THE LAMORINDAN

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Two thoughts, courtesy of Thomas Peeks:

"Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others.
                                                                        Barbara Bush

All that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, and bear the intolerable.
                                                                        Kathleen Norris

GUESTS, VISITING ROTARIANS, AND SUCH

Glenda Fillinger - Still The Queen of our collective hearts.
John Sherry - President, Lafayette Club
David Waal

BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES & MISCELLANEOUS GOOD NEWS

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No birthdays or anniversaries today, but we received some terrific news. What news, you ask? Only that Thomas Peeks has agreed to serve as Lamorinda Sunrise's President and Chief Herder of Cats for 2010-11. While one has to wonder about Thomas' mental health in accepting this position, it is certainly good fortune for the Club. Congrats, Thomas. We look forward to your steady hand.

WE ALWAYS WONDERED ABOUT THAT

Thanks to guest David Waal, we learned: (1) that there are phone booths in both Italy and Ireland from which one can call God via a golden telephone; (2) the call costs $1,000 in Italy; (3) the same call only costs 25 cents in Ireland; which is because (4) it's a local call from the Emerald Isle.

INTERCLUB MEETING COMING UP

Every year, the Orinda, Moraga, Lafayette and Rossmoor Clubs gather for a joint Inter-Club meeting. This years will be on Wednesday, February 4 at Rossmoor. In particular, it will be held ion the Fireside Room fo the Gateway Complex of Rossmoor. Socializing with no-host refreshments begins at 11:30 a.m., lunch at 12:00. The program will feature McAvoy Layne as the Ghost of Mark Twain. If you are interested in what should be a good lunch and a highly entertaining program, talk to John Fazel. You will have to have a ticket (1) to get into Rossmoor and (2) to get lunch.

AND IN CASE YOU DIDN'T HEAR . . .

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The Reno Train Trip still has some openings. That means that Chicken-in-a-Pot, George Chaffey in black-hat mode, and a lot of fun. The fun begins Sunday morning, January 25 and finish off Monday evening, January 26. Interested? Contact Chuck Kenney.

YEAH, IT'S AUCTION TIME AGAIN

Rich Shearer stood up and pontificated about the upcoming Dinner and Auction, and how we need auction items, and how to fill in the Donation Forms. It all seemed just a bit, shall we say, condescending, except that it really is critically important (not an overstatement- really) that (a) the Donation Forms be filled in completely and legibly and (b) the forms and the item come in attached together. More to come, as there is much to be done between now and March 21.

MEMBERSHIP - THE ISSUE THAT NEVER GROWS OLD

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Hays Englehart, one of the two Gurus Of All Things Membership, rose to tell us the 1-4-1 program - where everyone commits to bringing in one guest/prospective new member before the end of Prez Pat's reign - is kaput. Finito, Toast.

Instead, we are now witnessing the launch of 2-4-1, We are now committed to bringing in two such guests in the slightly-less-than-six months left in Flaharty Era. Questions? Direct them to Hays or Walt Nelson. But it really isn't all that complicated.

Paul Bettelheim had planned to bring two guests today, but for some reason they did not show up. For some reason, that cost him $20.

ANOTHER GREAT REASON TO CLEAN OUT YOUR CLOSETS

Steve Ware brought us a request from his blushing bride, Laurie, she of the Eden Hospital Emergency Room. When folks go to ER, they often steve w 1-16

have to have their clothes cut off. So Eden Hospital collects donated clothes for the patients to wear when they leave - beats the heck out of having to go home in hospital gowns. But the supply of clothes is shrinking, and, as of Friday, the supply of men's clothes was zero. So if you have some spare duds so that ER patients can go home without their backsides flapping in the breeze, bring 'em to Steve and he'll get 'em to Laurie and she'll get 'em to Eden Hospital and they'll get 'em to . . . well, you get the idea.

YOU SHOULDA BEEN THERE

If only this reporter had gotten his copy out sooner, you might have been able to take advantage of two great opportunities to understand more about how the Club works. Such as being at the Lamorinda Sunrise 2012 meeting on January 19 (the follow-up on the Club focus group, and as announced by Gillet Johnson) and at the meeting of the Lamorinda Sunrise Endowment board meeting on January 20, as announced by Paul Bettelheim. But this reporter didn't, so you couldn't, unless you were actually paying attention during the meeting to hear these announcements. Yeah, as if that's going to happen . . . .

NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED, PART 173

Walt Nelson, in his capacity as Membership Retention Specialist, had walt n 1-16

blue badges made up for several of our merry band of red-badgers. He took the initiative to have them made, and made sure that President Pat included the presentation of said blue badges as a prominent part of today's proceedings. One would think that this sort of initiative would be rewarded.

And one would be wrong. Said blue badges have apparently slipped into some parallel universe, because Walt can find neither hide nor hair of them. (That last sentence is an early contender for the "Mixed Metaphor Award" for 2009.) So the red-badgers badges are still red, Walt's face is red, and the Club's ink is less red, as His Presidentship assessed a $20 non-finders fee on Walt.

THIS IS HOW IN-LAWS GET A BAD NAME

Rick Ashburn's badge somehow ended up at his office. It appears that we might never have know but for a certain Papa-in-Law Paul Fillinger ratting Rick out. Look for Rick to be inflicting $10 worth of vengeance on Paul.

IN CASE YOU DON'T GET ENOUGH KICKS OUT OF PLAYING THE LOTTO
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John Sherry, Grand High Poo-Bah of The Other Club In Town, stopped by to (1) have breakfast and (2) sell some Super Bowl Squares, which said Lafayette Club is selling. $10 each. Contact John if you feel lucky.

MYSTERY ROTARIAN

Remember at the beginning of his year when President Flaharty asked us to write down three things about ourselves that nobody else in the Club knows? He picks one and reads the three things each week and we try to guess the identity of the Mystery Rotarian. Well, in addition to everything else we learned about this weeks Mystery Rotarian, we learned that counting to three was not this person's strong suit, to wit: (1) this Rotarian was raised playing golf; (2) this Rotarian shot his first squirrel with a bow and arrow; (3) at age six shot his first duck barefoot with a .410-gauge shotgun; (4) is a member of the Bass Anglers Association of America; (5) has a half-sister who lives a Bohemian life style in Los gillett 1-16

Angeles (as opposed to living an Angeleno life style in Bohemia); (6) was employed in the foreign adult film industry from 1984 to 1986; (7) was in charge of a portfolio worth $1 billion from 1987 to 1989; (8) loves fruit juice; (9) and has been married for 16 years to woman he chased from Dallas to Washington to Europe before moving to San Francisco. Who else could this be but the one, the only Gillet Johnson. No, he was not stalking his dearly beloved, and his participation on the adult film industry consisted of dubbing in English "dialog," such as it was.

And you know this all has to be true, because no one could make this stuff up.

SOME WELL-DESERVED KUDOS

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Before we turned to the program, Prez Pat gave some well-deserved praise to Jim Brencic, who has the Program Czar for some time now. On his watch, we have had some truly fine speakers on a very consistent basis. Well done, Jim. Your hard work has paid off handsomely and is a big part of why our meetings are the best in the area.

PROGRAM:

Rick Cronk generously shared a few of his precious few spare minutes today. Mr. Cronk is Cal grad, although that's not why he was here. He also played on the water polo team while at Cal, but that didn't lead him here, either. He is a long-time Lafayette resident with three sons - once again, that's not why he was here. He is the retired President and CEO of Dreyer's Ice Cream. "Aha", you're thinking, "that's why he's here!" And you'd be wrong.

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No, Mr. Cronk was here because he is the Past President of Boy Scouts of America, and he was here to update us on Scouting.

He started by noting the similarities between Scouting and Rotary: after all, the Four-Way Test and the Scout Law aim at instilling very similar values. And there is a real and long-time physical overlap between the two. Paul Harris, Rotary's founder, and James West, the first President of Boy Scouts of America, were good friends. Rotary Clubs sponsor approximately 1,300 troops and packs across America. And at Boy Scout Jamborees, they have to arrange to have Rotary meetings to accommodate the many adult leaders who are Rotarians and want to have a make-up meeting.

