Header
April 24, 2009  
Reporter: Cal Lee     Editor:  Ron Brown          Photographer: Tom Black 
Pat Flaharty, President, 2008 - 2009

DOUBLE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Dave Isenberg, rookie, hasn't taken long to become thoughtful:

"I walked with a friend to the newsstand and he bought a isenberg 4/24newspaper, thanking the owner politely. The owner didn't acknowledge it. 'A sullen fellow, isn't he?' I commented. 'Oh, he's that way every night.' 'Then why do you keep being so polite to him?' And my friend replied, 'Why should I let him determine how I'm going to act?'

"Life is not a journey to the grave with intentions of arriving safely in a pretty, well-preserved body; but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming ... WOW! What a ride!" (Dave, you know, is very into food & wine.)

WE HAVE OUR UPS & DOWNS & BACKWARDS & FORWARDS

Probably the biggest upper was the reappearance of President pat 4/24Pat, who survived his Mexico travels in fine style and toned the meeting down considerably from the Brad Davis anarchy last week.

Mr. Membership Hays Englehart was sad to relate that Mike Wilson and Chris Lane have left us. Chris is closing his store and seeking a new career, and Mike is over-extended with work and community matters. We certainly do wish them well and hope to see them again.

On the other hand, Gary Fulcher looms for next time. Also, if Dan Garfin succeeds in persuading Sharon Rossi to hang out here, he will probably have set a record for promptness in taking seriously the Hays 2-for-1 edict.

waalz 4-24We actually had Birthdays & Anniversaries the old-fashioned way, from the podium rather than on a volunteer basis. Dave Waal's son turned 14, and somehow this cost $20. And Jim Brencic has delusions of grandeur that he's Jack Benny, claiming to be 39, rounded to $40. Now that he's older, Jim is gradually easing out of the program chairpersonship. Steve Ware will be taking this post with the next administration, and would appreciate any suggestions for programs, or for a theme for selecting programs. In fact, he's begging for those suggestions.

Prez-Elect Fazel reported that the District Conference helped everyone "get it" and Walt Nelson said this was the best he's been to, with much helpful information especially on membership. 235 Rotarians attended, including eight from LSR.

TGITLFOTM HAPPENED

A delightful event at the McCowan castle on Stagecoach Drive, Lafayette. For the uninitiated, TGITLFOTM is Thank God It's Thetgitlfotm 4-24 Last Friday Of The Month. Unfortunately our Exposures (see below), Messrs. Kosich and Wheeler, were still recovering from the morning and were not present, but a lot of other people were. For those who haven't TGITLFOTM'd, well, you're missing it. A great relief from the grim seriousness of normal Rotary business. Our thanks to Skip and Linda, who just battened down the hatches and let it happen.

MYSTERIES

ashburn 4/24Since Prez Pat was back, of course the Mystery Rotarians were prominent. The first one was born in Roswell, New Mexico, was a college cheerleader, had a Nixon/Agnew sticker. This of course was Rick Ashford. Not much he could say about being born. The college was U. of Maryland (which ended the Go Bears basketball season rather conclusively). The sticker was obtained because they were handing them out.

Second Mystery worked for the largest unionkenney 4-24 law firm in SF, visited 100 dessert wineries in California but doesn't drink, and purchased a vineyard that Cesar Chavez organized and experienced Cesar's last strike. This would be Chuck Kenney, who obviously could have elaborated at some length, but the main point is we know he was telling the truth about the wineries because he visited them with a Mormon bishop.

DOUBLE EXPOSURE

Ken Kosich

We now know the reason Ken Kosich punted when he was originally scheduled to expose himself. The Lamorinda Sunrise Curse prevented his pictures from being shown that day, and
they certainly turned out to be worth 1,000 words. How could he otherwise have conveyed what an adorable baby he was in kosich 4/24Richmond in 1951, or how he looked on a pony in Richmond as a kid in those carefree days? His other accomplishments included (with evidence shown in the screen) talent on the accordion, graduation from jr. h.s., picketing Harry Ells High School, and actually graduating from Chico State in only four years (unlike most of his buddies).

The insurance business known as Kosich & Callahan has been around for 60 years. That anniversary was celebrated by making wife Patti prepare for the whole thing, then surprising her
by turning it into a 60th birthday bash for her. No comment on her exact reaction.

They married in 1980 in Patti's territory, upstate NY. Kids are Melissa, 27 and a 1st grade teacher out of UCLA, and Greg, 25 out of Santa Clara U. who's scheming to take over the business.

