Jim's story for the January 14 Bulletin

It was Monday, January 7, 2019, the first Monday of a brand new year.  Birds sang, Trump tweeted, Democrats howled, and Rotarians prowled around the food line as President Ken Deemer sought order and Donn Ennis extolled the virtues of making mistakes (in pursuit of new and better things).  All sang Happy Birthday to the birthday kids who left the food line long enough to gather up Jan Rhees’ cupcakes.  Roger Morrell and Lindy Murrell (no misspellings there, folks) took the January anniversary longevity award, with January anniversaries (saidPresident Ken) covering couples from spring chickens to happily ever after.

 

 

Among the many past and upcoming events:  There is the January 22 District Breakfast with Shawn Holley, a member of the OJ Simpson defense team.  There are more Richstone tutoring opportunities, all the way into May.  There was the Lennox food drive with other Rotary clubs.  There was Kelly Stroman becoming the CEO of the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce.  There was a disturbing video of James Kennedy singing karaoke, and an even more disturbing photo of Ed Kushins bare-chested and emerging from his annual Polar Bear Swim (by the way, Ed is still collecting handicap devices for Crutches For Africa).

 

 

Ian Jackson was back with a sports report, highlighting Richard Montgomery’s Texas Longhorns upsetting Georgia’s Bulldogs and Annie Hendrickson’s Michigan Wolverines shouting We’re Number Two, all while Roger Cox (who has perfected a New Zealand accent and who’s been away for a while) bleated (get the sheep joke?) about Ian leaving cricket out of his report.

 

 

President Ken joined the Tom Jeffry clan to root for Northwestern’s Wildcats as they came from behind to win their bowl game….Rick Farrell thanked his son Ryan for giving him another grandchild…..Chamber CEO Kelly Stroman thanked her predecessor, Mark Lipps, for his service…..John Hugunin (our Book Club director) took his nose out of a book long enough to mumble something about an encounter between a Georgia Bulldog and a Texas Longhorn (mascots).

 

 

John T. Ranaudo presented his craft talk, in his usual joking, self-effacing style, featuring photos of ‘50’s TV heroes and cartoons and claims of singing prowess (but not a note was heard).  John was born in the Bronx and grew up a Yankees fan on Long Island, where he longed for the life of Hemingway (whose statue he finally met in Cuba recently) or Tarzan (he claims to know the yell, but not a note was heard).  He enjoyed target shooting and is still an NRA guy.  His dad had a jewelry store, so the entrepreneurial spirit was in the family, and from as young as age 6 he was working—selling, shoveling snow, mowing lawns, paper routes, bartending at age 17 (shhh…).  In high school he stopped reading adventure stories long enough to make some friends, play sports, learn STEM, sing in choirs and chorales, and throw the discus and hammer.  He moved on to New Mexico State (no explanation given for this odd choice for a New Yorker) where he added javelin to his tossing routine, only to leave early to work at TRW in California (he eventually got his Bachelor’s from California Coast University, whose football team has never made it into Ian Jackson’s sports report).  He built an Amway business up to 300 distributors in 11 states, but eventually settled into a career of engineering management at TRW/Northrop and Aerospace.

 

 

Work aside, John has been involved in many civic groups.  He highlighted Special Olympics, Girl Scouts, soccer/baseball coaching (including Mira Costa football boosting with Brad Koppel), and the Palos Verdes Performing Arts Center, where he’s now a director.  His wife of 47 years (take that, Lindy Murrell), Susan (who formerly worked with the Beach Boys), and he have a son and a daughter and three grandchildren and have taken them on many trips, covering 5 continents and 21 countries.  Susan and John were both New York All-State singers back in high school (but not a note was heard).  His childhood dreams have come true, and he’s had the chance to live, work and travel on land, on sea, and in outer space.

 

 

John Ranaudo left us with some parting thoughts—dream big, set goals, pay it forward, and never give up.  He left us to dream of hearing him sing and to never give up on hearing him sing.  (There are some singers in this club, John, and you’ve outed yourself, so know that you will be paying it forward.)