April 11, 2002

 

WVRC on April 11th - our new Flag Day!

KEVIN KOMATSU led the Pledge, and again, he allowed everyone to get set - it works much better that way.  I was approached by JACK HARRIS to help with the singing, and JACK suggested that I come over to the piano so he could give us the sometimes-confused key.  I went over, he struck the key - several times - and wouldn't you know it, before I could get back to assume my rightful place as Conductor " America" was taken up by the audience.  Actually, we sounded pretty good, although I suppose you could opine that this is a self-serving comment. (but bottom line - we had fun).  PP MIKE NEWMAN allowed us to sit down, and first told a story about a somewhat inebriated young man who got on the NY subway.  A priest who was aboard was put off by his appearance, but the new passenger ignored him, picked up a newspaper and began to read.  Shortly, he asked the priest, "Father, what causes arthritis? The priest quickly told him it was the result of loose living - just the kind of behavior the young man was engaging in.  The young man then countered, "It says here that the Pope has arthritis".  MIKE'S invocation began by his reading an old e-mail he received from a priest right after 9/11. The e-mail began by pointing out to the terrorists that while they had knocked down some buildings, they had missed America.  What they missed was an understanding of what is really America.  This is a land of opportunity, free speech, and a place where no one has to agree with what you say.  America lives in its people.  He then gave a short prayer, thanking our Maker for all the men and women who have served in our armed forces, from WWII to the Gulf War, and today, in Afghanistan.  YOE was watching the audience - they paid close attention!

SUSAN ALLEN was willing to introduce our Visiting Rotarians, but there didn't seem to be any.  But Lo and Behold, one popped up - Barr McClellan, in investments, from the Gulfport, Miss. Club, and SUSAN passed the baton to KACY ROZELLE, who did the honors. KACY pointed out that Barr has two sons: Mark is the youngest member, ever, of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, while his brother, Scott, is a Special Assistant to President Bush and is a Deputy Press Secretary.  Scott and KACY were roommates in college.  BRUCE ROLF was accompanied by Marie, and SLOSS VIAU introduced his older son Skip, who is visiting from Seattle.  RUDY ALVAREZ came forward to talk about our District Conference - we now have over twenty members who will be there, and we are all excited about the excellent speakers and program.  I have invited our former member, PAUL WINEMAN, to hear what the son of the Shah has to say - PAUL knew the family. We were reminded that PP JOHN SINGLETON has opened his home in Carlsbad on Thursday afternoon - please stop by to say hello.

KATHY MARIE REZOS next gave her craft talk, which was originally scheduled for last week.  Sponsored by RUDY ALVAREZ, Cathy has literally lived all over the U.S + Mexico, where she was helping her Mother with Nursing Duties.  She is an experienced
Pilot and is active in Angel Flight.  This is a group of volunteer pilots who carry medicine and/or patients where they need to go on an emergency basis.  She is working on a program to bring Rotary into the action, and this is certainly a win/win situation for all concerned.

CATHY began by pointing out that she would NOT mention a slight mix-up in her being identified as a stripper - the word should have been Candy Striper!  She related a conversation she overheard when she was in the 2nd grade, staying with her grandmother.
Her grandmother kept saying, yes, yes, and finally, well, I'm sure that is true.  CATHY waited with baited breath to find out what the conversation was about.  Seems that her teacher had asked her students to write an autobiography - and while everyone else wrote perhaps a half page, CATHY turned in eight or nine PAGES!   She has had an extensive religious history, first as a Catholic, then a Baptist, next an Episcopalian and was even baptized by a Coptic Priest in Egypt. Shortly afterward, she learned that she was Jewish!
She became a Registered Nurse, specializing in infant care, and has twenty years of experience in secondary education.  She loves schools - attending or teaching.

She is a management consultant, helping small businesses with their problems.  Her experience in this field is wide, and her results have been very good.   CATHY likes to be involved - we'll be seeing more of her as she learns the ropes of WVRC.  In answer to a question, she outlined her experience as a pilot.  When she was 39, she had a dream that she WAS a pilot, and so it all began.  In 1991 she opened an aviation school at Van Nuys airport - at that time, the busiest general aviation airport in the world!  She hired the best instructors, graduated the most students, and it was a big success.  Many of her students were from Japan - instruction there is quite expensive.  She wrote the Manual for all Air Combat Schools, in answer to a challenge.  Don't tell her it can't be done - it's just a matter of finding a way.  CATHY pointed out that we are losing an airport a week, over the United States - and that's not a good trend.  Thank you, CATHY MARIE REZOS, for sharing your life with us - and Welcome Aboard to WVRC,

