This was our third virtual meeting which was held on a Friday, instead of our traditional Wednesday, and was made possible and in appreciation to RICK ROSE and his Film Creations.
President BOB LOGAN called the meeting to order reminding us, regarding the worldwide challenge of the coronavirus, to “stay strong” and “this is touching everyone”. President BOB is looking for ideas of how our club can respond to the situation and shared a newscast of the Rotary Club of Los Angeles and their work to make 30,000 medical face masks. (If someone has an idea, please let President BOB know.)A meaningful Pledge of Allegiance video shared the Pledge done in American sign-language. A stirring video version of “God Bless America” was sung by Irving Berlin and many Cub/Boys Scouts and Brownie/Girl Scouts which aired on the Ed Sullivan Show in May 1968. This was when the nation had experienced seeing the Vietnam War for the first time on television as well as learning of the killing of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy’s murder soon after.
Our Inspirational video was about not being afraid of failing featuring a high school swimmer who could not swim and went on to help his team win state recognition. When the swimmer was asked why he wanted to learn to swim, he responded, “If I couldn’t handle not being good at something, then how could I consider myself a successful person?” JEANNE FLOWER introduced our guests and visitors who were both local and from around the U.S. along with a couple celebrities!
Matt Russell did the video introduction of our speaker, Dr. Terry Hunt, Dean of the University of Arizona Honors College and foremost expert on Easter Island. Dr. Hunt gave a fascinating presentation on his 20 year study of Easter Island and the 1,000 multi-ton giant statues. President BOB had him sign “20 Fun Facts about Easter Island” for the Make Way for Books library.Birthdays were celebrated by MIKE ANDERSON (39 year club member and past president) and JOE PENNINGTON (35 year club member and past car show chair). ANN LANCERO shared her Random Acts of Kindness where she and her husband put together “blessing bags” of socks, toilet paper, etc. and hand them out to people who are homeless. Some fun was shared by JERRY SULLIVAN with Coronavirus PUNdemic humor.
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President BOB reminded us that Giving Tuesday was April 7th and it is not too late to donate to a favorite charity reminding us of the Annual Fund of The Rotary Foundation and Make Way for Books. His closing quote was, “Your current situation is giving you an opportunity to re-evaluate what you want” by Tashabee. Our toast was to all health care workers and responders and thanking them for putting their lives on the line for everyone.
