Written by: Jim Culleton
We kicked off Cupid’s Day with Mike Bullington (Bullington and Associates) on the piano – while Michele Amaral, Shadi Fox and Jack Anderson (Dick James and Associates) loosened everyone up with a few mimosas.
Our greeters Cheryl Marcell (CA State Railroad Museum Foundation), Alan Markis (Deja Blue Dive & Tour) and Jonathan Marz (Diepenbrock Elkin Gleason LLP) ushered in many guests and spouses.
President John Lemmon (Knox, Lemmon & Anapolsky, LLP), with his wife Debbie at his side, welcomed one and all to our festive Rotary Tuesday lunch meeting.
Michele Amaral gave us the thought for the day, a “definition” of love and closed with a poem by E.E. Cummings. Callee Setzer (Setzer Forest Products) introduced our guests and spouses en masse. Dennis Smith, our meeting sponsor, gave a brief history of the Tsakopoulos Management Company, some of their portfolio holdings and the prospects of future development.
Nian Roberts celebrated his 90th birthday with a huge slice of cake! He recounted a funny story of his name. Having two older brothers, his parents wanted a girl to be named Nina. Well Nian showed up so they just switched the last two letters for their 3rd son.
President John showed us a mystery photo that surfaced up in our e-mail. Although it first looked like someone had mistakenly forwarded a shot of some 80’s era “Dancing With the Stars” contestants, further examination revealed that the folks pictured were Rick Bixler, President of the Point West Rotary Club, and his wife, Mary. President John thanked Rick (who apparently had a prior career as a Las Vegas Elvis Impersonator) and Mary for being present at our meeting.
Generosity flowed today: Rob Scherer celebrated his photo (with wife, Sharon) in Comstocks magazine and for being honored by Dale Carnegie. Bob Cole was proud to welcome Jackie Kirkwood into the family at Goodwin Cole. Dan Cole (Allegiant Development Company, Inc.) echoed his father’s sentiments, as did Jeanne Reaves (Jeanne Reaves Consulting). Ed Wright (Martensen Wright PC) acknowledged his wife, Dorothe, a Point West Rotarian, who was recently knighted by the Queen of Denmark. Gary Roberts poked fun at his wife Becki (Central Valley Community Bank) and praised her foot recovery efforts. Walter Dahl (Dahl Law) passed out $100 in total via $48 to his trap shooting fellows, $12 to Mike Bullington, $20 to Rob Scherer, and $20 to Jackie Kirkwood as well.
The Rotary Foundation honored several individuals. Eddie Mulligan pins went to Rick Osen (Sutter Builders, Inc.) (his first), Jeff Setzer (Setzer Forest Products Inc.) (second), Dan McVeigh (Downey Brand LLP) (fifth), and Walter Dahl (seventh). Paul Harris honorees were Rob Scherer (second) and Dan McVeigh (seventh).
Michele Amaral and Shadi Fox posed questions to the audience: Who has been married the longest? Nian Roberts (66 years). Who has been married most recently? Shadi Fox (Oct 2015). Who was married latest in life? Horace Wulff, who told us he honeymooned in Europe, and Jerry Haley who honeymooned at the Panama Canal.
John Wood (McGee & Thielen Insurance Brokers) “interpreted” submitted photos from fellow Rotarians. All in good fun, he gave us a few laughs at the expense of the club members including Bruce Hester and spouse Elfrena Foord, Hal Bartholomew and spouse Beverly Brautigam, the Woodruffs, Murphys, Lemmons, Dannenfelsers, Kelley Moran and spouse Gabriel Gendron, the Whites, Gilberts, Dan McVeigh and spouse Rebecca Baumann, the Higdons, Rulands, Swentowskys, Breuers, Snyders, Marcells and others.
Reminder: next Tuesday there is no lunch meeting. The next club luncheon will be February 27. Meantime, the next Networking Night will be March 7, 2018.