Stories

The following narrative is a continuation of a series of how a member was introduced to Rotary and subsequent memories. If you would like Rotary to be part of your life's story, please contact Mary Bates at marybates2020@gmail.com)

Paul Williams

Joined Rotary February 5, 2001 

November, 2023

My Road to Rotary

Born and raised in beautiful Northern California, my road to Rotary tragically started with my dad’s diagnosis of bone cancer when I was a senior at Willits High School in Northern California. This led to tough financial times for our family of five with my Mom being the only ‘breadwinner’.  During my HS Senior year, my dad passed, and with the opportunity to attend California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo right around the corner, trying to find the funds to pay for my first year of college seemed insurmountable. Looking at my college expenses budget, and the funds I expected for the year, I was close but nowhere near comfortable. Discussing my financial issues with my high school advisor, she suggested that I apply for some of the local scholarships and, to my surprise, the Rotary Club of Willits CA provided me with a $1,000 scholarship! To say the least, this was HUGE and that September, on my eighteenth birthday, I was off to college.

After five years of working side jobs and getting a couple college loans to make ends meet, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Construction Engineering. My first job was working for Santa Fe’ International supporting the fields operations for the petroleum pipeline installations in Saudi Arabia and I quickly decided that something closer to home was where I wanted to be, so I went to work for Robert Fisher Construction Company in Fresno, CA and have been based in CA since. Just after accepting my first employment, the college loan repayment notices started and that was not an easy thing to deal with. Funds were tight and to make ends meet was a challenge for me but I got through. But what remained in my mind,,,, how would I be able to repay the generous gift of the Rotary Club of Willits?

Fast forward a couple of years... I got married to my wonderful bride Debi in Carmel CA and after working on a several CA construction projects, I was hired by a Development Company based in Palo Alto. Looking at the housing location possibilities the Bay Area, it seemed like the ‘centrally located’ City of Foster City would be best. This would eliminate most ‘bridge traffic’ and put me/us in the center of where most of the company projects would be. Then one Friday, after work, Debi suggested that we go to dinner. So off we went to, I’m guessing it was Chevy’s, (old Custom House, now Sushi Warehouse) and when we arrived, Deb mentioned to me she was pretty sure the family inline in front of us, are new neighbors of ours on Grunion Court. I took that opportunity to introduce our family to our newest neighbors,,, which was the Willie McDonald family and mentioned that it would be great to have a beer with him back at Grunion Court to get to know each other.

Let’s just say it didn’t take Willie long to accept my offer to have a beer together on the court and, shortly after getting to know him, he was talking about this Foster City club he was involved with called “Rotary”. I was not long after that Willie was suggesting that I consider joining Rotary “It’s a great club with lots of good people”. I mentioned I need time this consider it but it does sound like fun.

After a couple of months, Willie approached me and mentioned, one of the ways our Rotary Club generates funds is to cook at different events. BTW, the Art and Wine weekend is coming up and the cooking crew could use some help. That’s when I mentioned to Willie about the generosity of the Rotary Club of Willits and I’ve been trying to figure out a way to repay my debt to Rotary. I then agreed to help the cooking crew on several events and found myself face to face with Rotary members Ollie, Rick and Greg. Of course that’s when I found out what ‘low man on the totem pole’ really meant,,, along with a few more suggestions I should join Rotary. 

Also during this time, my mom (Dolores) mentioned she didn’t want to let ‘moss grow under her feet’, so she sold everything she had, signed up for a couple of Peace Corp programs and found a new home in Santa Barbara, Honduras. The home was called Casa Rosada and she spent her time helping those truly less fortunate families and people there. After several requests for me to come and visit her in Honduras, I took my oldest daughter on an experience that truly changed my/our lives. To see those destitute individuals being so thankful for something, that here in USA might very well discard, or to receive a sandwich bag of dried corn, beans or rice was a true eye opener for me and my daughter.

These were my crossroads for My Road to Rotary and with the encouragement of that ‘soft spoken guy with a heart of gold’ Jon B. Grant, who suggested and implemented several Grants and programs that helped support mom’s Casa Rosada efforts. Not only did these grants help her efforts, it also connected Mom with the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Honduras which helped immensely. I also recall several occasions when Jon and other members (Craig Courtin, Gil Guerin, Jim Lousilot and Larry Zanatta) of the club made trips to Honduras to support mom’s effort. These programs/efforts in Honduras laid the groundwork for me to consider “Service Above Self” and to become a member of Rotary.

Since joining Rotary here are just a few of my achievements;

• Served as Club’s International Service and Vocational Chair.

• Served as President 2006 – 2007 – With the honor of being inducted by Rick King RI President

• Paul Harris Fellow and Major Donor.

• 4 Avenues of Service Recipient. (Now 5 Avenues)

• District Rotarian of the Month November 2018

• District 5150 Sargent at Arms and served at the President Elect Training Events.

• Participated in multiple humanitarian trips to Honduras.

• Invited to participate in Wheelchair distribution events with Ken Behring and Jon B Grant along with several others arraigned through our Rotary Club.

• Participated in multiple humanitarian trips to Mazatlan, MX. Help start “Interact International Friendship Games” and was surprised to see a Soccer Tournament banner with my name on it.

• Helped install several playgrounds in Mexico

• Traveled to South Africa for water project, school project and wheelchairs.

