VISALIA ROTARY CLUB

Congratulations to our two new Board members (and newest future Presidents), Dave Miller (PacEmp) and Matt Bixler!  Word has it was a close race because all the nominees were so wonderful!  Thank you for stepping up! 

Al Fisher interviewed/interrogated our latest new member. Jennifer Shirk sponsored Nate Roldan (when the word isn’t in the dictionary, try looking in the phone book!)  Nate graduated from Mt. Whitney High School.  His parents taught French and coached sports.  His wife teaches kindergarten at Crestwood.  Nate has been working for Coors and has been in the beer industry for 24 years.  Welcome, Nate! 

President Ed reported on the District 5230 Conference.  From what I gather, the District changes the award categories from year to year, so Brian Hyde, don’t plan on trying to second guess your awards next year!  Our Club earned 3 awards: Community, Youth, and Membership.  We also earned 3^rd place for End Polio Now and received a fake check for $3,000, but we can’t spend it (interesting award.)  We did NOT earn the Foundation Award, because although we had the highest dollar amount, we did not have the highest dollar amount per Club member L (Do you think the District felt President Al received too many awards last year?)  Our Club won a fifth award, the President’s Citation, for reducing child mortality.  I probably got this last award wrong!  Suffice it to say “We done good!”  President Ed also tried to give the Secretary’s report, but Wayne Yada asserted his right to give that report and encouraged everyone to be sure roster information is correct because there will be “NO Whining Allowed!”  Dick Watson, returning from Holland, gifted President Ed with Belgian chocolate and Holland beer (security took the Belgian wine!)  Bruce McDermott saluted Bill Gerlach for selflessly assisting a young girl retain vision in her one remaining sighted eye.  Bill, you’re our hero! 

Announcements:  Please RSVP for President Ed’s Demotion (June 24^th, 6 pm at the Visalia Country Club)  to Don Sharp, 734-9246, by June 19^th. You won’t be billed for this event since our Club is paying for it, but since we ARE the Club, we ARE paying for it…so plan to attend!  Although you are supposed to choose to dress as a sailor or as a pirate, Captain Ed indicated that as long he is captain the consequences will be dire indeed for Pirates! The deadline for Team Leader and Team Member applications is July 1, 2009 for our Rotary District’s outbound GSE (Group Study Exchange) with District 4670 Brazil (April 10 to May 9, 2010.)  Team Members must be between the ages of 25 to 40 and CANNOT be Rotarians or immediate family.  For more information and applications, contact: Fred Scott, Harvey May, Bill Evans, or visit the District GSE Chair website:  http://www. montereypacificrotary.org/ brazil/ 

Sergeant-at-Arms Reports are hopefully winding to halt with the end of President Ed’s term of office.  Doug Berg was actually prepared and chose to recognize Rocky Pipkin for a great business promotion idea of passing out billed hats at Eric Black’s car wash; Eric Shannon’s youngest son, Dustin, for achieving 5 birdies during the Tuesday Night Visalia Country Club Men’s Nine Hole Scramble; himself, for pride of his daughter’s work in an aids clinic in Tanzania; and President Ed who Doug wanted to fine just because he could (amidst cheers from Gerry Schneider!)  Doug relinquished his Sergeant-at-Arms apron…whoops I mean vest, and bid it a fond farewell!  Tom Beene welcomed aboard new Sully Sailor, Doug Gilio, who will not only operate the radar, he’ll bring his own radar equipment (BYOR.) He’s proud his two sons have both graduated from their universities! 

And speaking of children graduating, Stan Shawl, member of the Visalia Breakfast Rotary, presented our program today on planning for college. A few points to consider:  Not everyone is suited for college; seriously consider hiring a private professional college planner to assist the student on career aptitude, the application process, and the funding of education (including the FAFSA application); start planning by at least the sophomore year of high school; try to appropriately match the major to the proper institution; start saving early; and it’s better to borrow than use retirement funds!

As in meetings reminiscent of Past President Al, we started this meeting with a song.  Yes, it was “God Bless America,” (Isn’t that our theme song?) but it sure didn’t sound like how WE sing it!  Thanks to Mimi Stemkoski and her friend (ironically from Canada…sorry, I didn’t catch the name) we were treated to an awesome display of singing ability.  I guess we’ll never think of that song the same way again!  This week, “Rotary Salutes” honored Dr. Omar Franklin with a Paul Harris Award in honor of his years of service to humanity and to our community in the practice of medicine.  Dr. Franklin has freely given of his knowledge and gifts.  With a standing ovation we say:  “Thank you Dr. Franklin!”  Randy Price of Farmers Insurance Group gave each of us a DVD:  “Across the Waves: Voices from the Asian Pacific American Community.”  This DVD contains eight episodes representing eight Asian cultures in our country in celebration of May as Asian Heritage Month.  Randy replayed the episode on Cambodian Americans at our meeting.  This episode demonstrates that there is more than one holocaust in our time.  How can people do such atrocities to each other?   What a powerful presentation! Thank you, Randy!

 Welcome, new member, Tony Benevento! (…the newest member of the Duane Scott sponsored clan comprised of me, Barbara Berkson, Mike Mainord, and Megan Travoli…which makes Garth Greer our Grand-Sponsor!) Tony is a graduate of Mt. Whitney High School.  After high school he attended college in Texas and is currently an owner of ServiceMaster of Bakersfield and ServiceMaster by Benevento.  Tony, you’re just in time to catch the ship for Paradise!  New Sailors this week:  Karl Pendegraft, back from sailing in Alaska, brought President Ed a miniature Norwegian long ship…looks like a Viking ship to me…is that one of those things that it depends on which side of the gang plank you’re on? …Karl joined the crew as a bilge rat (Well, SOMEBODY’s gotta do it, and as much as Gerry Schneider’s older brother wants Gerry to get all the nasty jobs on board ship, I’m sure Gerry appreciates the help!)  Mike Boyd joined the crew as Assistant Medical Officer…I guess who he’s assisting is up for grabs, unless Byron Riegel is interested in leading the “Knotty Boys” AND being Chief Medical Officer? 

