Rotagram for Wednesday, Jan 18, 2023

Meeting was called to order by club President Joe Lins.

President Lins starts off with a joke, “A guy goes into see his doctor because he can see into the future. The doctor asks him, ‘how long have you suffered from this condition?’ The man answers, ‘Since next Monday!’”

A vote was taken to see how many members would like to go see a Cal State Fullerton Baseball game. Majority of the club raised their hands.

Today’s important facts in sports; in the NFL, the club debated who were the worst team between the Seahawks, Rams, or Broncos. Looks like theirs a new worst team. “Clearly, it’s the Chargers. How do you blow a 27-point lead?” On this date; in 1911 the first landing of an aircraft on a ship took place as, Pilot Eugene B. Fly, safely landed his Curtiss biplane on the deck of the armored cruiser, USS Pennsylvania, in the San Francisco Harbor.

For our Commencement ceremonies, Howard Minkley gave us our invocation and Patriotic Moment. He led us in prayer. “Dear lord, bless this group and all the people associated with it. Make sure that they do good in the community. Bless this food that we are about to partake in and look fondly in our future. Amen.” For our Patriotic Moment, he thanked President Lins for the opportunity but also mentioned that part of his intro was already mentioned by him during “On This Date.” Howard gave a brief history on the development of the U.S. Aircraft program. “The second thing that you may not know, is that also, on the same day, January 18, 1957, U.S. Air Force culminated a 25 thousand mile around the world non stop flight using B-52 bombers. This basically proved that mid-air refueling was practical and effective. The B-52, named Lucky Lady, took 94 hours to complete its trip which gave the U.S. superior air power.” Thad Sanford reminded us of one more important U.S. Aircraft fact, “60 years ago today, I was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force.”

This received a tremendous round of applause. Howard Minkley led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Our Songmaster today was, Mr. Bud “I m Getting My Wrist Operated On” Lang. Bud took the stage and shared that he watched a video of the operation he is getting, “It’s not going to be fun,” he said. Bud Lang led us with the song, America The Beautiful. Today’s guest in attendance was “the soon to be non-guest,” Dr. Bob Simon.

Today’s announcements; Zoot Velasco took the stage, “I am proud to announce that next week, we will be voting on a new President-Elect nominee. And that person is the one and only, the inevitable, Cathy Gach! She finally said yes!” He also announced the postponing of regular Board election until end of February because of a “crossing of the minds with the great Fullerton South. For those who don’t know, Fullerton South was founded and sponsored by our club many many years ago. They will be coming back to the club and be one club. Because of that, members of Fullerton South will be eligible for Board seats on our board.” If anyone is interested in being part of Jim Ripley’s Board, please talk to Mr. Ripley as soon as possible.

Cathy Gach announced that the foundation is re-sending letters for tax purposes.

Our Recognition Master was Fullerton College Intern, Gerardo Chagolla. Gerardo thanked “The Master Finemaster” Bill Mathy for the opportunity and recalled the email sent out to sign up for Recognition Master. “The email said, ‘it is fun, it helps the club generate funds, and the club gets to know you better.’ So before you get to know my awesome personality, I want to recognize and sing Happy Birthday to Frances Hunter. Please Join me.” Gerardo fined her $1. Bob Muschek was recognized and fined $1 for his upcoming birthday on January 20. Gerardo asked Daniel Stewart to stand to be recognized, “for last week’s meeting, you were present on Zoom. You were recognized for your wedding anniversary, did you CashApp that $1? Well, today it’s double that, sir. Please pay $2.” Zoot Velasco was asked to stand and be recognized for his spouse’s birthday. Zoot was prepared for the fine as he pulled out some cash and gladly paid more than the $1 he was fined during last week’s meeting. To end his Finemaster segment, Gerardo told some “Joe Lins Style Jokes” with each table. If the table got the joke incorrect, every member from that table would pay $1. If the table got it correct, Gerardo agreed to pay each person’s fine. Every member in attendance enjoyed the jokes as the room filled with laughter and smiles from ear to ear.