• Participated in numerous Safe Street events and Interact Halloween Floats.

• Worked on several playgrounds installations for Yurok and Hoopa tribes.

• Multiple Cooking Crew Assignments.

• Currently assisting with the Community Garden project.

If it wasn’t for that ‘gracious gift’ from the Rotary Club of Willits Rotary, and the amazing individuals of the Rotary Club of Foster City, my road through life may have been just another road. Clearly I’ve been blessed by the challenges, opportunity and the members Rotary has given me and I hope one day, my efforts to repay for ALL of these blessings, will be fulfilled.

The following narrative is a continuation of a series of how a member was introduced to Rotary and subsequent memories. If you would like Rotary to be part of your life's story,  please contact Mary Bates at marybates2020@gmail.com)

Bob Mike

Joined Rotary April 25, 2012

July, 2023

When I retired in 2012, one of my primary goals was to volunteer my time to help others. My first effort was with the USO’s San Francisco Airport Center as the USO was there to support me when I was in the Army stationed on a remote mountain top in Alaska. I also enjoyed working collaboratively but wasn’t sure just what form it would take. It happened my brother-in-law, who had been invited as a guest to a Rotary luncheon in Foster City, invited me to attend with him. I didn’t know much about Rotary other than I would see their signs periodically but I thought “Why not?”. When I attended I was surprised and pleased to see that several acquaintances, including Elaine Pitts and Phil Stelling, were members. Once I understood Rotary and it’s mission of “Service above self”, I joined even though my brother-law did not.

I immediately became active in many of the club’s fund raising and service activities. Within a few weeks of joining I was asked to assist Debi Williams checking in members for the lunch meetings. I did this for about a year during which time I met all the members and soon felt connected. Within a few months Bob Pope asked me to chair the Holi Festival booth for the club. I agreed and have been involved in a form of chairing the Festival ever since, most recently with Shiraz Zack-Kanga and Jamie Cavagnaro. Over the years the festival has grown in size. When we started in 2013 we needed about 6 volunteers for a few hours to serve drinks, beer and wine to a few hundred attendees. Now we need dozens of volunteers to prepare and serve a wide range of alcoholic and soft drinks, including Indian soft drinks prepared from scratch, to more than 1500 people.

Over the years I have made friends with virtually all of the club members working with them to benefit our community. I worked on “One Warm Coat” collection and dictionary distribution with Richard Mozzini; “Senior Meals” with Rich Biederman, Mary Lou Griffin, Ed Grohe and Larry Kavinoky; the Arts and Wine Festival/City Fest with Ira Fruitman and Dave DeSmidt; and Concerts in the Park, the Fourth of July pancake breakfast and Ollie Qs with the cooking crew, including Craig Courtin, Bill Chow, Greg Kuhl, Larry Lowenthal, Ollie Patum, Paul Williams and Rick Wykoff, and Second Harvest Food Bank Food Distribution with Linda and Jon Grant, Jeff Brown and Mike Hoffman.

I have also performed a number of duties for the club over the years starting with Sargeant-at-Arms during Craig Courtin’s presidency (2013-14). I continued to serve as co-Sargeant-at-Arms until 2017. In 2017-18, I assisted Mary Lou Griffin with Vocational Service, and more recently, the Rotary Club Foundation as Treasurer for two years and currently as Secretary.

In 2014-15, I was a member of the World Community Service Committee (now known as International Service Committee) with Art Kauffman and Gil Guerin. One of our most memorable projects was to join with the Rotary Club of Woodside/Portola to bring clean water to 150 families who lived in the remote hillside village of Songis located in Bali, Indonesia. This effort was coordinated with the Rotary Club of Bali, Ubud Sunset.

Because of the prevailing winds, all the rain falls on the western side of the nearby mountain range leaving the eastern side, where Songis is located, dry for up to nine months every year. For the Songis families, life is very difficult. There are few roads, no schools, and no health facilities available to them. During the dry season, water borne pathogen diseases are a major problem especially among children and infants. The arid landscape is only able to produce a basic corn crop once each year. A few pumpkins, some peanuts, and cassava are also grown but the basic diet is corn. Economic development for the village is difficult.

During the dry season, 8-9 months of the year, villagers needed to travel 1-2 miles over rough terrain several times a day to a creek to collect water in 18-liter buckets. As part of our project, an existing well was dug deeper and a submersion pump installed. Once the pump was installed, a large catch tank was installed on a concrete pad at the highest point above the village and distribution tanks installed on concrete pads at lower elevations within the village. Gravity-fed PVC pipe was then laid between the catch tank and distribution tanks; and between the distribution tanks and the individual families to provide a sustainable source of water year round.

Joining Rotary was one of the best decisions I ever made. When I joined Rotary I was looking for like-minded individuals to give back to the community and found that effort very gratifying. But we are also a part of the world community striving to make life better for the less fortunate. As a single club we can’t do much to solve many of the world’s problems but when you consider there are more than 40,000 Rotary clubs and 1.4 million Rotarians throughout the world doing their small part, collectively we can and do make a difference.

My Rotary story would not be complete without mentioning the rewarding fellowship and friendships I have made along the way, including all of the members of the Sumanabocces two-time Foster City Ultimate Bocce Champions.

