Mar 24 2015 - Rotary Forum
Posted by Dick Dannells
Program March 24, 2015: Leon Lopez- “Horse Racing”
By Dick Dannells
Pres. Michael opened the meeting at 12:41 PM with a spotlight on Mark Olson. Mark was born on November 3, 1977 in San Luis Obispo and raised in Arroyo Grande. He played in for Paulding Middle School at our Rotary clubs annual soccer tournament in 1991. He graduated from Sonoma State University. He held various jobs before going to work in his present position. For example, he ran a small rebate business in high school and worked for a couple years at a Katcho service station and in 1998 at Scolari’s Grocery store when he took third place in the United States grocery store bagging competition. He now works for Coast National Bank where he is a Vice President in the Commercial Lending Department. He met Amanda as a freshman in high school and has been married to her for 13 years. They have 2, 5 and 8 year-old children. His hobbies include travel, golf and poker. On his bucket list is to travel to all 50 states in the Union.
FINES:
Connie O'Henley’s birthday cost her a $50 spin-the- wheel recognition fee.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Representatives from Shell Beach Improvement Group, Valley View Academy and San Luis Obispo County Runaways (whose mission is to keep runaway, homeless and at-risk youth safe and off the streets) were handed checks from the respective sponsors, Anya Stanley, Cheryl Vines and Joel Conn.
Greg Baker announced that the first Summer Sizzle fundraising meeting will be held immediately after this meeting. Joel Conn announced that the second Rotary District conference will be held in Oxnard this Saturday. Our regular meeting on Tuesday, April 21, from 12 to 1:30 PM will be held at the Pismo Beach Veterans Memorial building that will have Carolyn Jones, Past Trustee Rotary Foundation, as our guest speaker. All of the Rotary clubs in the Five Cities have been invited. A raffle sheet was passed around with a chance to win a Paul Harris Fellow for $50 per entry. The winner will be announced at the Paul Harris event at Bruce Beaudoin’s home during the evening of April 21.
PROGRAM: Leon Lopez- “Horse Racing”
Montisa Phelan Lopez introduced her’s husband Leon who basically has been engaged in horse race betting most of his life. When he was only 14 years old, his father took him to the races and had him place a $5 bet on a couple of horses that brought him $400 in winnings. From that point on he was hooked. When he was still in grade school, he had the reputation for picking winners and for every winning prediction he was given a tip. For example, on one winning horse that paid $47,000 in winnings he got a $100 tip. In high school, he began studying racing forms. When he turned 18 and was old enough to place his own bets, he would go to the satellite racing facility in Santa Maria where he won $60,000 on one great winning day. It was a superfecta that would’ve won him half of the $400,000 price, but the horse he predicted to come in first was disqualified. He only specializes in betting at Hollywood Park, Santa Anita and Del Mar racetracks. He commented on the difficulty horses have in attempting to win the Triple Crown which hasn’t been achieved since Affirmed won in 1978. One of the major difficulties is that the third race is on Belmont’s one and half mile track and the horses are running against fresh horses that haven’t entered the previous two races. Second only to the Kentucky Derby, the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita gives an opportunity for horses from all over the world to compete at various ages and on various tracks, such as dirt, turf, and all weather.
Program March 24, 2015: Leon Lopez- “Horse Racing”
By Dick Dannells
Pres. Michael opened the meeting at 12:41 PM with a spotlight on Mark Olson. Mark was born on November 3, 1977 in San Luis Obispo and raised in Arroyo Grande. He played in for Paulding Middle School at our Rotary clubs annual soccer tournament in 1991. He graduated from Sonoma State University. He held various jobs before going to work in his present position. For example, he ran a small rebate business in high school and worked for a couple years at a Katcho service station and in 1998 at Scolari’s Grocery store when he took third place in the United States grocery store bagging competition. He now works for Coast National Bank where he is a Vice President in the Commercial Lending Department. He met Amanda as a freshman in high school and has been married to her for 13 years. They have 2, 5 and 8 year-old children. His hobbies include travel, golf and poker. On his bucket list is to travel to all 50 states in the Union.
FINES:
Connie O'Henley’s birthday cost her a $50 spin-the- wheel recognition fee.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Representatives from Shell Beach Improvement Group, Valley View Academy and San Luis Obispo County Runaways (whose mission is to keep runaway, homeless and at-risk youth safe and off the streets) were handed checks from the respective sponsors, Anya Stanley, Cheryl Vines and Joel Conn.
Greg Baker announced that the first Summer Sizzle fundraising meeting will be held immediately after this meeting. Joel Conn announced that the second Rotary District conference will be held in Oxnard this Saturday. Our regular meeting on Tuesday, April 21, from 12 to 1:30 PM will be held at the Pismo Beach Veterans Memorial building that will have Carolyn Jones, Past Trustee Rotary Foundation, as our guest speaker. All of the Rotary clubs in the Five Cities have been invited. A raffle sheet was passed around with a chance to win a Paul Harris Fellow for $50 per entry. The winner will be announced at the Paul Harris event at Bruce Beaudoin’s home during the evening of April 21.
PROGRAM: Leon Lopez- “Horse Racing”
Montisa Phelan Lopez introduced her’s husband Leon who basically has been engaged in horse race betting most of his life. When he was only 14 years old, his father took him to the races and had him place a $5 bet on a couple of horses that brought him $400 in winnings. From that point on he was hooked. When he was still in grade school, he had the reputation for picking winners and for every winning prediction he was given a tip. For example, on one winning horse that paid $47,000 in winnings he got a $100 tip. In high school, he began studying racing forms. When he turned 18 and was old enough to place his own bets, he would go to the satellite racing facility in Santa Maria where he won $60,000 on one great winning day. It was a superfecta that would’ve won him half of the $400,000 price, but the horse he predicted to come in first was disqualified. He only specializes in betting at Hollywood Park, Santa Anita and Del Mar racetracks. He commented on the difficulty horses have in attempting to win the Triple Crown which hasn’t been achieved since Affirmed won in 1978. One of the major difficulties is that the third race is on Belmont’s one and half mile track and the horses are running against fresh horses that haven’t entered the previous two races. Second only to the Kentucky Derby, the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita gives an opportunity for horses from all over the world to compete at various ages and on various tracks, such as dirt, turf, and all weather.