Brian Hyde announced that two board members are resigning, thus we are having a special election June 3^rd to fill those positions.  “Many Thanks” to Wayne Yada (Wayne will continue as our club secretary) and Susan Welch for all your time and efforts.  (You don’t think they got burned out, do you?)  Also, return the letters to Brian letting him know what committee(s) you would like to join (the more helping hands the fewer burnouts!) and send him a picture of you in your younger days…he says he’s received some doozies!  (Don’t you think dictionaries are amazing books?)  Mark your calendars for President Ed’s Demotion. (Yes, his days are numbered!  I’m sure he’s looking forward to the end of his year with mixed feelings!)  Join us June 24^th at the Country Club; social hour starts at 6 pm, dinner at 7 pm. Choose your side of the gang plank and either dress like a pirate or dress like a sailor! Please RSVP to Don Sharp at 734-9246 by June 19th.  This event is free so take advantage of it!  Next week Bill Scroggins will talk to us about global warming.  See you! (Or is that “Sea You”?)

Congratulations to Heather and Matt Bixler on the birth of their eight pound 5 ounce baby boy, Patrick!  Maybe someday he’ll be a member of our club, too!  In other announcements:  Please return your “President’s Letters” to Brian Hyde.  Be sure to sign up for a committee so you won’t end up with whatever Brian assigns you!  Brian’s President’s Club will be the “Young Man’s Club,” and Brian said he’d think of something for the women who join his club…but, hey…I’m a proud member of the “Old Man’s Club,” so, I will be just as proud to be a member of the “Young Man’s Club!”  Call me your first member, Brian! Brian is collecting pictures of all members at age 35 or younger, so get your pictures to Brian before your spouse chooses one for you! Also, we each need a new picture taken for the new Club Roster.  Due to formatting changes, all the current pictures will be lost, but Dave Miller (PacEmp) will be available to take your picture next week at the Products’ Day Auction or at our next noon meeting in two weeks. (Say “cheese!” or wait, how about “Rotar-eee!”)  I think President Ed is counting the days to Demotion…mark your calendars for June 24^th, 6 pm at the Visalia Country Club!  Will the location of “Paradise” finally be revealed? 

President’s Club News:  Welcome aboard, Mike Robertson, Pastor of First Assembly Church.  It’s growing rapidly and celebrating 81 years witnessing the full spectrum of life passages from sad events to joyous events in the lives of its members.  Mike volunteered to be a bouncer on board ship (Boing!) Bruce Miller joined our crew and offered to be in charge of the “booty”…I think he might be a member of our “Pirate” contingent…we seem to have a mix of sailors, pirates, and cruise ship personnel…guess it needs to be a cruise ship to hold all these people!  V T Tsvirinko joined our crew in honor of Fresno Pacific University’s new center now open on the co..V T volunteered to be “Russian Pirate Negotiator”…I think that’s a very importanrner of Crowley and Plaza Drive…a 35,000 square foot building…oof!t facility to have available to us!  Josh McDonnell reminded President Ed of the first encounters they had when Josh was visiting Ed house as a date of Ed’s daughter’s best friend back in 1989.  Ed put Josh to work cleaning the garage and doing yard work to keep Josh out of mischief!   I bet Josh returned the second time because he couldn’t believe Ed put him to work the first time! Poor, Ed.  Poor, Josh!  Josh volunteered to be a “grunt” in the engine room…I think all that work at Ed’s house scarred Josh!  Mermaid Trivia:  In order to combat the frustrations of sailors falling in love with mermaids, the twin-tailed or two-tailed mermaid was invented.  This variant of a mermaid, also called a melusine, is featured on the logo of StarBuck’s Coffee! This is actually more than I EVER wanted to know about this subject!  And speaking of Trivia, StarBucks was named after the coffee loving member of the crew in “Moby Dick!” I need to read that book again (That book should REALLY be entitled “Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Whales!”)  I would have thought I’d remember a crew member named StarBuck! 

Lindsay Mann introduced Janet Hogan, Executive Director of Tulare County First Five.  First Five is celebrating 10 years of health and education programs for the children of Tulare County from Healthy Kids Insurance to School Readiness Programs. The first five years of a child’s life actually have a physical effect on the child’s development, so keeping kids healthy, educated, and protected from abuse is a powerful investment in the future of our entire society!  First Five also aids other organizations, like CASA of Tulare County, which provides an advocate for children 0-5 years old in the dependency court.  The consequences of Proposition 1D passing means First Five will lose almost half of its annual budget for the next five years.  We are dark next week at Noon, so I’ll see you next Wednesday evening at the Visalia Country Club, 6 pm, for our Products’ Day Auction…bring your checkbook and bring a friend!

Today was award day.  It seemed like almost everyone received an award!  We had members receiving awards, non-members receiving awards…even the folks passing out awards were receiving awards!  Gerry Schneider introduced our Club Scholarship Award Program and praised John Barbis for his chairmanship of this committee.  The Committee gives four scholarships of $3,500 each (one to a student from each of our public high schools), four scholarships of $500 each to Sequoia High School students, plus administering the scholarship programs for the Visalia Rotary Community Foundation. Two of the winners were with us today:  Joshua Lavendar of Mt. Whitney (4.0+ GPA, going to UCLA) and Jesus Chavez of Golden West (4.14 GPA going to UC Berkeley.)  Congratulations to all our scholarship recipients and their parents!  Well done!  Also, today our Student of the Month, Casey Rickert, was honored.  Casey is active in choir, is a “quiet leader”, and she’s a “can do” kid.  Congratulations, Casey! 

Al Fisher interrogated…whoops!...interviewed Willie Case, one of our new members.  Willie was a member of our club about 25 years ago.  He was born in Visalia and attended Redwood High School and COS.  Willie is on the board of CASA (one of my fellow board members!), owns 2 restaurants in the Santa Cruz area, and seems to be involved in more things than I can list here.  Welcome back, Willie! 

Joining Sully’s Sailors this week were:  Mark Shannon, recently returned from a Disney Cruise out of Florida, he brought a bottle of “Pirates’ Choice” rum for President Ed, and volunteered to pass out towels to the gals sun bathing on deck (Mark, you can hand me a towel any day…only problem is I probably WON’T be sun bathing…not unless I can find one of those old fashioned suits that covers from neck to knees!) This was Shannon Day for joining the club.  Eric Shannon is already a member of Sully’s Crew, but he has been joined by his dad, Mike Shannon, (he’ll bring the wine…cheers, Mike!) and his son, J R Shannon (who’ll shoot any pirates …hopefully only the ones not already part of our crew!)  President Ed decided we needed a figure head for the ship…possibly a mermaid.  Sailors and mermaids have a timeless relationship.  In keeping with that theme Francie Langley (yes, moi!) shared a ditty about the frustrations of a young man falling love with a mermaid! Mermaid Trivia for the week:  salt water mermaids assist sailors at sea (nice mermaids!) while sirens are fresh water mermaids stationed near the shore where fresh water streams join the ocean, thus luring sailors to run aground (naughty mermaids!) 