The following narrative is a continuation of a series of how a member was introduced to Rotary and subsequent memories. If you would like Rotary to be part of your life's story, please contact Alison Proctor at alisonproctor@gmail.com.) 

Mary Lou Griffin

Joined Rotary March 2, 2011

June, 2023

Shortly after retirement, I joined Rotary in 2011. I was somewhat acquainted with Rotary as I had several friends in Rotary and had been to several Rotary fundraisers. A forthcoming service trip to South Africa sponsored by the Rotary Club of Foster City motivated me to join in March 2011. All of the Rotary service trips in which I have participated have educated me and left me with some strong impressions. I have been to Mazatlan three times distributing wheel chairs, seeing a school where we supplied computers, and visiting an orphanage. Lack of sanitation and need for clean drinking water was prevalent in many areas during my visits on service trips. One of the kindergartens we visited had plumbing in the school building. There was no hookup to the sewer line in the street. The children’s use of the hill on the side of the school resulted in constant illness from the lack of sanitation.

The wheelchair trips were awesome. A lady whose old wheelchair had worn out and no longer worked was given a working wheelchair. She was so excited to be mobile that she did wheelies around the room! Another woman in South Africa was given her first wheelchair after having been paralyzed after ten years. For the first time ever, she was able to get out of the house and spend time with her children outside.

The South African trip impacted me greatly. I was shocked by the fact that roughly 40% of South African children are AIDS orphans. AIDS medications were not readily available in South Africa. The death rate of adults and children was very high. The spread of AIDS was very high, partly because of the belief by many South African men that sex with a virgin would cure them of the disease. I met a 13-year-old girl who was raising and caring for her five brothers and sisters. How difficult! Also, we provided school uniforms and shoes to all the orphans in one school. Many children had no underwear or adequate shoes. This project allowed the children to blend in with their school mates.

We also visited a school for autistic children hile in South Africa. I learned that riding horses calmed the children greatly as did placing heavily weighted vests on the children while they were in the classroom. The teachers in the school and the ways in which they educated the children was impressive.

I became president of the Rotary Club of Foster City In 2020-2021. This was in the heart of the COVID epidemic. Many of our meetings were held on ZOOM, thanks to Curtis Chen and Mark Watson. However, we tried to conduct as many meetings a possible in the Leo Ryan amphitheater so that members could get out of the house and safely socialize. In spite of our travails, our club still won the best club award from District 5150.

My involvement with Rotary is a deeply personal one. While I am a strong proponent of contributing to the community which has given me so much, my immediate friendships in the club are very dear to me. Regardless of being on a winning bocce team, playing mah-jongg or bridge, attending social events with members of social groups to which I belong, I hope to contribute long into the future.

The following narrative is a continuation of a series of how a member was introduced to Rotary and subsequent memories. If you would like Rotary to be part of your life's story, please contact Alison Proctor at alisonproctor@gmail.com.) 

Bob Caplan

Joined Rotary April 1, 1992

May, 2023

April Fool’s Day in 1992 found me joining Rotary thanks to Mike Davidson. Mike was a charter member of our club. I was sharing office space with him after venturing forth to open my own CPA firm in Foster City in October 1991. Although I had lived in Foster City for about ten years, I had been working elsewhere, and I realized I didn’t know many people in town. Mike knew that branching out socially in the area where I was now doing business could be beneficial. He told me that the “movers and shakers” of Foster City, people who were making decisions about where I lived and now worked, belonged to the Rotary Club. He invited me to a meeting.

Mike was right. I was impressed with the enthusiasm and camaraderie at the club. I found those attending were positive and cared deeply about Foster City, as well as the world. Very soon I became a an active member.

As with most Rotarians, my involvement took various forms. In the late 90s I served as treasurer. For a couple of years I chaired “One Warm Coat,” an annual clothing drive where members sat outside local markets and encouraged residents to contribute their coats and other warm items. We delivered many bags of coats to Samaritan House in time for the winter holidays.

2001 was a difficult year for me. In the space of several months, I lost my father, separated from my wife, and had considerable conflict with my three daughters. It was friends from Foster City Rotary who helped me turn my life around. Stan Pond took me to lunch and boosted my spirits by telling me that as a divorced man in my 50s I would be a “hot commodity,” and good things would come my way. Terry Shannon approached me after a meeting and said he could see I was down, but he predicted I would find someone wonderful, and my life would totally change for the best. I’ve often thought he must have been psychic, because about a month after that, another friend introduced me to someone wonderful indeed. Laura and I were married in 2003. Twenty years later we are still living our best life.

When Laura and I were dating, I took her to my first Rotary District Conference, which was held at the Tenaya Lodge near Yosemite. During the day we explored Yosemite, including a climb to Nevada Falls. At night we attended the District Conference. All the Foster City Rotarians were gracious and welcoming. We especially enjoyed our conversation with two Group Study Exchange (GSE) participants from Israel. We learned so much. Later Laura and I hosted a woman from Finland through GSE. GSE was a truly wonderful Rotary program that allowed for valuable cultural sharing and personal connections. I hope someday it is reinstated.

In 2012 Larry Lowenthal asked me if I was interested in being President of the Club for the 2014-2015 Rotary year. I was surprised, as at that time I was not on the Board and, busy with work, family and travel, I had not taken on any big roles in Rotary.

