January 15
Dr. Jeff Bronstein
January 22
DG Chuck Anderson
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Next Week...
January 15
Dr. Jeff Bronstein
Parkinson's Disease and PLLUS
Upcoming Programs...
January 22
DG Chuck Anderson visits
January 29
Steve Scherer and Friends, Investment Day
Activities...
January 20
District Breakfast - LAX
Westin Hotel, 5400 W. Century Blvd.
February 8
Sweetheart Valentine Brunch
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Reminder...
Rotary Auxiliary is meeting this coming Wednesday at the home of ROZ and DON NELSON, starting at 11:30. The speaker will be Carol Pane, discussing her book “Chasing Sunsets” which is the story of their six-year trip around the world by sailboat. Ryan Pane is the grandson of LENORE and JOE MULRYAN, and he has spoken at WVRC. Call ROZ for reservations, please.
This Week...
HUMP DAY at WVRC, January 8th
MIKE YOUSEM led the Pledge. PEGGY BLOOMFIELD followed with the Invocation. She listed the several functions necessary for a successful life. Included were family beside you, close and sharing friends, health, love, special memories of all the yesterdays, a bright today, with much to be thankful for, a path that leads to beautiful tomorrows, dreams that do their best to come true, and appreciation of all the wonderful things around us. Truly, Peggy, these are all blessings – thank you. LENNY came forward, but was preceded by the injunction that his two songs today should hold us for the next – I think it was – four weeks! Lenny agreed, and we sang, more or less, This Is My Country.
Guests were next, and there were many, which is always fun. JOHN HEIDT introduced his Special Guest, Madison Gordon, who manages the Chase office on Wilshire. PEGGY BLOOMFIELD brought her Special Guest, Scott Fitch. He is with UBS, and has his MBA from UCLA. PP STEVE SCHERER had two Special Guests. Marsha Hunt is a TV producer, and Joe Franklin was an attorney who decided he wanted to work outside – he’s now a Fireman! PDG ANDY ANDERSON brought Janice Chow, who is with the Salvation Army, stationed in the nearby VA. – and of course ANDY is on their Board. Erica Mackey came, attempting to meet MARK ROGO, who wasn’t there – LEE DUNAYER introduced her (and MARK, be ready for a fine next week, OK?). Erica is the Associate Director for Special Gifts in the Public Health Department at UCLA. LEAH VRIESMAN brought Cheryl Osada, another Special Guest, also in UCLA Development.
We next combined December and January birthdays, with the following pigeons being called forward: For December ANN SAMSON, who started right off on the 1st, in Tacoma. PP CHRIS BRADFORD liked the 2nd, back in Los Angeles. PP DAVE WHITEHEAD preferred nearby Glendale, but on the 6th. NORA AQUINO took us to faraway San Luis in the Philippines, on the 14th. But PP HOMER NEWMAN brought us back to California on the 18th, specifically in Brawley. PP JIM COLLINS liked the 20th, in Huntington Park, while MARK ROGO (he who wasn’t there today) preferred Los Angeles on the 22nd. ELOISE SISKEL stood up for Indiana, By Gosh, in Gosport on the 23rd. PP TED IHNEN (and we MISS you!) liked St. Louis on the 27th, and DR RALPH BEASOM ended our December on the 29th, in Seattle. (Did you know he and his brother are identical twins, and both are Doctors?)
That brings us to January, and the list is much shorter. DOROTHY FERGUS, who now lives in Alhambra, liked Louisville, and of course that’s in Kentucky – her date was the 7th. PP RON LYSTER came along the next day, but in nearby Whittier. BOB LUSK stood up for the 10th, back in good old LA, and BRIAN BUMPAS completes the list, again in LA, on the 27th. We serenaded them all, and this now adds to further song blackouts, apparently for several more weeks. Stay tuned here. And after all this, President SEAN discovered that our newest member, JULIE WARE wanted to join the parade, even though she qualified in December, but barely, squeezing in on the 31st in nearby Encino. She, too, was well serenaded. As a matter of record, President SEAN was so humbled by his error in not listing JULIE at the proper time that he fined himself five bucks! That SEAN is a SPENDER! And of course the entire gathering then signed the bookplates for the Library. Gadzooks – think what would have happened if we had THREE birthday months to announce! Whoops – I almost forgot to report that the several birthdays noted above were dated by President SEAN on the supposed date of Conception, rather than the more commonly accepted actual date of arrival. I point this out to prove that I really was listening to all that was going on.
In a probably wasted effort to restore some semblance of order, I tried to announce that we now have a new regime as far as producing the Windmill. Jan will continue to maintain the Windmill calendar, format the newsletter and email to our membership as well as post it on our website under Current Edition and Archives. However, 15 others will still receive a printed copy – they are Dr. RALPH BEASOM (and he gets TWO), CLAWSON BLEAK, BRIAN BUMPAS, PP HOWIE HENKES, MARGARET LEWIS, STEVE LORE, ELEANOR MORE, PP HOMER NEWMAN, AVA PEPLOW, PP LYMAN POWELL, DAN PRICE, GENE PRINDLE, LEW STROH, SLOSS VIAU, TERRY R. WHITE, and YOE. And in addition to those fifteen, I’ll have extra copies you can pick up each week. So by reducing the number of those receiving the Windmill by snail mail, we save some money, and still allow those who need it that way to get a printed copy. Win, win.
