Our Club welcomed several visiting Rotarians from District 5150. President JT Harold Forbus (Accounting | Bogdan & Frasco) called the meeting to order at 12:15 PM and led us virtually to the Renaissance Room at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel.
Week In Review
- President JT congratulated Collin Morikawa for winning the PGA tour at Harding Park on Sunday, August 9, 2020.
- Then some sad news. . . as our Club observed 45 seconds of silence for the recent tragedy in Beirut, Lebanon. We also watched some powerful before and after photos of the explosion.
Rotary Moments
President JT took us back to August 15, 1910 to Chicago where the first Rotary International Convention was held. From there, he led us to the founding of our Club and to the membership directory. On that directory were the names of the then members and their classifications. One classification of note was "rubber stamps" associated with the Patrick family.
Jim Patrick (Retail: Office Supplies | Patrick & Co.) unmuted and spoke of his family's history in our Club. His grandfather, J. Howard Patrick, was one of the founding members. His father, James Patrick, was president in 1933-1934. Jim himself was president in 1984-1985. Jim went on to describe his family's accomplishments in the Club as well as his fondest moments such as the two-martini lunch and Rotary Kids Day. He made special mention of the Rotary Int'l v. Rotary Club of Duarte, 481 U.S. 537 (1987) decision that allowed women to join Rotary and how our current Senator Dianne Feinstein (Governmental Relations | Office of US Senator Dianne Feinstein) became the first woman to join our Club. Senator Feinstein is still a member today. The audience applauded Jim for sharing this impressive family and Rotary history.
Another important Rotary Moment was the announcement that Jennifer E. Jones, a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, had been nominated to become Rotary International’s president for 2022-23. She will be the first woman to hold that office in the organization’s 115-year history and will officially become president-nominee on October 1, 2020 if no other candidates challenge her.Brian Rusch from the Rotary Club of Peninsula Starlight was in attendance to introduce the new Rotary Club for Global Action that is being formed.
Breakout Groups
President-elect Mary Liu (Real Estate: Sales | Vanguard Properties/JM Real Estate Group) broke the audience into small groups of 6-7 people to enjoy some fellowship. Everyone returned from their group with smiles.
Kenyan Masks
Susan Dean (Healthcare: Nursing Services | Retired) shared how she became involved in this project that began as part of our Action for Leadership Program (ALPS) program. Susan also described in detail life and conditions in Kenya. Our Club has been selling masks made in Kenya to help end domestic violence in that country.
Guest SpeakerScott Plakun (Management Consulting | The Plakun Group) introduced today's speaker, Jon Kaufman of H2OpenDoors and a member of the Rotary Club of Peninsula Starlight. So far, Jon has been involved in the installation of 33 water purification plants in 11 countries. He stressed the importance of funding and carrying out projects that are sustainable. The audience applauded Jon's highlights of these projects.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 PM.