I knew Laura would need to be in agreement for me to take on such an honor, and such a commitment. The first thing I did was look up the location of the 2014 Rotary International Convention. It turned out to be Sydney, Australia. We love to travel and we had never been to Australia. It was perfect.

Laura was an enthusiastic partner at the convention that June and very supportive during my year as President. I strongly encourage any Rotarian to attend an International Convention. It’s a terrific high to be around 20,000 or more Rotarians, all with a positive view of what we can accomplish.

I feel as though I really lucked out with having Chris Gallagher as my District Governor. Not only was she a magnificent DG, but she became a good friend. I was honored to be an MC at her District Conference in Disneyland. She even let me tell a very punny joke.

During my year as President, with the help of two special members, I made a couple of additions to our weekly meetings: Rel Kempf shared a “joke of the day,” and Dan Deemers of Hillbarn Theater led us in a Rogers and Hammerstein “song of the month.” It was a fun way to change things up with a bit of laughter and song.

As I look back on that year, I can see how it got me to grow and use skills I may not have focused on or refined before, such as building consensus, managing meetings, and public speaking. If you are thinking of a leadership role in Rotary, I’d be happy to talk to you about the experience.

Several years ago, I was asked to be a member of District 5150’s finance committee. The committee reviews each District Governor’s budget and oversees the resources of our district. It has been rewarding to participate with the committee’s other members. All of them have a finance or accounting background, and we are led by Ron Gin, our former District Governor.

This year I accepted the position of Rotary Foundation Chair for our club. This is a position that Mike Hoffman did magnificently for many years. My job is to encourage our members to contribute to The Rotary Foundation (TRF). I am deeply impressed with the level of stewardship of TRF. In my years as a CPA, I have seen many charities with very high salaries and overhead where little goes to the ultimate charitable purpose. TRF has an overhead of only about five percent, which is exemplary. In my view it’s an excellent and well-managed charity. I’d be glad to talk to any member about the many ways one can contribute to The Rotary Foundation.

This year I was particularly excited to see Rotary install its First Woman President, Jennifer Jones. As a father of four daughters, it has troubled me that Rotary’s presidents were exclusively male. I have always been proud to be a Rotarian, and now I feel that pride even more.

I continue to be active in the club and participate with our fundraisers, although I no longer live or work in Foster City. Our home is in the North Fair Oaks area of Menlo Park, and a few years ago I moved my CPA practice to San Mateo. At that time I also took on a partner, and I have been starting to phase out my work, moving toward eventual retirement. As I become less involved in my business, I look forward to participating more in the club, the district, and perhaps in an international project.

The following narrative is a continuation of a series of how a member was introduced to Rotary and subsequent memories. If you would like Rotary to be part of your life's story, please contact Alison Proctor at alisonproctor@gmail.com.) 

Betty Chambers Toguchi

Joined Rotary December 9, 2000

Joined FC Rotary December 8, 2020

April, 2023

No Girls Need Apply

In 1972 I began to sell advertising for Hawaii Business magazine.  My job was to go to offices of companies in Hawaii and convince the President or Chief Operating Officer to buy advertising in the magazine to publicize their company.  I did this for two years and covered all of Honolulu plus Maui, Kauai, the Big Island and Guam.  I also want to give credit to Ethel Murphy who owned the magazine and thought it made perfect sense to give me a job that only men held before me.

In my travels I began to notice that many of the men I talked to had a Rotary plaque in their offices.  On purpose I began to ask "May I join Rotary?"  I received answers ranging from disbelief that such an event could happen to "Sure you should be able to join but no".

In 1976 I became a Financial Advisor for a major brokerage firm.  Also one of the first women.

In 1988 I was at Kidder Peabody when a important financial adviser Ed Arnold in Palo Alto retired and decided to give me 10 of his larger clients.  He profiled them as people who would be receptive to a woman financial advisor.  Meanwhile I bought motivational sales tapes to help me improve in my career.  One of them said that Kiwanians and Lions run it but the Rotarians own it.  I asked one of my clients Jack Powers if I could join Rotary.  His eyes lit up and he told me with pride how Palo Alto Rotary was one of the first clubs to admit women.  He was my sponsor when I joined the Palo Alto Rotary Club.

The Palo Alto Rotary Club had about 150 members.  If you want to get a sense of the members consider 50 more Mike Hoffmans - really admirable people who had great public speaking skills.  The “thought for the day” was an always practiced, often memorized poem or piece of literature.

In 1999 I changed firms and offices to Menlo Park where I also lived.  Roger was a member of the Menlo Park Rotary and a wonderful man – Phil Schneider asked all the spouses of members to join.  I joined because our second son Mark was a student at Menlo-Atherton High School with which the Club had several activities.

In 2005 our son was a high school senior.  Roger and I were asked to be president of the club.  We worked as a team at Morgan Stanley Menlo Park so we decided to be Co-Presidents of Menlo Park Rotary.  Our platform was to follow the money we had given to international projects.

Dr. Mark Campbell of our club had a relationship with a nonprofit called Engineers without Borders.  Florence Cassaseuse had invented a bucket attached to a UV light that purifies water by destroying bacteria.  The buckets cost $50 each and we funded 500 buckets through a Global Grant.  Our partners were the La Paz, Mexico Rotary Cub.  We flew to Cabo San Lucas and were met by La Paz Rotarians.  We stayed at their favorite hotel, ate at their favorite restaurants and had a party in our honor.  We drove out to a small village La Fortuna and saw our buckets at work.  The villagers were so grateful that it became a moving experience.

