President Steve's first meeting - July 8, 2013
President Steve started out the first meeting of his term with an innovative twist – he rang a digital bell. It seems his went missing at Tim’s demotion bbq. But no worries! Steve, being the organized engineer type, had his meeting outlined for the club and projected on screen at the front of the room, which, by the way, was arranged in a slightly different configuration.
Club members stepped up to the plate and helped perform the various duties…
- Chuck Elizondo – Greeter
- John Peplowski – Pledge
- Dave Johnson – Thought for the day
- Ken Holbrooke – Sargeant at arms
- Fred Claessens – Photographer
- Kathy Egenes – Spoke notes
Our visiting Rotarians included Pres. Kimberly Parker - NC 49er, Pres. Allison Swartzendruber - NC South, Pres. Dennis Geare - Nevada City, Pres. Bob Barbaro - Penn Valley, Assistant Governor Doug McDonald. RYE student Belle from Brazil attended her final meeting of the year. She presented President Steve with her sponsoring club’s Rotary flag, thanked us once again for her great year in Grass Valley and told us she will be heading home very soon. Great job Belle! We’ll miss you!
Dan Portand was visiting as a guest of Peter Lemmon. Pete, however, was not in attendance. It seems he was otherwise occupied encouraging his wife as they awaited the birth of their baby.
Kris Stepanian led us in singing Happy Birthday to: Ray Enneking, Larry Fallery, MaryAnn Cartan, Kelly Quinn, Peter Lemmon and Kat Thomas.
Anniversaries are celebrated this month by: Lori Burkart-Frank and Ken, Larry Faller and Judy, Kris Stepanian and Stephen.
New member Oz Butterfield was inducted today. He is a transfer from the Tahoe City Rotary Club. Welcome Oz!
Chuck Elizondo received a 39 year perfect attendance pin. Nice job, Chuck!
Announcements:
- Next week Lori Burkart-Frank will give a presention on the Nevada County Community Leadership Instute – NCCLI. Many of our club’s members have been through the program and can attest to its value for our community.
- In the coming weeks, the international committee will give a presentation on the Lisbon Convention.
- Play Bocce with fellow Rotarians at Western Gateway Park, Wednesday nights for the next few weeks. 6:00 p.m. All are welcome, no experience necessary.
Confessions:
- President Steve proclaimed this week to be "Fine Free", though he immediately followed that up by having a “pin check”
- Rod and Susan Fivelstad recently returned from a 6 week tour oversees. They spent 4 weeks traveling around the UK before heading to the RI convention in Lisbon, Portugal for the remaining 2 weeks.
- Bob Long was so excited to announce the birth of twin grandbabies last Sunday that he pledged $50 to Polio Plus.
- Jon Byerrum and Holly just returned from a bike riding trip in Oregon. Despite the fact of riding for 8 days from the Rogue River to the Coast, thru rain storms and blazing heat, up to 20,000 ft elevation and countless miles, their bikes could not seem to pass a single bakery on the route so they ended up gaining 5 lbs each.
President Steve shared with us the new faces of Rotary this year and introduced the Presidents of the other 4 clubs in our Area. Allison Swartzendruber of Nevada County South took advantage of the multi-media equipment and showed us a glimpse of what we might expect from Steve this coming year. It appears he can do a “mean” Harlem Shake, complete with a lamp shade on his head – ooohhh yeaaaah! Allison also threw out a challenge for a friendly Harlem Shake dance competition among the local clubs.
Steve let us know a few of the things that have been going on behind the scenes at the club level and told us about the board’s idea of a new bike race fund raiser in the spring. He plans to keep communication open between the board and club members with updates on membership and other important decisions. He asked that we all take the time to express our ideas and concerns. One of his goals is to Engage - Have fun – Have more fun!
The winning raffle ticket was held by Bob Barbaro of Penn Valley, but alas, he did not pick the black marble. Steve ended the meeting by ringing his bell, yes - HIS bell, which was returned by Dick Geare of the Nevada City Rotary Club. I sense a story there… so this may be continued.
