APRIL BEGINS AT WVRC - the 7th
It was a bit like homecoming – but I hope we don’t have too many of these moments away from the Bell Air. DENNIS CORNWELL led the Pledge. You’re a Grand Old Flag was led by LENNY FRIEDMAN with PP JIM DOWNIE on the piano (and look out for more music news in a minute). ED GAULD provided his usual excellent Invocation, first summarizing the long tenure of Pope John Paul II, recalling some of his major accomplishments.
WE HAD A VISITING ROTARIAN! – Sanda Alcalay from the Pacific Palisades club, who is in Real Estate. Two of our Rotaractors were present – President Tori Hettinger and VP Candice Daneshvar. AL BELANCA was nicely thanked for his excellent photography, which appears in the Windmill.
ELLIOTT TURNER was our first April Birthdayer, coming along on the 1st in Jacksonville, FL. I assume ELLIOTT has already heard all the jokes that accompany this somewhat unfortunate choice of a day to arrive, but he held up manfully. DORIS SUMNER liked the 5th, in good old LA, and we had TWO for the 7th – CLARK McQUAY in Alhambra, and DEBBIE HEAP in Pasadena. I’m sure you all recall that when birthdays occur on our Meeting Day, the fine is doubled, so CLARK and DEBBIE, start saving your pennies. DICK ROBINSON chose the 8th, in Altus, Oklahoma, while CATHY REZOS settled on the 15th in Longview, Texas. Ithaca, NY is still upset that PP ERIC LOBERG arrived on the 18th, but in all fairness to their sense of propriety they didn’t have much they could do about it. New member NICK KAHRILAS chose New York city on the 23rd, and DON PARK ended this month’s festivities by arriving on the 28th in Burning, Neb. Now, here is the answer to the teaser in the paragraph above – PP JIM DOWNIE admitted that he – this time, and before this – played some bars from Silver Threads among the Gold, along with HB. With the advanced ages some of us are sporting, this is not only fitting, but appropriate! (And besides, can ANYONE remember the tune, really?)
ANNOUNCEMENTS –
Monday, May 9th is the Golf Scramble at Los Angeles Country Club. It’s a Shotgun Start, and PP STEVE SCHERER or DON CONNOR can take your money.
LENORE MULRYAN reported on the Ambassadorial Scholarship Committee meeting
Today. There are eight Committee Members, and they have four excellent candidates.
ED GAULD reported that there are 49 signed up for the Magic Castle brunch and show this Sunday, the 10th. Be there at noon for the Buffet, and informal dress is OK – but no jeans, please.
There are now ten people signed up for the District Conference in Palm Springs, which runs from the 28th of April to the lst of May.
Our Auxiliary will be meeting at the home of JIM and CAROL COLLINS this Tuesday, the 12th – call Pat Anderson for details, please.
We moved on to the Discussion Topics for today’s Club Assembly. The usual format applied – that is, first some instructions from RUDY, then table talk for a few minutes, and finally, a report table by table of what sounded best. RUDY is suggesting that we do something of lasting utilitarian value, and he suggested three ideas. As an example, we were reminded of the visit of a Rotarian from Uruguay. They needed a Fire Station in his home town, and he visited a number of clubs here in the US plus others at home. The result, due to his persistent efforts – they now HAVE their station!
The three Legacy Projects that Rudy introduced are:
Westwood needs signs, and if we can add the WVRC name and logo, all the better.
How about a landmark Meeting Place – a known spot where you could always meet others, and everyone would recognize it when it was suggested?
Perhaps a Children’s Pavilion could be created, with a garden surrounding it.
These are ideas – but others are of course welcome.
Several examples of possible signs were mentioned, mainly built around establishing Westwood as the home of our Rotary Club. Next, possible sites for a ‘known’ meeting place were suggested. Last, sites which could attract children for tutoring, or special events were put forward. There were a whole bunch of possible sites for signs, a meeting place, or a children’s spot – RUDY did a lot of work putting this together. He also had some philosophical thoughts on what we were considering. Before we decide that ANY idea can’t do done, think back to the introduction of TV – it was called the death knell for radio. Yet radio is alive and well today, and we should remember that. This thought applies to the future of books – they will stay with us, for sure
After our time for Table Talk, the various tables were asked to report, via a spokesperson. President-Elect DON NELSON was up first. His table liked the idea of signing, but acknowledged that getting all the permissions needed from the City, etc, would be a frustrating activity. They also felt that Meeting Place idea deserved some consideration.
PP DAVE WHITEHEAD reported for our table, first saying we talked about the three ideas – and then going on to other ideas! A Little League Field at the VA was one idea. However, the idea that emerged with the most support was to hire a tutor at the library, who would help those youngsters who needed instruction. In other words, we weren’t particularly interested in getting our name displayed, but we did feel the need of a tutor was apparent and would be most helpful.
LEE DUNAYER spoke for the next table. They liked the idea outlined for us by the Mayor of Culver City, which involved creating a ‘wireless zone’. They felt this would be a most useful program. DENNIS CORNWELL reported for his table, and pointed out that they really needed more time to come up with something workable. They generally liked the idea of adding signs – providing the City of LA wouldn’t be overly involved.
The well-remembered issue of the famous Clock was alluded to, of course. DON PARK reported for his table. They felt the Children’s Park idea might be more than we could handle, so one of the other two ideas seemed more reasonable. ELLIOTT TURNER became the spokesman for his table. He began by saying they had 45 or 50 seconds before RUDY arrived at their table, and it was all downhill from there! On a more serious note, they did suggest creating a UCLA Walk of Fame, where we would add someone’s name on a plaque each year. They did admit that if they could get a retired Sociology Professor to put in a good word, it might help the idea along! LENNY FRIEDMAN suggested we could use the Community Meeting Room at Westwood Park on Sepulveda for meetings. MIKE GINTZ was the final reporter . They wanted to increase our participation in the Ambassadorial Scholars Program, by funding more students. They also liked the idea of sponsoring the Community Room at the Library.
RUDY reminded us that 90% of new businesses fail – so if we fear failure we will never move ahead. PP STEVE SCHERER quoted Wayne Gretsky, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. We helped with Aiden’s Place – we put the lights in for the Little League Park – and there are others, but we have had some significant successes. ELLIOTT TURNER apparently couldn’t resist quoting “Those who don’t learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them” In response to a question from RUDY, ELLIOTT claimed that Karl Marx produced that quote – but RUDY corrected him to say that it came from John Dos Passos!
RAY ZICKFELD reminded us all that the Libraries in Los Angeles seem to have a special funding source, allowing them to be completely rebuilt – which most of us didn’t know, I’m sure. MIKE GINTZ provided the Toast – being asked to do so at the last moment – In view of the Pope’s passing, the world becomes a very small place, so let’s show peace in our hearts and goodwill to all.
