Linda Sundram Educates and Depresses Us; All In One Sitting
Linda Sundram Gives Us the Lowdown - and yes, she gave it to us with a background screen that was reversed, unless, of course, we've all been magically transported to the alternate universe that has the state of Ainrofilac. (Getty Images)
This Past Tuesday, October 13, 2020
This past Tuesday’s meeting was both informational, and depressing - and it involved the same topic. Prior to our program speaker, the only noteworthy item was the invocation offered up by Alex Lopez.
Mr. Lopez employed a strategy I strongly agree with - that if you’re asked to make a presentation about something you’re not an expert on, data mine the Internet for the best samples. So, even as a practicing atheist, Alex was still able to find and offer up an invocation that was eloquent and provoking, because he Googled it!
After the administrative chores were done, the Zoom screen was handed over to Linda Sundram, and she spoke to us of her efforts to add some joy and comfort to an important group of men and woman.
The picture painted by Ms. Sundram was disturbing. The Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton may be America’s first line of defense in case of any attack on our freedom, but you’d never know that from the size of their respective paycheck. Many are required to do without basic necessities, and Ms. Sundram's organization assists them.
Lorine Parks has more to say on the subject in her article later in the Hub Bub, but the story told at the meeting will hopefully inspire a good turnout at Stonewood Shopping Center this Saturday to support the cause. See the Pendleton article below.
Next Tuesday, October 20, 2020
November has traditionally been the month that Rotary focuses on The Rotary Foundation (TRF). As a clever lead-in to Foundation month, Ray Brown, your favorite (and only) Foundation chair, will discuss various elements of TRF.
To draw interest and full participation, President Willy has authorized a $50 payment to all who attend the Zoom meeting on Tuesday.
______________________
Political Giving In Downey
The kind folks at The Downey Patriot, the only viable competitor to the Hub Bub for insightful news here in the city, recently published an article on funding sources for all of the candidates in the upcoming city council races.
In addition to the normal frenzy of big-ticket supporters, there were a couple of noteworthy Downey Rotarians included in the donor listing:
Dale Self contributed $25,000 to the Proposition M, Grow Marijuana in My Own Backyard campaign. Dale was, not surprisingly, unavailable for comment.
John Lacey made modest contributions to all of candidates running. Interestingly, the donations were all made in various multiples of the first nine prime numbers. Mr. Lacey did respond to a request for clarification from the Hub Bub staff, but the answer used too many difficult mathematical words for us to understand.
Ronnie Fernandez, with a burst of insight and fiscal conservatism, made no contributions to any of the candidates.
________________________________
Jennifer Jones Is Now Official
Rotary International made official what was first suggested a couple of months ago - Ms. Jennifer Jones of Ontario, Canada has been selected as the RI President for the 2022-2023 Rotary year. Ms. Jones is not to be confused with the actress Jennifer Jones who passed away in 2009, as that would be a weird (but still plausible) selection for running this esteemed organization.
With this welcomed announcement, the only other entities without a woman serving in the top position are the U.S. Presidency, the government of Burma, and the He-Man’s Woman Haters Club of El Segundo.
The Hub Bub is excited to see that Rotary has waited only 20 years into the 21st century to join the enlightened.
______________________________
Downey Rotary Fun Facts!
Ironically, Rotarian Robert Kiefer routinely forgot the “i” before “e” rule and misspelled his own name until age 32.
***
Tom Hutchinson briefly achieved notoriety with his coin collecting club by declaring that nickels have 5% nickel content, and that dimes have 10% dime content.
***
Downey Treasurer Barbara was actually born with a last name of Lambert, but the reporting nurse had a bad lisp and Barbara became a Lamberth.
***
Per the 1930’s naming-convention rules from Rotary International, Downey’s club number of 737 was based on the Downey member’s collective inseam sizes.
***
First established on advice from Raul Lopez back in the early 80’s, Downey Rotarians tend to pooh-pooh the third of the 4-Way Test.
