RETREAD NITE - or at least, so it seemed on June 20th

And while it wasn't really a night meeting, Luncheon didn't seem to fit the word Retread - so exercising the editorial privilege for which I assume I'm famous - this is the story of what went on.  We started, as usual, with the Pledge, led nicely by MARK BLOCK.  It's A Grand Old Flag, selected and led by LENNY FRIEDMAN, was accompanied by GREGG ELLIOTT (and, in case the title isn't familiar, that was our song).  BRUCE ROLF quoted "Be Careful" listing, in order, your thoughts, your words, your actions, your habits, your character, and that all leads to your destiny.  Certainly a helpful reminder - and we all need all the help we can get…

ELLIOTT TURNER was called upon to introduce the Visiting Rotarians; and the first one, whom he claimed had sponsored him into WVRC, was DAVE LONG.  DAVE now belongs to Manhattan Beach, but there was another, alas - PP BILL BLOOMFIELD JR is from the same place, and he had the good sense to bring BILL SR. along.  Supervising (or was it Acting?) President DAVE WHITEHEAD pointed out that BILL JR'S working title in Manhattan was Benedict Arnold, to which there seemed to be no rejoinder.  However, rising to the occasion, BILL puffed up this week's Speaker, saying that his coming was the talk of the town, etc.  He added that it was almost impossible to wait for the marvelous program which was to follow, particularly as overseen by the aforementioned DAVE. One serious note, here, if I may.  While we have inducted over a dozen excellent members this year, please note those we have lost - DORE CHARBONNEAU, ANN ELKIN, URI HERSCHER, RON KLEPETAR, BERT KREISBERG, DAVE MORE, LYNDON PARKER, GEORGE REED, NEVIN SENKAN and JULIE THOMPSON.  Over time, we do average a 10% loss, so keep those new members coming in, please.

Speaker RON then introduced his guests, wife Marianne, and sons Brian (13) and John, who is 9.  DAVE introduced his wife, Karen, who brightened up the atmosphere, particularly when she greeted me as 'Number One' (yes, that's an 'in' joke, from the Demotion).  DAVE further enlightened us that he and Karen were married while he was President, and despite the suggestion by PDG BILL GOODWYN, they held the ceremony elsewhere than at our regular Thursday meeting.  He admits that is probably why they are still married -but you do have to recognize that GOODWYN'S idea would have saved DAVE some money… And speaking of meetings, DAVE reminded us that next week will be chaired by PP DOUG DESCH, who in turn pointed out that it would be informal, with a Mexican buffet, MARGARITAS, and besides, it is Spouses' Day!

PP MIKE NEWMAN next inducted our three newest members - TONY MARRONE, AL BELLANCA, and CHARLES MAGNUSON. TONY and AL were sponsored by PP JIM SUMNER, while CHARLES had RALPH BEASON standing up for him.  TONY'S
Classification is group employee benefits, he was born in Pueblo, CO, his wife's name is Veneice, and they have four sons.  He enjoys golf, tennis, and reading.  AL is a CPA, was born in Buffalo, NY, his wife is Hilda, and they have three kids.  He, too, likes golf exercising, and is an active community volunteer.  PP JIM was asked what he had said to his two new inductees.  "Have you ever thought of joining our Rotary Club?"  (Editorial comment - sounds like a pretty straightforward pitch to me - and as they say, if you don't ask, you won't get…).  CHARLES MAGNUSON is an attorney, specializing in taxation, was born in Seattle, his wife is Carole, they have two sons, and he especially enjoys fly-fishing. CHARLES is also a hiker, likes reading history, and is interested in photography.  Sponsor RALPH BEASOM added that CHARLES is his next door neighbor, and his wife, Carole, is quite a gardener. PP MIKE then returned to his frequent theme, What is Rotary?  We are an active group, leading the campaign to do away with polio in the whole world - which will happen by 2005 - and as a local example our District alone has just awarded four $25K scholarships  (from among 18 applicants) for study aboard.  These Ambassadorial Scholarships are better than Fullbright's - and yet we don't seem to get the public recognition we deserve for the many good things we do.  Be involved, and what you put into Rotary will be returned to you ten times over! Thanks, MIKE - another excellent presentation - and certainly our three newest members deserved the standing ovation they received.

DAVE led into my intro of RON by reminding us all that we started our Polio Plus support program during RON'S tenure, with PP HOWIE HENKES in charge.  WVRC raised over $120K - best in the District, as usual - and this was just part of the total of FIVE HUNDRED million dollars Rotary will donate to polio eradication.  Then it was my turn, and I reminded all that RON was one of a fairly long line of father-son members. For the record, the surnames include Bloomfield, Stoner, Reed, White, Newman, Walker, Wanglin, and Wolfe. RON joined Rotary in 1977, was President exactly fifty years after his dad, CHASE WANGLIN, served (1937 and 1987), and was preceded by BILL BLOOMFIELD JR, and followed by DAVE WHITEHEAD.

