Rotagram for Wednesday, Oct 12, 2022

Meeting was called to order by club President Joe Lins. He welcomed everyone in attendance, “be good and be kind!” Today’s opening thoughts, he asked club members if they preferred to meet on December 21st or December 28 for Christmas season. “Two weeks without Joe Lins?” joked a club member. “No, I would be here to spite you,” wittily responded President Lins, “looks like we are skipping both meetings.”

He took the time to welcome and salute Warren Wimer from Newport Beach, “Thanks for being here.” President Lins shared some very important facts with the club, “The Los Angeles Dodgers won game 1 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres. Game 2 is today at 7:30 p.m.” For a $10 Starbucks gift card, who is the worst team, Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks, or the Los Angeles Rams, and why? Scott Dowds gave one of the best answers ever, “Seattle Seahawks are the worst team because their quarterback is injured. All clubs are tied for second but Denver’s quarterback is Seattle’s ex-quarterback, who is also injured. Los Angeles Rams’ offensive line sucks. Rams need to adjust their mindset.” President Lins awarded him the gift card to Starbucks, “Scott Dowds is being aggressive. Must be the rates going up.”

Last of the opening statements, “Herb gardener’s offer sage advice.” CIA updates, 42 members or 50% have donated for a total amount of $17,980. “Outstanding results so far. We are on our way. Thank you to those who have sent their contribution. We need to raise a minimum of $20,000 to keep the OC Community Foundation as our partner.”

For our commencement ceremonies, Andrew Gregson led us in our invocation. “Good afternoon!” he said. “October 12 is National Farmers Day. Today is a good day to remember to thank all the farming community. He led us in a prayer, “let us continue to strive to make the world better. Amen!”

Thad Sanford gave us our Patriotic Moment, leading us into the Pledge of Allegiance. He finished it off with a football chant of “Beat Army!”

Today’s guest in attendance, “Best Wife Ever,” Sally Williams, wife and guest of Jim Williams and Patrick Hartnett. Mike Wolfe, guest of Jeff Hutchinson. Jeannette Reese, guest of Kim Barlow. Jane Shellhouse, guest of Howard Minkley.

Our Rotary Minute was given to us by President Elect and Vice President Jim Ripley. “No good deed goes unpunished. I invited Joe for lunch and he asks me, Songmaster or Rotary Minute,” he jovially says, “so here I am.” He remembers when he was invited to join Fullerton Rotary Club, he thought it was out of his conform zone. He considers himself an introvert. “I sent the application and check to join. 6 months went by and I still hadn’t heard back.” Later on, Bill Mathy asks him if he wanted to be part of the Board and Jim retorts, “don’t you have to be a member first?” He remembers being fast tracked, “I did all the new member things.” He was once again asked to part of the Board. “This has been a real wonderful experience. It has been a growth opportunity. It got me out of my shell. I was asked to consider being president. I thought it was out of my comfort zone, like, there was no one else?” he jokingly remembers. “This is like church to me, seeing all the smiling faces. You are my brothers and sisters. Charge On!”

Our Songmaster was Fullerton Rotary Club Secretary, Carol Morris. “I am pleased to be our Songmaster. Please feel free to stand up and walk around.” For her song selection, she choose “You Are My Sunshine.” Great Job Carol!

Today’s announcements started off with Marty Burbank. He announced Veterans Day Parade in Fullerton on November 11th. “Andrew Gregson marched in the parade. Our club needs more Veterans to represent Rotary so everyone sees the Veteran Rotarians.” He also announced that November 7th is The 4th Annual Fullerton College Veterans Golf Classic, and that he is looking for a fourth to join. Raco will be teeing off with him on November 7th.

Our Recognition and Finemaster, was Kim “Take No Prisoners,” Barlow. She immediately starts with the fines, “Joe, it’s afternoon, not morning. That’s $5.” She means business. Kim asked Raco to stand. “Raco, what do you have going on this month?” He answered that his 37th Rotary Anniversary was October 15th. He was recognized and fined $5. Thad Sanford was recognized for his wife’s anniversary, “where are you taking her?” He answered, “we are negotiating, dinner and something fun.” Kim response was amusing, “give her our best and put the money in the basket.” Daniel Stewart was recognized for his 4th Rotary Anniversary and was fined $5. Bill Hite was recognized for his 22nd Rotary Anniversary. Kim shifted gears from recognizing birthdays and anniversaries to recognizing who was in charge of the music, in one of the funniest dialogues during a Finemaster’s segment in a while, “Who picked the music today? How do you go from ‘Row Row Row Your Boat’ to bang the gong?” President Joe Lins took ownership of it and for that, he was fined $5 once more. Immediate Past President Zoot Velasco was asked to be recognized for the nember of trips he has taken so far. He answered 9. Zoot took the time to fine himself $5 for the service Coyote Hills staff has offered the club. “We have new servers and they are so polite. I am going to pay $5 for that. Abby is so amazing! Great service. Thank you, Coyote Hills.” Dan Kiernan was fined $5 for not saying hello to Kim today. Marty Burbank was fined $5 for his Coast Guard joke from earlier, “The Coast Guard recently changed their minimum height requirement to 6 feet. That way, if the boat sinks, everyone can just walk to shore.” That joke received a ton of laughs. “I wish I can fine you $10,” Kim said. “Mike Oates, why am I fining you for?” Mike responds, “Because I showed up to the meeting?” For a moment, Lucille Ball appeared in a physical form, “yes, but mostly because I can.” Great job Kim Barlow!

