Posted by Scott Plakun on Mar 07, 2019
President Rhonda Poppen (Grant Writing; GRANTdog) welcomed about 70 Rotarians and friends. Many of today’s visitors said they had come specifically to hear the speaker, including a Rotarian from Germany who asked her to sign two copies of her recent book, one published in German and the other in English.
 
Rhonda noted that last week’s Emergency Services Day was a big success and thanked the committee for its hard work.
 
Stephanie Schmautz (Retirement Living; The Carlisle) announced that she would be leading a session of Rotary 101 immediately following today’s luncheon.
 
Rhonda and President-elect Casey Blair (Foreign Equity Trading; Feis Options) made these announcements:
  • St. Ignatius Interact charter party: February 22 at the Academy of Art Car Museum.
  • Bowling social: February 26.
  • RotaCare service opportunity: March 2 at Serramonte Shopping Center.
  • Diaper bag assembly and facilities tour at the Homeless Prenatal Program: March 12.
  • Baby showers at the Homeless Prenatal Program: March 14.
  • District Assembly, the pre-launch of DGE Sue Rokaw’s and Club President-elect Casey Blair’s year of leadership: March 16 in Larkspur.
Mark Enis (Asset Management; OpenKey Group) announced the People of Action "Impact" speaker series: April 4 in downtown San Francisco.
 
The March 19 luncheon meeting will be our annual World Wide Rotary Day celebration, an event that usually sells out. This year’s speaker, Daniel Ellsberg, is expected to be a big draw. It is important that members register in advance: there will be no room for walk-ins.
 
The member spotlight was on Jane Ferguson Flout (Non-profit Administration; Catholic Charities), who talked about how she came to work at Catholic Charities, and why that is a great fit for her.
 
VP of Development Frank Yoke (Development; San Francisco Bay Area Council, Boy Scouts of America) recognized Stephanie Schmautz for becoming a Major Donor to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, and Greg Gutting (Human Services; The Salvation Army, Golden State Division) and Tom Brunner (Non-profit Research; Glaucoma Research Foundation) for achieving new levels of Paul Harris Fellowship.
 
Those donating $20 or more included:
 
  • John Mathers (Management Consulting; eVo Associates), who was delighted to have had a surprise birthday visit from his brother and sister.
  • Dora Dye (Education; City College), who announced that David is cancer-free for the first time in a few years.
  • Anita Stangl (Non-profit Medical Services; Alliance for Smiles), to promote a networking event Alliance for Smiles is hosting at Cambria Gallery on March 7th at 6 in conjunction with the Young Diplomatic Corps.
  • Flora Burke (Financial Management; Merrill Lynch), who had her daughter with her on the celebration of her 13th birthday
  • John Hoch (Financial Management; Retired), who is having surgery on his other foot.
  • Rhonda Poppen, who attended a surprise 80th birthday party for her mother.
Scott Plakun (Management Consulting; The Plakun Group) introduced our speaker, Arlie Hochschild, who spoke about the political divide in the US. She also provided some ideas about how to bridge the divide, including compulsory national service and nationwide exchanges of high school students. Copies of her recent book, Strangers in Their Own Land, were offered for sale at the end of the meeting.
 
Mark Calender (Insurance Broker; Calender-Robinson) won today’s door prize, a Rotary tote bag.
 
 
Photos by Xu Wang (Financial Management; Wang Wealth Management).
Edited by Dora Dye.