President Rhonda opened our meeting by welcoming our visiting Rotarians from Houston and Minneapolis as well as our many guests and prospective members, and then highlighted several upcoming events: the Diaper Bag Assembly on 9/11 and Baby Showers on 9/13 for the Homeless Prenatal Program. Next month, the Club will have a Halloween social on 10/30 at the Golden Gate Tap Room. Rhonda also recapped several successful events from last month, including the Rotary 5150 Summer Picnic on 8/26 and the private guided tour of SFMOMA on 8/30.
Rhonda surprised us with a story about her work at NASA, and showed us a great photo of her standing next to Katherine Johnson, one of the main characters in Hidden Figures, the recent movie about African-American women who were essential in the early development of space travel.Finally, Rhonda gave us an overview of the San Francisco Rotary Foundation and The Rotary Foundation (TRF) to help members understand the distinction between the two foundations. She discussed our giving goals for TRF, including the Super Bowl pool and Paul Harris Fellowships. Rhonda announced that the San Francisco Rotary Foundation has made gifts to several programs this year, including $8,000 to Interact Scholarships, $10,000 to The Arc of San Francisco, and $10,000 to the Homeless Prenatal Program.
For our Member Moment, Sally Swanson (Architect; Sally Swanson Architects) shared her experiences as a reporter for the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. She told incredible stories about the athletes who participated and shared several photos from the beautiful opening and closing ceremonies. Sally also announced that her daughter recently graduated and now works at Kaiser Permanente.
Those donating $20 or more included:
- Emily Borland (Architecture; Emily Borland Specifications), who announced that her two young children will be attending Thomas More Catholic School.
- David Dye (Management Consulting; Retired), who thanked the Cardiac Recovery Center at Kaiser Permanente after a recent visit and shared his enjoyment in attending the Scottish Highland Games at the Alameda County Fairgrounds.
- Harold Hoogasian (Florist – Retail; Hoogasian Flowers), who announced that his grandchildren will be attending school and made an appeal for members to attend the Rotary Meadow service project on 9/15.
- Tom Briody (Elder Care; Institute on Aging), who announced that this Sunday would be his daughter’s first wedding anniversary.
- Dan Joraanstad (Financial Management; Retired), who announced his 30th anniversary with his husband Bob Hermann on 9/1.
- In an exciting surprise, Tim Hornbecker (Human Services; The Arc of Alameda) announced that his granddaughter was being born today.
- Lilian Tsi-Stielstra (Insurance Services; Wells Fargo Advisors), who shared her recent experience on the Bay Area Ridge Trail Hike in East Bay Hills. This was the first time she slept outdoors in a tent.
- Visiting Rotarian Henry Bromelkamp from Minneapolis, who shared information about his program, African Classroom Connection, which seeks to promote educational improvements in South Africa.
- John Ringgenberg, who welcomed his friends Kelly and Steven Minchen and reiterated the long and wonderful relationship he has with the Rotary Club of San Francisco and its members.
Today's speaker, Leonard Kuhi, discussed the Life and Death of Stars. Leonard is Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at Berkeley and Minnesota. Leonard, a former member of our Club, is now the President-elect of the Rotary Club of Cloverdale. He explained the different life stages of stars from early formation in interstellar clouds to its final demise. He shared that these life stages can be different for stars of different mass, leading to results such as planetary nebulae, red giants, white dwarfs, supernovae, neutron stars and black holes. Leonard also shared how scientists are able to determine ages of stars and showed many amazing photos taken by the Hubble Telescope.Frances Fitzpatrick won today's door prize: tickets to the California Academy of Sciences.
Photos by Joseph Fang (Transamerica)
Notes edited by Scott Plakun (IT Consulting; The Plakun Group)