CRAFT TALKS ARE THE BEST PROGRAMS - 27 October at WVRC
PETER TOMARKEN led the Flag Salute. The song was Take Me Out to the Ballgame, led by ‘Lightnin’ JACK HARRIS and RICK CULLEN. However, despite the nickname, I think we really ought to speed the tempo up a bit, OK? President DON perhaps summarized our performance, “Thank Goodness, baseball season is over”. GEORGE COX bravely stepped forward with the Invocation.It all rhymed, and began with “Give me a good digestion, Lord, and also something to digest”. He further mentioned, a healthy body, a good mind, and cautioned against worrying too much about I. Finally, we hope for a sense of humor - and all of the above can be found inscribed inside Chester Cathedral in England. Maybe those English know something, after all!
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Visiting Rotarians, Wes St. Clair and JoAnne Little.
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| Madame Wu and guest, BJ Eu |
We had two Visiting Rotarians. They were Wes St. Clair and JoAnne Little and they belong to the big club in Santa Barbara – both are in Real Estate, and PP JIM COLLINS knows them (of course). MADAME WU had a guest, B.J. Eu – who is her first God Child. She has had many since, but B.J. was the First! PEGGY BLOOMFIELD brought Lucy Stutz, the President of the Westwood Library support group. I then announced that PP RALPH WOODWORTH was retiring as Front Page Editor of the Windmill, a task he has performed very well for several years. This assignment involves producing a brief bio of next week’s speaker, and I’m looking for a replacement. It’s a fun job, and I would be glad to discuss it with anyone who would like more details.
CANDICE DANESHVAR, President of Rotaract, came forward to report on their initial meeting of last week – they had about forty students in attendance, and CANDICE ran a well-organized, brief meeting. She read a lovely letter from Scott Campbell, who belonged in 2003. He was pleased to have been involved when Rotaract began to bloom, and was particularly complimentary to PP GEORGE DEA, who was so responsible for getting the project started. Rotarians present included President Don and his wife, Roz, PP GEORGE DEA, PP PETER MORE, MIKE GINTZ, ANN SAMSON and YOE. No one will be surprised to learn that UCLA Rotaract is off to a good start, again this year.
Announcements
As noted earlier, PEGGY BLOOMFIELD is hosting the first Kaffeklatch at her home on Saturday, November 5th, from 10:30 to noon. Dave Harris from the Manhattan Beach Club will be the Moderator. Please do RSVP to PEGGY if you plan to attend.
We need to step forward on the Paul Harris Celebration Dinner, which will be held on the Queen Mary in Long Beach on Saturday, November 12th. It’s Black Tie Optional, and always a festive affair – I’m going – and the tab is $75.00. PP STEVE DAY is the contact, or President DON also has tickets. We have reserved thirty places, and a little more than half are sold – note that the whole PH Dinner idea originated when BILL GOODWYN was the DG, so it has some historical significance. Let’s support President DON on this, please.
Two last announcements, please. The Shopping Spree, honchoed by MIKE YOUSEM, will take place on Thursday evening, December 8th. Thirty kids, escorted by Rotarians and spouses, will have dinner and then shop for Holiday/Christmas gifts for their families (not for themselves). This is a lovely way to move into the Holiday spirit, so mark your calendars, and check with MIKE, if you will. And finally, we WON’T be meeting at the Bel Air Hotel on December 8th – we’ll join Santa Monica Rotary at the Riviera the next day, the 9th of December. Write it down!
There ensued a bit of byplay between
President DON and PDG BILL GOODWYN
It seems that PDG BILL has not only BEEN doing some traveling, but will be doing some MORE – missing the Governor’s visit next week, for instance. For this and other grievous transgressions, he was socked with a fifty-clam fine (but payable in dollars)
At this point, PEGGY’S guest, Lucy Stutz, came forward to thank us for our support of the new Westwood Library. We have given them a check for $10,000, and it will be used to buy Large Print books, which they badly need. Lucy acknowledged that each book would be memorialized as being from WVRC – and DAN PRICE suggested our credit should be in Large Print! The busiest time of day at the Library is noon, and they are averaging 15,000 visitors a month. Among our members, those who have been most active in supporting our new library are PEGGY BLOOMFIELD, JANICE KOYAMA, SUSAN ALLEN, ED GAULD, the BRADFORDS and PP RUDY ALVAREZ. And as you all know, I NEVER editorialize…but this support is just what we need to provide, and it’s all for the local community. We can – and should – be proud of WVRC for this gift!
PRESIDENT DON thanked JACK HARRIS and SLOSS VIAU for spearheading the clothing collection for the Salvation Army – apparently we brought in a record amount of clothing this year.
President DON had another great story
Seems the Priest was taking Confession, and it began by the penitent saying, “Bless me Father, for I have sinned. I have been with a loose woman”. The Priest interrupted, “Is that you, Tommy Shauna’s?” “Yes, Father”. “And who was the woman you were with?” “I can’t be telling you, Father – I don’t want to ruin her reputation.” The Priest pointed out that he would eventually find out anyway, so Tommy might as well tell him now. “Was it Brenda O’Malley? Was it Patricia Kelly? Was it Liz Shannon? Was it Cathy Morgan? Was it Fiona Donovan?” and to each came the reply, “My lips are sealed - I cannot tell”. The Priest sighed, “You are a steadfast lad, Tommy Shauna’s, but you have sinned, and you must atone. You cannot attend Mass for three months. Be off with you now.” Tommy returned to the pew, and his friend asked what happened. – What did you get? “Three months vacation, and five good leads”.
