Your weekly GU&G has been updated
Posted by Meaghan Likes
on Mar 18, 2015
Weekly News & Views by: John Munn
Today’s meeting was held upstairs, where members and guests arrived to the sound of piano music played by our ownDave Morse (the Elder). It took a while, but nearly all of the seats in the large upstairs room were eventually filled. After much socializing, the meeting was called to order with a ring of the bell at 7:07 am by Gretchen Peralta, who was filling in for absent President Chuck. This was followed by singing of “Smile” and “America the Beautiful.
The call for visitors was answered by Arnold Nakat from Ghana and prospective member Bonnie Walter. Guest introductions were interrupted when Roy Kroener couldn’t wait to announce a gathering with the Noon Club on Thursday at Seasons. And since he had the floor, Roy also told us that Berryessa Gap has been reserved for a Paella Night, April 30th. Continuing with announcements after guests were introduced, Vannesa Errecarte reminded all present about the food packing event on Saturday. Chuck Snipes gave a plug for Trivia Night at I-House tomorrow (Saturday) evening, with set-up at 5:00 pm and then starting at 7:00 pm. Keith Watenpaugh had more to say about Trivia Night – it should be a great event with different ways of teasing the mind, but he has not been able to reach anyone at the Rotaract Club. Tim Deleiden added that he was still collecting swag and white elephants so that prizes will be available for all participants. Finally, Larry Greene informed us that there are still 10 tickets available for March Madness.
Substitute Gretchen “announced” that she had gone to San Jose with Gary Johns for PETs (President Elect Training? AKA party training time). Gary went on to explain that he had a great time with 600 soon-to-be close friends. He described the event as very motivational and similar to work he used to do with an employer, but much larger. This year’s theme is “be a gift to the world” which was aided by Gretchen’s best-of-all hospitality set-up. Gary was also modeling the new Rotary shirt, which Gretchen wanted to inspect more closely to find the embedded Rotary themes.
Then it was time for Sergeant Dennis Lindsay to take charge of the meeting. The call for happy bucks was answered first by Will Portello, who was happy to have survived a season as a young girls basketball coach, where finishing 500 made it a great year. Ted Puntillo was very happy about having a new grandchild. Marc Thompson is celebrating his (and his wife’s) 18thwedding anniversary with plans for a private celebration. Although not so forthcoming with details, Patsy Inouye was happy about having her 43rd wedding anniversary on March 11. Dick Bourne was pleased to report that his new home had accumulated a kilowatt hour surplus during its first year of occupancy, and Don Morrill is now working on a LEAD application. Kelly Wilkerson wanted everyone to know that Davis High School has one of the best websites and she is happy that her husband is back home after two months. Jim Belenis was excited that the Davis High School girls basketball team will be playing McClatchy in a Division I playoff game, and had to rub it in that the DHS girls had now been in more playoff games than the LA Dodgers. Clay Brandow was very happy to have found a speaker for today’s meeting, and wanted those responsible to know that his cell phone had recorded who called during last week’s meeting. Finally, Rose Cholewinski was happy to have filled all the spots on her trivia team.
After all this happiness, Sergeant Dennis took over. Carolyn Stiver received a $10 recognition for working at highly ranked (#6) Edward Jones. Then Kelly Wilkerson and Rose Cholewinski were fined $5 each for reasons that escaped the reporter. Shel Givens was recognized for not wearing his usual Hawaiian shirt. Lucas Frerichs was fined $10 as another installment on his no-fine-for-letters deal. Not paying happy bucks for the announced building of condominiums at El Macero costDave Heard $5, then Dave was hit for another $5 because USA Today listed loan officers as the 3rd happiest job. Marc Thompson was fined $5 for looking happy. March Madness swimmer Dick Bourne was recognized in the amount of $10 for having gone 3,300 yards in an hour, and there was some talk about age group placement that got lost in the conversation. Tom Cross was asked if he was a shot clock operator or not for local basketball games, and was fined $5 whether he had been in the “rotation” or not. Dick McCapes lost $10 on behalf of the UC Davis Veterinarian School being ranked first in the country. Then, following the advice of last week’s speaker, Sergeant Dennis just asked for $10 from Meaghan Likes, who then asked for $10 from Jim Smith, followed by $10 from John Munn, and (finally) $10 from Jeff Adamski. Taskmaster Gretchen then observed that the Club was at its best when pulling together, and contributed $10 for having John Youmans back and Bonnie Harmon feeling better.
