San Ramon Rotary Club
Crow’s Call
June 20, 2019
The meeting was called to order by John Milich (AKA Copy Cat) at 12:15p following a delicious Taco Salad treat with desserts. Clearly, our President is going out in style with only one more meeting to go before demotion. After one year, John has not memorized the theme of Rotary this year “Be the Inspiration” and continues to read a script reminding him of this theme. Mike Gunning was the Greeter who regaled the club with his thought for the day:
“When you feel like yesterday was a struggle and you want to create better tomorrows… Learn from Yesterday, Live of Today and Hope for Tomorrow.”
After the flag salute, Mike broke tradition and asked Gary Sloan to lead the club in a patriotic song. Gary selected My Country Tis of Thee and we sounded like the Tabernacle Choir ascending to the heavens.
Mike shared that he has been married for 52 years with 3 sons and 7 grandchildren. (That is, he has a large carbon footprint) He is originally from Ohio and graduated from the University of Cincinnati. Mike has been in California for 38 years but who is counting?
There were no table introductions but it was noted that Lucky was the only male at an all female table. When asked how that happened, Lucky replied that is the reason they call him Lucky. Other members suggested that it seemed like reverse discrimination and female plotting to take over the club. Oh wait, that has thankfully already happened.
Announcements
Kick Ball Auction Item: Ana described a wonderful event involving the lucky auction bidder for up to 24 people to participate in a Kick Ball game at Central Park. With Chris Gayler as the referee, Patti and John as barbecue chefs and a host of Rotarian cheerleaders this 3-hour event/picnic was well received. Ana and Kathy organized the event involving warm-up and team naming. Ana said “there was a lot of kicking” and awards were given out. There were three primary rules:
1) Don’t get hurt
2) Don’t get hurt
3) Don’t get hurt
As it turns out, the even was successful without any medical emergencies.
Sunny Glen: Lucky Sandhu read a letter from a Sunny Glen resident despite the fact that English is his fourth language. A great thank you was expressed on behalf of Sunny Glen residents for the Smoke Detector project!
Opera Lovers: Guy was giving out 2 tickets for tonight’s performance of Carmen. Lots of interest was expressed.
Auction Update: Don (hero) Bierman, the Chairman of the Auction gave a wonderful summary of how he intends to be successful this year. His advice was all Rotarians “do what you did last year”. He planned on talking to Priya regarding social media and indicated that the event would be held from Nov 1-9 (same as last year). Don met with Vanessa at SRVEF to coordinate efforts and indicated that a flyer and sponsor work sheet would be available soon. Don announced that this year we would be instituting a pick-up cut off date after which the unclaimed item would be used for other purposes or go to the second best bidder. Gary Sloan thanked Rotarians who expressed an interest in being a sponsor. Many members have already committed and Gary calculated that he may have raised $30,000 thusfar with a $45,000 goal.
Non-recognitions: John neglected to note that Steve Wilcox and Gary Sloan shared the same month birthdays. Gary would have shared his amazing birthday holiday in Pebble Beach at the U.S. Open and wine tasting in the Santa Cruz area. (great Pinot wines) Valerie Nevarez also celebrated a birthday earlier in the month.
Program: Syndicate of Change
Most Rotarians were preoccupied with cars, dating, academics and concerts when we were 17 years old. Not so for our speaker Aditya Melkote describe as a “young Rotarian in waiting”. As a Junior at Dougherty Valley High School, Aditya loves Robotics and swimming but conceived of a project initiative to connect “at risk” community members to the digital world. He posits that we can have an impact on moving people out of poverty by providing them with online connectivity skills and equipment. Through donations from local businesses, schools and organizations such as scout troops and Rotary, Aditya has obtained “gently used” computer lap tops and smart phones then connected individuals who can teach skills associated with computer connectedness.
Through Partner for Change, a not-for-profit organization that seeks to lift individuals out of poverty through job preparedness, it is Aditya’s intention to distribute computers to Livermore (500) and San Ramon (50) school districts to run computer classes for the poor and unemployed.
He would like to get Rotary Clubs involved in that our organization can create legitimacy and lend credibility among the business community as well as be a source of volunteers. He has six (6) students from high school as the organizing core group.
Following questions, Gary Sloan suggested that Aditya connect with his school’s interact club and perhaps facilitate a joint Interact project.
Adjournment: Prior to adjourning the meeting, Mark won the greeters gift (wine) and Norbert failed to pull the gold marble settling for $10 blue marble. The pot is now $270. Members should consider attending the next meeting to cash in and hear our President’s swan song.
Demotion dinner is next Thursday at Crow Canyon.
Respectfully submitted,
Gary Sloan, scribe