Craft Talks
President DON introduced our first Craft Talker, WARREN DODSON. WARREN was proposed by PP JIM COLLINS, and already knows a number of our members. His introduction to Rotary came as he was completing the Membership Form – it asked for his partner, and he said he didn’t have one – then he learned, partner meant spouse! WARREN was born in LA, went to local schools, including LA High, and UCLA. In 1942, he joined the Air Force, and began a series of perambulations, including stints at the Univ. of Washington, then to Berkeley to study Meteorology. This wasn’t what the AF wanted, so he was sent to Yale for Communications. He ended up at San Antonio as a Cryptographic Officer, and then was discharged.
Graduating from UCLA in 1947, he soon married Billee Herron. They had two children, Doug and Dori, but Billee passed away in 1961. He later married Patricia Whittemore, who had one son, Sandy. Doug has his own business in Carlsbad, Sandy is studying for a PhD, and Dori is married to Johnny Anderson (they met at the Anderson School). Pat and WARREN have six grandchildren.
WARREN’S dad went into the tire business in 1924. In 1928 while visiting in Chicago, he began to notice all those large cars with white wall tires. These were Vogue Tyres, and Mr. Dodson went to their factory and asked if he could represent them on the West Coast. During the Depression, the only people who had money were movie stars, so they sold them a lot of tyres (no, this isn’t a typo, that’s how they spell what Vogue produces!)
Their tyres are made by Kelly-Springfield, a subsidiary of Goodyear, which is one of only two remaining American manufacturers. Starting with two offices and a dozen employees, they now have warehouses in the LA area, Chicago, Texas and Florida, with 235 employees nationwide. All this started in 1937, with a handshake – and that still holds. Vogue now operates through deluxe car dealerships, with some thirty-five under contract – as WARREN says, “Dealers don’t know much about the tyre business, Thank Goodness”. These branches operate as Customizing Departments, usually, which includes various upgrades they can provide. The company is family owned, and the President is a nephew who went to Berkeley, with an MBA from Michigan.
Next up was PETER TOMARKEN, who was briefly introduced by SHANE WAARBROEK, his sponsor. SHANE pointed out that he met PETER through the District office, and that we should anticipate a widely varied scenario - which turned out to be accurate! He began by saying that he first thought the ten grand we gave the Library was for him…He was born on December 7th 1942 in Olean, NY, had an older brother, and three years later, a younger brother came along. Despite high expectations, his new sibling didn’t appeal to him, so he staged a funeral for the little guy. (Jim, by name). His friends gathered, and as they were about to wheel the wagon away in which Jim reposed, his Mother spotted the activity. Discovering what was intended, with Old Jimbo all prepped and ready to go into the ground, she changed the plans, of course.
When he was nine, the family moved west, to Beverly Hills. He attended Horace Mann HS, where he met his future wife – claims they couldn’t stand each other then, and that’s why they divorced – but the meantime was OK. After graduating from UCLA, he became a Clothing Editor at Women’s Wear Daily in NY. They returned to LA, and had three children. Jason went to Harvard, but didn’t study acting, which is what he does in NY. His twin girls are Candice and Alexis, and he used to say that Alexis would give Candice her last breath – and Candice would take it! Today, Candice is a TV Producer here in LA, and Alexis is about to get her PhD in psychotherapy in NY.
PETER spent some time in advertising, switched to TV Directing, then back to Benton and Bowles as Creative Director, on to Y & R, and several other agencies. Finally he was doing some TV commercials, and his agent asked if he would like to be a Game Host. It was explained that he would work four days a month and make six figures.
Press Your Luck ran for three years, and appealed to a young audience – which is what the networks seek, of course. After that, he hosted the Playboy show, with Shannon Tweed – not a name YOE knows, but apparently, she was worth knowing. He met Kathleen – she of the Chocolate Company – they married, and he now mostly acts as a Mortgage Broker. He studying Law, to keep his mind busy, he says.
A Joint Q&A. CLARK McQUAY, Warren, Why didn’t you retire? His Dad was still working, and he wouldn’t LET Warren retire. ED GAULD, Peter, you said you liked to work at places that were stimulating. Why were you working at the Playboy Club? You mean, you just look at the pictures, and don’t read the copy? I’m disappointed in you.
At this point, I reported on Warren as a walking companion – he checks all the parked cars, and when he finds one that needs tyres, he leaves his card on the windshield. MIKE GINTZ, Peter, can you explain why you gave up the WWD Clothes? Actually, I’m still wearing the same clothes – they still fit, even though they might not be appropriate. JACK HARRIS, Peter, what was the biggest jackpot on your game shows? One guy figured out the secret, and quit after winning $125K – but he could have gone on and owned NBC. Thanks to WARREN and PETER – Craft Talks are our best programs!
Ponder – If you try to fail and succeed, what have you done, really?