Next, Gretchen asked Clay Brandow to introduce today’s speaker, and Clay responded that our own Shel Givens does not need an introduction for his talk 
about “Life as Forrest Gump.” Shel began by explaining similarities to Forrest Gump – having polio as a child and being at (or at least close to) Woodstock. He was also in San Francisco during the “Summer of Love.” Shel noted that people who wished to have the next half hour back should talk to Clay. In a quick summary of growing up, Shel explained that his father was a mathematician who worked on government projects, so they moved a lot, and his brother was retarded (or, in today’s terms, disabled) which increased Shel’s sensitivity. Growing up was followed by graduation from the USC Business School in 1967, then service as a VISTA volunteer, and later as President of the Board of Realtors in Berkeley. Shel identified different cultures that occurred during his student and business years. He called these the alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and coffee years. College in 1962 was limited to alcohol. Marijuana was just coming in as he was going out. Cocaine was prominent during the 70’s and 80’s when he was in Berkeley. For Shel, 1989 through 1996 were the crazy years – six car washes, then six more car washes, building a house in Davis, and opening many businesses. These were coffee years. Shel summarized his business strategy as being hyperactive and saying “yes.” His objective has been to reach a critical mass that provides a living without spending personal time – buy anything that fits this model and pays its own mortgage. Success comes from being born in 1944, living in California, being lucky, partnering well, being an opportunist, and saying yes before worrying about it. This was followed by stories about car washes, Block Buster Video, and getting to know Jay Gerber through the car wash business and singing. Leader-for-a-day Gretchen interrupted this dissertation about business so that Larry Greene could surprise Shel with a Paul Harris Award.
about “Life as Forrest Gump.” Shel began by explaining similarities to Forrest Gump – having polio as a child and being at (or at least close to) Woodstock. He was also in San Francisco during the “Summer of Love.” Shel noted that people who wished to have the next half hour back should talk to Clay. In a quick summary of growing up, Shel explained that his father was a mathematician who worked on government projects, so they moved a lot, and his brother was retarded (or, in today’s terms, disabled) which increased Shel’s sensitivity. Growing up was followed by graduation from the USC Business School in 1967, then service as a VISTA volunteer, and later as President of the Board of Realtors in Berkeley. Shel identified different cultures that occurred during his student and business years. He called these the alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and coffee years. College in 1962 was limited to alcohol. Marijuana was just coming in as he was going out. Cocaine was prominent during the 70’s and 80’s when he was in Berkeley. For Shel, 1989 through 1996 were the crazy years – six car washes, then six more car washes, building a house in Davis, and opening many businesses. These were coffee years. Shel summarized his business strategy as being hyperactive and saying “yes.” His objective has been to reach a critical mass that provides a living without spending personal time – buy anything that fits this model and pays its own mortgage. Success comes from being born in 1944, living in California, being lucky, partnering well, being an opportunist, and saying yes before worrying about it. This was followed by stories about car washes, Block Buster Video, and getting to know Jay Gerber through the car wash business and singing. Leader-for-a-day Gretchen interrupted this dissertation about business so that Larry Greene could surprise Shel with a Paul Harris Award. The meeting was then concluded by the draw-of-the-day, with $1,200 in the pot. Jim Smith had the winning ticket but had to settle for a free breakfast. So the pot lives on for at least another week. A ring of the bell closed the meeting at 8:02 am.