Last Thursday, Rotarian Rod "Hang em high" Stafford spoke to our club. Rod is a retired Superior Court Judge and talked about what it takes to become a judge and also provided some funny stories. Thankfully he didn't have any stories about any of our club members. Thanks for sharing Rod. It was a great presentation. We had close to 30 members attend in person and 10 or so on zoom. If you missed Rod's presentation, it can be watched on the zoom link below. I have also attached Bob Ricks recap, which is always a must read. This week will be recognizing all our past presidents. If you did not RSVP please contact me immediately. I need an accurate headcount. You do not need to be a past president to attend. Everyone is welcome! The meeting will be held outside in the patio area of the Elks Lodge. Cocktails and socializing will start at 11:30 with lunch being served at 12 noon. I hope to see everyone there on Thursday. Mike Sellers President 2020-2021 Rotary Club of Santa Clara https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/06lS359CKL13RAzxBClonPLsm1T_xa2YjRGsyNd5kwmSgxmmvSoZQ4u70vYWwo--.E1cW0bupUSt0nq0H Passcode: QZT.1nv3 |
The Greatest Rotary Club in the World: Santa Clara, California
Hybrid Meeting Notes: June 3, 2021
Mike Sellers, President but Sinking Fast
Bob Ricks, Your Humble Scribe and Truth Teller
The non-Zoomers have returned!
It was good to see some familiar faces at the Elks Club on Thursday. We still had around 13 Zoomers that were not allowed to be in person due to Dr. Fauci’s latest edict.
Watana Heang led us in the pledge. I and my fellow Zoomers missed it completely as President Mike had us all muted. Hopefully it turned out well.
Our inspiration was from Daniel Peck. We Zoomers were all yelling at our screens to unmute us, but to no avail. Tressa Williams stepped up and did a Zoomer Only Inspiration. We Zoomers quieted down enough to listen to Teresa.
The cell calls to President Mike finally clicked in and the Zoomers were allowed to join the meeting. Mike Moul almost threw his crutch at his computer.
Guests:
Local TV personality and Club Secretary of State for Life, PP Dan Holder, introduced us to Ben Carlucci as his guest.
PP Andy Ratermann introduced us to Bassam Musaffar. This was Bassam’s first live meeting after attending many of our Zoom Meetings. He was introduced to our club by PP Steve Rainbolt and is interested in joining.
Stella Kemp introduced us to fellow School District employee, Steve Neese.
WELCOME to all our guests! Hopefully one of them has some Zoom Experience.
WOW! WOW! We are celebrating three Rotary anniversaries today. PP Bob Buchser has been with this club 51 years!
PP and PDG Gary Citti has been with Santa Clara Rotary for 41 years!
PP Ted Keech has been attending for 40 years!
Congratulations to all three for their long time dedication and service to this club. They represent 132 years of service to TGRCITW. Impressive!
Keep PP Larry Fargher in your prayers. He is back in the hospital. President Mike was going to visit him this afternoon and report back. It never seems like a live Rotary meeting without Larry in the audience.
A few notes on the Announcements:
PPBBQ: This will begin at 11:30am at the Elks Club. It will include the BBQ and the official Debunking of Mike Sellers. A good time is promised to all. We will have over 21 past presidents in the audience. The official PP Photo will be taken at the conclusion of the meeting. All Club members are encouraged to attend.
June 17 Car Show: This is a must see event. John Bertolotti’s cars are special. You do not want to miss this one. The address for the meeting will be forwarded to all members by President Mike in the next week.
June 24: President Mike will recognize a visiting SC Rotary scholarship recipient and her parents. She will present the club with a painting she created. Mike will then slide off the scene and turn over the gavel to our new President, Bill Kelly.
NOTE: Mike has invited any golfers in the club to give him a call. He wants to play 9 holes at Pruneridge Golf Course at the conclusion of the June 24 meeting. (Do not believe Walt’s handicap).
July 1: The Club is dark due to the July 4th holiday.
July 8: This will be a Club Assembly led by our new president Bill Kelly. Bill will introduce his board and outline his goals for the 2021-2022 Rotary year.
Place this on your calendar. More details to follow regarding this annual event for the outgoing and incoming leadership for District 5170.
Joker’s Wild is back! Don Skinner started off the new Joker’s Wild by Losing. Thank you Don.
Dan has requested this photo be used anytime he is mentioned in the bulletin:
Guest Speaker: PP Dan Holder, local TV personality and Permanent Club Secretary of State, introduced our own Judge Rod Stafford.
PP Rod “Hang em High” Stafford grew up in Northern Kentucky. He wanted to be sure we got the “Northern” part in the introduction. Strange things happen in Southern Kentucky.
Rod graduated from Santa Clara Law school in 1972, practiced law until 1990 when he joined the bench as a Judge. Rod retired from the bench in 2009 but continued as a part time judge until 2019. He has been a Rotarian for over 47 years.
Rod is married to Pat and enjoys Amateur Radio, RV Life and Golf. He also makes me look bad on Fitbit. Rod and Pat have two granddaughters.
Note: Rod answered this one question before Skinner could ask him: He does not know Judge Judy and cannot help Don with an introduction to help her with her $40 million annual salary.
After Rod got rid of Skinner’s question he regaled us with stories from his time on the bench. He would not confess to having sentenced any Rotarian in the room, but he did glance knowingly at a few.
One of his best quotes came from a response to a question from a guy that had just been sentenced to 135 years in prison without parole. The guilty man simply asked“ , “ How exactly am I going to fulfill that sentence”?
The presiding Judge, Tom Hastings replied, “All we are looking for is a good effort”.
Thanks, Rod. It was a great effort and presentation on Thursday. Hopefully the video is now available on Club Runner. If not, blame it on Bill Kelly.
See you at the Debunking!