Posted by Brian Lan on Nov 19, 2018
More than 70 Rotarians and guests filled the room for today's spirited luncheon meeting. President Rhonda Poppen (Grant Writing; GRANTdog) welcomed guests from Catholic Charities and San Francisco State University, our Club's first two Corporate Members.
 
Rhonda noted that several members had asked about how to help victims of the wildfires that are raging nearby. She directed us to the Club website for information on how we can donate.
President Rhonda then provided updates on these upcoming events:
President-elect Casey Blair (Foreign Equity Trading; Feis Options) announced that the Nominating Committee has selected the following candidates for open positions on the 2019-20 Board of Directors:
  • President: Casey Blair
  • President-elect: JT Forbus (Accounting Services; Bogdan & Frasco)
  • Treasurer: Gary Dales (Fly Leasing)
  • Secretary: Dora Dye (Education; City College)
  • Vice President of PR and Communication: John Dean (Dean Dispute Resolution)
  • Vice President of Club Service: Michael Petricca (Security Services; Academy of Art)
  • Vice President of Youth Leadership: Lynn Luckow (Development; LikeMinded.org)
Vice President of Membership Dan Joraanstad (Financial Management; Retired) made an exciting announcement: Our Club is inducting twelve new members (three individual members and nine others representing two new corporate members). See Dan's Membership Corner for more information on each of our newest members:
  • Kelly Minchen (Realtor; Coldwell Banker)
  • Madison Pauly (Management Consulting; Deloitte Consulting)
  • Mary Qian (Event Planning; Shen Zhou Event)
  • Jane Ferguson Flout (Non-profit Management; Catholic Charities San Francisco)
  • Pat Gallagher (Development; Catholic Charities San Francisco)
  • Carol Laughlin (Non-profit Community Engagement; Catholic Charities San Francisco)
  • Colleen McCarthy (Non-profit Management; Catholic Charities San Francisco)
  • Jilma Meneses (Non-profit Management; Catholic Charities San Francisco)
  • Michael Behrens (Development; San Francisco State University)
  • Laura Burrus (Higher Education; San Francisco State University)
  • Carmen Domingo (Scientist; San Francisco State University)
  • Vance Vredenburg (Higher Education; San Francisco State University)
Each new member was given an official Rotary Club name tag, a Rotary pin, a copy of A Tradition of Fellowship and Service: The Rotary Club of San Francisco at 100, and a certificate of contribution of $26.50 to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International (TRF). The new Rotarians were encouraged to serve and be the inspiration for their community.
 
San Francisco Rotary Foundation President Tim Hornbecker (Human Services; The Arc of Alameda County) presented $10,000 to Rick Harrell (Veterans Services; Heroes' Voices) for Heroes' Voices and to Mark Calender (Insurance Broker; Calender-Robinson) for the Dictionary Project.
 
Tim also presented the Rotary Twilight Golf Awards. Congratulations to First Place Winner Tyler Sterk (Financial Management; Merrill Lynch), Second Place Winner Frank Yoke (Development; San Francisco Bay Area Council, Boy Scouts of America) and Third Place Winner Tim Hornbecker!

Those donating $20 or more included:
  • Greg Gutting (Human Services; The Salvation Army, Golden State Division), who announced that he will be playing Lady Bracknell in the production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest at the Phoenix Theatre which opens on 11/30.
  • Marti Sullivan (Development; The Arc San Francisco), who encouraged members to volunteer for Thanksgiving at The Arc. She also shared her wonderful experience at the 2018 Annual Arc Breakfast last month.
  • Tim Hornbecker, who encouraged members to bring clothes donations to the Thanksgiving at The Arc.
  • Lynn Luckow, who asked members for help with the Interact Clubs at George Washington High School, Lincoln High School, St. Ignatius, and Lowell High School.
  • JT Forbus, who announced that today was his wedding anniversary.
In honor of Veterans' Day, today's program was led by Rick Harrell, Director of Heroes' Voices. Rick, guitarist Larry Chung, pianist Michael Conley, tenor Victor Floyd, and veterans Joseph LaRocca and Todd Butillo, performed several moving songs exploring themes of war and peace. Rick and Victor also read a selection of poems about or by veterans. After their powerful performance, Club members gave them a standing ovation. Rick also shared more about his touching experiences with the Heroes' Voices program and The Soldier's Journey, the performance recently produced by Heroes' Voices as the culmination of the 2018 Heroes' Voices National Veterans Poetry Contest. Rick and Larry led a Q&A session for the veterans Joseph and Todd, who shared their personal experiences with Heroes' Voices and expressed their appreciation to be able to find themselves again through music. Rick also had a wonderful surprise and awarded Todd a $2,000 Martin Guitar that was donated specifically for a veteran.

Today's Door Prize winner was guest performer Victor Floyd, who received a Starbucks gift card.
 
 
Photos by Jane Mermelstein (Real Estate Sales; Zephyr Real Estate)
Edited by Scott Plakun (IT Consulting; The Plakun Group)