President Mary Liu (Real Estate: Sales | JM Real Estate Group) called the 2022 Emergency Services Day celebration to order at 12 noon and welcomed the huge audience in attendance in the ballroom of the Hotel Nikko. Attending remotely via Zoom were more members and guests.
Rotary Governors and Special Guests
President Mary recognized District Governor Danielle Lallement; District Governor-Elect Gary Chow; Past District Governors Chris Gallagher, Ron Gin, and Eric Schmautz (Banking: Management | Wells Fargo); District Governor Nominee Laine Hendricks (Public Relations and Marketing | County of Marin); and District Governor Nominee Designate Steve Wright, who all attended in person. Past District Governors who attended via Zoom were PDG Jayne Hulbert and Peter Lagarias (Law: Franchise | Lagarias, Napell & Dillon).
President Mary introduced the following special guests: Deputy Chief Thomas O'Connor from the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD), Chief Bill Scott from the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax, Coast Guard Command Master Chief Travis Cutler, Supervisor Connie Chan from District 1; Supervisor Myrna Melgar from District 7; and Office of City Administrator Carmen Chu.
Dan Joraanstad (Financial Services: Advising | Retired), President of the San Francisco Rotary Foundation and Endowment and Major Gifts Officer for Rotary District 5150, served as Emcee. He introduced and congratulated the co-chairs for this year's Emergency Services Day - Bob Hermann (Information Technology: Administration | Retired UCSF) and Matt Madsen (Nonprofit Management | The Salvation Army).
Andrés Vera (Entertainment | Self-employed) and his fellow cellist, Matthew Linaman, kicked off the Program with a beautiful rendition of God Bless America. A short video on the many contributions that Rotary has made to the world was shown. Emcee Dan then introduced each Honoree and presented their heroic acts and biography that led to today's recognition and celebration:Nick Majeski from the City Administrator's office led the City's fight against COVID with mass testing and vaccination centers as well as the conversion of the Moscone Center and Alemany to COVID testing and vaccination sites. His mom, Annie, was proudly present to share in Nick’s award.
Charles Fann from the Public Health Department used his HIV knowledge to bring isolation and quarantine options to the un-housed.
Sgt. Kent Long from the Sheriff's Department provided first aid to shooting victims while off duty in Oakland. He was also celebrated for being an acknowledged beef jerky maestro.
Sgt. Mercy Ambat is also from the Sheriff's Department and runs the jail at night. While professing to have been surprised by the award, and not prepared, she delivered the most outstanding speech of the day.
Officer Antron Barron from SFPD created a rival gang mediation program in the Western Addition. His personality has established trust in the community. And he can sing!
Officer Ryan Gonzalez from SFPD works nights in the Tenderloin, has talked down barricaded suspects, and saved many lives from overdosing. His wife Jennifer and daughter Thalia beamed proudly from the audience.
RC Beth Goudreau, SFFD, saved a poisoned sailor who was 230 miles out at sea, requiring nine hours of dangerous helicopter travel and emergency medical aid. Her mom Mary and Beth's sisters were there to share in her award.
RC Beth Goudreau, SFFD, saved a poisoned sailor who was 230 miles out at sea, requiring nine hours of dangerous helicopter travel and emergency medical aid. Her mom Mary and Beth's sisters were there to share in her award.
Lt. Brook Mancinelli, SFFD, orchestrated a novice rescue team in saving a potential victim who was hanging perilously from the Golden Gate Bridge. He is a true hero in action.
MST3 Cameron Simington from the Coast Guard volunteered to aid Afghan refugees and bring technical excellence to solving pollution problems in the Bay. His parents Troy and Kaylyn joined him to celebrate his honor.
MK3 Gabriel Perez also from the Coast Guard is the GTG (go-to-guy!) on the 87' Pike, keeping it running while navigating the tricky waters of the San Francisco Bay. His mother Wendi and family flew in from New York to be with Gabriel on this day.
Each honoree received a Certificate of Honor and a gift bag containing a hotel stay, bottle of wine, Amazon gift card, socks, and our gratitude. The Certificate of Honor came from Carmen Chu, Chief Officer of the Office of City Administrator, and read as follows: "In appreciative public recognition for outstanding bravery and service to advance the health and public safety of the people of the City and County of San Francisco".
Please see here for a copy of today's Program with more information on each honoree and on the sponsors of the generous gifts to our honorees and the event.
San Francisco is lucky to have these dedicated public servants who in their daily lives embody Rotary principles of being the change, treating people well, living through our fellow citizens, and doing what's right regardless of circumstance.
On behalf of the Rotary Club of San Francisco, President Mary gave a big thank you to Co-Chairs Matt Madsen and Bob Hermann, our Club's 2022 Emergency Services Day Committee, the generous sponsors listed on the Program, and the San Francisco Rotary Foundation for putting together and funding such a great day for our brave, public safety servants, who every day make our life safer. This was also our Club's first big event since the COVID-19 lockdown two years ago, and it did not disappoint!
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.
Editor's Note: Thank you to Larry Booth (Engineering: Mechanical | Frank M. Booth, Inc.) for serving as scribe at this meeting; to John Mount (Management Consulting | Win-Vector) and Dan Davies (Information Technology: Consulting | North American Lighting) for serving as photographers; to Jessie Austin and Kurt Burdick of the Academy of Art University for managing the audio-visual equipment during our in-person meeting; to James Wong for equipment set-up and teardown; to Alisha Marfatia (Information Technology: E-Commerce | EvolveWare) and Paul Robertson (Real Estate: Sales | Keller Williams San Francisco) for managing the photo booth; to Wendy Shew (Nonprofit Administration | Building Education), Nancy Graydon (Development | Glaucoma Research Foundation), and David Dye (Management Consulting | Retired) for serving as greeters; to Casey Blair (Financial Services: Private Trading | KCB Trading, LLC) and Scott Plakun (Management Consulting | The Plakun Group) for managing those who were attending via Zoom; to Jeff Lerner (Retail: Home Improvement | Floorcraft) for operating the video camera to provide visual feed for the Zoom audience; and to Margaret Miley (Hospitality: Hotels | Retired), Ann Daugherty (Financial Services: Private Trading | IBN Financial Services), Sunny Singh (Financial Services: Advising | PK Wealth Management), and Rhonda Poppen (Grant Writing | GRANTdog) for doing check-in.