Get Up & Go Sept. 10

Get Up & Go Sept. 10

 

 

 Author Mark Bartson

 

 

Get Up and Go

 

Our hybrid meeting, live and via Zoom, started on time in spite of the damp roads from the previous night of moisture falling from the sky.  However, President David Copp made it clear that last night’s ‘deluge’ served only to clear the air, both literally and philosophically.  Still the rain generated a buzz in the air.  There were no visiting Rotarians but we did have three guests -  John Geisler, Matt Yancey and Steve Streeter.

 

President Copp acknowledged the 20^th anniversary of 9/11 tomorrow.  He recounted a story of how following the attack, the town of Gander, Newfoundland, was an emergency landing point for 6,700 passengers who were in commercial jets that were being diverted due to the earlier terror attack.  This town of 10,000 nearly doubled in population by hosting these 6,700 people.  David surprised us with a multi-choice pop trivia quiz on why this location was chosen (mainly due to its location and previous use as a military base).  The kindness that the townfolk extended to this throng is fondly remembered and not at all trivial.   

 

David noted that tomorrow is the wedding date for Rotary member Susan Moenga.  Congratulations to Susan!!!

 

Brodie announced a Save the Date for Friday November 12^th, 6 pm, El Macero County Club.  He also announced that our Foundation has made a donation of $2,600 to Shelter Box Usa (for Haiti) and $1,000 to Soar Kenya. 

 

Other announcements: 

 

New Members:   John Youman led an inspiring induction ceremony for two new members:  Matt Yancey and Steve Streeter.  Matt is now working back in Davis as he had previously.  He and his wife Katie live in West Sacramento.  Katie works for the City of West Sacramento.  Their daughter Avery is seven years old.  Matt predicts that she will either be an artist or an engineer.  Matt’s favorite activities include hiking, biking and board games (though not at the same time?). 

 

Our second new member is Steve Streeter.  Steve was previously a member of Rotary in the LA area.  His wife of 44 years is Nancy.  Steve is an avid tennis player and also a member of the Davis Planning Commission.  Steve told us that his family is holding a Celebration of Life for their 31-year-old son Nathan who passed away in March of this year.  After the meeting, Steve provided us with information on the Celebration of Life for his son:

 

 

Davis Sunrise Rotary welcomes both new members!

 

Sydney led us as Sergeant of the Day leading the search of members for happiness that should be paid for.  Irena (representing Larry Olsen) donated $50 for a dancing escapade, related to Dancing in the Rain.  Rose made a sizable donation for the pleasure of hosting her two sisters who flew in from Chicago for a visit and associated road trips.  Matt is happy to be a Rotarian!  There is happiness for the official start of the girl’s softball season though I neglected to write down who was happy about this!!!  Whoever it was, I did write down that his daughter’s season is off to a strong start!  Mack is happy because he went to Canada and came back.  But mainly because he saw his newest granddaughter so it was a great trip!  Vanessa has Happy Bucks since she recently presented her first graduate class with tutelage from David and Keith.  Also, her son Jack has on at least one occasion followed the soccer coach’s instructions.  Frances is happy for having had the chance to participate as a bagpipe player for a 9/11 memorial at Pac Bell park, in what was a memorable experience and fitting ceremony.  Irena is happy for having been involved in an initiative that resulted in the hardening of the cell phone infrastructure following 9/11.  On 9/11 she was in Washington, DC (in her work at the White House at the time) and she and her colleagues learned how vulnerable the communication systems were, in particular the cell phone infrastructure.  Great progress has since been made from the lessons of terrible events.  The lesson learned was that “Sometimes things CAN get better”.  Manny was happy that 20 years ago his Swedish exchange student did not get stuck in Canada as a result of 9/11 security measures put in place while they were visiting Vancouver.  His Cuban cigars almost got stuck there but thanks to the very reasonable Canadian officials, they eventually decided to let the young Swede exchange student come home.  Caroline is grateful for the experience of 20 years ago in meeting a group of flight attendants (in an afterhours event).  At the time, she noted how the group was blowing off steam after work which made Caroline reflect on the dedication and service that went into that type of work by people like that during those terribly difficult times.

 

Who Am I? -  Patsy Inouye

 

Patsy started with a few labels that could be applied to her:  Daughter - Born on August 17 (year unknown),  Sister – her one sister in Redding has four horses which Patsy says she could “never get behind”; Wife - married for 49.5 years (may have married young); original Village Home resident (means she is an ‘old hippy’);  Mother (she has a son and daughter);  Grandmother - her son has two wonderful children.  Librarian - UC Davis for 39 years.  She saw a lot of students, change and the advance of technology from card catalogues to the digital age.   Her 7^th grade teacher told her she needed to “Search deeper” which she seems to have done as reflected in her career and life in general.  She likes to hear the question “Can you help?” and she likes to respond “Yes”.  Patsy has been fortunate to travel a lot including visiting Kenya, the Galapagos (multiple visits).  Other labels include Seamstress; Pilates practitioner; ROTARIAN since 2014 -  Patsy was our 2020 Rotarian of the year;  She describes herself as “Ordinarily Unique”.  I believe we all agree with her on this point.  Patsy is grateful for all that she has had.  We are grateful for having Patsy as a Rotarian extraordinaire and friend. 

 

 

Speakers – Dick Berry introduced our two(!) speakers from the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park Association: Edward L. Handl and Maria Kliavkoff.

 

Edward Handl kicked the presentation off by noting how the topic of Peace fits well with our observation of the 20^th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy.  He discussed the history of the  Peace Park Association and its purpose.  The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is a combination of two individual parks: Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta and Glacier National Park in Montana.   The Peace Park Association is an organization formed by Rotarian Districts on both sides of the border.  Its overall goal is “...supporting and maintaining the development and promotion of Waterton Lakes National Park and Glacier National Park as a symbol of friendship, cooperation and our commitment to building peace initiatives whenever possible."

 

Maria Kliavkoff (VP of the Association) discussed the history of the parks as a “place of peace” for long before the Association was formed.  The Rotarians helped to promote and fully recognize this unique location.  The Peace Park was established in 1931. 

 

Overall, the presentation provided an opportunity for our club members to understand and reflect on this unique park and how it can inspire us to promote peace.  

 

President Copp closed the meeting by asking us to reflect on the nature of happiness.  The unrelenting pursuit of happiness can be self-defeating:   He asked us to reflect on a quote by William Bennett “Happiness is like a cat.  If you try to coax it or call it, it will never come.  However if you pay no attention, you will find it rubbing against your leg or jumping onto your lap”.