Our Program at Hand was introduced by President Joe Lins. “Marty Burbank. Past President and man with a lot of talent. Overextended, as far as his time and giving back to everybody. He doesn’t know how to say no. He’s a great guy. Our Senior Craft Talk with Marty Burbank. Please welcome him.” Marty Burbank thanked the club for the opportunity and mentioned he left a flyer on each table with all his attributions. “All of you guys know me as Marty. But my real name is William Martin Burbank Jr. Most of my life, people have called me Marty. In high school, I went by Bill, a little bit. But, in the Navy, they called me A22 Burbank or Doc. Some of my Navy friends still call me Doc. But in the sailing world, which sailing is a big part of my life as most of you know, I was known as The Redman.” He attributes that name because of his natural red hair afro, which once was. To this day, he is still known as The Redman in the sailing world. He recalls a time racing on a boat owned by actor, Vickie Lawrence. “She owned the boat that I raced on, a 70-foot racing boat. Those days and to this day, very few women raced big boats. Because she wrote and signed the checks, she drove that boat across many finish lines. She knew me as The Redman.” People who sail usually come from wealthy affluent families. Marty’s family was not that, “my family wasn’t affluent and my parent didn’t go to college. I learned how to sail through scouting.” He was a fast learner and quickly picked up on boat racing. He had the opportunity to race with some great sailors and credits Roderick Hopkins Davis, former competitive sailor who won Olympic medals for two countries, as the man who taught him how to do foredeck sailing, the most dangerous job on a racing boat. “I really attribute sailing as the reason I ended up going to college and becoming a lawyer. If it hadn’t been for sailing, I wouldn’t be where I am today.” The world of sailing opened many doors for him in ways he never would have thought. Because his parents never went to college, it wasn’t expected of him either. But, on the boats that he raced on, the owners were all college educated and were successful in business. His interactions with these successful college educated individuals made him think twice about positively going to college, “I am very grateful to them.” Many know that Marty Burbank was in the Navy. He was stationed in Hawaii for four years. “If you’re a single guy in Hawaii and you want to meet girls. If you have a sail boat, it’s really good.” The Redman shares funny stories with the club of his time sailing in the Navy. He credits his mentor and Navy buddy, litigation attorney John C. Manly, an Intelligence Officer at the time, as the reason he entered law school. “I am very grateful for him. John is an extremely successful litigation attorney. He handles primarily cases of child sexual abuse.” He recalls Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, where John funded the rescue operation of people affected by the hurricane. “John was the guy who let me use his plane and his credit card to go down to Puerto Rico and save those people. John is a great guy. He is a good friend of mine and has always been a great influence to me.” All of his success throughout his life has happened to him because of the influence of other people. He recalls being the speaker at the Monarch Beach Sunrise Rotary Club, 18 years ago, and being the first time he saw the Recognition Master, “in that club, they were charging members $50. I thought, there’s no way I could ever join this club. Later on, I learned that that wasn’t what they were doing.” There he met Margarita Martin, who invited him to The Roosters Club, an Orange County based foundation similar to Rotary with only 1 chapter. “A few of us are Roosters. Dr. Thad Sanford is a Rooster, Dan Ouweleen is a Rooster, Allyn Lean is a Rooster. Daniel Steward has been to some Roosters events. Bob Muschek and Bill Mathy have poured wine at some Roosters fundraisers in the past. Some of you are familiar with the Roosters.” He credits his affiliation with The Roosters that has led him to the path of philanthropy and giving back. He has been taught to appreciate where his blessing come from through the act of giving back. His work with Miller Children’s Pediatric Hospital in Long Beach, where he sponsors children going through cancer treatments has been a rewarding partnership. Through The Roosters foundation, he was introduced to Rotary International and got to go to his first meeting as a potential member, “I’ll never forget that meeting. That was the day I got to see Terri Grassi slide down a fire pole. I thought that happened every week.” His next meeting at Rotary, he was in a wheelchair, due to being in a motorcycle accident, “as we were leaving the meeting, this guy, name Jim Williams, helps me load up my wheel chair in my car. As years go by, I get to know Jim. Jim is always trying to help. That’s him every day! If you know Jim, you’ve probably been helped by Jim and you don’t even know it. I bet none of you have been to an event where you left after Jim or Sally, because they are always there helping clean up, folding the chairs or washing the dishes.” Marty held his own recognition event, praising Jim Williams, “I always try to be more like Jim. He’s helped me in my life many times in many ways. So, thank you Jim and Sally.” In 2015, Dan Ouweleen was President of Fullerton Rotary Club and he convinced Marty to be his President-Elect and run for President for 2016, “in 2016, I was pretty busy that year. I was scheduled to be chair in North Orange County Chamber of Commerce. At that point, I