To bring it a little closer to home, Cliff Dochterman, Past Rotary International President and the closest thing to a Mister Rotary that exists, was also an active Scouter and former President of the Stockton Council of BSA. So while there may not be a formal relationship between Rotary and Scouting, it is clear that the ties are strong and long-lasting.

Mr. Cronk reports that there are currently 4.7 million kids in U.S. scouting. That is down from the peak of about 7 million in the 1970's. Just as with Rotary, recruiting is always a major ongoing project in BSA. And just as with Rotary, the Boy Scouts are looking to adjust to changing demographics and adapt so as to tap into new sources of potential members.

One area of major focus has been Hispanic kids. 47% of eligible Scouts in California are Hispanic, so the need and the potential here is obvious. On Mr. Cronk's watch, top-drawer marketing groups with extensive experience in the Hispanic communities were called in. This led to insights that may seem obvious in hindsight, but are not so beforehand. For example, Mr. Cronk noted that virtually all Scouting publications had been translated into Spanish as a means of reaching out to the Hispanic community. But, the experts pointed out, simply translating from English to Spanish does not work - the idiom, the cultural background, the nuances simply do not translate in any meaningful way, and the message thus does not get through. Mr. Cronk also noted that parents in the Hispanic community have to be actively won over: they are simply not going to let their sons go off with someone unless they have met the person face-to-face, and are not going to let their sons go camping without having experienced it, too, to know what their kids are getting themselves into. Put more generally, BSA learned that successful expansion into new communities means learning how to pitch the Boy Scout message and program to address the cultural concerns of that group.

Mr. Cronk also noted that there is a vast resource in America for BSA to tap into: former Scouts. There have been approximately 111 million American Boy Scouts in its almost 100 year history, 50 million of whom are still living. There 1million living American Eagle Scouts. That's a pretty darn good alumni association right there.

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BSA will be celebrating its 100 year anniversary in 2010. (Boy Scouting was originated in England by Lord Baden-Powell, and spread quickly throughout the British Empire and across The Pond.) Congress has authorized a commemorative silver dollar with the Scouting emblem to be struck by the US Mint. There will be $350,000 of them made, and considering the millions of Scouts and Scouters who will want one, their value will almost certainly go way over the one dollar face value.

Mr. Cronk reports two excellent trends for Scouting: kids are staying in Boy Scouts longer, and more are becoming Eagle Scouts. The helps provide stability in the program and makes for a built-in mentoring program for new Scouts.

Locally, the Mount Diablo-Silverado Council is doing very well. There are 15,000 kids in the Council, 2,000 of whom are Hispanic. Joint Scout/soccer meetings has proven to be a great way to recruit Hispanic kids in the local council. The Council has a balanced budget and is growing.

In the world, there are about 30 million Boy Scouts in about 160 countries. The Scouting experience varies from country to country, but all wear a similar, easily recognizable patch. And when 47,000 kids gathered at the most recent World Jamboree, these Scouts instantly got along and instantly bonded. And it wasn't just with Kids Just Like Me. The Palestinian and Israeli contingents insisted on adjoining campsites, as did the kids from Norther Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Scouting clearly has tumbled to the same fact that Rotary has: when you get people from seemingly antagonistic backgrounds together to work or to play, and they have a chance to relate one-on-one, the animosities die away and peace suddenly seems like a very real possibility.

Boy Scouts of America supplies about 75% of the funding for Scouting worldwide, but usually stays out of the administration of international Scouting. That has changed recently. It turns out that there were some serious management problems with international Scouting involving misspent money - not stolen or embezzled, but poor accounting procedures and dreadful spending decisions. BSA let it be known that it was not happy. As in, cutting of the money flow from BSA to the international organization unless and until things got fixed. And fixed they were - the people responsible have been eased out. Not Pat & Rick C 1-16

only that, but the BSA was not reviled, but rather thanked by other countries' Scouting organizations because BSA was the only one with the leverage to get this done. Ah, but all things come at a price, and the price this time was a request that Mr. Cronk take over as Chairman of World Scouting for two years to help put the organization back on a sound footing. This was not a request he felt he could refuse, so Mr. Cronk is embarking on this, his next adventure in Scouting.

Thank you. Mr. Cronk, for taking the time to update us on the doings of Scouting locally, nationally and internationally