Brian Hyde, sporting a cast (what happened, Brian?) is preparing for his year as president of our club.  Sign up for committees, make suggestions, and be ready to join the “Young Man’s Club” next year!  We need our Products Day Auction to be a success so Brian’ll have funds to operate next year.  Let Susan Lucas know what you are donating, deliver your contributions to Wayne Yada, and join us May 20^th at 6:30 pm at the Visalia Country Club (we’ll be dark at Noon that day) for food, fellowship, and fundraising! 

Our District Governor, August Hioco, was present to receive his standing ovation from the club, and help pass out Paul Harris Awards to this year’s recipients.  We had about 62 awards (Totally awesome!)  Special thanks and congratulations to Gary Paden on his receipt of Paul Harris Awards Plus Seven and Plus Eight! (Mega-awesome!)  Rotary International has been instrumental in saving two billion children from polio and August expressed his pride at the honor of representing such giving Rotarians as our club.  President Ed awarded Greg Meis an Outstanding Service Award for his years of dedication setting up for each meeting (not to mention Greg has 37 year of perfect attendance!)  The words “Thanks, Greg!” just don’t seem to adequately express our appreciation!  Co-Rotarians of the Year were Dick Combs and John Crowe:  our club’s personification of what it means to be great Rotarians.  Thanks! (Words fail me, yet again!)  Join us next week for our program by Janet Hogan, Executive Director of Tulare County First Five. Maybe in a week I can invent more “Mermaid Trivia!”

Announcements:  It’s that time again for Arts Visalia orchid sale fundraiser.  You have until May 9th to buy orchids. Contact Arts Visalia at 739-0905 if you’re interested.  Thursday, May 7^th is the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast 2009 at the Visalia Convention Center.  Tickets are $40 per person, available from www.gorillatix.com, or by calling 888-388-1288. The Rotary club of Porterville presents “African Adventure,” their annual dinner & auction fundraiser, May 30^th, arrival 4 pm, tickets $50, call 781-3310 or email pvillerotaryauction@gmail.com. Speaking of auctions, our Products Day Auction is just around the corner.  Let Susan Lucas know what you are contributing to the auction.  Each member will be billed $40 per person to cover the cost of the meal.  Plan to attend May 20^th, 6:30 pm at the Country Club and help raise funds for Brian Hyde’s year as president. (I see a light!) 

Press Gang News:  J D Dolan joined Sully’s crew for learning what not to do on a camping trip…be on the lookout for those posts buried by the snow!  Lindsay Mann joined the crew and volunteered for duty in the crow’s next…citing actual experience (Wow! Heights are bad enough, but heights that sway…Yuck!) Don Hutton fined Karen Lindberg $20 because she didn’t know the answer to some of Don’s obscure, if interesting, trivia…’course that’s the nature of trivia!  President Ed was not running the meeting because he was just back from vacation 10 minutes before the meeting, so, Justin Mosley was the reigning board member (by the way, nice meeting, Justin!)  There was a bit of a “discussion” over a fine of $250 for Ed, (even thought he is already a member of his President’s Club) led by Justin Mosley and Gerry Schneider…concluded by Ed’s promise (or threat?) that the discussion would continue next week…ostensibly when Ed is back in charge of the meeting (!) Go ahead, Ed, …play that trump card! 

Welcome New Members:  Al Fisher interviewed new members, Mime Stemkoski and Steve Dwelle (is this a new format to replace craft talks for those who are uncomfortable with speaking in public?  Not a bad alternative!)  Mimi grew up in Morocco, North Africa, and was educated in France.  As part of the Celebrant Singers, her degree in church music is tres a propos.  Steve was a Thunderbird from 1971 to 1972, and retired as a colonel in 1984.  He is active with the Rescue Mission and the 210 Center.  Welcome, Mimi and Steve! 

Program:  Lindsay Mann, presented slides and wonderful information on the new wing of Kaweah Delta District Hospital.  Humble, as usual, Lindsay credited this achievement to the KDDH Board and the community.  The expansion came in on time and on budget (we be talking amazing!)  Lindsay, true to form, gave an informative, attention grabbing, well prepared program.  Thank you, Lindsay, for all you do! Next week, join us for club awards! …Can you stand the suspense?  

I’ve missed you! Tax season is over and I’m back!...either that or I’m a ghost and I’m haunting you all!  Actually, I feel like I’ve been held underwater by mischievous mer-folk for two and half months (glub, glub) and have just managed to escape and bob to the surface! (I even know a mermaid song!) Every tax season has its challenges and this year I was focusing so intently that I never managed to get my hair cut until April 17^th…I was looking like a cross between Paula Dean and a gray haired Jane Jetson, complete with “wings”!  Many thanks to Lisa Nunes for helping write meeting summaries for you! 

Our special guests today were a group of five vocational college presidents from China. They have been spending time with Bill Scroggins at College of the Sequoias to learn how COS meets the needs of our community.  ProYouth Heart presented an appreciation plaque to our Rotary Club of Visalia as thanks for supporting their cause.  Brent Calvin introduced our Rotary Scholarship winner, Melissa Cook, from El Diamante High School.  Melissa plans on attending the University of Pennsylvania to study Economics.  (You go, girl!) 

Speaking of Economics, our program today was Christian Anderson, professor of Economics at COS for the past five years, discussing the influence of debt in our economy.  Christian made some very interesting points about when debt is helpful to the economy (borrowing to invest in income producing assets) and when it is not (borrowing to pay for operations.) He brought the subject home by tying this to our personal budgets.  Many feel that affluence is a right, even if that means going into debt. (We’ve all noticed that!) 

Congratulations to Ila Benedict, our Monthly Paul Harris Award recipient.  Whereas many of our recipients have been directors of non-profit organizations, Ila has volunteered and been involved in a myriad of organizations.  Thank you, Ila, for your generous spirit!  Welcome to our new members:  Steve Dwelle and Mimi Stemkoski.  Steve is a retired Air Force Colonel with 198 combat missions under his belt. (I think I heard something about the Top Gun Academy in his introduction…eat your heart out, Tom Cruise!)  Mimi is with the Celebrant Singers. (Do I hear an angel?) We’re thrilled to have you both join us!  President Ed, in a display of generosity, fined all red badge members $25 and announced they would be receiving blue badges. (Is this like a Presidential Pardon? Cool!) 

