THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."

Winston Churchill, by way of Mark Roberts..you'll see plenty of him later 

VISITING ROTARIANS

Larry Sly - Concord

Walt Prowell - Monterey, and former Lamorinda Sunrise Member (who noted that the zoo was exactly as he remembered it)

Larry Blodgett - Lafayette

Anna Stevenson - Lafayette

Alicia Cragholm - Lafayette

GUESTS

Claire Roberts - Mark's better 9/10ths, here to fact-check Mark's "Expose Yourself"

Barbara Miller - Steve Ware's Mother-in-Law, back for another visit

Linda Laine - Krysten's Mom, checking up on her shrinking violet wallflower daughter

BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES, AND OTHER NOTEWORTHY EVENTS

Rick gets Paul

Rick Ashburn got Paul Fillinger to pay $20 for wife Dana's birthday. Hey, it's only fair, as she is Paul's daughter.

Spike Speicher's dearly beloved, Linda, had a birthday, too. Their lovely shared day in Calistoga and Yountville had a $20 surcharge added.

Paul Fillinger and the long-suffering Queen Glenda celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary with a trip to the second-most panoramic view in the world (the top of Mt. Diablo) and enjoyed a lovely

Paul gets Rick

filet mignon from that noted eatery, Chez Costco. Paul got Rick Ashburn to pick up the fine, which is only fair because (1) Glenda is Rick's favorite mother-in-law and (2) paybacks are hell.

Dandy Don trumps everyone

Don Reichert joined our Merrie Bande waaaaay back in 1988. Gwen also had a birthday. Showing his usual beneficence, Don contributed $100 to the LSR Endowment Fund.

MR. PUBLICITY STRIKES AGAIN

Tom Black, he of the honest-to-goodness, used-to-actually-work-as-a-reporter journalism background, has a knack for getting Lamorinda Sunrise into the news n a good way. His latest coup? Getting a photo and story of our recent Four Way Test Speech students in the Lafayette Weekly. Thanks, tom.

AND SPEAKING OF UPCOMING EVENTS

If Buddy wants 'em, he gets 'em

The Guru of All Things Program, Buddy Burke, let it be known that our New & Improved Website now and forever more shall have all of the upcoming Program information you could possibly want, and then some, all at your fingertips. So if you were thinking of, oh, I don't know, maybe inviting a guest to a meeting (what a novel idea!), you can check ahead and see if there is a program that might be of particular interest to them. Or you. Or your spouse. Check it out.

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION, ANYONE?

One of the perks of being the Club President is the Club puts up some bucks to send you to the RI International Convention at the beginning of your year. (Technically, it's at the very very end of the previous President's term, but that's being picky.) But sometimes, the Prez-About-to-Be doesn't go for one reason or another. In response to this scandalous occurrence, the LSR Board has determined that, if this happens, the bucks set aside for the Presidential junket will be used to help defray the

Alex and George know everything

costs of any Member who wants to go. If one Member goes, they get one-half of the allotment. If two or more want to go, they share the entire amount.

This year's Convention is in Bangkok and will be in June. Want to go? Talk to President Alex. Want to know what a great time you can have at an RI Convention? Talk to George Chaffey, who has been to a lot of them.

AND HE EVEN WORE HIS ROTARY PIN FOR THE PHOTO

How happy can he be?

Walt Nelson was named a Top Performer for Coldwell-Banker Real Estate. No jokes about this one - we're proud of you, Walt. You have always been a Top Performer in our eyes.

And yes, he was wearing his Rotary pin in the photo, and this escaped scorn and fining for shameless self-promotion.

PROGRAM: MARK ROBERTS, EXPOSED

President-Elect Mark Roberts was the program today as he shared his life with us. This reporter can assure everyone that the Club gave Mark the respect to which he is due. Draw your own conclusions.

Finally, I get to tell my story

Mark was born in 1957 (as were Buddy Burke, Rich Shearer and Sputnik - again, draw your own conclusions). His mother, Barbara, hails from Minnesota (state motto: "Come for the blizzards, stay for the thermonuclear mosquitoes") before hitching up with Mark's dad, John, and moving to Roseburg, Oregon, Portland, Oregon and ultimately Alameda, California. Mark's dad's family was from Oregon, so this was beneficial for all concerned, thus making Mark one-quarter of the way to the Four Way Test before he had even been slapped by the obstetrician.

Mom Barbara worked for Capwell's. One of Barbara's friends and co-workers there was a certain Phyllis Diller. Both Capwell's and Phyllis Diller are familiar names to those of us of a certain age.

Dad John was a WWII vet, having served in New Guinea, the Solomons and the Philippines. He didn't talk much about his experiences. Dad was a traveling salesman, selling modeling stuff - you know, model kits, HO-scale train equipment, and the like. Unfortunately, Mark's dad started having serious health issues when Mark was three; Marks remembers many a time as a youngster being limited to seeing his father through a hospital room window. Mark was only 12 when his father passed away.

Mark grew up in Alameda, where, he noted, that "diversity" meant there were Italians, Irish and Portuguese co-existing at the Catholic school. For mark, that meant St. Philip Neri School.

Mark was active in Boy Scouts, achieving the rank of Life Scout and handling nearly all the Troop's leadership roles at some point. Mark's mom was very supportive of and active in his Scouting career (and other youth activities as well), taking on roles that were then thought of as pretty much fathers-only positions.

At least Claire believes Mark!

We also saw him in his God-awful prom tux (it was 1975 - everybody's prom tux was God-awful, and at least Mark's wasn't powder blue) and learned that, after the prom, his date moved to Australia. Mark assured us that there was no cause-and-effect thing happening here, but the crowd seemed dubious.

Oh, Mark also did debate in high school. No one was the least bit surprised.

On, then, to USF and four years of a Jesuit education. At USF, Mark was assigned to a room with a jock. Now Mark may be a lot of things, but a jock is not one of them. But this seeming Odd Couple pairing worked wonderfully: Mark taught his roomie how to study and the roomie helped Mark lighten up and have some fun. Unfortunately, those records have since been sealed, so we were not able to gauge for ourselves how much "fun" the roommate introduced Mark to.

Actually, Mark had an uneventful four years at USF. All he did was get a degree in Business Administration, serve on the Dean's Council, help found the campus Rotaract Club and serve as its second President, drive a catering truck (known in the vernacular as a "roach coach") in the Oakland Army Base, the pre-earthquake Cypress Structure and other parts of Oakland not usually frequented by a Good Catholic Boy From Alameda. Oh, and he proctored for the Econ Department, meaning he got to read all those lovely blue-books full of semi-coherent exam answers. (Suddenly, the connection between "proctor" and "proctologist" becomes painfully obvious.)

Mark married Claire after a whirlwind courtship of four or five years, most of which was spent with them living 2,000 miles apart, as Mark was working for the national office of the Delta Sigma Pi professional business fraternity (Mark helped get it to go co-ed, has served as its Foundation Chair and on its Board of Directors and has received the Delta Sigma Pi Lifetime Achievement Award, of which he is justly proud). Mark and Claire had dates over much of the US, whenever and wherever they could meet. Mark eventually got smart, moved back to California and married Claire. Oh, and did we mention that Mark and Claire met through Delta Sigma Pi?

Mark has spent much of his career as a professional fundraiser. Among others, he has helped raise funs for USF, the California Shakespeare Theater, the Chabot Space & Science Center and St. Mary's College.

Let's hear it for the "Do Gooders" of the world

When Mark isn't doing good in the world professionally, who is doing it in his free time. Besides being one of the most action oriented Lamorinda Sunrise Rotarians (an editorial opinion, not his claim), Mark also is active in the Orinda Association, the California Autism Foundation, seniors Around Town/Orinda, and several other worthy organizations this reporter did not get down.

He is a self-described "aviation geek" and wine guy (hopefully not at the same time).  

Mark may never have been a jock, but that does not mean he is not a sports fan. He is an avid fan of the 49ers, but he is especially devoted to the Giants, and so is Claire. In fact, she was the one who suggested they get Giants season tickets. We also got to see a photo of Mark posing with "his" trophy - a little bauble the Giants got for winning the 2010 World Series.

Mark has no brothers or sisters, but he has joined in with Claire's extended family with gusto, enjoying all the benefits of a large family without having to go through the pain of having to deal as a kid with big or little siblings. We were treated to wonderful photos of Claire's family trip back to the Old Sod, meaning County Donegal, Ireland. (Donegal is part of the Republic of Ireland at the northwest-most corner of the island. It is actually west of Northern Ireland and it was not included in Northern Ireland because it is too heavily Catholic.) And because Mark is a true Bay Area native, it took him until 2011 to visit Alcatraz.  

Many thanks for sharing your life in so entertaining and informative a fashion, Mark. You closed by saying you were looking forward to a great future. With your enthusiasm and ability to give, how could it be otherwise?

CALENDAR

Friday, 4/6, 7am - Behind the Pensions - Dan Borenstein

Tuesday 4/10, 7am - Board Meeting, Realty office, Orinda

Friday 4/13, 7am - Our kids stomachs - Cindy Gershen

Friday 4/20, 7am - Mark Twain comes to life

Friday 4/27, 7am - Expose yourself - Mark Roberts

Friday 5/4, 7am - Saucy Jack the Ripper

Tuesday 5/8, 7am - Board meeting

Friday 5/11, 7am - Pan Am TV series - Nancy Hult Ganis

Friday 5/18, 7am - District Attorney Mark Peterson

Saturday 5/19 - District 5160 Assembly, Vallejo, support Home Team

Friday 5/25, 7am - Expose yourself - Jim Marggraff

Friday 6/1, 7am - Kara Boatman

Friday 6/8, 7am - Lesher Center Director Michael Butler

Tuesday 6/12, 7am - Board meeting

Friday 6/15, 7am - Marilyn Langbehn - Director/PR Mgr, Cal Shakes