June 30 - President Marty’s last meeting of Rotary year
The club assembly Zoom meeting was called to order at 12:30, after several breakout groups met 12:00-12:30. There were roughly 47 attendees.
Marty led the pledge and announced the lone guest, his wife Barbara Fishman.
Doug Brent led the inspiration with a pencil parable, retold here:
The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.
“There are 5 things you need to know,” he told the pencil, “Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.”
One: “You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone’s hand.”
Two: “You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.”
Three: “You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.”
Four: “The most important part of you will always be what’s inside.”
And Five: “On every surface, you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.”
The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.
Marty gave a Covid news update, and shared some funny mask design options. He stressed the importance to take precautions as the infection rates rise in our area.
Marty shared photos from the recent Flights happy hour. Patti announced she still needs a few slots filled on the bulletin team. Click here to email her if interested in helping out by occasionally taking meeting notes.
Tina announced DDF funds were used recently to
- buy House of Hope $2000 in gift cards, so food can be purchased for clients
- buy pasta Bolognese dinners from Campo di Bocce for $1500, in coordination with Peninsula Foodrunners, then delivered to a homeless housing and low income senior housing complex
Rachelle Lopp is working on getting media coverage of this project, which will help us to recruit and fundraise to reach more people in future programs. Thanks Rachelle!
West Valley Community Services is announcing their back to school program to help get supplies to those in need. See slides for how to give or donate time. Details at wvcommunityservices.org Our club has helped with hands on shopping in years past, but this year supplies will be gathered and delivered to doorsteps of kids in need (contactless).
Marty is trying to get rid of the final Rotary T-shirts so as not to hand Andrew a big stack. Let’s help him out.
Polio Plus has 29 members to go to get to 100% participation. See Avis or Dan. Any amount is ok.
Chris Potter announced that Rotary International has an exciting major change in that they are adding a 7th focus area: Supporting the Environment. This will allow for larger and impactful grants to be given in this area, and raise the profile of environmentally sustainable projects. Chris sits on the committee for this and championed a recent LG Rotary grant to put solar panels in a Ugandan village.
Marty noted that many interesting presentations from the recent virtual Rotary International convention can be viewed on convention.rotary.org/en/
The recent District 5170 Year End event recognized several LG Rotarians:
- Avis LaGrone won the Interact Support Award for her many years supporting youth, including through the Pacific Links Anti-Trafficking campaign. She noted that they are looking for volunteers for their virtual summer camp, which teaches young Vietnamese strength and how to avoid being a victim. See Avis for details.
- Tina Orsi-Hartigan won 2 district awards: DG Pioneer Award, and DG Just Do It Award for her endless work and enthusiasm at the district level. Tina noted the excitement of 2 new clubs, including the eclub consisting of IEEE Engineers world-wide that bring important infrastructure projects to developing areas.
- Jeff Barnett completed the year long leadership academy course and is now the resident expert on all things Rotary. Congrats to all!
Roast and Toast of Outgoing President Marty Fishman
Click here to view the handout from this event.
Due to social distancing requirements, the event was held at the Oak Meadow Park Bandstand area. Rotarians and guests were masked and seated in lawn chairs 6 feet apart, some with their own beverages. Greg Butterfield had an inflatable screen and speaker system setup. Past President Andrew Howard was the humorous emcee (and boy do we all need some laughs!)
The pledge was led by Mike Norcia. John Pencer inspired with a reflection on what we will not take for granted once Covid is behind us, and that we will all be better for each other, because of the worst.
Marty began by heartily thanking his board, and presented them all with a Rotary peace pin that included a quote: the 3 things that we crave most in life (happiness, freedom, peace) are attained by giving them to someone else. He also reviewed his goals, including having captivating speakers, more fellowship, and increased philanthropy. See slides for details. He showed the Rise Against Hunger event video from the fall. He noted that our club received a RI Citation due to the many areas of focus this year. See slides for the citation itself. He said he learned that we have a long history, have adapted, but are able to stick to the basics of fellowship, service, and philanthropy.
Avis handed out The Rotary Foundation Awards and Paul Harris Awards, thanking the many generous contributors.
Ron Cassel announced the results of the Awards Committee for the year. He said some additional awards were not ready to be announced, and may be a later date.
50 year pin (a custom designed award, first club in world to make one) recipients: John Colwell, Ed Stahl
Certificates of Appreciation: Dick Konrad, Michelle Myers-Nelson, Hal Rosen, Marshall Smith, Rami Wazni
Plaque Awards:
Spirit of Service went to Doug Brent for being our first responder
Greg Smith was recognized for his outstanding program lineup and coordination
Andrew Howard gave a humorous take on Marty’s year, noting his penchant to break with tradition and bylaws. He shared some old slides of Marty, including his youthful head of hair. Of course he recognized Marty’s many improvements to the club, including the Raise the Paddle event at the CrabFest that has been a wild success, and his important work in Guatemala. See slides from the event. Limited time required Marty to hand the virtual gavel to Incoming President Andrew Stearns (every other year we need a President Andrew it seems?)
The Roast and Toast would not be complete without hearty screams and laughs as the sprinklers did go off at 8:00 sharp, dousing the north end of the crowd. A great end to a great year. Sincere gratitude goes to President Marty!