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Happy Thanksgiving
No Meeting
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Holiday Party
Spouses Day
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Next Week...
November 22
Happy Thanksgiving
No Meeting
November 29
To be Announced
Coming Up...
December 6
Dr. Richard Y. Lam
December13
Holiday Party - Spouses Day
December 20
Dark - No Meeting
December 27
Dark - No Meeting
Announcements
December 6
Christmas Shopping Spree With Underprivileged Children
Meet at 6:00 pm at the Salvation Army Relocation Center at Sepulveda and Wilshire. Contact MIKE YOUSEM for details and to let him know you will be coming.
December 11
Auxiliary Holiday Party
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This Week...
CRAFT TALKS at WVRC on November 15th
Before I begin, a mystery is solved! As a few of you know, my briefcase has been missing since I left for Australia on October 8th. Turns out it was resting comfortably in the Storeroom at the Faculty Center, so our $60 in cash is still in hand!
TERRY R. WHITE led the Pledge. LENNY FRIEDMAN (who else?) gave us the song, Home On The Range. PP MIKE NEWMAN provided the Invocation. Guests of Rotarians included Lorin Ruttenberg – actually now about to be a member – who has been sponsored by PP STEVE SCHERER. SALLY NEWMAN was with HOMER, and SHARON was there in support of CEO CHRIS. ED GAULD’s guest was Dwight Heikkila, and PEGGY BLOOMFIELD brought her Special Guest, Aly Shoji, who is at UCLA in Development.
MIKE YOUSEM spoke about the Christmas Shopping Spree – and the monetary response was overwhelming! ELLIOTT TURNER, HANK HEUER, KEVIN DOMATSU, MARK BLOCK, HARLAN LEWIS, LEE DUNAYER, GEORGE COX and LENORE MULRYAN all stepped forward to help, resulting in a collection of $595 toward this worthy project. We were reminded of the Braille Institute Christmas Luncheon on December 7th – if you will be going down to help, please call Carmen Apelgren at Braille.
Auxiliary Holiday Party – Tuesday Dec. 11th at the home of CLARK and AUDREY MCQUAY, 15010 Altata, in the Pacific Palisades. A local musical group will perform after the catered luncheon, with both Christmas and Hanukkah songs – Doris Ogilvie and Carol Collins are in charge. The McQuay’s home will be decorated with Audrey’s paintings, needlepoint and holiday figurine collection – and outside, Clark’s poinsettias will be featured in the gardens. Reservations, at $25, can be made by sending a check to Margie Downie, 633 Burlingame, LA 90049. Reservations should be made at least a week before the party. All Westwood Rotarians and their spouses re invited. Guests may bring a bagful of cosmetic sample from their hotel visits during the year, and these will be distributed to the Salvation Army by Andy Anderson. New and used books for chidren under the age of ten are sought and will be used in Rotary’s Mountain of Books, to be distributed to local schools. Call co-presidents Eloise Siskel and Kathy Gauld if you need more information, please.
Our visiting Ambassadorial Scholar, Jean-Baptiste Puiggali, told us he would be at the UCLA Law School through the spring quarter. He comes from the Paris area, and hopes to take the New York Bar exam this coming summer. And while I don’t think it was announced, HENRIETTA KNAPP reported to me about her visit with Rotaract Students in Kyoto recently.
PP JIM COLLINS introduced our first Craft Talk Speaker, J.R. DUZBAK. They have known each other for some time, and his story is one that we can all appreciate. J.R, grew up in the Venice area, and he had some siblings who were pretty wild. One by one they joined the Venice Boys and Girls Club, and almost in order, they were asked to leave! Somehow, he hung on, and found the help they provided to be very significant. While in high school, through the Club, he met some wonderful mentors – among them JIM COLLINS and his daughter, Kathy Hession. When he graduated from Venice High, he applied for and received a Scholarship from the Boys and Girls Club, to Cal State University at Northridge. This made it possible for him to attend – without that help he wouldn’t have been able to go. One of the conditions of the Scholarship was that he maintain some relationship with the Boys and Girls Club, so he continued to volunteer there. While he was volunteering at their Gift Center, their Director left. They asked him to stay on while they conducted a search for a new Director, and he agreed. However, it turned out that he was their choice for the job, and thus he began his professional career at the Venice Boys and Girls Club. This was his dream job, and he became the Director of the Club, during his fifteen-year employment.
