Scribe Notes, October 11, 2018
By: Hermann Welm
President John “Copy Cat” Milich opened the meeting by reminding us that the R.I. President is Barry Rassin, of the Bahamas, and his theme for the year is “Be the Inspiration!” Our “Stand-By” Greeter, PP Marie Galbo, lead us in the Salute to the Flag. Her (many) Thoughts for the Day were:
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” (by Aristotle, but he said that in Greek, not in English!)
“Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes you feel a thought.” (By Yip Harburg, lyricist for The Wizard of Oz)
“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.” (By Soren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher, 1813 – 1855)
“Sometimes all you need is just for somebody to believe in you in order to be able to accomplish maybe what you never thought you could.” (By Drew Brees, Quarterback, New Orleans Saints, Superbowl XLIV)
“I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.” (By President Harry S. Truman)
This Scribe then led us in the Patriotic Song, “God Bless America!”
Having used 35 minutes of the meeting to read all of her Thoughts for the Day, Marie relinquished the floor and did not talk about herself! Very considerate!
Visiting Rotarians: Mayor Bill Clarkson and our speaker, District Governor Jon Dwyer and his wife, Bonnie.
Other Visitors: None.
Announcements:
PP Dr. Bill Harlan announced that he would be sending around a sign-up sheet for handing out dictionaries to third graders at the six schools assigned to our club. Our club alone will be passing out 600 dictionaries!
PP Ray Giles noted that his email account had been hacked and if you get a strange message from him, disregard it. Do NOT open the attachment!
PP Gary Sloan mentioned that Cal High’s Interact Club will be holding a fundraiser at Sweet Tomatoes in Pleasanton, on October 17. A portion of the evening’s proceeds will be donated to the club.
PP Lucky Sandhu announced that we will once again be live streaming today’s speaker using a Facebook link. I’m sure everyone in the room knows how to access this (except this Scribe)!
President Milich asked for volunteers to man the Rotary Information Booth this weekend for the Run for Education. We need people for both Saturday and Sunday. A separate email will also be sent out.
Chris Gayler gave a presentation of all the Online Auction items that were contributed last year that had not yet been secured for this year. He ran down the list and most items were addressed as either having been secured or are in the process of being secured. Some had to be dropped off the list. We still need about 200 more items, so everyone needs to get busy! The last day for bringing items to Marie Galbo will be on her return from a trip, on October 20th!
Good News/Fine Free: None.
Recognitions: PP Guy Greco was recognized for his October 9th birthday. PP Glen Weber’s wife, Ginny, also had a birthday so he had to pay up as well!
Program: District Governor Jon Dwyer first spoke about his participation with the Benicia Rotary Club, even though he lives in the San Ramon Valley. Me mentioned that the many friends he has made there keep him there rather than joining a club closer to home.
As with all future DG’s, Jon attended the District Governor Elect Meeting in San Diego, in January of this year. Well over 500 future DG’s were in attendance and they had an opportunity meet with Rotary International President-Elect, Barry Rassin, and to participate in the selection of this year’s motto, “Be the Inspiration!”
By delaying his club visits until August this year, Jon has been able to personally distribute all 16 District Grants which totaled $160,000. He found this to be one of the highlights of his year as DG! Two of the Grants he presented were to club’s in the heavily-impacted Carr Fire area, in Redding and in Burney. He was amazed at the spirit of cooperation among the residents of these damaged communities. Another Grant was delivered to the Alamo Rotary Club for a project at an Alzheimer’s facility. Our club participated in this Grant which is to add a “Quiet Zone” to the facility where patients who become disoriented at sunset can be taken to relieve some of their anxiety.
On the membership front, Jon noted that the annual turn-over rate among the Rotary clubs in the District is about ten percent. He feels this could be reduced if members take it upon themselves to reach out to those who have missed several meetings and see how they are doing. This need not be a high-pressure “you have to attend” thing, but showing an interest in them could go a long way in re-energizing some that have drifted away!
The District Conference for 2019 is set for May 17 to 19, in Reno. It will be unusual this time in that four Northern California Districts will be meeting there simultaneously. Districts 5130, 5150, 5160 and 5190 will he meeting at the Peppermill Resort and Casino.
Jon went on to speak to the importance of supporting The Rotary Foundation and noted that our club’s annual contributions well exceed the $150.00 per member average for the District.
Lastly, Jon told a story about a Rotoplast trip to Bolivia where, on the last day, a mother brought her child to have it’s cleft lip repaired. She had reached their site after a 300-mile bus trip, having learned of this service from a woman in a neighboring village. That woman, a small-time entrepreneur who had been selling home-grown vegetables in her village, was able to expand her sales territory because she had purchased a bicycle. The money for that bike came from a Rotary-sponsored Micro-Loan. So the Micro-Loan allowed this vendor to venture further afield, and was therefore able to tell the story of Rotoplast to a mother in another town, which resulted the child’s cleft lip operation!
