The Greatest Rotary Club in the World: Santa Clara, California
Zoomer Conference Notes: October 1, 2020
Mike Sellers, President, Zoomer in Chief, Head editor
Bob Ricks, Humble as always, still scribing just the facts (mostly)
Tressa Williams, Chat Meister
Zoomers in attendance: 35 fired up Rotarians…..well, maybe 32 of them were fired up.
Pledge: PP Colleen Noll led us in the pledge. No kneels were allowed.
Greeting and Inspiration: Larry Sacks loved his greeting so much he did it twice. Well done. His words of inspiration came from Harriet Beecher Stowe, “When you get into a tight spot and it looks tough, never give up and the tide will turn.” A true statement in the year 2020. This too will pass.
Guests: Jenny Flores was on board again and has submitted her application to join TGRCITW. President Mike also announced that Maria Daane may be on the way back also. Hopefully she joins us again.
Tressa Williams wanted to be sure to recognize Interacters Audrey Mabanta and Adriana Netto for their outstanding work on our Parade of Champions video reviewed at last week’s meeting as well as Blake Levins, Area 11 Chairperson for Interact, for all his work and follow up on behalf of this club. Thanks to all three Interacters.
PP Bob Shoemaker:
Our club is filled with great members from the past and the present. Bob Shoemaker is probably one of the finest represented by the way he lived his life and served his country. He flew a P38 in WWII, shot down some enemy planes, flew air cover for the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, played football for the Cal team that upset Stanford in the Big Game, worked for the US Department of Defense and was one terrific skier. Along the way he raised a family and was president of this Rotary Club. Bob led a life that men envy. He will be missed at our annual PP BBQ. Our condolences to his family and many friends.
Congratulations to all above. Hope their birthdays are fun and the weather is great. Special notice goes to PP Stan Chinchen celebrating 65 years with TGRCITW on
October 1 and PP Terry Rose celebrating 48 years. Both men helped us put the GREAT in our club motto. They still talk about Stan’s Debunking and Terry’s Year of the Rose.
We Care:
Don Skinner is back from Omaha but he ain’t talking about that. Don did update us that our original millennial, Spencer Wells, is now working in Walnut Creek and doing well in the solar industry. Plus, Joann Moul is recovering from her recent meniscus surgery and PP Mike is cooking…...well, Joann is doing well.
Steps: Please contact Dan Winter directly if you cannot locate the sign up link. We need bodies to help pull off this year’s event as we are giving away over 500 pairs of shoes in a drive thru set up due to Covid. Time is quickly approaching the October 31 date. HELP! Call Dan.
The theme for costumes for Rotarians is Super Heroes. Contact PP Colleen Noll to find out what your Super Hero should be.
Rebuild: The suspense is over: Phil Auger will be in attendance! Now we need you. Call PE Bill Kelly to offer your service. I think you can even see PP Walt Marwitz this
year working alongside PP Phil. This is like watching Elvis and Bobby Darin singing a duo. You need to be there!
District Dates:
Pre-Pets for PE Bill Kelly will be January 23
District Assembly is April 17 to 21
District Conference is May 15
Rotary International Convention in Taiwan is June 12 to 14.
PP Anton Morec, with dust still on his floor from hiding in the desert, introduced us to a familiar face at Santa Clara Rotary, Andy Dolich.
Andy has a sterling reputation and career in sports management with 14 years at the Oakland A’s, 17 years at the Memphis Grizzlies and 3 years with the SF 49ers. (He stated that his wife wants to know why he cannot keep a job).
Andy spoke to us about his current task with the San Jose Sports Authority and creating a task force to monitor and offer suggestions to all local sports teams in light of the Covid 19 crisis. The group has created the California Interscholastic Federation made up of 187 schools/teams to coordinate this effort. The members at the initial meeting saw Andy in the room and made him chairman of the CIF.
Andy mentioned the three things he believes all organizations need:
Teamwork, Leadership and Trust. All of the various sports organizations want to do things their own way but in the era of Covid this is not wise. Hopefully the CIF is putting some organization to the task of coordination in the Bay Area.
Fan Controlled Football: Andy did mention his next venture…...Fan Controlled Football. As this humble scribe understood it this would be a live football event with one main difference…...the fans will make all the calls on the field. Stay tuned or Google Fan Controlled Football for more information.
Another Baby!
Nima and Mahtab Moridi welcomed their son on Saturday at 7:15 pm. Congratulations! They named him Aydin. Mother and son doing well.
Merry Old England:
CJ Grewal Zoomed in from somewhere in quarantine in England as he visits family. Good luck on the visit and the return. Please buy a Boris Johnson Face Mask while there. They are hard to find in the US.
A closing note:
Word on the street is that Heath was practicing his new jokes on his daughter Hope as he prepares for the next speech contest. She had the same response as older Rotarians. This is seen as a good sign by Heath.
See You next week: This meeting will be one you do not want to miss. Andy has done it again……….something about 163 days in space and 4 missions to the space station. Not your normal job.