was teaching at Cal State Fullerton, as an adjunct professor. Dan persisted and talked me in to being President.” As Dan’s President-Elect, Marty credits Dan of doing 90% of the work and giving him all the credit for it. “He was always there and always had my back. He always has a vision. I think he’s done more for this district than any District Governor since I’ve been a member of Rotary, and he’s only halfway done with his year. I am grateful for Rotary and for Dan.” He recommends to always say yes if Dan asks you to co-chair anything because Dan will always give you all the credit of work. Marty Burbank owns his own Law Practice. He is a business owner but he doesn’t have a Business Degree or a Board of Directors to help him run his business. But because of his affiliation with The Roosters Foundation and Fullerton Rotary Club, he has had the opportunity to sit on a few Boards with some influential people and with Dr. Thad Sanford, “I don’t need to tell you about his resume but he is always the smartest guy in the room. Every time I talk to him, I feel like I learned a lot. I am very grateful to have Thad share his wisdom with me over the years.” He credits Joe Lins as another person who has taught him about philanthropy, “Joe Lins helped me realize that giving $100 to a charity is great. But if I can get 100 people to give $100, that’s a much greater thing to do. For the past 27 years, Joe and Suzy Lins have been doing that with their Century 21 Gala, The Discovery Charity Foundation. They have raised close to half a million dollars over the last 27 years. That inspired me to raise $40,000 for an orphanage in Mexico through a charity event on my 50th birthday.” Ultimately, Marty’s biggest influence has been his father, who has since passed. “My dad wasn’t educated. He wasn’t super successful in business. But he was very entrepreneurial. He started several businesses during his lifetime and he gave me that spirit of entrepreneurism. He is the reason why I started my own practice.” Marty remembers when he was young, his father was a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, with an age limit under 40. “JC’s did service projects. They helped an orphanage in Mexico, something my wife and I still do.” He can attribute his father’s time in the JC’s club as the start of his philanthropy service. “That is one of the most valuable things my father taught me. Even though, he didn’t have a lot of resources, he always did service projects.” Through sailing is how he met his wife. “I used to have a sailboat and we where down in Newport Beach. I invited a bunch of people sailing and my wife was one who came along to sail with me.” But, because of his accident in 2008, they sold their boat with the plan to buy a new boat. “We narrowed it down to 2 different boats. My wife liked the really nice Beneteau boat with pretty wood on it. I liked the Catalina because it didn’t have a bunch of wood and I rather go sailing than varnish a boat. Around that time, the pastor of our church at Eastside Church, gave a sermon about charity and sacrifice.” During this time, Marty and his wife were doing volunteer work at an elementary school in Anaheim in a kindergarten class. He remembers that all the children in that class were children of immigrants, all English language learners, with really no prospect to go to college or possibly finish high school. “We realized that for the cost of that boat and maintaining it, and storing it for the next 18 years. We could, instead, send those kids to college. Now, if you’re ever thinking about sending 26 kids to college, which I think it’s a good thing, you should all do that,” he jokingly said. “You might want to ask your wife first. I was a little nervous when I told my wife because I was already committed. It wasn’t supposed to be public knowledge but it was posted on Facebook and the newspaper picked it up. So I knew I had to tell my wife soon.” Marty and his family has been blessed many times over. He credits his wife as his guardrail who has supported him in every step of their lives. Marty took some questions from the audience at the end of his Senior Craft Talk. President Lins awarded Marty “The Redman” Burbank the highly coveted speakers gift. “I remember when Marty was President of our club,” said President Lins, “I remember thinking, this guy needs a handler. He was totally busy. Totally busy is the wrong word. It’s totally engaged. Marty, everything you’ve done, you’ve been totally engaged. You are all in. I really admire that.”

Last thing on the agenda was the 50/50 drawing worth $29 and 2 more drawings for a free Muckenthaler Events Center performances courtesy of Farrell Hirsch. Ticket holder number 6369624, Taz Stachelski won the money. Taz wins again, alongside Patrick Hartnett, trips to the Muckenthaler Event Center. “Thank you for coming today. Next week will feature a report on The Fullerton Airport by our airport manager Brendan O’Reily, bringing us up to date and what he sees for the future. Another thing I want to say is thank you. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do this. There’s 60 to 70 other folks in this club that would be more than willing to do it. I really appreciate it. This is something that I look forward to. I always look forward to this throughout my whole Rotary experience. I always look forward to Wednesday but this year has been something else. I never tell stupid jokes, something got in to me, I think it was Gerardo. Thank you for being here today, see you next week. Charge On! Meeting Adjourned!”

	(published using 100% recycled electrons)
	this edition was published in Cancun, MX