Because of our work in Mexico a club in Guatemala City asked us to partner with them to write a Global Grant for victims of Hurricane Stan around Lake Attitlan near Santiago, Guatemala.  This project created my love of Mayan culture and people.  Helping Mayan women prosper has become the focus of my life. The photo attached is a picture picture of Roger and me visiting the Mayan artisans in Antigua, Guatemala in January that we have supported.  Friendship Bridge is a leading microcredit group that also helps Mayan women refine their weaving and beading skills and  links them to Western markets to sell their products.  Information is on  www.friendshipbridge.org  whereby the Master Weavers Collection will show the blouses (huipiles) we have sponsored.

The Mayan women asked me to sell our “stuff”.  Since 2006 I have had a trunk show in former District Governor Mark Flegel’s furniture store the first Saturday in December.  I send all sale proceeds back to Friendship Bridge.  I have sent over $30,000 back through the years.

My goal as International Service Chair is to finalize the work Shiraz has done in India and work with our new President-Elect Jamie to develop an international service project for 2023 and 2024.

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(The following narrative is a continuation of a series of how a member was introduced to Rotary and subsequent memories. If you would like Rotary to be part of your life's story, please contact Alison Proctor at alisonproctor@gmail.com.) 

Alison Proctor

Joined Rotary November 20, 2019

February, 2023

When I was a child, my dad was in a service club and he used to bring my sister and me to community service projects, club meetings and crab feeds. At the time, I didn’t really know the scope of all of his friends and how he knew them, but we always had fun meeting everyone and participating in the activities. He explained to us that when you’re able, you should always give back to the community and our world.

As I got older, I joined the Interact Club in high school. I enjoyed spending my time working on projects to support the needs of my community. I continued into adulthood by joining nonprofit organizations and eventually decided to run for elected office for the San Mateo-Foster City School Board. That is when I subsequently learned about the Rotary Club of Foster City. I attended a few meetings and really enjoyed learning about all of the ways the Rotary Club serves our community and the world. I met kind people and enjoyed spending time at the Crowne Plaza over lunch.

Shortly after I joined, the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and we were forced to go to remote meetings. I was grateful for the short time we had in-person where I was able to make connections and build relationships, but I was even more grateful that we were able to maintain those connections and relationships online during a time of such uncertainty.

Because of the pandemic, my in-person experiences have been somewhat limited, but my best memories so far have been the time I volunteered to distribute food at the Rec Center parking lot, serving snow cones and popcorn at the Summer Concerts, decorating and setting up for the Spaghetti Feed, and collecting used shoes outside of Safeway. These were all local projects where I was able to help serve the community while having a fantastic time with my fellow Rotarians. In addition to these events, I have been serving as the Membership Chair for the past 2 years. I especially enjoy meeting potential members and telling them how wonderful the Rotary Club of Foster City is.

I recently visited Inagi City in Tokyo with several Rotarians and it was a trip of a lifetime. We met the Rotarians from Inagi City, learned about their culture and customs, and made new friendships. A delegation from Inagi City recently visited us and the Rotary Club of Foster City gave them a warm welcome…with delicious food from the cooking crew! I look forward to traveling to other places where I can help communities in need and build relationships while also learning about dissimilar cultures and customs.

Although my current Rotary Story is short, I’m looking forward to continuing with my story and expanding my experiences.

(The following narrative is a continuation of a series of how a member was introduced to Rotary and subsequent memories. If you would like Rotary to be part of your life's story, please contact Alison Proctor at alisonproctor@gmail.com.) 

Craig Courtin

Joined Rotary May 26, 1999

January, 2023

After moving to Foster City with my family in 1996 I wanted to get more involved in the community both personally and professionally. Then Rotarian, FCPD Captain Bruce Tognetti, invited me to a meeting. I was impressed with the friendly atmosphere and the ambitious community service agenda of the club. I joined and over the years have had the opportunity to be deeply involved in the club’s activities as well as building great friendships along the way.

I served on the Club Board for 8 ½ years, including two as Vocational Chair, 3 ½ as Community Service Chair, President Elect, President in 2013/14 and Past President. I also served on the Foundation Board for two years. Along the way I’ve been involved as the Scholarship Coordinator for several years and annual application evaluator, annual rose pruner and Ryan Park planting and City tree planting projects coordinator among others. I was the Cooking Crew coordinator for 6 ½ years and coordinator/cook for many of the cooking events during that time. Speaking of the Cooking Crew: a big thanks to Greg Kuhl, Larry Lowenthal, Rick Wykoff and Paul Williams for introducing me to what has become my post-retirement passion, fly fishing.

I also served at the District level for three years as its first Child Safety Officer after the District established its child safety protocol program.

International trips were both fun and enlightening. As President Elect, my wife Jeanette and I had the chance to attend the International Conference in Lisbon, Portugal in 2013. We also joined other club members and Interacters on two trips to Mazatlan to distribute wheelchairs and school supplies as well as re-painting a school.

