This Week...
HUMP DAY – The Best Ever, at WVRC on January 7th.
I’m not sure when Hump Day first appeared, but it wasn’t in effect when I was President! It couldn’t have been better, and details follow. MARK BLOCK led the Pledge. MARY KRAUSE gave the Invocation, based on Micah 6:8 He hath showed thee, O man, O woman, what is good: and what the LORD requires of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. Justinian certainly deserves to be rated as the greatest ruler of the Byzantine Empire. He codified the laws into the “Justinian Code” and was noted for his works of charity. He built the famous church “Hagia Sophia” in what is now Istanbul, and when completed, Justinian was reported to have said: “O Solomon, I have outdone you!” While true, a monk was extolling Justinian to a fellow monk, who then had this opinion: “He does certainly obey the Scripture in part, but he is only 2/3 right. He has not yet learned to walk humbly with his God” Two-thirds, unfortunately, is not quite enough. (Sorry, MARK, for the shortening).
And yet again, LENNY showed his true grit by still coming forward, despite the sure knowledge that Prexy ED would saddle him with another escapade (and hat). This time, LENNY becomes a movie buff, with SH hat (and I know you know that means Sherlock Holmes), but our rendition of Auld Land Syne was OK!
We didn’t have any Visiting Rotarians, but there were several guests. MIKE GINTZ (in absentia) brought his Special Guest, Abraham Corans from Morgan Stanley, who was introduced by PP RON LYSTER. LEO TSENG also had a Special Guest, Herb Roebling, an MD. My Special Guest was Darren Lutwin, the manager of the local Comercia Bank at Westwood and Wilshire. KATHY GAULD was there in support of Prexy ED, and of course SUNNY accompanied LENNY. The Head Table was infested with those nefarious types who carried out the coming Hump Day, so they will be noted later. It should be noted, however, that they included two Past Presidents from another place, LEO TSENG (Hollywood) and RICK BROUS (Madison, NJ.)
There were several announcements: Most important, many of you had heard of the death of PP HOWIE HENKES on December 17th. He was a quintessinal Rotarian who epitomized Service Above Self. He lead the Polio Support Campaign in the 1980’s which produced over $120,000. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 23rd, at 11:30 at the Westwood Hills Christian Church.
The District Breakfast will be this Tuesday, January 12th, and we have a couple of seats open. Marion Bunch will be the Speaker, and PP DON NELSON is the contact person.
And on January 15th, Friday, International Rotary President John Kenny will be at the Bonaventure Hotel downtown as featured Speaker. Everyone who attended today received a flyer with all details – please think about going.
I noted some Good News about Reading To Kids – Our Rotaract Club here at UCLA has signed up a DOZEN MEMBERS who want to participate, and another five of us – ED JACKSON, MARSHA HUNT, YOE, and my grandson and his girlfriend, Will Phelps and Amanda Peck, will also be there. It’s always the second Saturday, from 0900 until noon. I can’t resist saying that if Rotaract kids can have twelve volunteers for this, WVRC really should be doing better.
Prexy ED reminded us that our Speaker on Dec. 10th, Commander John Wade’s replacement was killed by a suicide bomber in the Forward Operation Base in the Khowst Province near the Pakistan border.
January Birthdays were next – and there weren’t many. Honorary Member DOROTHY FERGUS liked Louisville (along with PDG BILL GOODWYN, you will recall) and her date was the 7th. PP RON LYSTER admitted to the 8th, in nearby Whittier. PP BOB LUSK liked LA on the 10th, and BRIAN BUMPAS also was happy with LA, but preferred the 27th.
When we resumed, it was HUMP DAY! President Elect GORDON FELL led off, reminding us the real significance of this event was that Prexy ED could anticipate the final six months of his term – wild applause here, of course Further research found that Prexy ED has NEVER given a Craft Talk! However, we do know he was born in long Island City, NY where there are 16 public parks. (Now pay attention – there will be questions later!) He graduated from Duke, where he played soccer with some distinction – All-American as a senior, and the leading scorer! He was commissioned in the Navy, and served aboard the Franklin Delano Roosevelt, CVA 42, as an engineering officer. (and a little bird told YOE that he became a Commander in the reserve, by golly.) He taught some high school math, and became an Actuary. The definition of that position became a bit overwhelming, so we’ll leave it for now…GORDON completed this sketch by pointing out that those who make it to Hump Day have a statistical better chance of completing their whole term than those who don’t get there – so there! He did add that we had all learned a whole lot about LENNY FRIEDMAN, for instance – some audience response here, of course.
