Meeting Recap For April 21, 2015
Posted by John Wood
on Apr 24, 2015
We had more judges than an ice skating competition at ye olde Rotary Club this week, as the Honorable Morrison C. England, Jr. was back in the house as our guest speaker.
Before Morrison, we had the usual pre-gavel confab, with the wine flowing courtesy of Joe Grant, and the music provided by Elfrena (I make Bruce drive the) Foord, who celebrates her 28th year in the club this week, making her, as President Susan noted, “the longest standing female member in the club” (my goodness, get those lovely women some chairs!). Rick Davis and Lev Kaganovich greeted the gathering throng until El Presidente brought the meeting to order at precisely 12:15, as is her punctual way.
Kathy Herrfeldt provided us with a touching Thought of the Day, the Maestro, Dick Osen, led us in a singing of America the Beautiful, and John (man, this car is a) Lemmon dispatched with the introductory chores before President Susan shared the poignant news that longtime member, John Bodley, had passed away.
For you newer members who didn’t know John (his health had kept him from the meetings for awhile), he was a man of good humor, who every year shared a poem he wrote in honor of his wife on their anniversary (of which they had more than sixty), his emotions for her sweetly getting the best of him during every recitation. A fine Rotarian was John.
Don Ellwanger is our newest Rotarian, introduced by fellow real estate broker and world traveler, Bruce (the Professor) Hester, and co-sponsored by Becki (people mistake me for Julia) Roberts. Welcome to the club, Don!
On the announcement front, June 7th (1:00 p.m.) is Rotary Day at the River Cats game (contact Jerry Haley for details and ticket info), and between now and then plan to help Rick Davis, President Susan, and the rest of the Rotary construction crew complete the Habitat for Humanity home that is currently in progress (go to the Rotary website to sign up for shifts). Randy (the Admiral) Friedman and Luann Richardson have put together another fine Rotary mixer on April 29th at the Rio City Café, and if you’re looking for something to do this weekend, there’s always the District Conference in Santa Rosa – ring up Past Presidents Peter Dannenfelser II or Walter (if you’ve lost it all, give me a call) Dahl for details.
For you more adventurous Rotarians, Dave (he rules) DeRoos is taking a group of Rotarians to Nepal for 11 days in October – contact Dave for details on this great adventure - and Elfrena’s partner, Carol Van Bruggen is taking a group of Rotarians to Zambia in June of 2016 if you’d like to attend.
Dee Hartzog was our Meeting Sponsor of the Day, donating her 300-and-3 (dollars and minutes) to Carol Noreen of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), whose organization is always looking for effective volunteers to help advocate for the foster kids in our community. If supporting foster kids calls to you, call Dee or Carol.
By the way, if you newer members (or older ones) would like to expedite getting the word out to the club about your business, there’s no more cost effective way to do so than by being a Meeting Sponsor of the day (where else will $300 get you exposure to 200 or so of the leading business people in this town, with you having to make just one 3-minute presentation?). For more details about this great marketing opportunity, contact that fine Rotarian (and Meeting Sponsor Chair), Jeff Curcio.
On the tithing front, Prez Susan was pressed for time so she limited her rainmaking to Carolyn (baby you can drive my) Carr, for Carol’s mentioning that she wears a Rotary pen on her pajamas and robe – a) now that’s adhering to the President’s order to wear one’s pen “daily and with pride”; and b) this reporter DOES NOT want to hear from any of you where else you might be wearing your pin.
President Susan was going to leave Carolyn as her only victim this week, but Jim Craig fell on his sword and donated a Benjamin on behalf of Morrison England, Sr. – our guest speaker’s father – who taught Jim math at Sac High (rumor has it that Jim was a whiz with that abacus!).
Next up was his honor, Bill Shubb, to introduce our guest speaker (with the honorable Kim Mueller listening in the audience [just to complete the Judge count]).
Morrison C. England, Jr. is a former fellow Rotarian (with A LOT of pressure applied at the meeting to have him rejoin our ranks), a former football star at McClatchy High and the University of the Pacific, and a free agent with the New York Jets before deciding to skip the NFL for law school and the start of his sterling legal career.
Morrison focused his remarks on his travels to several countries in the developing world (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and others), and his experiences in collaborating with the Judges, Justices and Attorneys there (many of whom were educated in the finest colleges in the U.S.). Morrison encouraged us not judge the Muslim world by the terrorists that garner all of the headlines, and to understand that 95% of the Muslim community in these countries want the same things we Americans want – rule of law, peace, prosperity and happiness. JBW
On a sad note: Last Tuesday’s scheduled chair of the day, Past President Brian Van Camp, regrets having been unable to introduce his friend, Judge England. A few minutes before the meeting, he was notified that his younger daughter, Laurie, had just passed away unexpectedly. He asks that we keep Laurie and his family in our prayers.