But perhaps my most memorable Rotary moment came in a 5-day trip I took in 2002 with Paul Williams and then club president Larry Zanatta. We visited Paul’s mother at the short-term orphanage/care facility she established in Santa Barbara, Hondurus. A more inspirational, generous and compassionate person, I have never met. We distributed wheelchairs and donated medical supplies around the poverty stricken countryside and we worked with and were hosted by local Rotarians. But it was the spirit of the Honduran people that I found so uplifting: from the farmer living in an earthen shack with no visible posessions of any value, who nonetheless, with great pride was busy planting flowers in front of his home; to the young school girl who ran with delight to show her mother the second-hand dress she had just picked out of those we had brought; to the emaciated looking mother outside a children’s hospital who I watched hand a stranger’s hungry child her only half a sandwich; to the adorable abandoned infant at Paul’s mother’s house who lite up the room with her smile, albeit through a cleft palate, every time you’d peer into her crib.

Those memories are still personally very profound to me, but I’ve also come to realize these types of acts of service constitute the essence of what Rotary does.

(The following narrative is a continuation of a series of how a member was introduced to Rotary and subsequent memories. If you would like Rotary to be part of your life's story, please contact Alison Proctor at alisonproctor@gmail.com.) 

Ann Ritzma

Joined F.C. Rotary March 23, 2016

December, 2022

Service has always been the foundation of my life. I am a lifelong Girl Scout and a career public servant with a commitment to making a difference in the communities I serve and the people I work with. When I began working in Foster City in 2013, my Human Resources role was internally focused on the employees of the City. I wanted an external opportunity to serve the Foster City community and get to know residents and business leaders. Fortunately, over the past several decades, I have had the opportunity to collaborate with Rotarians in Pacifica and South San Francisco. Although I couldn’t join Rotary at that time, the experience left a lasting impression and inspired me to keep Rotary as a future option.

Matt Martel (Foster City Police Chief) and Jim Hardy (Foster City City Manager) introduced me to the Foster City Rotary Club in 2016 and it didn’t take long for “The Club that Cooks” to become part of my life. The weekly fellowship and community service projects are engaging, fun and fulfilling. It’s great to work with people who share a common set of values and believe in the power of service.

One of my favorite and memorable events with Foster City Rotary has been the Annual 4^th of July Pancake Breakfast. I’ve been a server, a pancake flipper, a member of the flag waving clean-up crew and a happy celebrant. It’s a wonderful way to kick off Foster City’s spectacular celebration, watch the parade and contribute to the community spirit.

What I enjoy most about Rotary is the opportunity to work with exceptional people. Every event makes a difference in the Club’s ability to help others and provides an opportunity to build community. I have loved my role as a volunteer - RibFest, the Spaghetti Dinner/Bingo evening, Summer Concerts in the Park, Annual Tree Lighting, and the Holi Festival. I’ve learned new skills like making lassi and removing non-native vegetation while having a great time. I am especially grateful to Mary Lou Griffin, who took me under her wing and taught me the fine art of auction baskets and procuring donations for the club.

On a personal note, Rotary has given me the opportunity to have an impact and role in international projects like End Polio Now and Shelter Box. My contributions to TRF have broadened my service well beyond Foster City and my professional work. It is a pleasure and privilege to serve the Foster City Rotary Club and to be a Rotarian.

(The following narrative is a continuation of a series of how a member was introduced to Rotary and subsequent memories. If you would like Rotary to be part of your life's story, please contact Joyce Cave at caveclan@yahoo.com.)

Noemi Avram

Member Since October 1, 2001

April 2021

Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I studied architecture at the University of Buenos Aires. I knew at 10 I wanted to be an architect. Later, my husband Hector (aka Coco) and I moved to Toronto whereby I received a Master's degree in architecture, with an emphasis in Urban Studies at the University of Toronto. Both of our children were born there and soon all of us moved to Foster City as a result of my husband's job of designing MRI equipment utilizing his doctorate in physics. In 2001, after our youngest left for college, we started joining different organizations and boards to give back to our community. In 2002 I became a Planning Commissioner in the City of Foster City.

Although I attended events, fundraisers, social and weekly meetings, it took a while for me to become a Rotarian in 2001, but the timing seemed right after 9/11. Ron Karp, as a long time member, client and friend, sponsored me. Paul Gumbinger , member of the Rotary San Mateo lunch club was my boss, mentor and influencer. Initially, he was the reason I joined Rotary.

In 2008 my husband and I went on a humanitarian trip to China, wheelchair distribution was the emphasis of the mission. I was so amazed by the labor of love of our members as well as the Chinese club, that upon our return I volunteered to go to Mazatlan, Mexico, for another humanitarian journey, including wheelchair distribution, arms prosthetics , school and soccer supplies , visiting a school for the blind as well as bringing sweets and other goods to an orphanage.

This trip to Mazatlan made me a full fledged Rotarian as it provided my "Aha" moment whereby Rotary service became my passion. Because I am bilingual, I became the translator at wheelchair events. Much of our distributions were in a large stadium in addition to the home distributions where we saw the fragile nature of housing in Mazatlan. Prior to the distribution in the stadium I was asked to translate between a grandmother, whose grandson who was born without one of his arms, and the person who provided prosthetics. The boy's name was Jonathan and to this day, it brings both tears of emotion and joy thinking how we changed his life by installing a prosthetic arm. As a witness, Greg Kuhl will likely share this moment in time with the same intensity. Since then, numerous occasions have shown me what we do really matters. I was fortunate to participate in wheelchair distribution in South Africa also, and five of our club's 14 missions to Mazatlan.

