MARIN EVENING ROTARY BULLETIN
OCTOBER 20, 2009
Well that was quite another storm this week, but neither rain nor sleet nor snow (snow ? what ? must be a misprint) could keep ourdistinguished President John Tanko away this week, so he charged right in and took over the hall. First up - Holly Axtell - our PTR person for the evening. Holly led usin the pledge to the flag and followed this with some very nice thoughts about our Rotary Family, our family of Marin Evening Rotarians.
Visiting Rotarians were not about to get their noses out of joint on account of being left out of this "family affair," for there were no visiting Rotarians to notice. As for guests, we had two - Don Schwartz, who was our speaker a few weeks ago and a Club visitor on at least acouple ofoccasions since and Damyen Lofton, an apprentice Rotarian who - we were told by President John - would be formally inducted into our Club next week.
So, onto Announcements. President Johntook advantage ofa little Presidential Privilege and made the first announcement that he and half a dozen others from the Club had enjoyed themselves immensely at the District Foundation Event last weekend at the Bay Model in Sausalito. One of the features of the Eventhad beena display and contest among the various Polio Plus Table Containers which had been designed by Rotarians throughout the District.Ending up very near the top of the heap in this contest was the container designed by our very own Eiko, which earned an Honorable Mention. So I mention that here. Honorably.
And speaking of awards, John then presentedElsia with her first Multiple Paul Harris pin with a nice little sapphire on it. Congratulations Elsia. And also to Eiko. Still controlling the floor, John then donated to the Club the 2 tickets he'd won for the Novato Roteract Halloween Bash at the Novato Horsemen's Clubhouse in Novato. To his regret, John had found that he was unable to attend the event, so he offered his tickets to whomever in the Club might be able to use them and enjoy the party.
Elsia then reported that planning for our Thanksgiving for Seniors event was coming along swimmingly. Everything was falling into place, and she felt confident it would be another great event. Holly thanked Elsia for picking up the ball on this noteworthy Club activity, so that we could keep it going.
Nextup was Keith, who turned our attention back to the District Foundation Eventwith areport that three of our members - Jayne, Patti and Keith himself - had won raffle prizes. Don Angel announced that his email was no longer working, which he attributed to the fact that he'd changed employers. Which made sense. Larrytold usthat he'd received a call from Curt that afternoon. Curt's been in intensive care at Marin General for the last couple days and apparently is not completely out of the woods yet. We'll let you know as we receive further news.
Back to Don who noted proudlythat his Golden Bears had finally won a football game in Southern California after a long drought. Jayne then grabbed the mike and said that she could really relate to Holly's comments on our Rotary Family, as she'd had sort of abummer of a day and being amongst us Marin Eveningites was just the tonic she needed to make up for her bad day.
Ratting on a Friend turned into Ratting on a spouse, as Keith reported that he'd spotted Holly enjoying herself in Monterey a couple of weeks ago. To which Holly replied that the reason Keith was aware of said frolicking was that he was there with her, so if there were any fines to pay,he would be the oneto pay them. Keith, I'm not sure that worked out quite the way you wanted, but as the expression goes, you make yourbed...... or something like that.
Your editor reminded the Club that our 25th anniversary was coming up soon and perhaps that would be a good excuse for a party or some other form of recognition. Malcolm, we need you!! Well, it turns out that I was off bysix months, and the anniversary won't be till June, but it may not hurt to begin thinking about it. An agenda item for the next Board Meeting ? And speaking of the next Board Meeting, Martha introduced the subject of the Club Fundraiser suggesting there was still time to pull it off. Al Shirley agreed and suggested that a forum on the subject should take place soon.
Our PTR lady Holly had brought us a very nice package to be raffled off, consisting of a box of chocolates and a bottle of Chilean red wine. Quite possibly she was planning to win herself, but if that her plan, it went awry, as ourperennial raffle winner, Jayne Hulbert, won again. Of course, maybe the fact thatJayne hadbought herself awhole roll oftickets helped assure her victory. Whatever. Chocolate and red wine - brush off those clouds and cheer up, put on a happy face. Magnanimously, Jayne shared the chocolates with everyone, making all of us very happy.
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Holly then introducedour speaker of the evening, Alison Hermance of WildCare, a wildlife rehabilitation hospital in San Rafael, which servesNorthern California and beyond, rescuing and nurturing back to health over 3,000 sick, injured and orphaned wild bird and animal patients each year.
WildCare was first formed as the Marin Junior Museum in 1954 and has grown and evolved over the years to an organization with over 350 volunteers plus staff providing round the clock help to animals unable to help themselves.
At the conclusion of Alison'svery nicepresentation, she was given a book to sign, which we shall give to a local elementary school library in her honor. John gaveled us closed, and home we went.
Now next week our speaker will by PDG Russ Ketron who will talk to us on Polio Plus. He'll be introduced by the other half of the Axtell team - the one who'sobliged to pay the fines - Keith. Keith will also be PTR for the night, but we don't expect him to forget either. As for the Club Abogado, who has yet to fess up to or pay for his unexcused absence from his PTR duties last week, we'll have to wait 'n see if he shows up next week to do his penance.
Bye all. Have a good week.
Your Faithful Editor