Posted by Dora Dye on Sep 01, 2022
President Christopher Wiseman (Nonprofit Management | Glaucoma Research Foundation) called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone attending via Zoom or in person inside the Carmel Room of the Hotel Nikko.
 
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
Today's Visiting Rotarians were District Governor Gary Chow from the Rotary Club of South San Francisco and District Governor Nominee and Chief of Staff Steve Wright from the Rotary Club of Pacifica. Attending in his capacity as Assistant Governor was David Dye (Management Consulting | Retired). Our guest today was Zara Rowbotham.
 
Meeting Volunteers
President Christopher thanked today's meeting volunteers (listed at the end of this story) as well as the Rotarians who helped to set up the meeting space in the Carmel Room.
 
Agenda
Below is today's agenda:
 
 
Polio Update
TRF Chair and Past President Jim Patrick (Retail: Office Supplies | Patrick & Co.) talked about the impressive decline in polio cases from 500,000 to only 20 cases currently since Rotary began working to eradicate polio. That is incredible, but the work is not yet done. Jim encouraged vaccination and the continued effort toward closing the book on polio.

Fashion Show on October 18, 2022
Maureen O'Shea (Governmental Relations | Retired) presented on the First Annual Rotary Fashion Show. The theme will be "Puttin' on the Glitz." She credited President Christopher for coming up with the idea to hold a fashion show. The Fashion Show is open to all and is not a fundraiser, but rather a friend raiser. Attendees will also learn about our Club's events throughout the Rotary year.
 
50/50 Campaign
Speaking on behalf of the San Francisco Rotary Foundation, Robin Azevedo (Retail: Mattresses | McRoskey Mattress Company) kicked off the 50/50 Campaign for 2022-23. Now in its third year, the goal is to raise $123,000 with Robin leading this year's campaign. The monies raised will fund both the San Francisco Rotary Foundation and The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, supporting projects of our Club and those of Rotary International and defraying some of the costs of almost $200,000 directed annually to Club projects. Robin announced that the Campaign already has commitments totaling $50,000; so, we are off to a running start to achieve $123,000. 

President Christopher explained the story behind the amount of $123,000: $100,000 had been the goal the past two years, and we exceeded that amount in both years. In a nod to the Rotary year 2023, the goal has been set at $123,000.
 
Visiting Another Rotary Club
There was no Club luncheon on Tuesday, August 23, 2022. Instead, members were encouraged to visit another Rotary club or work on a service project. Wendy Shew (Nonprofit Administration | Building Education) shared how she had visited two clubs in Los Angeles: the Rotary Club of Los Angeles and the Rotary Club of Koreatown where she met Rotarians and exchanged club flags. President Christopher shared how he had wanted to visit a Rotary club while vacationing in Copenhagen, Denmark and Stockholm, Sweden, but the clubs there did not meet in July and August due to summer holidays.
 
Club Calendar and Events for Rotarians
Check the Club's calendar for upcoming meetings and events. Past President Mary Liu (Real Estate: Sales | JM Real Estate Group) asked for gift cards, sponsors, and of course, participation in the Blue Angels event; details and registration to come soon.
 
$20 for Twenty Seconds
John Mathers (Management Consulting | eVo Associates) donated to invite everyone to the 2022 People of Action Summit on Water.
 
Social Time
The topics today were "What did you do last week?" or "your favorite color and why".
 
Guest Speaker
After showing the video of “Bang your drum", a song by Dead Man Fall, Assistant Governor (AG) David talked about a recent memorial service honoring Past Rotary International President (PRIP) Cliff Dochterman. The song reminded AG David of this memorial. The song is about choice, change, and giving meaning to your life. After PRIP Dochterman concluded his year as RI President, he had to choose what he was going to do with his life after his presidency. He chose to inspire others and influence Rotary and Rotarians.

AG David then introduced District Governor (DG) Gary Chow. He noted that DG Gary’s theme for this Rotary year, "Be the Change", as well as his life, exemplify the theme expressed in the song by Dead Man Fall. DG Gary talked about the theme he had chosen and what it means for the year ahead. President Christopher thanked DG Gary and announced that 100 children would be inoculated against polio in his name.
 
District Governor Gary Chow and President Christopher Wiseman
 
Today's Meeting Recorded
 
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.
 
 
Editor's Note: Thank you to Bill Poppen (Banking: Management | MUFG Union Bank) for serving as photographer; to JT Forbus (Accounting | Bogdan & Frasco) and Angelina Preza (Sales: Travel | Aquarium of the Bay) for managing the microphone; to Jesse Austin of the Academy of Art University for managing the audio-visual equipment during our in-person meeting; to Robin Azevedo, Emily Borland (Engineering, Architecture, and Construction | Emily Borland Specifications), and Stephanie Schmautz (Elder Care and Senior Services | The Carlisle) for serving as greeters; to Bob Hermann (Information Technology: Administration | Retired UCSF) for managing those who were attending via Zoom; and to Gary Dales (Accounting | Fly Leasing) for doing check-in at the Hotel Nikko.