Paul Melnyk is the CFO of the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing and a Commercial Real Estate Investment Broker in Silicon Valley.
Formerly, Paul was President of Foresight Institute, Director of Research at Grubb & Ellis Company and CEO of Medical Genetics, Inc.
 
Paul loves to learn and explore.  He has completed a wide array of studies in areas such as accounting, investments, computer science, business management and golf.

In this week's talk, Paul will be challenging us to think beyond our normal day-to-day experience. 

 

Location: Bistro 880 in the Newark DoubleTree Hotel.

 

Thanks to the work of Mayor Alan Nagy and other local historians, the Tri-Cities are blessed with a Museum of Local History. Perhaps even better, we are bless with walking "museums" of local history, Mayor Nagy being one of them.

 

The Mayor shared with us some of the rich trove of knowledge he has about the city of Newark, along with the occasional nugget about the connection between Newark and our own Rotary Club.

By now, many of you know the first object of Rotary is:

"The development of acquaintance
as an opportunity for service."

 

I'm not going to bother looking this up, but in my mind, acquaintance is a synonym for fellowship. Put another way, acquaintance is an opportunity for fellowship, and fellowship is an opportunity for getting better acquainted.

When I look carefully at the first object of Rotary, I wonder if the two phrases could be swapped (and slightly modified) to come up with a view of service and fellowship that fits Newark Rotary very well. How about the following?

"Acting in service
as a way of developing acquaintance."

or

"Acting in service
as an opportunity for fellowship."

 

During the holidays, we may get so caught up with fellowship (and entertaining, and being entertained) that we forget what the first holiday of this season is all about, being thankful for all of our blessings. Among those blessings, are the opportunities we have for fellowship.

 

Fellowship, as practiced at the Poker Soiree

 

 

The fate of that little 12-pound turkey:

After hanging around in salt for about 24 hours.

 

 

The smoker is getting smoky.

 

 

Elements of the bird's "stuffing."

 

 

The forgotten zest. Looked great on the plate. Never made it into the bird.

 

 

That turkey is looking pretty good about half-way through the smoking. In case it isn't obvious, that semi-ovally mark on the smoker's lid is evidence that the bird was a bit too large for the small smoker.

 

OOPS!
This bird cooked a bit too long.
Being that it was brined and smoked, the meat wasn't as dry as it might have been otherwise, and the flavor was just about perfect.
Not bad for my very first smoked whole bird.

 

Laurence Hansen