April birthdays were noted, with KEN LEVER as the MC.  First up was ELLIOTT TURNER, born on the 1st (and no comments here about aptly named dates, please) - he hails from Jacksonville, FL.  BILL MICHAEL came along on the 4th, in Dallas, and SHERRY DEWANE was the next day, in Manitowoc (that's Wisconsin).  CLARK MCQUAY, from Alhambra on the 7th. was followed by DICK ROBINSON - the 8th, in Altus - and I'm sure you all know that's in Oklahoma.  Our craft talker today, CATHY MARIE REZOS was born on the tenth in Longview, TX. PP ERIC LOBERG slipped in from Utica NY on the 18th. Bruning, Nebraska claims credit for DON PARK, on the 28th, with CHIN ONG closing the month on the 30th,  in Singapore.  KEN closed the presentation with a poem, saying these Rotarians have all earned an A (can't remember how it rhymed - sorry).  And the birthdayer's were each presented with a psychedelic bouncing ball, which of course they all began to enjoy. Program chairs for the quarter, MARK BLOCK and BILL EDWARDS, were thanked for another excellent group of programs this quarter.

MYRON TAYLOR was our Speaker, and his talks about the Four Way Test have always been a highlight.  Myron was born in Goodwill, W.Va. and his father refused to allow him to work in the coal mines.  He farmed, to work his way through college, and has been a Minister for SIXTY years. He's a preacher, it shows, and there is none better.
MYRON has given one or another of his seven versions of this talk on over 100 hundred
occasions, and these talks have now been gathered into a book, along with forty of the prayers that he used when giving the talks.  The book will be available at the San Diego District Conference - first editions!

Abraham Lincoln gave us his immortal Gettysburg Address in just 272 words.  Perhaps this inspired Herbert J. Taylor, who was a businessman in Chicago.  He had worked for Sinclair Oil and Jewel Tea Co., and in 1932 - the depth of the Depression - he was asked to take over the Club Aluminum Company.  What he inherited was a company that was $400K in debt, with only a $6,100 bank loan to refloat the business.  He had earlier devised a statement of about 100 words to live by, but felt that was too long.  He refined that to just seven statements - but it was still too long.    So he ended up with just four questions.  He ran these by his four top assistants -a Presbyterian, a Roman Catholic, a Christian Scientist and an Orthodox Jew - and all agreed that it "worked for them".  Thus the test was born.  They further agreed that they would abide by all its tenets in their jobs - and that wasn't always easy to do.  But they held on, and Club Aluminum came back - by 1937 they had paid off their debt, distributed over one million in dividends to shareholders, and totally proved that these twenty four words could indeed be the basis for business (and personal) success.  Incidentally, those of you who knew DON PARSON, our former member, may remember that he knew and worked with Herb Taylor. It was a great source of pride to DON that he actually designed the first desktop displays for the Test.

So The Four Way Test has been put to the test - and it passed with flying colors.
Myron couldn't resist giving us a bit of history - Herb Taylor was Rotary International President in 1954-55, Rotary is now in 162 countries, with l.4 million members. Japan, for one, uses the Test in its high schools.  An example - the Tokyo subway lines offered the use of umbrellas to their clients, if needed.  Once they printed the Four Way Test inside the umbrellas, they never lost another!  He related the story of the building of the Great Wall of China - 1600 miles long, sometimes 30 feet high - and the only man-made structure in the world that is visible from space. Built before the time of Christ, it was finally breached - but how?  The invaders simply bribed the gate guards - thus, the integrity of the whole massive system depended upon the character of the gate guards!  
What actually collapsed was their character.

A quote from John W. Gardner, former Cabinet Member - "The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because it is a humble activity, and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity, will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy.  Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water."   The Test is eloquent in its simplicity, and offers a way to light a candle rather than cursing the darkness.
Thank you, Myron, once again.

And now, a terrible admission has to be made.  Yes, I have made a SECOND error (and all this time I thought ONE would be my quota) But I digress.  In reporting on Amanda Miller's excellent report last week about her year abroad in Chile, I managed to completely use the wrong word in describing the Chilean economy. Her statement was, "for the last ten years, the Chilean economy has been the most VIBRANT in South America".  Somehow, instead of Vibrant, the word I used was feeble - they don't sound much alike, and even I questioned why the economy would be described as feeble.  But there - I've said it, and I'm sorry, Amanda.

YOE, Ernie Wolfe