CROW’S CALL - by Priya Jhingan

Julie Fiedler was our gracious greeter today, taking the place of Chris Gallagher who was originally scheduled. She presented two quotes to us as her thought of the day: “I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade… Then you need to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.” The second, slightly more serious one was: “The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. And the first to forget is the happiest.” Julie is an elder specialty attorney, but before that was a nurse, and has recently been leaning towards retirement. She has 4 kids, one of which still resides in the house.

Guests, Announcements, Birthdays

We had a visiting Rotarian, John Patton from Pleasanton, who’s been an attorney for 38 years and recently moved his office to Bishop Ranch. Welcome, John!

Norbert Walz kicked off our announcements with a recap of the Art and Wind Fair, which happened over Memorial Day weekend. Noting that it was a team effort, Norbert thanked everyone for helping make this a successful event. Although Sunday brought an unusual “arctic freeze” and we sold only 2 cases of beer, Monday brought sunshine and the sales of 12 cases of beer plus a lot of wine. We ended up netting $4600, which was more than we made last year. Great job everyone, and thank you so much for your hard work, Norbert!

Birthday announcements included Edgardo Carrillo, Lucky Sandhu (who made in appearance late to the meeting), and Ed Duarte, who just turned a fresh 80. Ed’s wife put together a vacation package to the Indy 500! To celebrate, Ed also spent the first week of May with his daughter in London. Sally Garrison also has a birthday on June 4, and Mike Gunning’s anniversary is on June 3.

After going through the birthdays and anniversaries, President Milich began a relentless, rapid-fire barrage, going through the list of club members and charging almost each of us up to $125. We were told that this was the target amount for recognitions per person, but we shall wait and see if President Milich shows up in a fancy new jacket next week.

Edgardo Carrillo had two announcements:

July 13, 2019 is the installation of new officers and presidents of District 5160. It’ll be in Woodland, Ca. and dinner is $45 pp. Dress in your favorite team’s clothing!

Then, on August 25, 2019, eight Rotary clubs will attend the SF Giants vs. Oakland A’s game.  This is $50 pp, and feel free to contact either Edgardo or Glen Weber with questions!

Program - Truman Howard, docent at Blackhawk Museum

President Milich presented our program speaker, Truman Howard, who is a docent at the Blackhawk Museum, which was built by Ken Behring from 1986-1988. In addition to giving tours specifically to 4th and 5th graders, Truman also judges several food events, including a chili society gathering.

Truman then took us on a journey through the Spirit of the Old West section of the museum, which he specializes in. We learned about many interesting facts, stories, and exhibits, including the following:

• Origin of the Old West exhibit - Much of the collection came from Jerry Fick, who developed an early fascination with Native Americans and began collecting artifacts after finding a spear point on his family’s homestead. He grew a very successful museum in Wyoming, and then sold most of his collection to Ken Behring for the Blackhawk Museum.

• Buffalo Bill - An American soldier, bison hunter and showman. He became a rider for the Pony Express at age 14, and became famous for the Wild West shows he organized with cowboy themes.

• Crazy Horse - A war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms to fight against encroachments on the Lakota territories and way of life, and led the war party to victory at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. Crazy Horse was named “Shirt Wearer”, or war leader, by the tribe.

• Chief Red Cloud - A war leader of the Oglala Lakota, and their Chief from 1868 to 1909. One of the most capable Native American opponents the US Army faced, Red Cloud led his people through Red Cloud’s War, the Treaty of 1868, and the Great Sioux War of 1876-77.

• The Oregon Trail - 650,000 pioneers walked 2,000 miles. Apparently, 4th and 5th graders love hearing the fact that people walking the Oregon Trail wore out 6-10 pairs of shoes. Also called the world’s longest graveyard because one person died every 8 miles. The museum includes a replica of the wagon used by pioneers as well as a 140 ft long diorama showing 64 important events, from the Pony Express to Buffalo Bill’s adventures.

In addition to the above, Truman also told us about the Northern Plains Indian Tribes, Shamans, Chief Joseph, Nez Perce Reservation, Chief Washakie, Chief Plenty Coups (or "Buffalo Bull Facing The Wind"), Chief Sitting Bull (or “Jumping Badger”). To check out all of these interesting stories as well as the Art of Africa and upcoming Into China exhibits and the automotive gallery, visit Blackhawk Museum!

On a side note, Mike Thelen was sitting at my table during the meeting and emphasized his expectation to see a recollection of facts and dates from the program in this Crow’s Call. Is this good enough for ya, Mike?

Raffle and ending announcements

We had a slew of announcements at the end of the meeting. Lucky Sandhu announced that Copycat John Milich’s demotion party, to celebrate his terrific year as President, is happening on the eve of 6/27. On other news, Ana Dominguez and Patti Hennigan are hosting a kickball game for auction winners on 6/15, from 11am-3pm at San Ramon Central Park, and would love those of us who can make it to come out! Kathy Gailey also announced that next year’s Rotary International convention will be happening in Honolulu, and tickets are on sale at the lowest price of $395 from June 1-5. (This trip to Hawaii may be the real reason Copycat Milich collected those insane amounts of money from everyone at the start of the meeting). And finally, Gary Sloan recognized Melanie Emig and Barry Toby for helping the Interactors with Chinese food delivery during the Art and Wind Festival.

To end the meeting, Don Bierman had the winning ticket for the greeter’s prize. Dr. Bill had the second winning ticket and, lucky for the rest of us, did not pick the right marble. But, Doc Bill, according to Shakespeare, it’s all good because:

“Not marble, nor the gilded monuments

Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;

But you shall shine more bright in these contents

Than unswept stone, besmear'd with sluttish time.”

Happy summer, everyone!