don Lau reported that plans are well underway for a fabulous Holiday Auction on Friday, December 12^th! There is a terrific committee working hard on the event, with David Brown and his team of Henry Moe and Lynn Martin managing all the money aspects of the event, Sid Chauvin will be providing his famed egg nog, entertainment will be provided by Joe “Swampy” Bagley on guitar joined by guest vocalist Stacey Street, in her Richmond Rotary debut, and several members helping round up terrific auction items.When she isn’t singing, Stacey will also be managing the silent auction table with help from Jim Young, and Don and Josh Surowitz will be the auctioneers for the live items. Don mentioned that several members are still on the “Naughty” list since they haven’t yet donated an item so encouraged everyone to go online and post an item ASAP. He highlighted several great lots, including the famous Muscatel (and Hank Covell gave all guests and new members a brief history of this popular lot), a week at a condo in Mexico courtesy of Bob Dabney, a fabulous trip to Quebec thanks to Jon Lawlis, and a private backstage tour of ABC7 Newsroom with Dan Ashley arranged by Stacey Street. Josh Genser added that he will be hosting his famous whiskey tasting event again and has already presold 6 spots! Herb Cole noted that it is much more than a tasting – it is an educational experience too! Don encouraged everyone to bring lots of guests since the goal is raise $20,000 and we can only do that if people come and are willing to spend money for a great cause!
• President Stoney Stonework called on Josh Surowitz to announce the first meeting of the new Satellite Club. It will take place Monday, December 8^th at 5:30 at La Revolucion, and will include an abbreviated meeting, mainly focusing on service opportunities and what people might enjoy at the Satellite meetings. He encouraged everyone to attend, bring prospective members and spouses. These meetings are geared towards people who are unable to attend regular Friday lunch meetings, and are short and project-oriented. They have been very successful for Berkeley Rotary. Emails will be going out to all club members about the first meeting.
• Alan Baer announced that he needed some volunteers to help with bell-ringing at Macy’s Hilltop. Anyone interested should contact Alan directly.

MEETING OF December 5, 2014

Welcome

President Stoney called the meeting to order and asked Henry Moe to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Sid Chauvin’s thought for the day was: A penny saved is a government oversight! Stoney called for a silent prayer for freedom, peace and justice on earth.

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

• Charlie Fender introduced his beautiful wife Clavel.
• Josh Surowitz introduced his guest Francesco Bach with Barcelona Ventures.

Sunshine Report

In Bill Koziol’s absence, President Stoney gave the Sunshine Report:

• Dan Sanders broke his arm when he was walking his dog.
• Judy Kafka fell down and broke her leg,
• George Egan had major heart surgery, but is recovering in ICU now.
• Ralph Hill is having cancer treatments on his neck – he claims that he is dodging the “asterisk of Past President”. Pretty amazing for a 90-plus-year old!

Recognitions and Happy and Sad Dollars

• Joe Bagley had a very special recognition: Charlie Fender had recently celebrated his 96^th birthday and also 47 years in the club! Members gave him a huge round of applause.       Charlie had 4 happy dollars since President Stoney had reminded him his 100^th birthday was coming up so that help will get him there!
• Sid had recently celebrated both his birthday on December 2^nd and his wedding anniversary (37 years married, but 44 years together, albeit some “illegally”…). Sid celebrated his birthday by drinking too much merlot and sleeping in various places, and was just happy to have all his years “above ground.”
• Bob Dabney had happy dollars after returning from 10 fabulous days in Mexico.
• Herb Cole had $100 to buy bicycles, and that will buy 2!
• Henry Moe had happy dollars for the sports teams at Salesian: the Girls basketball team was ranked #2 in the country, but the #1 team lost their game so Salesian girls are now #1 in the country! Salesian men’s football was in the NCAA championships, and might be going to the State Small School Finals. Yay Salesian!
• Alan Blavins had a portrait of Jim Young’s wife and daughter, finally fulfilling his obligation to Jim from the 2013 Holiday Auction! Jim shared the portrait and encouraged everyone to bid on this lot.
• Joe Bagley had happy dollars – not long after losing his older sister to pancreatic cancer, his younger sister developed a growth on her pancreas, but he just learned that it is not cancerous.

PROGRAM

Responding to Disasters

Stacey Street introduced Ana-Marie Jones, Executive Director for Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disasters (CARD). CARD was created after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and offers an alternative approach to emergency preparedness and disaster response. Ana-Marie has extensive experience including in the CA Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and serving as a guest lecturer on the faculty at UC Berkeley, and worked for 10 years in advertising and market research in NYC. She is also a proud Rotarian, having been a member of Oakland Rotary for 8 years, and feels that Rotarians can change the world! Ana-Marie led a lively, humorous and highly interactive session about disaster response and emergency preparedness, and challenged the group to think about both in a new way. In particular, she noted that traditionally, emergency preparedness nerds (which she calls herself) tend to be both pessimistic and threatening, focusing on all the bad things that might happen in a crisis (how many of you are familiar with the big “BINDER”?). Ana-Marie made the point that encouraging people to focus on strengthening their organizations and communities and planning ahead would be much more effective in preparing for emergencies, especially for those who have limited or no resources. She posed questions and led the group through some fun exercises demonstrating her points, and also did a quick “show and tell” of the streamlined emergency kit CARD provides to nonprofit and community organizations. She also gave every club member a whistle to put on their key-ring and encouraged every member to be a leader in these efforts.

Stacey Street, Rotating Editor