Meeting on Feb 20, 2013
GREETER: Pres Elect Chuck led us in the pledge and his thoughts of the day:
The Seven Social Sins:
Wealth without work.
Pleasure without conscience.
Knowledge without character.
Commerce without morality.
Science without humanity.
Worship without sacrifice.
Politics without principle.
GUESTS:
Will Walsh, Banker and ex member of Rotary Club of Ross
Paul Kingsman, Guest and colleague of Past Pres Matt T
Doug Ferguson, Speaker and Lawyer
Todd Juhnky, Software Sales for Beaverton OR, Guest of Farhad
Dr Earl Johnson, Ex-member of our Club
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Past Pres Dianne note of appreciation to Dr Earl for his humanitarian efforts in fixing her fence to keep Rocky inbound!
Pres Elect Chuck announced an urgent need for May 17th (five people in the evening) and 15 more on May 18 for help with the Rotary Club of Petaluma's ride. They are giving us $4,000 worth of website for our Ride4Vets event.
Melody G was staying with her aunt who after being sent to hospital for pnemania went into a coma. All of our thoughts and best wishes are with her and her family.
GOODTIMES:
Pres Elect Chuck shared the amazing speech of Vice Adm Surgeon who was introduced by Past Secretary of Defence and State Schultz. He cited a set of statistics about our combat injuries. Almost 98% of all injured soldiers survive if they get to the hospital (remember MASH?) and 50% of all injured soldiers are the medics!
Bill R shared his Arkansas trip. Including being 23 hours late for his flight there.
Dr Earl shared his story of a mistaken trip to Monterrey Mexico instead of Monterey California!
SPEAKER: Doug Ferguson
What a treat to hear Doug in person at our Club. I will quote a few items from Citizen of Marin from a recent article on Doug:
Although attorney Doug Ferguson says he has a short attention span, he’s a man of impressive consistencies — married to the same woman for 54 years, practiced law for 51, lived in Marin for more than 40, served the Trust for Public Land for 43, occupied the same Shelter Bay law office for 32.
“As my wife, Jane, has said, it’s a ‘superficial steadiness,’” Ferguson says, “and she both commends it and is concerned by it. I find myself doing 73 different things a day, and that keeps me fulfilled to the point where I don’t need changes in location, occupation, or volunteer pursuits.”
Scattered among the 73 different involvements that occupy Ferguson’s day are serving as a director of the Trust for Public Land, a national organization that acquires open space; acting as a pro bono legal adviser to EAH, a Marin-based nonprofit builder of affordable housing; and working with the volunteer entertainment troupe Bread and Roses; the West Marin nonprofit teaching farm Slide Ranch, and the Marin Theatre Company, Rafael Film Center, Larkspur Cafe Theatre and Save San Francisco Bay.
Oh, yes, Ferguson also been filmmaker George Lucas’s personal attorney untill just a few years ago and served on the boards of most of Lucasfilm Ltd.’s wide-ranging business interests. He also writes music, plays the piano and sings (“badly,” he says).
What do you consider your greatest personal accomplishments in Marin County? I’ve been lucky to have participated in a number of projects I’m really proud of—most of which I did with the help of several other folks. However, the one I did virtually by myself was acquiring Slide Ranch, the nature center near Muir Beach. In the mid-’60s, my father had died and I was ruminating about a fitting memorial and just happened upon Slide Ranch, so named because it was literally sliding toward China.
I tracked down the owner, a Hollywood scriptwriter, and began 30 months of negotiations that ended with the acquisition of the 150-acre property for $150,000, which at the time seemed like an astronomical sum. The seller’s vision was to build a hotel there and he initially thought it was worth 15 times that final price. After purchasing the property, my family conveyed it to the Nature Conservancy and it has continued to this day as [the site of] a wonderful program where people of all ages learn about nature, good nutrition and good animal care.
Doug's final comment to many questions from the floor was "Revolutions start with ONE person who is focused and dedicated; if you really believe in a cause, put all of your energy and work intelligently towards the end result and it will happen".