Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa Works to Build Coalitionsby Jim McFarland
Our own Sergent at Arms, John Bartlett, led us in the flag salute and the Thought for the day, a quote from Warrren Buffet: "You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing things with logic. True power is restraint. If words control you that means everyone else can control you. Breathe and allow things to pass."
President Cedric Tuck-Sherman, finally back from his trip to South Africa, asked for guests. Kelly Stroman had two, Maureen McBride from Tabula rasa and Grace Adams from the Roundhouse Aquarium. Richard Montgomery brought Joe Franklin.
President Cedric showed pictures of his visit to a Rotary meeting in Capetown, South Africa. Also, a surprise…he met up with Walt and Priscila Kasha, there as one of their stops on their cruise!! President Cedric thanked Bill Bloomfield and Paul Allman for filling in for the meetings he missed.
The city of Manhattan Beach recognized our club with a formal proclamation for our 75 years!! We had 15 or so members at the City Council meeting to mark the event.
Larry Johnson could not attend today’s meeting. He’s back east with relatives, but he did forward these kind words to us on his turning 75 on December 2nd. “I guess Rotary and I have been aging together! As I look back, I'm reminded how much this club has given me: purpose, friendship, service, and a community that inspires me every single week. For 75 years, Rotary has made a meaningful difference in Manhattan Beach and beyond, and I'm honored to have played a small part in that legacy. Thank you to my family, friends, and fellow Rotarians for filling my life with connection, laughter, and purpose. Here's to the next chapter - and to being around for Rotary's 100th (I'm working on it!).”
President Cedric has a bottle of champagne from the club for Larry. He noted that both he and Dave Harris also have birthdays on the 2nd.
Our guest speaker was the honorable Antonio Villaraigosa, 41st Mayor of Los Angeles (2005-2013). He led major expansions in transportation, infrastructure, and economic development. Former Speaker of the California State Assembly; known for coalition-building.
Long-time advocate for education, workforce mobility, and community empowerment. Continues national and international leadership aligned with Rotary values. The former mayor shared kind words about Rotary and how warm and welcoming our club was this morning! He apologized for being overdressed, as he remembered the “old” days when we would have all been wearing suits. He also let us know that he was told to be apolitical. Thank goodness!!
He is very disturbed about how America is so divided; we are losing the middle class and worries about a civil war. He spoke about how grateful he is and how he loves this country. The people of this country have more in common than they realize. He stated that the “middle” needs to take over and build our country. We all come from immigrants. Liberty called us here. We all need to do “civics” on a daily and weekly basis.
It was time for a few questions. Why politics? He loves this country.
What are your two greatest accomplishments? He is a uniter. He fought to improve LA city schools, challenging the teachers’ union. United the city. When he was elected mayor, the San Fernando Valley wanted to secede.
Get more career technical education, which would translate to a new economy. Protect those that manufacture rather than regulate them out of the state. He thanked us again for being so welcoming. President Cedric presented him with our certificate for polio vaccines.
Dan Graham and Mark Maruyama spoke about VetFest. Sold 884 tickets. 231 vets attended 50 of those were upgraded thanks to the generosity of the club. There were 12 local beer and wine vendors. Thank you to Keith Sultemeier and Kinecta for $45,000, the use of the parking lot, the ice cream truck, food, and the staff support! We cleared around $30,000. Thank you to the 30 or so members who poured beer, the Boy and Girl Scouts, Interact clubs from both the high school and MBMS. Thank to the 26 committee members. Mark and Dan had gifts for them.
New member Madelyn Salo was installed, sponsored by Rick Farrell. Great to have you!
Quick auction by Richard Montgomery for a table for 6 at the Manhattan fireworks, December 14th. John Acker successfully outbid the others!
Raffle - Jeff Serota won a nice bottle of Atlas Peak Cab, and Bruce Greenspon did not pick the winning marble.
For more meeting photos, go to SmugMug. 
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