Our Program at Hand was introduced by, Farrell Hirsch, CEO of the MUCK. “Ladies and gentlemen. Not many know this, but I have a Master’s degree in History. The idea that we all learned in history is that everything is interconnected. Is it inevitable? Turns out most of this stuff is not inevitable. You may think that during World War 2, there would be a hero. It is a big deal that our guest today came along to make an impact in history. We are grateful for the leadership he showed during the 1930s and 40s. He will be here at the Muck doing a show, Randy Otto as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill.” Actor Randy Otto is renowned worldwide. A keynote leadership speaker who has played Winston Churchill for 4 decades with hundreds of performances that have earned him the distinction: Churchill Leadership Expert. He gave Fullerton Rotary Club a preview of his show from The Muckenthaler Cultural Event Center. Randy Otto plays Winston Churchill in a one-man tour-de-force presentation with media that challenges the audience to learn about history and to not repeat mistakes of the past. He finished his presentation with an interactive Q&A segment entitled, “ASK WINSTON!” Zoot Velasco asks, “tell us about your relationship with FDR.” “Meeting him was like opening a bottle of champagne. Getting to know him is like drinking it,” said Churchill. “When you talk about FDR you must talk about Winston Churchill. If not, you would have been speaking German.” Kim Barlow asks, “how was it working with Stalin in defeating the Nazi’s?” Churchill tells a story about how Stalin was a charming man. “Completely the opposite of the democratic west. If it had not been for Stalin, we would not have won the war.” Jim Williams asked, “you spoke about how you were inspired by the people. Looking at the situation you have today, how do you deal with tremendous threats? Threats of nuclear weapons. What can you tell us to address those issues?” “Truth plus belief equals trust,” said Churchill. “Trusting the people with the truth. That is the glue that held the British people together.” Rebecka Forester asks, “many critics were afraid of the U.S.S.R. How did you know the Nazi’s were a real threat?” “Easy answer,” said Churchill. “I read Mein Kampf. He told us what he was going to do and he did it.” Rashawn Underdue asked, “my great-grandfather was a Tuskegee Airmen mechanic. He said he felt safe in Britain. Was that the culture? To make blacks feel at home?” “British are British, no matter what color,” said Churchill. “Come on over, we’ll put the pot on for you.” President Joe Lins took the stage to present Randy Otto the highly coveted speakers gift. Randy, now out of character, said that he is also a Rotarian, from Lake Mills Wisconsin Rotary Club. Randy gifted President Lins with his club’s flag. Randy Otto has been a Rotarian for 24 years. Randy gave Vice President Jim Ripley some advice, “keep your head up. I was part of my club for one week and was asked to be President.” Save the date, monthly Board Meeting will be Wednesday at 10:45 at Coyote Hills Country Club. Next week we will have a quick update from Phi Nguyen, the President of CSUF Rotaract. October 26th, is our clubs 100th year anniversary, AKA the Rotary Party of the Century at the Summit House. Invitations went out so make sure you RSVP. If you have any Rotary Memorabilia bring it in and give it to Leslie. The Committee is setting up a few tables of viewable items to be returned to their rightful owners after the event.

Last thing on the agenda was the 50/50 drawing for $28 and 2 free t-shirts. Lucky ticket holder 6369329, Fullerton Rotary Club guest Mike Wolfe took home the money. “Thank you for coming today, we look forward to seeing you next week. Our Program next week is always popular featuring Professor Barbara Stone as she informs, entertains and shares her election campaign issues and predictions. Thank you for coming today and if you need anything between now and then make sure we know. Charge on! Meeting is adjourned.”

	(published using 100% recycled electrons)
	this edition was published in fullerton, ca