IT HAPPENED THIS WEEK - March 23, 2011

With the Title of "Stories from Toad Suck" for the meeting agenda this past Wednesday I do not believe any of us knew what to expect.  The meeting started with the usual formalities including the Invocation by Mr. John Cluff, the Pledge by incoming President Ann Murakami and the Patriotic Song by Mr. Chuck Perelman.

   With the completion of our opening activities we enjoyed a delicious lunch.  After introducing special guests and visiting Rotarians, Mr. Don Trepany led us in a full hearted singing of the welcome song.

Moving into Club business and announcements incoming President Ann Murakami let us know about the upcoming District Breakfast on April 12th, the District Dodger Game Fundraiser on April 30th (cost is $32 per person), and the District Conference on May 12th-15th.  President Linda Black shared a Club Announcement concerning this Saturday's Rotary at Work Day.  Our Club will meet at the Santa Monica pier for a Beach Cleanup this saturday, March 26th at 8:30 am.  

With the conclusion of business we moved into the recognition section of the meeting.  Chris King attended the luncheon with his LA Marathon "Corn rows" in his hair.   According to him this helped him shave two minutes off his time in running the marathon.  His ending time was 4 hours 19 minutes.  President Black considered a $0.25 per minute Rotary surcharge to encourage him to run faster.  This would have landed Chris a $64.75 fine.  The fates were smiling though and Chris was lucky enough to be sitting at the fine free table.  Wasting no time President Black moved her sights to the next unfortunate honoree.  It was at this time that the ongoing hostilities between Clint Ehlers and Bill Gardner were brought to the Club's attention.  After some witty and ribald humor by both parties concerning their feud President Black fined them each $25.00 and told them to shake hands and kiss and make-up.

Regretfully President Black moved on past recognition time and asked the Club to consider applying for a new membership pilot program. The two programs would allow for Associate members and corporate members, with many more specifics to come in the future.  The President asked for an informal vote to gage the members reception of the programs.  The members voted and approved to apply for the pilot program. With this notice the President will ask for a formal vote in accordance with our By-Laws.  More discussion and specifics will follow as additional information becomes available. 

With business done and fines levied we started our lunch program provided by Mr. John "Dub" Black.  John read from his upcoming book Tales from Toad Suck.  The chapter we listened to involved Halloween pranks he participated in during his youth. Listening to his stories I believe we all now understand why putting a cow in a church belfry would be a bad idea unless you are looking for local community entertainment.  My thought would that it would be a great vignette for a local dinner theatre.  Given the nature of the harmless prank it makes me sigh to consider the litigious society that we live in today.  If someone were to participate in the same prank today they would be charged with breaking and entering, destruction of property, theft, creating a public nuisance, a noise violation, animal abuse, and any other number of creative classifications.  Perhaps past generations were more willing to forgive childhood shenanigans.

We wrapped up our meeting with some humor from Mr. Cartwright Sheppard.  Then we adjourned the meeting until next Wednesday.  Next Wednesday's meeting will be an evening meeting and spouse's night, starting at 6:30pm at the Radisson. Please RSVP to President Black if you and your spouse plan on attending.