***
Mel Sanchez does not officially have a police record, but Downey PD have been called to her house twice when she used an Uzi to shoot at Brown Recluse spiders in her kitchen.
__________________________
Remembering Harold
(Lorine Parks writes: David Tseklenis wrote a tribute to his father, Harold, on what would have been his 90th birthday. It's a nice reminder of how much we miss him, and Downey misses him)
By David Tseklenis
Today, October 13, 2020, marks Harold Tseklenis’ birthday, his 90th.
For most it would be a milestone, except to his family and friends. We won’t be celebrating with him. But we will remember him.
He passed away last December. Many of the Downey Patriot’s readers may recall the heartfelt stories written about him by Eric, by Lorine, and by Larry in these pages. Harold read the Patriot faithfully. To him it was more than just a community newspaper. It was a forum for Downey’s citizens – to voice their concerns and sometimes even their pleasures about his town and its people. Harold was one of them, one of you.
For most of Harold’s dynamic life he didn’t count his birthdays. He would say, “Who’s counting.” But in his waning years, he would chuckle that each year counted very much. Although to him his birthday wasn’t a big deal.
Yet there were two things he enjoyed doing to mark the occasion. If family was in town, we would gather for barbecue dinner at his and Anna’s home. For us it was like a holiday meal simply because it was one of the few and exceptional occasions we could all assemble, and gladly. Harold loved to cook and loved to entertain guests.
_______________________________
Pendleton Event Slated Saturday
All are invited (except Javier Munoz) to attend the Camp Pendleton donation event this Saturday, October 24 at Stonewood Shopping Center. We will be collecting items to support the Marine troops and their families that are stationed at the Carlsbad-based facility.
The local Kiwanis club had suggested to local authorities that Rotarians had chosen the shopping center location so that they could merely shoplift the items needed to take to the needy families. Those rumors, though compelling, turned out to be mostly false.
Rotarians and interested volunteers are invited to show up and assist in the cause from 9AM to 1PM. Please bring donations worthy on our military and their families.
Consistent with most Rotary events, once you arrive, you’re encouraged to walk around aimlessly, sipping coffee and eating Entenmann’s Little Chocolate Donuts.
_______________________
Literacy Breakfast Renamed
In a surprise announcement from Rotary 5280 event management, it was reported that the annual District Literacy Breakfast will in the future be marketed as the District 5280 Illiteracy Breakfast. According to the press release from the District, too many attendees for the event believed the event focused on high literacy achievement.
According to event chair, Max English, “People were showing up with their copies of Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov to discuss Russian existential motifs towards protagonists! Ay! They didn’t understand that we just wanted to make sure everyone could simply read!”
Mr. English added, “We’re certain that with the name change to “illiteracy” we expect far more Downey Rotarians to attend.”
__________________________
Letter From the Editor
For those eagerly waiting on the sidelines, hoping for the Hub Bub editor to screw things up, your wait is over. Just so you know, the staff at the Hub Bub is already used to the slew of emails with critiques, suggestions, or in the case of Jorge Montero, various ruminations. Traditionally, none are complementary.
The sheer number of emails last week must have rivaled those delivered to Santa in the days leading up to Christmas. But instead of little-Joey-asking-for-a-pony emails, the typical message was decidedly less cute. Some samples:
Downey President Willy Medina - I never thought you’d produce a Hub Bub that would prompt me to ask you to quit, but last week’s issue got verrry close...
District Governor Bette Hall - so was it laziness or incompetence that prompted you to print the same Pat Paulson quote for two straight weeks? Complete rubbish!
Rotary International President Holger Knaack - Ray, I don’t read the Downey newsletter, both because my time is too valuable, and anything involving the Downey club prompts my give-a-damn light to go out. But my staff let me know that there is a serious decline in the quality of the newsletter. Perhaps the club can find a more astute, intelligent editor that meets the high standards of Rotary?
US President Don Trump - your frequent use of the term “Fake News” in the Hub Bub is a flagrant misuse of a term I first created. So sad! My Attorney General Bill Barr will be filing lawsuits in civil court to stop your illegal use of my words. And oh yeah, lousy Hub Bub last week!
