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President's Message
David Dye
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On the Shoulders of Giants
 
The expression “on the shoulders of Giants”, in one form or another, has been around for over 800 years. The best-known version is a quote from Sir Isaac Newton who wrote “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
 
Part of the honor of serving as president of the Rotary Club of San Francisco is the opportunity to delve into its historical details. I have learned about the giants of our club’s past and how they put things in motion that have influenced events and changed lives.
 
Recently I was contacted by a person who heads an organization that our club started. 100 years ago, members of our club began working on forming a state crippled children’s society. 10 years later, the Rotary Club of San Francisco formed the California State Society for Crippled Children. Past SF Rotary President George Davis worked to bring about legislation requiring the state Board of Health to provide treatment and education for these children. Although initially organized by Rotary, the crippled children’s society became its own entity.
 
Today that organization is better known as Easter Seals. In April, Easter Seals Bay Area will be celebrating its 90th anniversary.
 
Looking at the history of this club, I am in awe of the Rotarians who, like Sir Isaac Newton, had the vision to see further than others. And I’m proud to be a member of a club that continues to stand on the shoulders of giants and see new possibilities for changing lives.
Congratulations!
April 1
   Antonio Alvarez Lorenzo

April 2
   Randy Katz
   Brad Wong
 
April 5
   Jim Bradley
 
April 7
   Carrie Condran LaBriola
 
April 8
   Scott Plakun 
 
April 12
   Warren Grawemeyer
 
April 14
   Kristina Ruiz-Healy
 
April 16
   Michael Strohl
 
April 18
   T. Otis Paul
 
April 20
   Kathryn McCall
 
April 23
   Donald G. Parachini
   Gunilla Ramell
1983: Peter Lagarias
 
1987: Anita T. Stangl
 
1994: Bob Schmitz
 
2007: John Mount
 
2010: Clif Thomas
 
2011: Peter Logan
   Gunilla Ramell
 
2013: Hanna Loyola
 
2016: Yang Yang
 
 
March Highlights
March musical theme: In honor of women’s history month and the 30th anniversary of women in Rotary, the first meeting of March was kicked off with Aretha Franklin’s version of Respect.
 
Rotarian of the Month: Pres. David recognized JT Forbus (Accounting Services; Bogdan & Frasco) as February’s Rotarian of the Month. JT has stepped forward to support the goals of our club in many ways. In preparation for his role as a board member of the Rotary Club, he has started to take on responsibilities even before his term begins. His behind-the-scenes efforts are greatly appreciated.
 
Presentations:
  • Penelope Montemayor, a member of the Board of Directors of the Coalition of Concerned Medical Professionals, described how this organization has worked to provide free comprehensive medical care for those in need.
  • Ben Delaney, the executive director of SCRAP, described how this 40-year-old organization developed the nation’s first creative reuse center. They collect leftover but useful materials from businesses and manufacturers, and make them available to artists and teachers. Each year, SCRAP helps over 500 teachers by giving them educational and art resources that benefit over 50,000 students.
  • We hosted over 40 consular representatives and guests at our annual World Wide Rotary Day program. Heidi Kuhn (International Media; Roots of Peace) gave a special presentation to emphasize the international impact of our Rotary Club. Her guest, Morton Gothelf, the founder of Morton & Bassett Spices, gave everyone a jar of peppercorns harvested in Vietnam on land converted from landmines to pepper farms. The guest speaker for the day, Italian Consul General Lorenzo Ortona, talked about some of the interesting changes occurring in the Italian economy and discussed the importance of consulates in the San Francisco Bay Area, near the unique environment of Silicon Valley.
Colant Scholar: Tess Minter is one of the two USF graduate student recipients of the Colant Scholarship. Tess has a dual baccalaureate degree in sociology and psychology from Wesleyan University. Since moving to the Bay Area 4 1/2 years ago, she has focused her professional career in the area of nonprofit services. The Colant Scholarship is the legacy of Ernest and Scharleen Colant, who were active members of our Club and generous supporters of Rotary International.
 
