President Mary Liu (Real Estate: Sales | JM Real Estate Group) called her final meeting as Club president to order at 12:16 PM and welcomed everyone attending either online or in person inside the Carmel Ballroom at the Hotel Nikko.
Visiting Rotarians and Special Guests
Today's Visiting Rotarians were District Governor Danielle Lallement, District Governor-Elect Gary Chow, Assistant Governor Liz Mark, District Governor Nominee Laine Hendricks (Public Relations and Marketing | County of Marin) on Zoom, District Governor Nominee Designate Steve Wright, Past District Governor Ron Gin, Past District Governor Ross Smith all the way from down under - Australia, Cristina Aquino (President of the Rotary Club of South San Francisco), Richard Swart (President of the Rotary Club of San Francisco Chinatown), Mary Geong (President-Elect of the Rotary Club of Oakland), Yuhui Chen (District 5150 Vocational Service - Rotary Means Business Chair and member of the Rotary Club of Menlo Park) and Mukasa Nassar of the Rotary Club of Kampala-Nsambya in Uganda. Michael Petricca (Education Management | Academy of Art) introduced his guest, Brad Jones. President Cristina Aquino introduced her guest - Ricky Garcia. Other special guests were Jennifer Byrd of the Salvation Army and Cherry Albano.
Upcoming Events
President Mary invited everyone to look ahead in the Club Calendar for events happening in the new Rotary year beginning July 1, 2022.
Weekly Recap
Emily Borland (Engineering, Architecture, and Construction | Emily Borland Specifications) gave an update via Zoom on the Homeless Prenatal Program baby showers in both English and Spanish held on June 16, 2022. Joining her at the baby showers were Bob Hermann (Information Technology: Administration | Retired UCSF), Robin Azevedo (Retail: Mattresses | McRoskey Mattress Company), and Carmel Finnerty (Real Estate: Property Management | Ros Hills Property Management).
Dan Davies (Information Technology: Consulting | North American Lighting) produced a 2021-2022 Rotary year-in-review video of our Club. If you missed it, you can see this video from 11:29 to 14:25 within this recording of the entire meeting.
President Mary Looked Back and Ahead
President Mary delivered her message to the Club. She acknowledged Anita Stangl (Medical Services | Alliance for Smiles) for introducing Rotary to her and talked about her quick journey to the office of Club president. President Mary expressed deep appreciation to the members of her Board and President’s Council and said that she would not have been as successful as President if it weren’t for the support and efforts from her Board and guidance from her President’s Council. President Mary recognized all Board members and all members of the President's Council. With the help of Assistant Governor Liz Mark, President Mary gave each Board member who was in attendance and each member of the President's Council who was in attendance a lovely orchid plant. As for what she will do starting July 1, 2022, President Mary is looking forward to some travel and to serving on the District 5150 Conference Committee in 2023 and as District Conference Chair in 2024. Both District Governor Danielle Lallement and Assistant Governor Liz Mark took turns to praise President Mary for an outstanding Rotary year and excellent leadership.
Rotarian of the Year
President Mary recognized Nancy Graydon (Development | Glaucoma Research Foundation) as Rotarian of the Year. Nancy received an engraved plaque which read: "Rotarian of the Year presented to Nancy Graydon in recognition of outstanding dedication and service. The Rotary Club of San Francisco 2021-2022."
Kudos to our Technical Team
The entire Club thanked Jesse Austin and Kurt Burdick of the Academy of Art University for volunteering most of this year to manage the technology and set-up that enabled our Club to hold hybrid meetings. Gift cards were presented to Jesse and Kurt. President Mary also recognized Michael Petricca who introduced Jesse and Kurt to our Club meetings and events.
Celebrating President Mary
It is a tradition in our Club that the President-Elect Nominee gets to celebrate the outgoing President. President-Elect Nominee Sunny Singh (Financial Services: Advising | PK Wealth Management) had the honor of hosting the rest of today's meeting. He took us back in time starting when President Mary was three years old in 1966 and had just arrived in the United States through her high school and college years, her wedding, and her life today.
JT Forbus (Accounting | Bogdan & Frasco), Anita Stangl, and Wendy Shew (Nonprofit Administration | Building Education) each took a turn to show their admiration and appreciation for President Mary and her leadership this past Rotary year. Jenny K Campbell (Educational Services | JennyKCampbell.com), who is President Mary's sister, joined us via video to celebrate this moment with President Mary. President-Elect Christopher Wiseman (Event Planning | Glaucoma Research Foundation) was on Zoom but sent over a coffee card and a certificate giving President Mary the "right to have coffee with soon-to-be President Christopher."
Share Your Good News ($20 for Twenty Seconds)
The following donated in today's $20 for Twenty Seconds to honor President Mary: Tom Brunner (Nonprofit Management | Glaucoma Research Foundation); David Dye (Management Consulting | Retired); Jessica Hansen (Nonprofit Management | Alliance for Smiles); District Governor-Elect Gary Chow; Nancy Graydon; Past District Governor Ron Gin; President-Elect Mary Geong; Past District Governor Ross Smith; District Governor Nominee Laine Hendricks who mentioned that President Mary was the 7th woman president in our Club; and President Richard Swart who not only donated but also sounded a safety alarm to honor President Mary.
In addition to donating to celebrate President Mary, the following also donated as follows:
- John Mathers (Management Consulting | eVo Associates) to celebrate Roots of Peace co-founder and President Gary Kuhn's trip to San Francisco's sister city of Assisi, Italy for a symbolic planting of an olive tree.
- Frank Yoke (Development | Golden Gate Area Council, Boy Scouts of America) to thank all for our support as his wife and son recover from a very bad car accident.
Everyone raised a champagne glass for President Mary, and the meeting was adjourned at 1:52 p.m.
Editor's Note: Thank you to Dora Dye (Education: Elementary and Community College) for serving as scribe at this meeting; to Jessica Hansen for serving as photographer; to Wendy Shew for managing the microphone; to Jesse Austin and Kurt Burdick of the Academy of Art University for managing the audio-visual equipment during our in-person meeting; to John Mathers for serving as greeter; to Scott Plakun (Management Consulting | The Plakun Group) and Christopher Wiseman for managing those who were attending via Zoom; and to Nancy Graydon and JT Forbus for doing check-in at the Hotel Nikko.