During this time he joined the Venice-Marina Rotary Club. His health began to deteriorate – he wouldn’t grasp with his hands, couldn’t bend over, and was eventually diagnosed with Lupus. This is a degenerative disease, and it was complicated by serious arthritis. After stumbling to Rotary meetings for awhile, he learned of a Lupus treatment – the catch being that it cost $10,000. Shortly afterward, two of the members invited him to lunch, where they presented him with a check for $10,000, from Venice-Marine Rotary. He was amazed – having been a member just a short time, here the club had stepped forward and provided the check he needed! This act on their part convinced him that he would remain a Rotary Club member for the rest of his life. It then turned out that he didn’t need the check, since his Lupus started to go away. But the arthritis continued to worsen, and he worried if it attacked his back, he wouldn’t be able to walk. At this point, the drug company Amgen heard about his case. They offered him a new, still unproven program that might work – and they would pay for it. He accepted, it worked, and today he is once again a healthy man.
After fifteen years with the Venice Boys and Girls Club, he joined their National Board, and became the supervisor for the 24 Clubs in the Southern California. His specialty was teaching fund-raising, and management in general and that’s what he does now. He met and married his wife, and after some uncertainties, they are now the proud parents of a five year old and a two and a half year old. He had to resign from Venice –Marine Rotary when he moved to his National position, and was thrilled to come into WVRC, being sponsored by PP JIM COLLINS. And YOE cannot help but point out that Craft Talks are our best programs!
PP STEVE SCHERER came forward to ask the several members of Westwood United Methodist Church to stand – and there were a bunch of us! PP STEVE then pointed out to JOHN WOODALL that these were all his ‘flock’. JOHN in turn began by suggesting that a lot of what a person is can be traced to where he comes from. In his case, two of his grandparents emigrated from Italy, and on the other side, one came from Canada – somehow the other preferred Oklahoma. This mix and match makes JOHN what he describes as an American Mutt.
He grew up in what could well be described as an Italian family. Graduated from Temple City High, where he was active in music – and still enjoys playing the piano and clarinet.
On to USC, with what he describes as three ‘careers’. First was Biological Science, enroute to dentistry. Switched then to business, and then ended up graduating in Religion in 1982. Enroute to his masters at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, he was reminded that that’s what happens if your family doesn’t go to church – you become a Minister! Some thoughts about the Ministry as a vocation – his definition being that the difference between a vocation and a job is the passion you bring to it. In the Methodist program, you are appointed by the Bishop for one year, which of course can be renewed.
He has served churches in San Gabriel, Santa Monica and Pasadena, mainly in Children and Youth programs, before coming to Westwood as Senior Minister.
John had a story about President Abraham Lincoln, who regularly attended church. After hearing one minister, he was asked for his evaluation. He had good subject matter, had obviously prepared well, and delivered his sermon effectively. Yet he didn’t rate him well – the reason being, “He forgot to ask the Congregation to do something great”.
What experiences shape where I am? First, he finds the Community of Faith to be inspiring. He has served in two local school district positions – first on the School Site Committee, and then six years as an elected member of the Temple City School Board. Music is important to him, both piano and singing. He also became the ‘coach’ of his daughters Softball Team – this because there was no one else, and in spite of the fact that he knew nothing about the game.
JOHN and Linda met in high school, and she first graduated in music, and worked as a teacher. Then, when the kids were in school, she returned for her M.D. degree and now specializes in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. They have three children, Mark, plus Peter and Elizabeth, who are twins. Since all are now in college, their life is full but their bank account is empty. This is JOHN’S second Rotary Club, and we welcome him to our community.
Remember, we do meet again on the 29th of Nov - see you then.