My best year was 2012-2013, when I humbly had the honor to lead the club as president. Previously, I had been on the board in different offices for few years. As president, I attended the RI Convention in Bangkok witnessing amazing speakers. It gave me the perspective of Rotary being the Great Equalizer of diversity, variety, and inclusion.

It has been almost 20 years since I joined Rotary. I have enjoyed volunteering at Art & Wine Festivals, concerts in the park, dictionary distribution at local schools, SHFB, spaghetti bingo, rib fest, and the Holi fest. I have realized Rotary does not start or stop in a moment, but the "secret sauce" is the continuum of attitudes, relationships, and connections. I am grateful for the values and principles permeating Rotary with "Service above Self" and fortunate to have met our members, whom I admire for their dedication, perseverance, even throughout the pandemic. All are the heroes I try to emulate.

I joined Rotary at the urging of Terry Shannon in 1997.  He had been bugging me for years to join, but my office was in San Francisco and it was just too much of a drive every Wednesday. I was already involved in a lot of volunteer opportunities and was not sure I could find time to add one more thing on my plate.  I was a little overwhelmed the few months after I joined.  There seemed to be a fundraiser or a project two or three times a month. Larry Zanata was the club president and gave me some great advice.  He told me to pick 3-4 projects that I was really excited about and participate in those and not go crazy about participating in project every 2-3 weeks.    

I just wanted to be a worker bee and not be in leadership.  My volunteer activities at the time included AYSO soccer, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and others.  When I was elected to the City Council, almost every evening had me at some committee meeting, including 2 years as mayor and chairing CCAG, the County Library Board and serving on Criminal Justice Council and the Airport Roundtable. Running my own business and raising 3 children was about all I could handle.   

Some of the best times I have had with club was working at the Art and Wine Festival with The Grants, Torgerson’s, Ollie and his cooking crew, helping out on many cooking events including several concerts in the park, a few dictionary donations with Rich Mozzini  and the 4th of July pancake breakfast with Larry Kavinoky and Ed Grohe.  Although, the very best times  were the years I spent hosting the  student exchange kids.  Agnes from Austria/Germany, then a short time stay with a young man from Mexico who was originally with the San Mateo Rotary club and then Nayeli- who I am still in touch with today.  Hats off to Greg Kuhl for all his hard work in making this happen. Lots of interact involvement those years and adding another kid to my house.  I remember making tamales, from scratch, with Nayeli around Christmas. It took us 2 days and we made over 300 tamales.. Somewhere in there was a trip to Manteca to repaint playground equipment with a van full of interact kids. 

Multiple years in helping with Safe Streets. I really miss that opportunity, it made Foster  City extra special. Then a year later I went to Mazatlan to help deliver wheelchairs. A great time to get to know some more  Rotarians just a little better.  Stopped by the orphanage and got to see Nayelli as she was about ready to graduate form High School.  They loved the clothes and treats we brought with us. 

Then there was the Rib Fest (which I actually chaired one year) and multiple bingo nights with us and the Lions clubs that I volunteered my time with. ALL good times.   One year I attended the Rotary International Meeting when it was in New Orleans and had a great time. 

In 2012, my husband and I bought a home in Grass Valley and began the transition up that way. It made attending Rotary a bit more challenging, but since my office was still in the Bay Area I probably was able to attend ½ the meetings in Foster City. When I was not in Foster City, I checked out 6 of the 7 Rotary Clubs in Nevada County …feeling welcome wherever I went. Attended a lot of good events and will most likely join the 49er Breakfast Rotary one of these days.  I gave up a lot of my Bay Area activities except for CERT (since 2005) and Rotary and filled my plate with volunteer opportunity up in Nevada County. 

I have been serving on the Endowment Board of Directors  with Linda Grant, Mary Bates, and Larry Lowenthal and am now currently the chair of that committee with Gil Guerin, Mark Watson Larry Lowenthal and seeing a lot of Marylou and Curtis. For Mark Watson’s year as President, I help coordinate groups that would be receiving checks at various meetings. I am chairing the High Tea, currently set for May 2021, and have agreed to be Cutis Chen’s Community Service Director (assuming everyone else continue to chair our fabulous events.). 

My time is still full as I currently have 20 employees with 3 offices and provide consulting in nearly 20 states. Before COVID, I was most likely traveling nearly every week. What I really love about Rotary is the variety of people I have met and the friendships I have made.   

I loved it when Tracy Aguilar became the Chief of Police as I remember her joining the police force right out of the academy when I was on the City Council.  When my husband and I decided to go to Argentina, Noemi Avram was fabulous if giving me lots of tips of what to see and where to eat. It was so great that so many former City Council members were also in the club like Marland Townsend, Rick Wykoff, Pam Frisella; then Jim Hardy and Kevin Miller  two of our City Managers. Kevin actually lives about 10 minutes away from me in Grass Valley. Therese Tahir, former City Clerk also retired to Nevada County and I see her from time to time. Matt Martel, now in Las Vegas, was another chief of police.  

