May 14
Dr. Feinberg
UCLA Hospital
May 28
Gus Searcy
Identity Theft
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Next Week...
May 14
Dr. Feinberg, New UCLA hospital administrator
Upcoming Programs...
May 21
Hamlet from RC Bugolobi, Uganda
May 28
Gus Searcy, Identity Theft and Facta Laws
Activities...
May 16
District Assembly
All Officers and Committee Chairs must attend
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This Week...
STEVE DAY and RICK MENDOZA on The Rotary Foundations, May 7th
ED GAULD led the Pledge. ART HENRY provided the Invocation: “We shall do much in the years to come, But what have we done today? We shall give our gold in a princely sum, But what did we give today? We shall lift the heart and dry the tear, We shall plant a hope in the place of fear, We shall speak the words of love and cheer, But what did we speak today? We shall reap such joys in the by and by, But what have we sown today? We shall build us mansions in the sky, But what have we built today? ‘Tis sweet in the idle dreams to bask; But here and now, do we our task? Yet, this is the thing our souls must ask, What have we done today?” ART, lovely – thanks.
We had no Visiting Rotarians (unless you count PDG Rick Mendoza, but he was, after all, also a Speaker), but there were guests. SUNNY was of course with LENNY. MARK BLOCK had a Special Guest, Andrew Kim, who was also with us last week. Andrew was a co-founder of the Koreatown Rotary Club, and is looking forward to becoming active with WVRC. JOHN HEIDT again introduced his Special Guest, Madison Goritsan, who is with J P Morgan Chase in the loan business.
This brought us to the Head Table. PP HOMER NEWMAN reminded us all that his firm, Dixon, Howell, Westmoreland and Newman, originated with WVRC Rotarians who are no longer with us – but they do have a Father – Son combo of himself and PP MIKE. The firm handles wills, and MIKE also takes on some criminal work. And as we all know, these Head Table announcements are fine-free, except that with another Lawyer in charge, who else but President SEAN decreed that the note about PP MIKE, who WASN’T at the Head Table, would cost them twenty five bucks! Undeterred by this sum, PEGGY BLOOMFIELD was pleased to announce that her term as Program Chair is now complete, with all dates filled for the rest of this Rotary year. DWIGHT HEIKKILA cautioned us all to keep our powder dry, this referring to whatever the Market should bring. PDG RICK MEN DOZA, who hails from the Redondo Beach Club, was honored to receive the Service Above Self Award at the just-completed District Conference in Costa Mesa. This award has only been presented four times previously, so it is thus a most prestigious recognition for his exceptional Rotary career. PDG RICK also noted that he really likes to visit WVRC – and of course we would respond by saying he is more than welcome anytime!
President SEAN reminded us of the forthcoming Engineers Without Borders Trip to Guatemala. The dates are June 18th to the 27th, and it is a real opportunity to join the team that will be going.
MARK ROGO has details. And also looking ahead, the closing date for the Book Drive has been extended – you can drop books off at St. Albans Church across the street, and all will be credited to our Yearlings. The goal is to collect 3,000 books. The final announcement was that PP MIKE NEWMAN’S sister-in-law, Andrea Forthmann Thompson, has died after a struggle with Lukemia. This was erroneously announced under another name.
Having admitted in advance that the following was designed to offend everyone present, ELLIOTT TURNER (who else?) then provided our Inspirational Moment. All of us have been curious as to how Moses got the Ten Commandments, so here’s the story: One day God went to the Arabs and said, “I have some Commandments for you that will make your lives better.” The Arabs asked, “What are Commandments?” “They are rules for living” “Can you give us an example?” “Thou shall not kill”. “Not kill? We’re not interested.” So God went to the Blacks and said the same thing, and they, too, asked for an example. “Honor thy Father and Mother” “Father? We don’t know who our fathers are. We’re not interested.” Then God went to the Mexicans with his offer. They asked for an example. “Thou shall not steal.” “Not steal? We’re not interested.” Next, God went to the French with his offer.
His example was “Thou shall not commit adultery” “Not commit adultery? We’re not interested.” Finally, he went to the Jews, saying “I have some Commandments.” “Commandments?”, They said. “How much are they?” “They’re free.” “We’ll take ten.”
In all fairness I should report that ELLIOTT suggested I NOT print this…
But fear not – hell and damnation are not yet upon us, saved as before by Irish history! Take note that on May 1st, 1689, James II arrives from exile in France and addresses the Irish Parliament. Thanking them for support, applauding their courage and vowing to “venture my life…in defence of your liberties” Thus begins the events leading up to the Battle of the Boyne.
