THE LAMORINDAN 5-28-10

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

According to Chuck Yeager, big stuff is just lots of small stuff, and small stuff doesn't matter. Or something like that.

VISITING ROTARIANS

Akoni Viray - President, Acalanes High Interact (that qualifies as a visiting Rotarian)
Waite Stephenson - Moraga
John Sherry - Lafayette
Bill Eames - Lafayette

GUESTS OF OTHER PERSUASIONS

Bob Schwein - Pat Prez of LSR, and a heck of guy to boot
Jackie Welles - the love of Ray's life
Agatha Sue Lee - the love of Cal's life
Erin - I'm sure she has a last name, and I'm sure beau Dan Garfin knows what it is
Susan Bettelheim Garfin - Dan's Mom, and Paul Bettelheim's long-suffering sister

BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES, AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS GOODIES

Thomas Raeth spent his anniversary scuba diving off the Galapagos Islands. It was okay with Tamara - she sent him. $20 seemed light to all but President John.

Walt Nelson took blushing bride Kathe to Sacramento and a graduation ceremony for her birthday. Apparently that ranks with the Galapagos, as it fetched the same $20 as Thomas' excursion.

On the other hand, whatever it was Brad Davis did for Carol's birthday, it was worth $30, as was Chuck Yeager's 16th anniversary. And Skip McCowan's birthday of golf and dinner appears to have been priceless.

Ray Welles announced that he and Jackie were leaving for Napa to celebrate their meeting 63 years ago and their marriage 58 years ago, for which $58 was extracted from Brother Ray.

And finally, seven years ago, a certain Buddy Burke met a certain Holly Landers, and the rest, as they say, is hysteria - and $10, too.

I'd explain the logic behind these varying amounts, but as a Past President, this reporter can aver under penalty of penury that there is rarely, if ever, any logic that goes into fining decisions.

A MOMENT WITH AYMERIC

Yes, Aymeric's coiffure was reduced in volume from weeks past. When someone opined that not much hair had been trimmed, he begged to differ, saying that the hair left on the floor was "enough to make a small cat."

Aymeric also found time to perform with the school choir, go shooting (he allowed that, even though he is not pro-gun, it was a lot of fun), and attend the District Foundation Day, after which he stayed with a Youth Exchange friend and watched movies.

As for the future, Aymeric is going flying with George Chaffey (probably) and moving from the Lees' to the Fillingers' (definitely). Stay tuned for updates as events warrant.

THREE-QUARTER CENTURY CLUB LUNCH COMING UP

Mark June 16 on your calendar. That's when the next Three-Quarter Century Club lunch is happening. That's when all Orinda residents 75 and over are invited to lunch at the Orinda Community Church. This year's speaker will be Rosie the Riveter. Really. Along with Prudential Realty, we are a sponsor of this event, and we will need volunteers. Help out if you can - it's actually a lot of fun.

A RECORD BLUE BADGE PRESENTATION TO FOLLOW A RECORD RED BADGE RUN

Gary Fulcher has had quite a run as a member of Lamorinda Sunrise Rotary. After more than a year of bobbing and weaving to avoid getting a blue badge, he was finally cornered today and forcibly presented with said badge. But, just as Gary set a record for remaining a red badger, the presentation of his blue badge set longevity records not likely to be broken in our lifetimes.

Things started off with Brad Davis, who appears to have been instructed to say nothing having to do with the presentation. He gave way to Pat Flaharty and Alex Arnold, who proceeded to be marginally more on point. Before actually presenting the badge, Pat and Alex made Gary complete his final requirement - the dreaded New Member Talk - right then and there.

Gary, it turns out, is a native of Lafayette and a graduate of Acalanes High. He claims to have been pretty much at the bottom of his class. He went into the Air Force, after which he got a job with IBM. He was offered a choice of two positions: (1) on an assembly line or (2) repairing equipment in offices. He compared the two, and chose to fix equipment. The deciding factor was the prospect of meeting about a gazillion secretaries a week.

At some point, he started at Cabrillo College. From there, he transferred into Cal on a Dean's Scholarship, which Gary thought hugely fun and ironic in light of his scholastic achievements in high school.
Gary reported that he bought a Land Cruiser and met wife, Carolyn. He had the good taste not to say if these two facts are related. In any event, he and Carolyn have been married for 38 years.