Generous Rotarians: Fellenia Chan, president of the Interact Club at Lowell High School, gave a brief presentation on a fundraiser and dance that the Interact Clubs in District 5150 held on March 11. Funds raised will benefit Shot@Life, an organization dedicated to help immunizing children around the world against disease. After her presentation, several members of our club donated to this cause: 
 
$100
Cecile Chiquette
Harold Hoogasian

 
$50
Dan Joraanstad
Heidi Kuhn
Lynn Luckow
John Mathers
Kathryn McCall
Stephanie Schmautz
$20
David Dye
Rick Harrell
Trisha Palermo
Jim Patrick
Michael Petricca
Anita Stangl
 
Service Project: Rotarians and friends gathered at the Homeless Prenatal Program to organize baby supplies and present them to the expectant mothers at baby showers. Thanks to those who pitched in: Les Andersen (Boys & Girls Work Organizations; Retired), Cecile Chiquette (Certified Public Accounting - Regional, Retired), David Dye (Management Consultant; Retired) and Dora Dye (Education; City College), Anne and Warren Grawemeyer (Soft Drink Manufacturing, Retired), Harold Hoogasian (Florist, Hoogasian Flowers), Grant Hundley (Hardware - Retail; Hundley Hardware), Luis Moran (Real Estate Sales; Coldwell Banker), Jo and Jim Patrick (Stationery; Patrick & Company), Mike Petricca (Academy of Art), and Martha Sullivan (Nonprofit Management; The Arc San Francisco). Special thanks to Emily Borland (Architecture; Emily Borland Specifications) for her tireless efforts in coordinating our club's support of the HPP.
 
San Francisco Rotary Foundation: Anita Stangl, (Nonprofit Management; Alliance for Smiles) president of the Foundation, presented a check for $10,000 to Rick Harrell (Veterans Outreach; Heroes' Voices), to support the Heroes' Voices National Veterans Poetry Contest. Contest judges include luminaries such Lawrence Ferlinghetti. There will be volunteer opportunities for club members at the awards event on June 4.
 
The Rotary Foundation (TRF): The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is 100 years old this year. Starting with a donation of $26.50 in 1917, the Foundation’s funds have grown over the years to help deliver the mission of Rotary throughout the world. We are asking every member of our club to donate at least $26.50 to TRF by contacting Frank Yoke (Nonprofit Management; Boy Scouts of America) or Phyllis Nusz (Business Service - Fund Raising; PJ Enterprises). Members who give $1000 are recognized by TRF as Paul Harris Fellows. For those members who are not yet Paul Harris Fellows, the Rotary Club of San Francisco will match your contribution dollar for dollar to help you reach that goal. Members eligible for this will receive information in the mail.
Membership News
Please join us in welcoming these 5 new members to our Club:
 
Nahla Awad is an architect, who along with her husband, Haysam Barjoud, runs an engineering and architectural firm that recently relocated to San Francisco from Southern California. Nahla graduated from Damascus University and is fluent in several languages including Arabic.
 
Michelle Vu works for Global Lending at Wells Fargo Bank here in San Francisco. She has a strong interest in both international and domestic travel, wine tasting, cooking, and hiking.
 
David Widerman heads an accounting firm that recently relocated from Southern California and was rebranded as California Perfect Tax. He enjoys running and reading.
 
Makiko Goto-Widerman is the wife of David Widerman and works at California Perfect Tax. Makiko grew up in Japan and has an avid interest in flower arranging.
 
Ryan Wilson graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder and works in advertising as a broadcast producer. Ryan has already begun to participate in our Club’s youth programs.
 
Welcome these new members when you see them at our Club luncheons and other events.
BOARD MEMBER PROFILE: Scott Plakun
Member pictureClub Past-President Scott Plakun (2009-10) could have rested on his laurels, but instead took responsibility for the Club’s IT needs, including the website, Grindings, and interfaces with ClubRunner. He is currently serving a term on the Board as Vice President of PR and Communications.
 
Scott was first exposed to Rotary by the father of a college friend and, “looking to expand my community,” checked out the Rotary Club of San Francisco in 1992. “It was a way to get out of my bubble. In most of my life, most people were like me. In Rotary, there was more of a variety in political views, economics, etc.”
 
He also welcomed the ability “to give back and make the world a better place, while enjoying the opportunity to meet great people and learn new skills.” He is perhaps proudest of initiating the practice of giving polio inoculations to children as the speaker's gift during his year as president, noting that just this one effort has inoculated more than 5,000 children since 2009, which is “very meaningful to me.”
 
As president, Scott introduced PowerPoints at the weekly lunch meetings, inaugurated the first Bike Build, exceeded the Club’s TRF goal, and added 37 new members.   
 