Products Day Auction is approaching fast!  By May 6^th, please let Susan Lucas know what you are donating (her fax is 687-3113).  Deliver your items to Premier Color Graphics, 324 S. Santa Fe, Visalia. Plan to join us May 20^th, at the Visalia Country Club at 6:30 pm to raise funds for Brian Hyde’s year as president.  Our goal is $30,000.  See you next week, and in the mean time…don’t go swimming with a mermaid!

An announcement was made for the next meeting being held at the Rawhide Ballpark on April 8^th at noon. Come and taste Justin Mosley’s hot dog bun creation. Dean Glass was next to find someone who needed a free shoe shine….and Tom Seidler was the winner of the ticket. 

Pete Cowper announced “Fly the Fortress” experience coming to the Visalia Airport on April 21^st & 22^nd. You can check the website www.b17.org for more information. Al Fisher then introduced our newest member, Glenn Morris to the club. Glen grew up in Utah and has lived in Visalia for 8 years. He has a wife and 4 children and is an Eagle Scout. Glenn was recently named the CEO of the Visalia Chamber of Commerce and is happy to be in the club. 

Mike Toomey was called upon to discuss his work as an Ag. appraiser with Macklin & Sons. Mike was unsure of what he could do aboard ship, and Captain Sullivan suggested we needed more swabbies. Welcome aboard Mike. 

Bill Winn shared with everyone his fishing trip to Alaska. When asked how many fish he caught, his response of “you lose count after awhile” was then followed by a loud ‘Ohhhhh’ from all. Bill will be the explorer of fishing sights aboard ship. 

Bill Rose of Rose and Associates was next to be called upon. With the Rule 85, we haven’t seen much of Bill and with it being April Fool’s Day I figured we were in for a treat. But Bill was pretty low key and indicated he would help Don Groppetti get the cars to the dock. Sgt. at Arms, Bill Whitlatch was next to introduce Genice Price as the newest shipmate. Genice would like to be in charge of the entertainment. 

Brian Hyde was quick to discuss his exciting trip to PETS and he is already starting to feel the shift of power. Don’t worry though President Sullivan, you are still the Captain for a few more months. General John Crowe made a brief announcement regarding President Obama and his support of the U.S. Military. 

Products Day Auction on May 20^th is around the corner and  we all should be hearing from someone on the committee regarding donating an auction item. The program was Russ Williams, a Visalia Native, who spoke of his experience in Iraq. After 26 months in the different regions he left Iraq to come home. He spoke of his many experiences including the flight over as well as “in coming” only yards from where he stood. Welcome home Russ!

The meeting began after being searched at the front door of Jo-Ann’s Distribution Center in the industrial park. Just kidding….there was no frisking involved, but the security system does work well as there is only one way in and out of the whole facility. Box lunches were the treat, while we visited and mingled before the meeting began. It was a short and quick agenda with Soapy Mulholland announcing an art event benefiting Sequoia Riverland Trust. Next Tom Beene (aka inspector of shoes) pointed out the Jason Hutton needed a shoe shine. Be ready, Jason, next week’s inspection in right around the bend. There are a lot of events coming soon, so please get an update so you don’t miss out on anything. 

The program obviously was a tour of the distribution center for Joann’s Fabric and Craft Stores. Bruce Nicotero, General Manager, of this facility gave a great history and overview of the company. This distribution center supplies over 200 stores with the products stored in this 630,000 square foot building. They have over 200 employees that work three shifts around the clock. Bruce introduced some members of his management team who then broke us into smaller groups for the tour. The headphones, instructing the workers what to do, are amazing…and even tells them how much time they can spend on each project. Boy, what we could do as owners/managers if we followed all our employees around like that!!! But then again, we may not want to know what they are doing….. 

Thank you Bruce for a fascinating time and a great change of pace!

Larry Akey introduced guest conductor Barry Kolman and asked everyone to attend the Tulare County Symphony performance this Saturday. Birthdays, Anniversaries, etc were followed by Drew Sorensen introducing the Student of the Month from El Diamante School. Samantha Morano has a 4.2 GPA and acknowledged that although her parents were not rational with their decisions, she knows they have her best interest at heart. Sounded to me like her GPA goes beyond her academic level! She hopes to attend UCSB, but has not received an approval letter yet….the time is nearing for all. 

Sully’s Sailors was next with Don Groppetti and Frank Surroz rising from the crowd. Don was asked how business was going with the troubled economy, and Frank agreed their skills are being tested on a daily basis. Frank, already aboard ship, allowed Don to elaborate on his business. Don indicated everyone missed the “FREE CAR DAY” yesterday and the sale was over. With “sea-sick” tendencies Don agreed to untie the rope to let them sail and will have cars waiting when they returned to port.  

Phil Cline was next on the block to discuss his “blogging” skills. He will join the sail as a flogger. A discussion of whips and chains began and I had to turn my ears off….naive I am not, but I just don’t know everyone that well yet! You should have been there if you wanted to hear it. 

Don Hutton was next with the Monterey Golf trip and since he was having a great February, he was happy to join the crew. I did not hear what his duties were (still had my ears off), sorry Don!  

Randy Smith, Sergeant at Arms, shared the experience of visiting Vietnam. Spectacular pictures and stories of their culture were fascinating. Thank you, Randy for sharing. Randy Groom was next to “share” and called upon Joey Mackey. Joe and his wife, Cathleen, welcomed their first child, Colton, on February 20^th (7 lbs, 5 oz and 19 inches long). Colton is also Joey’s parents’ first grandchild…..things are great and Joey even does diapers! 

They gave away tickets to Pro Youth Heart event at the Visalia Fox Theatre for Ben Franklin Live. Next week’s meeting is located at JoAnn’s Distribution center and flyers were handled out for directions. The program was presented by Judge Val Saucedo who shared his experience at the Presidential Inauguration in January. Thank you, Val, for your great personal insight into President Obama’s background and inauguration ceremony. 

