About 70 people attended President Rhonda's inaugural meeting today. After preliminaries that included a champagne toast to the 110th anniversary of the Rotary Club of San Francisco (thank you to the Sir Francis Drake for the bubbly!), President Rhonda gave an inspiring talk about her vision for the Rotary year ahead.
Everyone who attended received some special gifts: a personal journal - courtesy of Jim Patrick (Office Supplies; Patrick & Company) and a pin, both sporting our Club's 110 anniversary design. Don't worry: if you missed this meeting, there's a journal and a pin waiting for you!
Visiting Rotarians from Pismo Beach, California, and from Richmond, BC, Canada were introduced along with ten other guests. After a teaser of upcoming events, President Rhonda gave a report about the Rotary International Convention in Toronto, Canada. See her report here.
Dan Joraanstad (FInancial Management; Retired) and Harold Hoogasian (Florist - Retail; Hoogasian Flowers) drew the winner of our 2017-18 Membership Contest because of an 8-way tie among Ann Daugherty (Financial Management; IBN Financial Services), Chris Davies, Susan Dean, Lynn Luckow (Development; LikeMinded.org), Anita Stangl (Non-profit medical services; Alliance for Smiles), Clif Thomas (Accounting Services; Clif Thomas), Carla Walter (Non-profit Management; Dance in the Spirit), and David Widerman (Accounting Services; California Perfect Tax), each of whom brought one new member into the Club last year. Congratulations to the winner of a week's stay at Harold's Kona Condo: Susan Dean!
Harold Hoogasian was the first to give $20 or more as a donation to our Club, reminding us to keep Rotary in our lives every day. Tim Hornbecker (Human Services; The Arc of Alameda County) announced the golf tournament to be sponsored by The Arc of Alameda County on July 30. Anita Stangl announced that Susanna Seltzer's (Entrepreneur) son has been accepted into the San Francisco Ballet. Stephanie Schmautz (Retirement Living; The Carlisle) is anticipating a wonderful year ahead for our Club. John Mathers (Management Consulting; eVo Associates) announced that there is now a team planning the Gold Miners Ball and that he will be having knee replacement surgery next week. Rick Harrell (Veterans Services; Heroes' Voices) celebrated his recent participation in a symposium in Ireland about John O'Donahue's poetry where he got a renewed sense of hope from the president of Ireland. Dan Jorannstad recognized Bob Hermann's successful hard work implementing electronic medical records for Rotacare. John Hoch (Financial Management; Retired) was glad to see Past President Harold, and thanked him for his generosity to Rotary. Peter Lagarias (Law - Civil Litigation; Lagarias & Napell) celebrated his recent trip to the east coast and his excitement about the year ahead under President Rhonda's leadership. Allan Herzog (Financial Management; Wells Fargo Advisors) matched Peter's contribution. Bill Poppen (Banking Management; MUFG Union Bank) announced that daughter Emily is starting a new job with Apple in Austin, TX. Cecile Chiquette (Accounting Services; Retired) is proud and pleased that Rhonda is our president.
President Rhonda announced that Be the Inspiration is the Rotary International theme for 2018-2019. She then introduced herself, talking about her 31-year marriage to Bill, her parents (Ron and Anne Harvey), and how she has a long relationship with paper and pencil. Rhonda's community of faith is an important touchstone of purpose and passion in her life, providing her with the opportunity to mentor young people and learn about leadership. She and Bill love to pack up their dog, Buddy, and head to wine country in their Mini-Cooper.
Rhonda gave special thanks to Past President Stephanie Schmautz for her encouragement and support, and for providing a great example of leadership. She described the passions and interests of a few Club members to show the breadth and depth of who we are as a Club.
Rhonda wants us to focus on the vision we each have for the future of our Club, and to work on all the tasks required to achieve that vision. She encourages us to use our new journals to make a "Rotary plan for the year" that takes each of us up a level in our involvement in and engagement with Rotary.
Club Secretary Luis Moran (Real Estate Sales; Coldwell Banker) won the drawing for the door prize, a Fitbit watch.
| More photos... | Rhonda's presentation |