Meeting Recap September 17, 2020

 

 

Mike Sellers, President, Chief Zoomer and Birthday Organizer

Bob Ricks, Humble Scribe and Larry Fargher Supporter

Tressa Williams, Chat Coordinator and Lady in Red

 

Zoomer Count:  Our Fargher birthday party had a great attendance. Thirty-nine Zoomers were on board for the celebration. We need to hit 40 for next week.

 

Greeting and Inspiration:  Don Skinner (advises Warren Buffet on the tough buys) let out a loud greeting and Inspiration. Don’s theme was well timed as he said we all need to build a new respect and appreciation for our law enforcement teams all over the United States. They deserve our support for their work during this difficult time.

 

Note: President Sellers had to get this Skinner photo from the SC Police Archives. This is fair warning: when you get the notice to update your photo…..you need to update your photo:

 

Guests:  Larry Fargher was in the throes of a family party celebrating his birthday as we opened our Zoom meeting. Lois had her daughter Sharon online for this Zoom presentation. He and Lois have now been together for 7 years. She wisely started to join Larry at Rotary meetings when she discovered he had a table of women only at each week’s meetings.

 

PP Joe “where’s the bell?” Sweeney had his wife Linda online to wish Larry well. Two members called in to report they saw the bell in the background. Sellers is on the case.

 

Tracy Wingate……..Wingrove….was back! Great to see her online wishing Larry a fun day. Come back!

 

Mr. Rotary, Larry Fargher, turned 88 years old on September 16. Details to follow. (As membership chair I was asked by ten members to follow up with Larry’s guest Marilyn for future membership in the club.)

 

Bob and Carol Buchser DID actually go to Half Moon Bay to celebrate their 13th anniversary and Carol’s birthday on September 17. A little known fact: Larry Fargher is a matchmaker as well as a king maker. He introduced Carol and Bob on a blind date. The rest is history.

 

Tim and Julie Ford are back home! Now the clean up begins on the house due from fires in the area…….but the house is in one piece. Let the BBQ grill start up! The Armadillo is a tough critter.

 

Don Skinner also talked with PP Michael Beach who moved to Oregon for the clean air and outdoor life among safe cities. Mike is well and has not lost his house or his collection of 220 Rolex watches taken in trade-ins from Rotarians for the last 30 years. Patti Smith is still proud that Mike created his free watch battery program for all SC Rotarians……...

 

 

 

 

Rebuild:  PE Bill Kelly needs 6 more volunteers to make this rebuilding project a go. Please contact him to volunteer. The date is October 24. All you need to do is to show up. One of your crack team members will be Phil Auger:

 

Don’t let this photo scare you. Phil can paint! Watching him paint a house is poetry in motion. This sight alone is worth volunteering just to take notes. And that is a real Covid beard. Phil is getting ready for his annual Santa mall work during Christmas.

 

Winery:  Dr. Stella Kemp reports we have 19 signed up for this social event. Free wine? And only 19? Check with Stella or Mike to get your name on the list. Remember: Possible after party at President Mike’s house with access to his underground wine cellar.

 

Parade: We are in the process of putting our Rotary video together for this year’s virtual parade. We should be able to show it to the membership prior to the parade. (Hopefully someone told Walt Marwitz not to build a float this year).

 

Steps for Success:  This will be a drive through event at the Wilson Adult Education Center. Dan Winter needs volunteers for this October 31 event. The big need now is for people to help on the set up on October 30. PP Colleen Noll is heading up the costumes. See Phil Auger photo above.

 

Speakers:  Our speaker GURU, Andy Ratermann will have a surprise for us next week for our speaker. This means he is still looking.

 

Oct 1 will have Andy Dolich, former SF 49er Executive and great speaker.

 

Oct 8 will have Susan Helms, astronaut. She has made EIGHT trips to the space station. This will be a great talk.

 

 

Today was Larry Fargher day. You really need to watch the video if you did not log on today. Larry has been a member of our Club for 46 years…….46 years!

 

President Mike Sellers had a quiz to see how much we knew about the real Larry Fargher. All got a vote. I could have sworn he was born in Omaha…..but alas it was Helena, Montana. Strike one for me on the Fargher quiz.

 

Afterwards we were honored by different comments from Rotary members celebrating the Larry Fargher they know and respect:

 

PP Bob Buchser, PP Dan Holder, Harbir Bhatia, PP Colleen Noll and PP Ken Rowell (aka Jimmy Fallon) all had their personal comments on how Larry had impacted their life. It was amazing to hear all the different Larry recollections from both old and newer members. Larry has been one of the stalwarts of this club for years and made it TGRCITW before we knew it was TGRCITW.

Yes, this is Larry. Harbir has the full story.

 

Yours truly jumping for Larry:

The presentations were very moving as we all wished our own Larry a great 88th Birthday. In my case, Larry was my sponsor in 1996 after I was introduced to him by my partner Jim Landes. Larry took me under his wing and cracked the whip on me as I was a Red Badger. Since that time almost 25 years ago Larry has been my friend and mentor. He is one of a kind and I treasure his friendship.

 

We all finished the day with a rousing HAPPY BIRTHDAY song…..A great day for Santa Clara Rotary.

 

Bill Carver and I were shocked when we were told the lunch charge at this club was $28.00. Bill said, “Whoa!” ….this is Texas. That is steep! We then found out it was not $28 per week…….but $28 per month. Below is today’s lunch:

Carver took some home with him………Tim Ford may want the recipe.

 

And Larry?

 

Always Larry……..