The Golden West Interact Club was introduced by Alex Gluckmann. The club was represented by four officers and announced their devotion to Kids Day. Last year they raised $25,000 to donate to Children’s Hospital and hope to exceed this amount this year. Flyers were on the table for business owners who would like to sell newspapers at their business location. 

Darlene Mata was first to join Sully’s Sailors. Darlene began her own planning company (D R Mata Consulting…is her company name President Ed). Her duty on board is party planner. Tom Cutler was next to join. He brought President Ed a book and was hoping to be the librarian aboard ship. When asked how much a prosthetic limb costs…the comment, “an arm and a leg” was heard throughout the room Very funny guys! 

Larry Rambaud was next to take the heat for a few of his golfing crew members. With a great score on the golf course and some cash in his packet, President Ed was glad to know he was willing to share it with the President’s club. 

Al Fisher was next to introduce to the club new member Phil Eslick. Phil owns and operates two Baskin Robbins stores in Visalia and Bakersfield. Welcome Phil. 

The program was a fascinating one with Sheriff Bill Whitman introducing his Sergeant to present Operation LOCCUST. The operation conducted last year was a successful one with a number of marijuana plants, guns and criminals off the streets. Way to go gang. 

Don’t forget the St Patrick’s Party on March 13^th at Eric Shannon’s home. Please RSVP.   

The meeting began right on time with the usual birthdays, anniversaries and guests announcements. Next Duane Scott presented a great dedication to Tom Boyer who passed away earlier this month. Tom was a member of our club for 41 years and a Past President in 1978. There weren’t too many dry eyes in the room, which is a true tribute to Tom. Our prayers were extended to Tom’s wife, Kathleen and his family. You will be missed Tom! 

Rotary saluted Thelma Venturella with a Paul Harris Fellow and her many years of dedication and work with Kaweah Delta’s Hospital Guild since 1990. Thelma was the President of the Guild in 1997-1998. She donated the statue of the parents holding the baby to the hospital and continues to work at the front entrance of the hospital. Our hats are off to you, Thelma. 

This week was a busy week with three new sailors aboard ship. Randy Forrester joined the club and will help navigate the ship with 3 ft of accuracy. His years of surveying will pay off. Ray Schlick agreed to join the search for paradise and with his many years of experience as an architect will help design the “casino” and also bring a pair of dice. Russ McKinney also jumped aboard and will help settle the mutiny cases and decide when someone may need to “walk the plank”. Ray offered to include a plank in his design. 

The Sergeant of Arms report allowed Peter Cowper to announce his observation of Rocky Pipken walking the streets with Channel 30 news. Rocky indicated they have been investigating a crime with progress being made. Rocky indicated he has 8-12 support staff and 15-23 investigators on staff. What an interesting business and boy, the stories I’m sure Rocky could tell!! 

Our club has donated almost $66,000 since the end of 2008. Way to go everyone. Joe Mackey was presented with his new member package. March 13^th is St. Patrick’s Day, March 28^th is Tree Committee. The program was a presentation by our very own Lee Goldstein. Lee has been a Rotarian since 1976 and transferred to our club at the beginning of 2008. Lee also is a retired Optometrist of 40 years and is the President of the Optometry Board. Lee and Dr. Franklin journeyed to China during the Olympics this past year. Track and Field is his favorite past time and Lee shared a number of interesting highlights with us all. Thank you Lee!!

The meeting began with birthdays, anniversary announcements and a great meet-and-great moment. Stan Simpson followed with an introduction of Kim Torres of Tulare Athletic Boxing Club. She brought along with her a few of her 150+ kids. One student, Nadeen, spoke of the great inspiration she has received from attending the program for 3 years. The club is holding a fundraising event on Sunday February 15 and had tickets available for purchase. After a demonstration from Nadeen on how she could “knock-out” Stan Simpson, everyone was willing to ante up for her to land a punch…. 

Sully’s Sailors continued to grow with three new crew members along for the quest. Dena Cochran joined the crew as well as Matty Matejcek and Barbara Berkson. Sergeant at Arms, Brent Calvin and Don Hutton, were next to follow with a fine to Tom Broderson for the article written to the editor while Jerry Schneider was trying to inspire a mutiny amongst the club. I just wanted to know where he found the hat….. 

Andy Balerud told a great joke that had the men laughing and the ladies shaking their heads. Wayne Yada presented J.R. Shannon with a plaque for the “Shave the Brave” from Miracle League. President Ed also presented J. R. with his grandfather (Dick’s) Rotary badge so it may remain in the family. 

The Farm Show is just around the corner! Oh, wait, excuse me, I meant to say “The World Ag Expo” is just around the corner!  Steve Knudsen, Director of Communications at the International Agri-Center, complimented our beautiful community, and presented our program today.  You can plan your visit to the World Ag Expo either by going through the booklet that’s available or by going on line.  On line you’ll find a digital map of the showground and list of exhibitors to aid you in efficiently planning your time at the show scheduled for February 10, 11, and 12. The website also provides information on seminars available, tours of actual farms, and 5 Park ‘n’ Ride locations.  You can also pre-register online at a reduced price and buy drawing tickets for a 5 X 2 5.7L V-8 Tundra.  Tickets are on sale for $5 each from the FFA with the proceeds going to the chapter of your choice. The drawing will be held at 3 pm on Thursday the 12^th of February at the Toyota Exhibit area. With 100,000 attendees expected, the hotels are sold out between Merced and Bakersfield, as well as flights into Fresno.    Exhibitors from approximately 67 countries will be represented in 1,600 exhibit spaces.  This is the largest annual Agriculture Technology Expo in the World and a great boost for our local economy. Don’t miss it! 

Congratulations and many thanks to Justin Mosley for a nicely run meeting and to Doug Berg for joining the President’s Club (he wants to be in charge of the brig…please, Lord, keep me out of the brig!) In fine Rotary tradition, Justin’s dad, Lloyd Mosley, received a fine of $25 just for being associated with Justin! Congratulations to our Student of the Month, Natalie Chung.  With a GPA of 4.41, she has never received a grade lower than an A and has received an academic letter every quarter (Mercy!)  She has taken Advance Placement classes in English, Chemistry, Calculus, Statistics, English Literature, and Spanish.  She is fluent in Cantonese.  She’s active in California Scholarship Federation, Medical Careers Club, Key Club, the Cross Country Team, and Junior Varsity Cheerleaders. She is looking forward to a career as an optometrist.  Welcome to our new member, Georgina Valencia! Georgina comes to us from Sacramento. Eric Shannon’s uncle, Pat Shannon, gave a brief presentation on the devastation caused by Hurricane Norbert (or would that be him-acane?) to his home of Los Alamos, Mexico.  Pat will insure that all donations will actually be used to help rebuild! Well done, Pat! 