On July 1st in the same 1690, two armies consisting of Danish, French, Dutch, Huguenot, German, English and even Irish troops met on the banks of the River Boyne near Drogheda on Ireland’s East Coast (but you knew that already, of course). Both armies were led by men (James & William) insisting that they alone were the rightful King of England. The main force of both armies never took part in the fighting and the Battle of the Boyne was not decisive in any way. William’s forces easily defeated those of James who led an army of mostly raw recruits. In fact, the battle wasn’t even about Ireland – yet it became one of the most iconic events in Irish History.
(If pressed, I have it on good authority that President SEAN can supply even more details…)
7 May (that’s today), but in 1915, the Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat off the Old Head of Kinsale, Country Cork, with the loss of more than 1,100 lives.
Our program today was on our two Rotary Foundations – one is with RI, and the other is our own, just for WVRC. It somehow doesn’t seem necessary to introduce PP STEVE DAY, who is our Foundation Chairman – unless, that is, you only recognize him as Igor. He shared the podium with PDG Rick Mendoza, who is the District Chair. PP STEVE provided those seated at the Yearling Table with ‘Just the facts, Maam’ in written form since this was their first exposure to his annual presentation.
We probably are familiar in general with the various Rotary Programs funded by our RI Foundation – leading them all is our initiative to eliminate Polio from the world. When we began this campaign in the 60’s, over 300,000 people were being infected with Polio every year – In 2008, the total was 1,000. We led the world in this campaign, and it should be a source of great pride to each of us. A major part of the funds raised goes toward our Ambassadorial Scholarships, which are recognized as being better than a Fullbright Scholarship. Each year, the RI Foundation supplies matching grants for projects developed with clubs all over the world. You can get more details on this by checking the Rotary International website, of course.
Virginia Gandy was the daughter of one of our Founding Members, JOHN SANDMAN. In her will, Virginia has left us over $35,000 which is used to co-finance members who become Paul Harris Fellows, Benefactors, or John Sandman Fellows – as you will see later in this program.
The Bequest Society is achieved by a total gift of $10,000. A large number of Paul Harris medallions were passed out today – and the number of sapphires on each one represents another $1,000 given to Rotary. Beyond $5,000, rubies replace sapphires - and PP RON LYSTER was noted as having given $10,000, which of course was nicely applauded. Two other major donors are HENRY TSENG and PDG ANDY ANDERSON. And more names – MARK BLOCK has given $2805, so for HALF THE BALANCE ($97.50) he becomes eligible for 3 sappphires on his Paul Harris Medallion! Each new member is given a leg up to the tune of $100.00 toward their Paul Harris Fellowship – and Incoming President ED GAULD was called forward to receive HIS Paul Harris Fellowship! Applause, again, of course. Amid some ‘crowd noise’, PP STEVE announced that - of all people – ELLIOTT TURNER could achieve that second sapphire by paying the grand sum of $22.50! PP MIKE NEWMAN has given $5612.50 and thus earns five sapphires! He needs just $192.75 to qualify. But not to be left out, Igor is moving from three to four sapphires for $86.25. He next turned to the Yearlings, focusing on DAVID FRIEDMAN. The math shows that for a mere $76.25, he becomes a Paul Harris Fellow. For an annual commitment of $1,000 you become a member of the Paul Harris Society, and those who now qualify are PEGGY BLOOMFIELD, BILL EDWARDS, DON NELSON and President SEAN McMILLAN. For the Club as a whole, we have 42 members and spouses who are Benefactors, of which 28 are current members, having designated $1,000 to R I. Our ownWVRC Foundation has 25 current members and spouses
At this point, PDG Rick Mendoza came forward for a presentation. He called on PP CHRIS BRADFORD, who along with his wife, Sharon, has become a member of the Bequest Society. They were presented with a lovely crystal symbol, and were roundly applauded. He next called DAVID FRIEDMAN to the Podium, showing him what a diamond-encrusted pin was like. Rick allowed as how it would give him a great deal of pleasure to present one to DAVID within the remaining three years of his District Chairmanship of the Rotary Foundation.(Talk about being put on the spot – but I guess that comes with the territory when you’re in the jewelry business!) During his talk, Rick reminded us that for every $1,000 donated to RI, $999.50 goes directly to the charity or designated source for which it is collected. That’s a management fee that’s hard to beat! Three years ago, then District Governor Scot Clifford asked Rick to chair the Annual Giving Program for District 5280. Historically, we had been donating between $290K and $330K to RI – the new goal became $500K, and HAS BEEN EXCEEDED each year!
PP STEVE, I have to tell you that your report this year was a real Whiz Banger! You made our Foundations LIVE, and that will motivate each of us to continue to support Rotary. Thank you.
And then, of course, the requisite Words of Wisdom:
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife. OR
A married man should forget his mistakes. There’s no use in two people remembering the same thing!
