Jim's story for the October 26 Bulletin

It was Monday, October 19, 2020, and President Tim Hageman declared it “Jesse Torres Day,” as our historic First Covid New Member led us in the pledge and quoted Maya Angelou advising that people remember us less for what we say and do and more for what we make them feel…..We celebrated the Dodgers making it to the World Series and endured a video of a woman gone mad from Covid isolation…..Richard Montgomery rendered his weekly City report, telling us that libraries and ballot boxes are open and we are working on reducing Covid cases and thereby earning more exemptions from Covid restrictions.  (OK, I said “Covid” four times in this paragraph.  Enough already.)

 

President-Elect Jordan Holbert announced the October 20 District Breakfast on Zoom, focused on Making Membership Memorable…..Shannon Ryan’s daughter Taylor made it to the finals (out of 1000 students nationwide) of YEA (Young Entrepreneur Academy), at age 14 all the way to the Elite Eight, and then Kelly Stroman showed up at her doorstep with flowers (this Chamber of Commerce misses nothing).  Speaking of entrepreneurship, Chris’ and Shannon’s family business is soon moving into manufacturing……Dave Gendron tried to rehabilitate his thought for the day last week, but it turned out he didn’t need to  (Thou doth protest too much).

 

Our Mystery Rotarian wears shirts from the ‘90s, worked as a busboy, janitor and grocery clerk, is 1 of 9 siblings, and first experienced Rotary in Taipei and Hong Kong.  He is, of course, Lincoln Stone, a lawyer with 30+ years in private practice.  Thirteen years ago he started his own large immigration firm, covering the gamut—large corporations, deportation defense, non-profits (USC, Cal Tech, Pepperdine), health care institutions, immigrant investors, and more.  His niche is immigrant capital formation (hotels, developments, SoFi Stadium).  He also represents Central Americans in detention facilities against the government, and does some advocacy work (including before Congress).

 

Our newest member, Jesse Torres, is married to Ann and has two daughters:  Sara, at MBMS, a budding actress and club soccer goalie; and Samantha, a Costa junior, surfer and environmental activist.  Ann graduated from University of Missouri, was an assistant editor for the Beach Reporter, and is now a full-time mom.  Jesse met Ann in Hermosa when Ann was on a blind date with his roommate.  Jesse graduated from UCLA, is an avid hiker, and is a lifetime serious soccer player (an outside back mostly, he played for years with Alexi Lalas among others).  His parents were immigrants.  Active in social media, he does coding and is working with Bob Lanahan already on ClubRunner.

 

Jesse was a bank auditor for the U.S. Treasury Department, moved on to the Big 4 accounting firm KPMG to assist audited banks, and then became a banker himself.  When he was President of the Pan American Bank in L.A., he testified on behalf of small businesses before the U.S. House Small Business Committee.  In 2009-10, he launched a microloan program for residents who owned businesses and sought citizenship.  It was around that time that he coined the term “Banktivism” and was recognized by the U.N. for his work.  He was the East LA Rotary Club president, a small but activist club, with activities including collecting and delivering truckloads of diapers to the Gabriel House Orphanage in Ensenada.   He is now CEO of Best Contracting Services in Gardena, a union shop doing commercial projects.

 

Lindy Murrell joined us from New Zealand, even thought it was 4 am, and she hopes to keep this up…..President Tim commended the Bulletin team under Sue Vogl’s leadership….It’s 50 years of wedded bliss for Norm and Claudia Levin as well as Herb and Nancy Trachtenberg……Larry Johnson is organizing a Past Presidents get-together…..Scott Yanofsky continues to welcome help with his Monday and Wednesday breakfast deliveries to MBPD……Kinecta still has copies available of Feeding the Dragon.

 

In these politicized, polarized times, it’s a treat to listen to presentations by Lincoln Stone and Jesse Torres, two men who skip the talk and walk the walk.  They show us the pointlessness of arguing about immigration by doing something about it.  Both are successful businessmen, and both use their business acumen to create win-win solutions for immigrants.  They were a remarkable pairing for this meeting’s craft talks, both exemplifying Jesse’s statement: “I always try to combine business with social justice.”  Rotary’s mission is to combine vocations with service, and we can be proud to have these two noble men in our club.