I apologize for people who I did not mention your name. There are so many of you who have become friends, I was bound to run out of space to list you all. Rotary is just a great big family that will welcome you wherever you go. I am so glad I joined. 

(The following narrative is a continuation of a series of how a member was introduced to the Foster City Rotary Club and subsequent memories. If you would like Rotary to be part of your life's story, please contact Joyce Cave at caveclan@yahoo.com.)

Dr. Jon Grant

Rotarian since January 13, 1977

November 2020

 The first provisional Foster City Rotary Club meeting took place December 13^th, 1976. Somebody should have told me to miss the second meeting instead of giving the impression Rotary kept track of attendance, so I would not have felt the pressure to keep up 100% attendance for the last 44 years! Because I was a Charter Member I did not have the same criteria or restrictions subsequent members had…no vetting, no voting-to-accept, no red and blue badge. Officers and committee members were selected by us volunteering or just being assigned. At one of the first meetings I found my hand in the air way too often and thus found out I was the “Foundation Chairman”, on the Board of Directors and on the Social Committee. This name sounded more fun than Foundation so it was where I concentrated for the first few years. Our Charter President and a few sponsoring members from San Mateo were the only ones with any Rotary experience and they were trying to get us organized – designing a Rotary Exchange Banner, buying a bell, switching restaurants and trying to keep us from inviting women into Rotary – so they let The Rotary Foundation (TRF) information and fundraising slide under the radar.

I was selected to be the second Full Term President of our Club in 1978-1979 and, despite that, continued to be the TRF Chairman and subsequently continued that role for many years. Soon after “volunteering” to be Foundation Chairman I wrote to Evanston to ask about getting more information about a new program they were promoting – The Rotary Volunteers. It was a lot different then – you actually had to write a letter and put a stamp on it to get information from Rotary. I did get a reply after a few months…the letter read: “Congratulations, you have been assigned to be a Rotary Volunteer in a Vietnamese Refugee Camp in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines in April/May 1985”. I had four employees that needed to be paid, rent due on my dental office and office equipment loans – so I thought: “This is perfect time to take six weeks off!” So off I went. This was my first exposure to Rotary Service and what the Rotary Foundation can accomplish.

After returning, I spoke at many Rotary Clubs and introduced our Club to contributing to -- and more importantly, utilizing -- the programs of TRF.

My speaking to the Clubs in the District, and concentration on TRF programs made an impression - I was presented the TRF Meritorious Service Award in 1993 and then selected to be District 5150 Governor in 1994-1995. During my year as Governor I really pushed TRF Matching Grants and our District went from having only five TRF Matching Grants to being awarded 13 successful Matching Grants during the 1994-1995 year. Following my year as DG I was awarded the TRF Distinguished Service Award in 1996.

This success and my continued promotion of The Rotary Foundation caught the eye of Past RI President Cliff Dochterman as he appointed me to be a Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator in 1998-2000. This assignment involved coordinating donations, promoting programs and conducting regional TRF seminars in California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Nevada.

I was attending a TRF seminar in Oregon where I was introduced to the Whirlwind Wheelchair Program. I enrolled in the wheelchair building course at UCSF where I welded and sewed together my own wheelchair and helped them get three TRF Matching Grants to build wheelchair fabrication shops in Mexico, Guatemala and Uganda.

In 2000 I saw an article in the SF Chronicle saying Ken Behring of the Blackhawk Subdivision in Danville was forming a Foundation for distributing wheelchairs. I had been assigned to be on the Rotary International “Jobs for the Disabled Task Force” by President Frank Devlyn so I was able to get an appointment to meet with Ken and his staff. President Frank had spoken with Ken and Ken had asked Frank to be on his Advisory Board mostly, I believe, to be able to access the 1.2 million Rotarians volunteers to help distribute wheelchairs. Ken had offered 10 - 40 foot containers of wheelchairs to Frank…I suggested that we make this gift 20 - 20 foot containers and write 20 TRF Matching Grants to fill the other half of the 20 foot container with wheelchairs to match Ken’s gift. President Frank agreed and we began!

I went on to write over 100 Grants for wheelchairs – well over $8 million. Ken Behring became member of our Rotary Club and contributed over $600,000 through our Club for sponsorship of wheelchair Grants. We wrote three of the largest Matching Grants ever written. This relationship allowed me to travel to 40 or 50 countries specifically to distribute wheelchairs – bringing the total of countries I have visited to 132 - and to also organize a wheelchair presentation on stage at the Rotary International Convention in Barcelona Spain – following the wheelchair ceremony and a subsequent ceremony where I was presented a Global Quest award as one of the top Past District Governors in the world - Linda and I joined Ken Behring and President Rick King for dinner with that day’s Key Note Speaker – Mikhail Gorbachev, who coincidentally is a Paul Harris Fellow in our club because of contributions to the TRF/Wheelchair Foundation Matching Grants Program.

Rotary has allowed me to meet world leaders around the world. Gorbechev, Ted Kennedy, King Abdulla and Queen Rania of Jordan, several First ladies in Central and South American countries who have since been deposed and forgotten – but I must admit the people the most memorable to me are members of the Rotary Club of Foster City. Traveling companions, dependable friends, bocce ball pals and coaches, generous (and sometimes willing) donors – Ollie, Greg, Paul, Rick, Larry, Mike….thank you all.