A note on JACK HARRIS. He had a heart attack over Christmas, checked into the hospital, and they found a serious blood imbalance. He’s back home now, but his heart is only supplying about 30% of it usual pulse, and thus he is still quite ill. There are at least two other members whom we need to hear from – GENE PRINDLE and PP HOWIE HENKES. Does anyone have a report, please? And finally, I visited PP LEW STROH and his wife DOROTHY earlier this week – they are living in Palm Desert, and would love to hear from you.
It became necessary to introduce the Head Table. Those present included PP DON NELSON, GORDON FELL, SHANE WAARBROEK, and ED GAULD. Feeling that he might need some support himself, President SEAN added ELLIOTT TURNER, learning too late that ELLIOTT was already part of the Cabal selected to torment him this Hump Day. Each of them, happily or otherwise, then made some unintelligible remarks, with GORDON speaking about the Westwood Library and SHANE attempting to justify the BofA taking over Merrill Lynch. ED GAULD tried some comments, but it was clear all were constrained by the coming torture event…
President SEAN berated his Head Table Pick, ELLIOTT, for not responding to his request for elucidation on whether or not he, ELLIOTT, would be providing the required Inspirational Moment. SEAN then launched into what I assume was to be a substitute such moment, built around Hump Day. Wednesday is the absolute BEST day of the week, the day of maximum hope that maybe, you might make it out of this week alive. A particularly good hump day can last you the rest of the week, and by Doom Day morning (Monday) you survive by anticipating hump day. Nothing goes wrong on hump day. Most other days can be defined by hump day. Tuesday is the day before hump day, Thursday is on day after hump day. Except Friday is WOOOH!!! FREEDOM !!! Day, Saturday is Mostly Hungover day, and Sunday is PreDoom day.
This somehow led to the Hump Day program, emceed by SHANE WAARBROEK. Hump day has nothing to do with sex, unless one wants it to. I like to declare the existence of hump day just to see people’s faces. Usually being conservative and all .... “Do you know what the best thing about Tuesdays are? It’s the day before Hump Day.” “What’s hump day?” “It’s the hump of the week!” (they all shake their heads in pity). Note that September 17th (six months before St. Patrick’s Day) is Irish Hump Day.
But there is more. SEAN points out that women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree…The rest aren’t as good, but they are easy. But the apples at the top just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who is brave enough to climb to the top of the tree. Now men…Men are like a fine wine. They begin as grapes, and it’s up to women to stomp them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with .
He called on PP STEVE SCHERER to come forward to help with some singing, along with that well-known but sometimes not recognized PADDY O’BROUS, he of Irish Lullaby fame. Between them, they somehow got through When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, and then ventured further afield with My Wild Irish Rose, the lyrics of both being written by Chauncey Alcott and George Graft. To be fair, President SEAN tried manfully to keep from upchucking, but he did, sort of, sing, as did the rest of us.
These two touching ballads were followed by what could be kindly described as a rendition of God Bless America. GORDON FELL appeared and after a bit of banter reflecting what could be called a lack of interest in Irish Trivia, he set upon SEAN with some tough questions. SEAN was surrounded at this point by several volunteers who were to help him with answers – they included MARK BLOCK, PP CHRIS GAYNOR, and YOE. There seemed to be a degree of disbelief in the racial heritage of any of these guys, but they were chosen for their obvious Irish knowledge. SEAN agreed to a hundred buck fine if we beat him with answers. The first question was, “Do you know what a bodhran is?” and it got worse after that. While I’m sure someone kept track, it appeared to me that SEAN held his own in this uneven contest. We eventually failed to answer most of the questions, but that’s what happens when you let the students play, as they say at USC!
Next up were some Rotary questions. In this case his helpers were PP RON LYSTER and PP ERIC LOBERG. PP DON NELSON was the Inquisitor. First question – “If the downtown Rotary Club is referred to as LA Five, what would WVRC be referred to on that same numerical basis?” The answer is Westwood Village 3171 – so there! The questions got worse, but the answers continued to diminish. Eventually he was asked to name at least five members of our Club who are past presidents of other Rotary Clubs.
They include MARCIA and RICK BROUS, LEO and HENRY TSENG and CLARK MCQUAY. How many of our members went on to become District Governors? ANDY ANDERSON, BILL GOODWYN, CHARLIE TITUS, SAM WANOUS, and MARVEL BEAM.
The final test was conducted with the highest secrecy, as befitted the personal nature of the inquiries. President SEAN was shielded by a large screen, so he could not see his inquisitors. They included three Rotaractors, who were fed questions relating to SEAN’S personal opinions about women! What’s your best pick-up line? “Are you Irish?” What’s your best excuse for being late to work? “Since I’m never on time, I don’t make excuses.” Where will you take me on our first date? “To bed”. (It’s only fair, in the interest of the honest reporting for which we are justly famous, to report that a voice suggested he might want to work on his approach a bit). What is the most appealing part of your personality? “Who worries about personality?” If you have a big fight, how do you ask for forgiveness? “I’ve never asked for forgiveness in my life” I’m sitting on your lap – what would you ask for? “How long can I stay?” What is the most romantic thing you’ve ever done? “Well, I took a wife that had broken up with me to Hawaii for four days – we got back together, but then got divorced. Cost me a lot of alimony”. If we were dating, what would be your first activity? “Follow me.” If you were a superhero, what special power would you have? After some perusal, “Telepathy”. What would you call yourself? “Hound Dog.”
Anyway, we all learned a lot, I’m sure. And thanks to SHANE and his crew – they provided us with a lot of fun.
Closing Words of Wisdom...
If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.