Since this is my last article until after April 15^th, I need to give you the results of the vote regarding Gerry Schneider’s extra fine:  100% of the votes from our club were “No” Gerry should not incur the additional fine.  (Of course, only about 8 people voted!)  I also received one vote from a Rotarian in Claremont. (See what a big deal this is?)  He was out for blood and wanted to Gerry to not only pay the fine but be charged with any nasty chore available on the ship.  This voter was Garry Schneider, Gerry’s older brother!  Ya gotta feel the love!  Lisa Nunes has graciously volunteered to write these articles while my muse rests during tax season.  Thank you, Lisa! Enjoy “Lisa’s View”, and I’ll be back the end of April!

Today we were treated to the Green Acres Middle School cast of “Singin’ in the Rain” performing excerpts from the musical to be presented February 5, 6, and 7 at the Rotary Theater at 7:30 pm.  They encouraged us to sing along, except about the only part of the song I know is the title!  It’s great that our club gives young people the chance to gain experience presenting before a group! President Ed has been asking for a couple of weeks for action from the Ag Committee and the Sports Committee.  I guess their action on the Wine Auction doesn’t count (look at the folks in charge of those committees listed in your Roster and you’ll see what I mean. Hey the Ag Committee provides the grapes and the wine tasting is the Sport!) Congratulations to our new Blue Badge Achievers:  Mike Robertson and Jennifer Shirk.  Well done!  Mark your calendars for ProYouth/HEART fundraisers at the Fox:  “In the Mood: a 1940’s Musical” on February 24^th at 7:30 pm and “Ben Franklin, as Portrayed by Christopher Lowell” on March 14^th at 7 pm.  CASA of Tulare County is celebrating its 15^th annual Once Upon a Dream Gala Dinner and Auction at the Visalia Holiday Inn on April 25, 2009.  There are several levels of sponsorships available which include varying number of dinner tickets and promotional perks.  Contact Jo Bol at the CASA office, 625-4007 or me (Francie Langley,) 625-3200. Since you can’t get much interest for your money at the bank you might as well give it to CASA and receive a return on your investment via our community! 

Welcome aboard to our new sailors:  Bill Scroggins, who thanked everyone voting for Measures I and J (passed by 73% in Tulare and 68% in Visalia.)  Bill volunteered to teach wine making classes in Paradise.  (Sign me up!) Monique Miron, construction manager extraordinaire, volunteered to be in charge of facilities. (First order of business is a bigger boat!)  Robert Groeber joined because his son is back from Chile and his daughter will be back from Germany.  Robert says he will fish for all on board.  (I think he’s either a magician or figures on doing the Jesus loaves and fishes thing!) Harvey Hecht joined as casino director.  Harvey returned from St. Martin with a rum variety pack for President Ed.  Harvey feels St. Martin is as close to Paradise as you can get…especially the French part!  Parlez vous hubba hubba? 

Michelle LeStrange of U C Master Gardeners of Tulare & Kings Counties presented a thought provoking program about the opportunities offered by the University of California Cooperative Extension.  Thought provoking because it made me think, “Gee, I need to do more gardening!”  Master Gardeners are volunteers trained under the U C Cooperative Extension.  The purpose of the program is the exchange of information relating to gardening, pest management, and water conservation. They have scheduled “Flowers, Trees, & Gardens GALORE – A ‘Landscape Seminar’ EXTRAVAGANZA,” February 28^th at the Visalia Convention Center from 8 am to 4 pm.  Fee is $12 per person paid in advance or $25 per person at the door.  Keynote address by Amy Stewart, best selling author of “From the Ground Up,” “The Earth Moved,” and “Flower Confidential.”  There will be lots of workshops and presentations too numerous to mention here.  For more information call (559) 685-3303. Maybe we should pray for some of that rain to sing in for our gardens?

What a great program we had this week!  Lee Goldstein introduced his son, Carey Goldstein, Cave Manager of Crystal Cave in Sequoia National Park. Sporting their new park uniform, which Carey says makes him resemble an upside down Redwood tree, he presented an informative talk complete with amazing pictures.  Some of the slides we saw were of the inside of caves that are not accessible to the public. The metal gate to Crystal Cave looks like a giant spider web (how cool is that?) Tours are available ranging from the regular tour (50 minutes), to the Discovery Tour (1.5 hours), to the Wild Cave Tour (4 to 6 hours of off-trail crawling and climbing through small spaces.)  I’m too claustrophobic…just show me the pictures!  The formations, stalagmites (grow from floor up) and stalactites (formed from the ceiling down) are usually white calcite, unless people have been touching them! (Naughty People!) Cavers, (they are not called spelunkers anymore) wear special booties over their shoes to protect the cave floors. Point of interest: earthquakes don’t affect caves since that activity manifests on the earth’s surface. Word of caution: If you decide to go into a cave wear a helmet and bring a flashlight!  Thanks to Carey Goldstein for a wonderful program! 

Thanks to our new Sully’s Sailors:  Dean Glass who is so proud of his sons (David and Ed) that he not only joined the club but he presented them each with a Paul Harris Fellow!  Wow! Dean says he gets seasick, so he’ll stay in the middle of the ship; Jennifer Shirk joined the club in exchange for skipping the new member board meeting requirement and will pass out the Dramamine. (Dean, you’re in luck!); Christine Statton, whose nephew sings, plays the piano, is almost totally blind, and is on American Idol! Amazing Wow! Christine will control the payroll on board.  (We were informed that mutineers don’t get paid!); Dino Simoni, who is very proud of his El Diamante basketball team, wants to assist Paul Sonier as sommelier; Jim Wohlford who has changed companies (he’s now with Stifel Nicolaus) will be in charge of the offshore activities (careful now!)  President Ed was VERY careful to mention to each new President’s Club member that they are “fine free.”  Is it possible that President Ed is going to relent on Gerry Schneider’s extra fine?  You still have time to vote!  E-mail me at francie@smlcpas.net and cast your vote:  “Yes” if you think Gerry Schneider should have to pay the extra fine or “No” if you think he should not.  I’ll post the outcome in a future article!  So far 100% of the responses have been “No” and have included comments such as: “Skipper Ed is bordering upon being Capt Bligh” and “…the Rotary Roundtable Group may have to take up President Ed’s breach of the Four Way Test of the Rotary Organization as it could become an international issue affecting American Rotary’s standing in the world.” This is BIG, People! Gerry Schneider has graciously stated that he’ll support Captain Ed while inviting you all to join his new committee:  Members United To Intelligently Negate tYranny (aka MUTINY)!