Gary's degree was in Forestry. He got a job in that field, sort of, which morphed into a job that had pretty much nothing to do with forestry, so he became a computer guy. Since then, Gary has founded a number of companies, all more or less dealing with computers and info tech. His latest effort is a website selling tours.

Gary likes boats. He likes building them (canoes, skiffs, and the like in the ultimate Man Cave over on Moraga Blvd.) and sailing around in them (he has a boat up in Washington).

And so, Gary finally got his blue badge. But he also had an award or two to bestow himself. It seems that he and Pat Flaharty are the proverbial Mutt and Jeff when it comes to painting, as they learned at last weekend's Paint Ye Olde Gazebo event in downtown Lafayette. Pat was working more or less beneath Gary, and it turns out that Gary slathers paint liberally, which guarantees coverage of the intended subject and anyone or anything within several hundred yards. On the other hand, Pat is loath to upset the paint by forcing it against its will to leave its cozy can and be spread on some exposed surface. Gary thus presented Pat with the Golden Brush Award, celebrating Pat's "many strokes and no paint applied technique."

FOR THE HONOR OF LAMORINDA SUNRISE, SUCH AS IT IS

June 5, 2010, 10:00 a.m., Martinez Waterfront Park. Bob Heinen says it's a bocce tournament. But it's really blood sport, and the good name (?) of Lamorinda Sunrise is at stake. So come on out, and be prepared for the full-contact bocce experience of your life.

Okay, were really taking about friendly games of bocce, but the "honor of Lamorinda Sunrise" is kinda-sorta true. So contact Bob if you haven't already received his e-mail with the details.

MOTORAMA IS APPROACHING

Next week's meeting will be devoted to Motorama details and planning. Also, bring in your bottle of wine to Skip McCowan if you haven't yet.

PROGRAM

This month's installment of Expose Yourself was a marvelous piece of exposition entitled "I'm Still Not Dominic," given by one Dan Garfin. He's also not Paul Bettelheim, but Paul is Dan's uncle. But you knew that, didn't you? What you did not know was that Uncle Paul changed Dan's diapers in days gone by. Dan fully expects to return the favor for Uncle Paul in the years to come.
Dan shared the family tree and many fine photos of his ancestors.   It all came to the ultimate day, a day which is the birthday of Gandhi, Snoopy, Sting, Paul Bettelheim and Dan Garfin.

We saw an early example of Dan's fashion sense (brown shorts, black socks and tennis shoes). Dan still has this innate (inane?) sense of fashion, which is why he lets love of his life Erin pick out his wardrobe.

Baseball featured prominently in Dan's life. Simply put, he loves the game. He played Little League with his Dad as his coach, He played High School ball for Head-Royce, no-hitting noted power house Athenian. He played for Cal, including getting a chance to be struck out by a number of future major league pitchers. He played ball in the Junior Olympics as a part of the Black Sox (uh, Dan, that may not have been the most, shall we say, diplomatic name for your team). He played pretty much as long as he could. His baseball days led not only to fun and glory (hey, have you been named in the paper as having pitched a no-hitter?), but also to many lifelong friendships.

Dan played other sports in high school, too. He was an All-League soccer goalie. He also played basketball, noting that he was the starting point guard his senior year, and played the year under strict instructions from his coach not to shoot the ball.

Another big part of Dan's youth was Boy Scouts. He went through both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts in Kensington. He finished up as a Life Scout, just a few requirements short of Eagle. (Baseball got in the way of finishing up.)

Dan graduated from Cal with a degree in Human Bio-Dynamics. Naturally, this led him to a career as . . . an employment benefits broker.

We also learned about Dan's Dad (avid fisherman), Mom (former Chair of the Sociology Department at Sonoma State and an accomplished open-water swimmer), and brother (Ph.D. from U. Of Chicago, currently a prof at the Junior University near Palo Alto). Also, his Significant Other, Erin, is an LVN who is well on her way to earning her RN, having just successfully completed the toughest course in the curriculum.

So, is Dan Garfin really Dominic Porrino in disguise? Erin is uniquely qualified to quash those rumors. After all, she went to grade school with Dominic.

Many thanks, Dan, for the very entertaining and informative presentation.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR