GROWNUPS?

Run, Johnny run!

For this day, the old running philosopher John Fazel had the Thought responsibility. He recalled that when he was somewhat younger as a lifeguard at a pool, he was always ordering kids to "stop running." Since then, he has been asked why he runs all the time. His explanation:   running is an excuse for adults to behave like kids in a socially acceptable adult activity. (Whether the Orinda Road Runners are either socially acceptable or adult is perhaps questionable.)

GUESTS (SMALL DAY)

Rotarians:        None (that's a record!)

Other:              Jenny Kallio, bride of John

                        Joseph Captain, of wine fame

CELEBRATIONS (BIG DAY)

The somewhat anemic turnout for Club Assembly was mitigated by the remarkable number of Occasions observed. Where do we start?

Nine is nifty, Dennis

Dennis Kurimai:   Ninth anniversary. He and Maggi did nothing in particular on The Day, but made up for it by going to a Peter Gabriel concert.

Nancy Baglietto:   This was a tough one for her to remember, but Lawrence had a birthday 9/29. They dined and then attended the latest Bourne Legacy movie, which she recommended.

John Fazel:   This was a Big One on 9/29. Mary Lou has put up with him for 50 years. And the Big One definitely was observed the right way - gathering of family from all over the country at Yosemite to dine on 5-star son KC's finest cuisine. Oh, one time they did give him a rest by taking a step down and dining at the Ahwahnee.

Michael is Dapper Dan,  personified

Mike Edwards:   Kathleen's birthday was spent in Monterey, soaking up the hottest two days in five years. Dined in Monterey, but the real zinger was returning to the Bay Area and getting her a Senior Clipper pass.

Cal Lee:   Anniversary, and the news of yet another baby expected down the line.

57 and Counting

Ron Brown:   This was another Big One, actually the Biggest One chronologically - 57 years of Ron & Sara. The celebration on The Day was somewhat low key - a teeth cleaning at 7:00, extraction of stitches from the ear at 10:30, and downhill from there. Sara wasn't feeling too hot either. However, on Wednesday the happy couple will be on the Napa Valley Wine Train for lunch in the Vista Dome car. A $100 check was promised to Ernie, allegedly to be paid Tuesday - stay tuned.

Thomas Raeth joined the club on 10/1/2001, and it's never been the same.

Paul Bettelheim apparently did something, but wasn't here, so we wait in suspense.

Who' the sandbagger?

Rick Ashburn had another of these 9/29 birthdays. He tried to claim he spent it working, but somehow a golf playoff for Sandbagger of the Year interfered. His opponent, a 22-handicapper, drove a 310-yard hole, which may or may not have added to Rick's celebration.

Chuck Bove was celebrated for putting on an over-the-top TGITLFOTM last week.

OTHER PRE-ASSEMBLY TIDBITS

Board meeting 7:00 a.m. Tuesday 10/9, at John Fazel's office.

Leander does lots of things

Leander Hauri announced a Home Team event starting 8:00 a.m. on 10/27 at Gary Fulcher's shop, 3474 Moraga Blvd., Lafayette. About 10 households are waiting in line.

Prez Mark read a communication from 4-Way Speech Contest veteran Alex Chen, who a while back donated a most skillfully done painting to our cause. He's now at Yale (no surprise) in Rotaract and is seeking support for a project delivering medical supplies where needed in India.

Ed Stokes, founder of Diablo Foods Market and very long-time member of the Lafayette Noon Club, will be honored as the supporter of the year of the Mt. Diablo Silverado Council (Boy Scouts). The ceremony will take place at the Marriott on 10/25. Handsome bright orange T-shirts with Ed's image are now among our supplies and you can have one for the asking.

THIS IS WHY WE ASSEMBLED

Mark is spot on

Club Assembly used to be once or twice a year. Our enterprising leader, Mr. Roberts, is having them quarterly. He paraded our stalwart directors and committee heads to justify their existence.

It had to start with Chuck Yeager, long-time Secretary of the club and Mr. Fixit for just about everything. If he

Chuck's got you covered

can't fix it, he's clever enough to call Gary Fulcher in to solve the problem. Thanks to them, information is much more accessible than ever. Actually Chuck's motivation was to automate everything so he doesn't have to do anything. Good luck.

Ernie is a whiz

Ernie Furtado, long-time Treasurer, was happy to say just about nothing. Finances are good and all the agreed projects are funded. (At this point Rich Shearer called for a round of applause for Chuck and Ernie. Whether it was given in appreciation of their efforts or the brevity of their speeches, who knows?)

Mark Larks, Club Service, sets up the meetings, lines up the TGITLFOTM hosts, and schedules the

Steady as a rock, Mark

Christmas party. He wants two things at this point. One is a home host for the Christmas party. The other is a new flag with a stand (and 50 stars) to pledge at.