A native of New York City, Scott has vacationed in the Adirondacks his “entire life” and says that “feels more like home to me than New York City.” He majored in French and computer science at Colgate University, where he was active in student government.
 
After college, he became a programmer in Ann Arbor for what would now be called a cloud-services company. During his time here, he served as founder and president of the AIDS education and services support organization for the county. In 1985, he met his future husband, Milton Schaefer, who had moved from San Francisco to Ann Arbor for graduate school, and the couple moved to San Francisco in 1989, “just before the earthquake.”
 
Milton established a private practice as a psychologist while Scott worked briefly for Oracle, doing telephone sales to companies on the East Coast, then joined Barclays Global Investors as a programmer. He soon was a manager, and then head of technology for the company’s most profitable product line.
 
After 10 years at Barclays, Scott became a consultant providing technology and marketing support for nonprofit organizations. After a couple of years as director of technology and innovation for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (de Young and Legion of Honor), which he describes as “a dream job that proved to be a nightmare,” he is back to consulting.
 
Scott and Milton were married the first time in 2004, when then-Mayor Gavin Newsom authorized marriages of same-sex couples at City Hall; those marriages were later voided by the state. They married a second time in 2008, when California briefly allowed same-sex marriages, and the courts upheld those marriages after Proposition 8 passed. They live in Bernal Heights with their dog, Bosco, and are partners in a communally-owned ranch property on the Sonoma Coast. They have been members and subscribers of the San Francisco Opera for many years, and support the Museum of Craft and Design, SFMOMA and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. They also love to travel and are off to the Galapagos and Machu Picchu this summer. 
Crowdfunding Opportunity: Bike Build
Our Club's next Bike Build will be held on May 13. Please help us make our crowdfunding experiment a success by checking out our crowdfunding campaign here. Buttons on the campaign site make it easy to share with your friends.
CLUB SOCIAL March 29, 2017: BBQ and Brews at Rusty's Southern
Enjoy an evening of friendship and fun over a delicious dinner and craft brews. Buy your own favorites: pork BBQ, buttermilk fried chicken, Brunswick stew, and other Southern specialties. Don't miss this opportunity to share a tasty dinner with your fellow Rotarians.
 
USF Rotaract Chartering Event: April 1, 2017
All Club members and friends are invited to attend this chartering ceremony, which includes a BBQ lunch. Let's welcome this new Rotaract Club to the Rotary world!
 
ROTARY LUNCHEON April 4, 2017: John Rothmann, Trump's First 100 Days
KKSF radio talk show host and political commentator John Rothmann, one of our most popular speakers, will discuss his insights on the beginnings of the Trump administration and how it might shape the relationship between the USA and the rest of the world. John will also address how California is responding to the Trump administration and how our state's politics may be affected in the coming years.
 
CLUB TRAINING, April 4, 2017: SF Foundation Grants
Please attend this one-hour training on how to successfully complete a grant application to request funding for a Local Community Service or International Service Project. Rotarians leading a project or anyone who would like to introduce a new project should attend to learn what the SF Foundation requires in order for a grant to be approved. If you cannot attend, please send a committee member.
 
ROTARY LUNCHEON April 11, 2017: SF Treasurer José Cisneros
We will hear directly from Treasurer José Cisneros regarding how business taxes work and have changed with new tax regulations, how The Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector enforces taxes, and recent innovations and enhancements he and his Office have implemented to facilitate tax compliance and collection.
 
ROTARY LUNCHEON April 18, 2017: Jessa Carmack, Miss California 
If you have watched the movie Miss Congeniality, you probably have your own idea of what a pageant is. The Miss America Organization is the largest provider of scholarship assistance to young women in the United States. Jessa Carmack, Miss California 2016, will introduce us to the Miss America, Miss California and Miss San Francisco Organizations along with what it is like to compete in the organization and what the life of a titleholder consists of.
 
12th Annual Night of Smiles: April 22, 2017
Join the fun and celebration at the 12th annual Night of Smiles Gala.
 
CLUB SOCIAL April 24, 2016: Cocktails at The Interval
Enjoy cocktails and appetizers at this unique location run by the Long Now Foundation, dedicated to fostering long-range thinking and responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years. Our evening will include a private tour of the on-site museum. Don't miss the opportunity to enjoy creative cocktails and bar bites while we ponder how to communicate with the future.