As RON started to speak, there was a lot of commotion toward the rear, with ELLIOTT TURNER, MARK BLOCK, PP JOHN SINGLETON, MIKE YOUSEM and PP CHRIS GAYNOR suddenly bolting out the back door - comments included "I've got a meeting" and "I've already got insurance" plus a couple of other remarks, which in the interest of this being a family publication, had best be left unreported. But RON overcame this minor interruption, told us how pleased he was to be our speaker, and  - to be completely serious for just this one moment, YOE has to report that RON really gave us a great program.  Senior Craft Talks are our best programs, and RON ably carried on this wonderful tradition.

CHASE WANGLIN was RON'S dad.  He founded the Westwood Hills Press in 1929, joined WVRC in '32, and sold the paper to Copley in 1937. Then he went into Insurance, both life and casualty.  Meanwhile, RON was born in LA, attended Beverly Hills High, graduated from Berkeley, and attended Hasting Law for a couple of years. A year after he joined his dad's firm, CHASE retired - but meanwhile, SIX WEEKS after becoming part of Chase Wanglin Insurance, RON joined WVRC!  He well remembers attending Rotary meetings as he was growing up, and was particularly grateful for the warm welcome he always received from men such as JOE VALENTINE, DR MILO BROOKS, BOB CAMPBELL, DON HANDY, BILL PEPLOW - the list goes on.  And he reminded us all that bringing your kids to Rotary is special - good for all concerned, to paraphrase just a bit.  While, even then, we had our share of older members, he was pleased to be able to associate with other youngsters, such as LEE WALKER, DAVE WHITEHEAD, BILL BLOOMFIELD - the mix of ages was great fun.

Earlier, I had asked, editorially, where Hump Day came from - and RON started it, since he KNEW that BILL BLOOMFIELD JR needed encouragement in his long slide downward after the first of the year! At that point, it was a five-minute segment, but these things tend to grow, as we have all witnessed…I did comment, at this point, that I was very pleased to learn that he, at least READ the Windmill!  Turning to his business, RON is now the President and CEO of Bolton and Company, Insurance Brokers.  Their annual sales are $175 million, with 130 employees, a home office in Pasadena and a branch in Oxnard.  Their targeted customers are firms grossing 5 to500 million dollars.  70% of their business is commercial, 22% employee benefits, and the remaining 8 personal lines.
They plan to bill $250 million within five years, and $500 million in ten years!  These increases are driven by the Insurance Companies themselves.

RON feels that his legal background has been very helpful.  He reminds his people that you have to learn how a given business works before you can really help with their insurance needs - you can then tailor their coverage to meet those needs.  He travels almost 35% of the time, usually for just 2 or 3 days at a time. Historically, insurance markets are soft for 10 to 12 years, and then become hard for 2 or 3 years. (soft means prices are down, hard means they are up, OK?)

Note that RON'S firm is a brokerage - they SELL insurance, but the Insurance Companies issue the policy.  There are three ways an insurance company can operate.  They can take the whole risk.  They can share some agreed-upon amount with re-insurance firms.  The rate here is determined by treaties - and, as an aside, YOE thinks negotiating those could be a challenging endeavor…It does, however, provide a fixed rate, usually for a calendar year.  The third way is called facultative insurance - this means purchasing coverage on the open market, and it can get very expensive!

A quick word about 9/11 and the World Trade buildings.  Total claims are expected to be between 50 and 70 BILLION dollars.  A major issue here is whether there were one or two incidents, since each building was insured for 3.5 billion. Thus the total liability for just these two buildings could be either 3.5 or 7 billion, and that's enough difference to cause some discussion.

Some personal notes, finally.  RON is both a coach and a referee for Brian and John's soccer teams.  He is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Buckley School, where his boys go. That, plus his sometimes round of golf, keeps him busy.  We miss you here, RON, but it does appear you have some outside commitments which need attendance.

However, spurred on by questions - PP STEVE SCHERER - "What About Golf?,"
And PP DAVE WHITEHEAD - "Do you favor an interlocking or overlapping grip?"
Plus apologies for not including his AESOP lecture,
WANGLIN GOLF TIPS now follow!  
1. When playing with BILL or DAVE, get at least a stroke a hole.
2. When playing with MIKE, time your mention of ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE to coincide with his backswing - you've got him for the rest of the round!
3. Allow a clear radius of 270 degrees to be entirely out of danger.

YOE, Ernie Wolfe