Ron Brown, Communications, appropriately had a bit more to communicate. He wants to reach out to the community for PR. He's angling for weekly articles in the Lamorinda Weekly about our goings-on. But his big thing right now is the new canoe (or whatever it really is) project. Club members should get engaged by following its progress and visiting the construction site on a work day. He's hoping for $40,000 from the ultimate raffle.   A couple of ideas to expand our communication for the raffle came from the crowd. Skip McCowan suggested that progress reports and work times be added to the website, and Claire Roberts will get her Facebook page into action.

Ron's ongoing big thing is the newsletter, which recently fell off the rails a bit but is getting caught up. REPORTERS AND CO-EDITOR ARE NEEDED. This is your chance to tell the world your view of things. A little progress was made when Brad Davis made a smart-alecky remark (how unusual) which was loosely interpreted to be volunteering.

Krysten is Ms Motorama

Krysten Laine, Community Relations, was out of town but communicated through the Prez that she is working on expanding our reach and event exposure through email marketing and social media. Also, she is reviewing the layout of Motorama to add a few more family friendly activities such as a kid zone or a father-son build-off of some sort.

Steve Ware, Community Service, needs ideas from YOU for service projects on which we can put our name. One such project already in place is the

Who's minding the store, Steve?

Lafayette Elementary School Westival, which takes place on 10/13, 3:00-6:00. He's looking for a propane BBQ, and a warming container or second BBQ. The Westival is a big Halloween event, and it should be lucrative now that we will be the sole purveyor of foodstuffs. Dennis Kurimai is getting the hot dogs. Shoppers will be needed on the day. Brad Davis is happy about the Westival because he gets pumpkins there real cheap for use at the Garden Park Apartments carving on 10/25 around 5:00.

Home Team promotion is also important. Leander Hauri interjected that there will be a big event by the Lafayette Community Foundation, 10/13, 8:00-12:00, at the Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church - a great occasion to hand out shirts, banners, etc. Joe Bettencourt added that materials should be passed out at Farmers' Markets, and seven other clubs are also involved in the local Home Team. Home Team information will be taken to the District Conference on 11/2.

Nancy is amazing

Nancy Baglietto, who should get a hero medal for bravery, heads the Development Committee for our big fundraiser. (Rich Shearer, for once, tried to make himself invisible as the co-pilot and vowed he would never take over.) Committee members include Pat Flaharty, Krysten Laine, Dave Waal, Leander Hauri, and Dave Isenberg.

Nancy says MARK YOUR CALENDARS - the fundraiser will be on MAY 18TH, again at the Veterans Memorial Building. Chef Isenberg and his students will handle all the food prep. The theme of the event may relate to Motorama. Many prizes will be bought on consignment, so our members will have less pressure to produce these items. We will be partnering with Lafayette Library to some degree. They will get $7,500, and we will keep everything else. We get their mailing list (to observe the principle of "OPM"), and they will have big incentive to work the event because it will replace one of their other fundraisers. The dinner may be a buffet to avoid hiring servers, but Acalanes kids are available to help. A video production with photos of the canoe, Home Team, etc., will be shown to emphasize this is our event. One thing that will be asked of our members is that each will give 25 names which the committee may contact to publicize the event.  

Gillett Johnson, International Service, was not present, being internationally occupied.

Walt says everyone's responsible

Walter Nelson, Membership, has become a master delegator. His victims, er, committee members are Kevin Cragholm Thomas Peeks, and Claire Roberts. But we're all on the membership committee - bring 'em in. One strategy is to put Rotarian magazines attaching a card with a contact number in doctors' offices, etc.

Thomas Peeks, Immediate Past President, said the Red Badgers have been diligent.

Hays Englehart, President-Elect, assured us that the Rotary Resource Service Pages (blatant advertising of members' businesses in the Lamorinda Weekly) will be wrapped up in a couple of weeks.

Here is, literally, the Bottom Line. President Mark Roberts said he's honored to serve our club.

 CALENDAR

Tuesday 10/9 - Board Meeting, Orinda

Friday 10/12 - Meryl Cohen

Saturday 10/13 - Westival, Lafayette middle school

Friday 10/19 - RS: Ultimate Political Speech

Friday 10/26 - Jim Kendall exposes himself

Friday 11/2 - Dr. Tapan Monroe, Economist

Friday 11/9 - Rotary International Foundation

Tuesday 11/13 - Board Meeting, Orinda

Friday 11/23 - Dark, Thanksgiving weekend

Friday 11/30 - Leander Hauri exposes himself

Friday 12/7 - Congressman George Miller

Friday 12/14 Dr. Paul Staudohar, Baseball, unions, the East Bay

HOME Team schedule...Saturdays 8am to noon 

2012 - October 27

2013 - January 26, March 23, May 25, July 27