Stan Carrizosa returned from chaperoning 26 El Diamante Choir students around Europe and brought President Ed a beverage stein from Vienna. This mug is actually safe to use for drinking…unlike some of the “mugs” presented to past presidents!  Congratulations to our Student of the Month, Kailey Allen of Golden West High School.  With a 3.85 weighted GPA, Kailey plans to enroll in the COS Nursing Program.  Her mottos are “Hard work pays off” and “Stick to your guns!” It’s good to see such wisdom and insight in the young!   Congratulations to Matt and Heather Bixler who are expecting a boy in May (their second child.)  Name suggestions can be e-mailed to Matt.  Their daughter wants to name the baby “Hershey” after the chocolate bar…I wish I’d thought of that! Laurie Isham announced two events at the Fox to support Pro-Youth/HEART:  February 24^th at 7:30 pm, “In the Mood: a 1940’s Musical” and March 14^th at 7 pm, “Ben Franklin, as Portrayed by Christopher Lowell.”  Get your tickets at the Fox box office and mark your calendars! 

Last but not least:  The Football Challenge has come to an end and the winning team is University of Florida, picked by Byron Riegel!  Congratulations, Byron! Byron not only wins back his entry fee, but he may name a Paul Harris Fellow recipient and he may name the charitable recipient of the balance of the entry fees collected!  What charity will Byron choose? Will it be the Visalia Rotary Community Foundation or some other worthy organization? And what a surprise! In appreciation for my attempts at sports writing, Justin Mosley awarded me an authentic San Francisco 49ers’ football helmet signed by all the Rotary Club of Visalia members and the year they joined!  This is a totally AWESOME gift! Of course, my senior partner, Duane Scott, might try to buy it off me, but it's not for sale at any price! Thanks to you all for your appreciation and support of my writing efforts!  Also, BIG “Thank You” to our Webmaster, Bill Gerlach, and our meeting photographer, Dave Miller! And just so you know, if I need a helmet to go caving … I WON’T be taking my 49ers helmet!

Welcome to 2009!  Another great Rotary year!  Dr. Byron Riegel started our meeting with a wonderful presentation on our Visalia Rotary Community Foundation.  Byron covered the differences between the Visalia Rotary Community Foundation (Karl Weiss Fellowships) and the Rotary International Foundation (Paul Harris Fellowships).  He gave a history of how our Visalia Rotary Community Foundation started in 1991 with $40,000 of seed money and how it has grown through the years.  With its first distribution in 1995, the Foundation has, over time, distributed over half a million dollars to local non-profit organizations (the Foundation only distributes interest and dividends, the principal stays intact to earn more income for future distributions.)  Calendar our Visalia Rotary Community Foundation St. Patrick’s Celebration on March 13^th 2009.  See our website for the link to contribute. This organization is a testament to the generosity and dedication to our community of our Rotary members! 

Welcome aboard to our new Sully’s Sailors:  Russ McKinney, who volunteered to be Captain of the brig; Glenn Stanton, who is proud of his son and his sail boat; and Pete Akin, who volunteered to be in charge of the medicinal alcohol…what a trooper!  In the ongoing saga of Gerry Schneider being fined after joining the President’s Club, President Ed said he needed to “set standards” for his crew.  President Ed still doesn’t seem to understand that Gerry was fully aware that UOP did not have a football team and was simply joining the Football Challenge in the true sense of giving with no motivation for a reward.  President Ed said he will only “consider” forgiving the extra fine.  Don’t just “consider” it, Ed…rebate that puppy!  Sounds to me like President Ed needs to “set” the “standard” of following the rules!  There has never been any standard to indicate that members of the President’s Club have any special knowledge.  They can be stupid as a stick so long as they pay their membership fee.  Everybody is so big on  Rotary’s 4-way test and forever quoting the first test: Is it the truth? Well, how about the 2^nd test:  Is it fair to all concerned?  I submit that giving Gerry Schneider an extra fine after he already joined the President’s Club is not fair to him or anyone else and sets a dangerous precedence!  Let’s have a vote!  All interested members are encouraged to e-mail me at francie@smlcpas.net and cast your vote:  “Yes” if you think Gerry Schneider should have to pay the extra fine or “No” if you think he should not.  I’ll post the outcome in a future article! 

Member’s News:  Christine Rowan has moved to a new location.  After being broken into 4 times she has now moved across from the police station.  That a girl, Christine!  A BIG thumbs up from Lindsay Mann to the staff of Kaweah Delta District Hospital for their contribution of $5,100 in gift cards to the Good Samaritan Center.  Dave Burr presented a bouquet of roses to Barbara Berkson for all her hard work for our club.  That’s so sweet, Dave!  Laurie Isham thanked everyone who brought gifts to our Holiday Party for the kids.  What a great way to share the spirit of the Season! 

Dave Miller of Pacific Employers presented our program today.  With an impressive 45 years in the business and extensive experience in the labor union arena he has grown Pacific Employers into a great resource for employers.  A membership based organization, it offers phone consultations, monthly newsletter, seminars, and new labor law updates.  The program highlighted the Labor Unions and their attempt to gain more members through the “Free Choice Act.”  The name of the Act seems to be a misnomer, but see Dave for more details!

Congratulations to Bruce Nicotero, newest board member and newest future president!  He can’t wait for the paycheck.  Guess life is just full of disappointments!  No winners this week in the Football Challenge, but there is still time to join.  Justin Mosley hit a home run in Dodger Stadium, tried to join the President’s Club, AND HE WAS TURNED DOWN!...has anyone ever been turned down? President Ed said he had bigger and better things planned for Justin…what does that mean?...more fines since Justin won’t be fine free until he joins the club…oh, but wait…President Ed has cancelled that benefit for Gerry Schneider, so what does all this mean…tyranny? Is President Ed out of control? Is he taking this “the Captain is the law at sea” to the extreme?  Hey, Ed!  You’re not out to sea on your search for Paradise yet!  I think Phil Hornburg joined the crew (see November 12^th meeting) as Mutiny Mediator just in time! Paul Johnson joined the club and suggested that Paradise is in Siberia, (I don’t know about that, Paul,) but thanks for volunteering to be the radar operator/technician! 