Former Downey Rotarian Kevin MacDonald - I’m not a Downey Rotarian, so I don’t get the Hub Bub, but I heard it was a crappy edition. ‘Up’ your game, mister!
________________________________
SnapShot: In Depth With Linda Sundram
By Lorine Parks
“When agency Regulations said ‘no’ to our Wheelchair donation, we waited till midnight and then we opened the doors for them,” said speaker Linda Sundram.
“I was born and raised in New Jersey,” said Linda. “We have the ‘Sopranos’ on speed dial. Where I come from, regulations are something you get around.”
I spoke to Linda via email for this interview, right after she addressed our club on Tuesday. She answered me right away, and it’s good to know that the relief work for Camp Pendleton is in such remarkable hands. Her story is emblematic of the Rotary spirit.
Linda is a two-time past president and full-time volunteer for the Rotary Club of Camp Pendleton, which has raised more than $500,000 for family programs on base since its creation in 2005. A friend recommended she join the new Rotary service club, and since then Linda, who puts in about 60 volunteer hours a week, has spearheaded most of these projects
The club, the first Rotary club on a military installation, has members who hail from both the military and civilian communities. The club has a current membership of 17 (averaging just 22 members), because Marines are so transient, “but it’s large in generosity,” Linda said. These individuals like to consider themselves small, but mighty.
In 2006, the group had raised a couple of thousand dollars for Marine families, but Linda thought they could do better. She came up with the idea for the Dancing with Heroes dinner dance, where local donors could mingle with Marines in their dress blue uniforms. The first dance raised $25,000. The next year, it raised $62,000. To date, the annual dances have brought in more than $500,000.
Where did a whirlwind like Linda come from? Linda and her husband of 42 years, Larry, retired to Bonsall, north of San Diego, in 2006 after careers in the financial services industry “My husband joined Rotary before me,” said Linda (She was modest about her husband: Larry Sundram is past Vista Rotary Club President and Past District 5340 Governor 2011-12).
“I went with him to a few meetings,” Linda said. “The people were great and the motto “service above self” was just what I was looking for after retirement. I never heard about Rotary until we came out to San Diego. I am truly blessed to have found my passion.”
“We take everything that makes the life easier for the families at Camp Pendleton,” says Linda. “Household items, toys, books. Furniture and appliances. Not clothes though.” The emphasis is on assisting military families on Camp Pendleton and surrounding communities.
Her Camp Pendleton Rotary Volunteers run a Warrior Warehouse with free furniture for needy military families who are on a tight budget. Marines and sailors can pick out furniture, bedding and household items for their homes. Linda heads the coordination and collection of donated items and in the last 10 years, she has transferred about $35 million in household furnishing to over 100,000 military families free of charge
In another recent project, the club donated $50,000 to aid in replacing 24 old trailers with small cottages that are located on the northern-end of the base overlooking the bluffs of San Onofre State Beach. The cottages are for recreational use for current and retired military personnel and their families.
Kimberly Reese, Family Readiness Officer for the 1st Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton, describes Linda as the driving force behind a huge number of Rotary projects at the base over the past six years.
Linda has been awarded the Volunteer of the Year by the San Diego Military Advisory Council.Of her achievements she says, “I had worked in the insurance world my whole career, and hated it. This the best job I have ever had, for the feeling of doing something worthwhile. Knowing we are making a difference.”
In other Rotary news, HE MADE IT! Thursday October 15 at 5:18 am, Rob De Cou reached Mt. Whitney Portal after a 17-mile swim, 400-mile bike and 135-mile run in 6 days and 8+ hours to become an official Uberman finisher.
Rob raised $10,000 in pledges for Rotary International District 5280 Charitable Foundation to drive awareness in the fight against human trafficking.
SPEAKING OF BIRTHDAYS, in our October 13 Zoom meeting, those assembled sang Happy Birthday to President Will Medina, who turned 41.
.jpg)