LEO TSENG was up next. He started by reminding Prexy ED that he (LEO, that is) hoped Ed had enjoyed the nice things GORDON had said about him, because he wasn’t going to like much else. He then pointed out that the person who was in charge of this whole affair was none other than GORDON FELL, and upon becoming President Elect, he immediately elected to get out of the job! Part of the problem of a Hump Day about ED, beyond having only a couple of weeks to set it up, was that while we all know OF him, but we don’t know much ABOUT him! LEO then noted, “It sounds a lot like Tiger Woods” which, as you might imagine, got some audience reaction. There was a bit of repartee, and then LEO noted that he and ED both play tennis. The others are PP ERIC LOBERG and DWIGHT HEIKKILA, and they play on a private court, where they all recognized that ED needs complete concentration when he is playing. Recently, the gardener next door turned on the blower, and ED was so upset that he lost the next three points. This caused him to yell out, in Spanish, that such activity was illegal in Beverly Hills. Finally, LEO, being the good guy that he always is, went next door to quiet things down, and it turned out the gardener was Japanese! So the Spanish wasn’t useful, and the gardener started to talk to LEO in Japanese! Leo felt compelled to destroy another myth – all Chinese look alike. This in turn led to further conversation, and the gardener finally advised LEO to tell ED that not all gardeners are Spanish. His lifetime goal, he said, was “to live in Beverly Hills and have a Jewish gardener!” You can perhaps appreciate the audience response here. And while ED is active in Choral singing, he sometimes said he had to quit early because of choir practice – but the real reason was that he was losing…
DWIGHT HEIKKILA, another tennis player, then came along. He was wearing a hat which he claimed is the one he actually wears when playing, and he began by pointing out that last Tuesday, he (DWIGHT, that is) and LEO crushed Prexy ED and his partner, who shall remain nameless. DWIGHT reminded us that ED was again writing some of these comments down, for whatever reason. It turns out that research shows that the name Gauld is perhaps Scottish, and EDWIN in Scottish means Rich Friend. And Gauld – with DWIGHT assuring us he was not making this up - means irritation between the thighs! This, as you might imagine, caused some merriment. This makes him somewhat of a rich friend with a rash, opined DWIGHT. He next pointed out that ED wasn’t likely to laugh today, since if you want an Actuary to laugh on Thursday, you have to tell him the joke on Monday…He pointed out that Kathy knew all along that ED was going to be an Actuary, and if she married him, she probably wouldn’t live any longer - but it will SEEM longer! In his insurance business, DWIGHT has known some Actuaries, and they say that they found CPA work too exciting. ED is also a Certified Financial Planner, which surprised DWIGHT, but then he learned that ED took the 12-hour comprehensive exam just for fun. Dwight doesn’t want to leave the impression that ED is strange, but when he was born, the Good Lord looked down at him and said, “Go Figure!” He claims that Actuaries never die – they just get broken down by age and sex. And how can you tell an Actuary from the deceased at a funeral – the deceased has a new tie! His final definition was, a computer is an Actuary with a heart!
PP SEAN MCMILLAN was our final MC. He invited a large group of pre-selected members to come forward, wearing their caps. After facing everyone forward, he then instructed each of them to explain why he or she had chosen that particular cap... He claimed they were all volunteers who wanted to bring their favorite hat. MARCIA BROUS was first – She likes children's stories, and her favorite is Dr. Seus. ALY SHOJI – this is a happy hat, which we bought at a recent Rotary event. RICK BROUS - this is a Construction Hat, and we’re trying to construct a better Rotary Club. PP BOB WESSLING – he recently got a call from a Methodist Bishop, asking if BOB could get his son into DePaul Law School. It was with much pleasure that BOB replied that he went to DePauw, and they don’t got no Law School. LEO TSENG said his was a Chinese hat, which he intends to wear next door when he goes to talk to the gardener. PP STEVE DAY – this is the hat I wore at the Rotary Convention when I was President, and I found it in the closet. CHRIS BRADFORD – many of you know that the Internet was invented here at UCLA by Professor Leonard Fineblock (sp) – not Al Gore – and the hat he was wearing was this very one. PP MIKE NEWMAN - I was looking for my pink hat, which says, “Thank You, John Singleton” but I couldn’t find it – hence, this one. Anonymous – a long story about a ventriloquist interviewing a dog, and then a horse – but when he asked to speak to the sheep, the answer was, “No Way”. TOM BARRON – we made a visit to the Grand Old Opry, and this is the hat I wore. Elliott Turner again – who sang a short ditty, ending with something about luck in Las Vegas. PP ERIC LOBERG - I wore this hat because I like it. MIKE YOUSEM – who claimed he got talked into wearing whatever he had on. – but he did promise the dog he would give it back. LENNY FRIEDMAN – didn’t your mother ever tell you if you smoked you would lose your height? LEAH VRIESMAN – it was given to her, and she wore it New Year’s Eve.
The BROUSes came forward with a new and as yet uncopywrited song based on Anchors Aweigh. Much hilarity and cheering – and all agreed that was indeed, the BEST of all HUMP DAYS! Thanks to all who participated.
Prexy ED’s closing comments: - some New Year’s Resolutions
1. Call your family often.
2. Each day give something good to others
3. Forgive everyone, for everything
4. Try to make at least three people smile each day
5. What other people think of you is none of your business.
6. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick – your friends will.