Ken's favorite place to hang out, since 1961, is Clear Lake, which includes a sailboat and a ski boat. He apparently was taught fishing by his son, who was seen showing off a big salmon.
Other fish who are terrified when the Kosiches are around are catfish and bass. One of the most striking pictures, allegedly taken only two years ago, was of a sculpted Ken waterskiing after having gone through Thomas Peeks Boot Camp, er, Fitness Together. That picture should be appearing in the Sun on one of Thomas's ads at any time.

Like most semi-retired executives, Ken dreams of producing Chardonnay and Pinot. After several years since a land purchase in Sonoma, the grapes are now peeping out.

Tay Wheeler

Hard to imagine now, but Tay Wheeler was a Young Punk. Hewheeler 4-24 was born in 1950 to the family of prominent court reporter Tay Sr., which was highly respected while it had just one daughter, but became less so when Tay was the first of five sons. Tay attended Corpus Christi (Oakland), Stanley, and Acalanes. Despite these excellent institutions, school was not his forte, but was strictly a social event.

During high school, he became interested in a comely young lass who was the daughter of the prominent Doc Moore, a frequent visitor of our club back in the day. Apparently our Young Punk, with the shoulder length hair etc., made quite an impression on the gentleman when he rang the doorbell for the first date. From that moment until matrimony in 1971, things were a bit rocky. However, the regard in which Doc ultimately held Tay is evidenced by his getting Tay into Doc's Lafayette Rotary in 1984, then helping Tay and his committee form a certain breakfast club in 1987.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. The Young Punk, a rock band star (until his father took away his guitar) with glasses held together with tape, didn't fancy college any more than he did
high school. But he was patriotic. He decided to join the Coast Guard and guard our coast. He had boot camp, then was sent to Hawaii which wasn't so bad, then sent on to Thailand which
was. For a year he was there, 50 miles from the closest water, with 13 other Coast Guard guys among thousands of Air Force men who undoubtedly treated them with great respect. But there is some justice in the world - the Coast Guard decided this was "isolated duty," so Tay got to choose his next stop. He chose sea duty, thinking he'd be on a fast cutter, and ended up on a
great big clunker for 2� years. His last stint was as an engineer in charge of two boats in Eureka for 9 months.

All this obviously qualified Tay to be a court reporter. After court reporting school, he was snapped up by the most prestigious firm in the area. He and Mindy had three sons. They moved
from Lafayette to their present home in Pleasant Hill in 1977, now famous as the gin fizz takeoff of the Reno Train Trip.

Probably remembering the tough family life growing up with all those brothers, Tay decided that a sister was what his boys needed. When he was president of this club, he celebrated by
adopting Kara from Korea. What's happened to the family? Mindy is a personal trainer, Ryan is a veterinarian in Philly, Sean is a journeyman plumber in Concord, Jason is a loan broker, and
Kara is in her second year as an Oregon Duck.

If Kosich's favorite place is his lake, Tay's is his river. That would be his cabin at American River, where he was headed right after the meeting (how could he choose that over TGITLFOTM?). A number of fishing etc. parties have occurred there with other Rotarians of similar ilk.
 
Another of Tay's passions is motorcycling. At 16, he won a cycle in a contest, which undoubtedly impressed Doc Moore at the time. He got his first Harley at 50, and is now on his third one. In the past, he has donated a ride and breakfast to remember, as an Auction item. One result of this event is shown here.

VISITING ROTARIANS & GUESTS 

Gail Woznak, Orinda Club 
Gary Fulcher
Sharon Rossi
Rob Thomas, all the way from Seattle just to visit us (oh, maybe Don Reichert)

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

5/1/09: Bill Roth, NCCT president: From Green Visions to Sustainable Profits
5/8/09: Domingo Blanco Rotary Peace Scholar, returns.
5/15/09: Pascal Kaplan, Ph.D., holistic studies, blending education, business and technology
6/5/09: Benjamin Lawrence, UC Davis professor & Davis Rotarian, boring water holes in Africa
Lamorinda Sunrise Rotary Links
Lamorinda Sunrise Web Site
Calendar Link
Picture Archive
Older Picture Archive
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS OF THIS AND OTHER LSR EVENTS MAY BE FOUND AT TFBLACK.SMUGMUG.COM. SHOULD BE YOU SMITTEN BY A PARTICULAR IMAGE, PRINTS MAY BE ORDERED FROM THIS WEBSITE. (THE QUALITY IS EXCELLENT.).
Contact Us

Rotary Club of Lamorinda Sunrise
PO Box 1491
Lafayette, California 94549
www.lamorindasunrise.org
E-Mail Us