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September 20, 2013

Richmond CA Rotary Posted on by

The Flywheel
Archive issue

NEXT MEETING: September 20, 2013

Welcoming Dentists from Russia

Courtesy of Dan Tanita, a group of twenty Russian dentists will share their experience with the Club during their exchange visit in the Bay Area. Please note that the location of the presentation will be at La Strada Restaurant, in San Pablo. Map.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • NOTE: This Friday we meet at La Strada Restaurant, not at the Richmond Country Club! Next Friday, September 27th, we will again meet at La Strada.
  • Liliane told us how please she was to distribute $100 checks for each teacher at Peres School. She also thanked Henry Moe for his help on the Solano Stroll the previous Saturday.
  • The Rotary Adventure 2013, District 5160 Conference, will be held at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico, October 18-20th.
  • District Conference, October 18-20th.
  • Tree Planting, October 19th.
  • Consular Corps, November 1st.
  • Day at the Races Foundation Day at Golden Gate Fields, November 16th.
  • Holiday Party and Auction,  December 6th.
  • Crab Feed,  February 8th.
  • Dan Tanita told us why he will be hosting 20 visiting Russian dentists. His reasoning convinced this scribe that it’s for something we can really get our teeth into.

MEETING OF September 13th 2013

Welcome

This was our first club assembly with President Liliane presiding.  Sid’s thought for the day was” You don’t drown if you fall into water, only if you stay there!”

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

Typical for this dog day of Bay Area summer, there were none.

Felix Hunziker will be organizing the Club’s activities for Richmond’s Arbor Day, October 19th.  He is coordinating the planting of 50 trees, with lots of help, at Lucas Park. The holes are already dug so it really is just planting.

Felix suggested that it would be good for membership if we had a Rotary booth at the park on this day on which we’re concerned with sinking roots (ohhh…) Your resourceful scribe, Alan Blavins, volunteered to manage the booth-establishing effort.

The Club is still looking for 10 volunteers to serve beer at Golden Gate Fields Dollar Days on October 20th, between 10-4. If 10 members volunteer for this stint, the Club will receive $1,000—a fair exchange for several guys and gals drawing suds from a tap for a couple hours each. Do it. Let Pam know you’re in!

Connie Tritt gave us an update on the Foundation Goals. Quickly going reviewing 6 pages of data, she pointed out that Rotarians in our district (5140) raised $540,000 in the 2012/2013 fiscal year. A significant portion of that is returned to the clubs through grants in the coming years. The average donation per member is $155. Our club’s average is $198. (Give yourself a pat on your back.)

Connie explained that is is possible for us to get a 100% EREY(Every Rotarian Every Year) listing if each member donates just one dollar! We can do that.

Recognitions and Happy/Sad Dollars

  • Erle Brown had Happy Dollars for Portland State and Cal’s first game and his HAPPY visit to Cal’s new stadium.
  • Henry Moe had Happy Dollars for his son’s 12th birthday.
  • Tom Butt thanked David Brown for his poetic answer to Richmond’s City Council’s proposed plan to use eminent domain to save underwater homeowners.
  • Hank Covell had a few sad dollars as he would miss the Pancake Family breakfast event on September 21st. A bargain at  $7.00 per family.
  • Liliane had happy dollars for Dan’s Dental program.

Norm’s Nonsense

More Ponderisms …
– If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.
– A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.
– To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

Program

Club Assembly

Liliane presented plans and a budget for the next Rotary year. She began by thanking all the board members. She also distributed a breakdown of the 2013/14 budget, which outlined the expected revenues and planned expenditures for various programs and projects.

Our president starts the year with a $27,329 carry over from last year. This is the club’s highest ever, in the memory of Treasurer David Brown. All programs were itemized, explained and their expenses shown.

Liliane next reviewed planned international projects, which will occur in India, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, and Nepal project.

Nick gave a mercifully brief (though Erle Brown still complained) summary of the changes to the Flywheel (which, we hope you’ve noticed). The new layout leads off with Announcements, consolidates several topic categories, and thanks to shorter blurbs, does little to tax our precious supply of attention. But we still need scribes. BTW, thank Henry Moe! Last Friday Henry volunteered to give scribing a shot. If he likes it, he’ll stick with it.

Lastly (we’re pushing our word count, I know) Josh Surowitz followed up with a rousing report on the status of member recruitment. He reminded all that the responsibility for new members rests with us. Perk alert: Potential members get a free lunch.


- Alan Blavins, Scribe Manager and Pinch-hitting Scribe

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