Thank You, Thank You, Thank you!  Lali Moheno thanked Tony Salierno for his generous contribution to the Good New Center for food. That’s the spirit, Tony! Thanks, again, to Laurie Isham and her Holiday Party Committee for another great party! (See my article on the party for more thanks and details!) Thanks to Pete Cowper and the Literacy Committee for passing out dictionaries to all the third graders. What a wonderful project! (Pete even presented a dictionary to President Ed along with a cryptic comment concerning help with spelling!)  Thanks to Susan Welch for her participation in the Computer Project.  100 computers were distributed to needy kids.  This giving is synergistic! 

Andy Balerud, representing the Care Committee, distributed gifts to special Rotarians:  Gene Yunt received a copy of Susie Orman’s book, Pete Akin received a “55 and Alive” drivers’ training handbook, Dean Glass received a leather bound planner for…whoops…2008, but, hey, it’s leather! Dick Watson called on three volunteers to share their blessings:  Paul Sonier’s son is graduating from college after a lifetime of dealing with hearing loss; Anil Chagan is thankful for his eye sight (I hear you, Anil!); Dean Glass is thankful for his son’s business success and new baby girl (Dean’s 13^th grandchild). In exchange for this sharing, each volunteer received a box of See’s Candy which was generously passed around for all to enjoy.  What’s Christmas without candy? (I think it’s called lent!) Al Fisher introduced today’s program with a poem about our economic climate to the cadence of “Twas the Night Before Christmas.”  Al, well done, as usual! Gene Yunt and Karen Lindberg shared their financial insights with us.  Yes, the stock market is down. Much of the panic is media generated. (Thank you!) Asset allocation is a tool to help weather market fluctuations, but everyone’s situation is different, so discuss your investments with your advisor(s.)  Periodically reassess your strategy (i.e. talk to your consultant, refer to information resources, work longer!)  This is our last meeting for 2008.  We are dark for the next 2 weeks.  So, we’ll see you next year!

“Hear those sleigh bells, ring ting tingle,

Hail, our dear ol’ friend, Kris Kringle,

Flyyying his reindeer acroooss the skyyyy…

Don’t stand underneath when they, flyyyy, byyyy!

(Lyrics by Tom Leer…I think… Who knows? It’s a song from my childhood!)

Another great Rotary Holiday Party! Thanks to Eric Shannon for the wine (Cheers, Eric!), Justin Mosley and Bothof’s Bakery for the dessert (vanilla and chooooclate petite fours this year! Yummy, ooey, gooey!), Joe Kuhn and the Marriott (Joe, you always do such special stuff for us!), and special thanks to Laurie Isham and the entire Holiday Party Committee!  There was a nice variety of food: roast turkey, prime rib, sushi, shrimp cocktail, mini Beef Wellington, chicken on a stick (I’m sure there’s a fancier name for that!) orange rouphy, veggie medley, cheese, various appetizers, and, of course, the dessert, which bears mentioning again!  It was served buffet style with a twist…the twist being a bit of a treasure hunt to find all the buffet tables, since they were broken up around the room…great mixer idea!...and a great ice breaker:  “Have you found the utensils yet?” “Where did you find the meat?” Thanks to you all for “dressing up”! You clean up great! The fashion statement this year was Snowman ties! Neat! Let us not forget the band!  Good party music and a nicer group of guys you couldn’t ask for!  They were so nice and very accommodating!  We also had an hour of group participation music courtesy of our Rotary Musicians:  Floyd Westbrook, Mike Wiley, and Richard Isham!  (Many thanks to these patient and understanding souls for letting me participate with my violin…I’ve only been taking lessons about a year, so I appreciate the encouragement!) This year we had the special treat of a wonderful singer:  Sky Wild…what a voice! See you at our next meeting, December 17^th.  It’s our last meeting of the year of 2008…then it’s TAX SEASON! Ugh!

’m sure all you football fans will be interested to know that there is a new college team: Southern Cal Edison! (Sorry, Justin!)  So, what happened to the prizes for last week’s winners? Gerry Schneider won a glass of wine for this week’s Football Challenge…then he was fined for initially picking a team that didn’t exist…and he was fined after he had ALREADY JOINED THE PRESIDENT’S CLUB ! ! !  I’m sorry, but this is just WRONG! Joining the President’s Club has become a worthless con and FALSE ADVERTISING ! ! ! If you’re supposed to be fine free when you join the President’s Club then you should be FINE FREE!  Besides, I feel Gerry initially picked a team that didn’t exist because he joined the Football Challenge in the spirit of true philanthropy rather than with a desire to personally benefit.  He should be REWARDED not fined!  (Ok, I feel better now!) 

Al and Sharon Fisher received an award for joining the Rotary International Foundation Bequest Society (Congratulations! You guys are so special! Oh, yes, and Mark…Dad says you don’t need a new car!)  Daniel S. Bonyhadi was on hand to present the award and to lavish praise on our club for the tremendous level of support given to the Foundation over the years.  Congratulations also go to our Student of the Month, Millie Medina.  A student at El Diamante High School, Millie has a 3.97 GPA, is active in clubs, sports, and the arts.  She has applied to several colleges and hopes to be accepted at USC.  She wants to double major in Chicano Studies and International Studies with plans to go to grad school and become a lawyer. Congratulations, Millie! Thanks to our new Sully Sailor, Tom Beene, on board investment banker (Thanks for the calendars, too, Tom!) 

Don Goodyear introduced Dr. Harper, Interim Dean at the Fresno State Craig School of Business as our program today.  The Friends of Fresno State reported that FSU needs to get the story out about their academic programs, so that’s Dr’ Harper’s goal!  Of the 22,000 plus students at Fresno State, over 3,000 are in the School of Business and over 150 are in the MBA and Executive MBA programs.  The college is faced with more students and fewer dollars available to serve them.  The School of Business has a wonderful Entrepreneurship Program, a wonderful Internship Program, and a wonderful International Program,…it’s just wonderful. There are also some classes offered from the FSU Center at COS.  Even if we don’t have a campus in Visalia, we are blessed to have a college as close as Fresno. 

Congratulations to Tom Seidler who was presented with his BLUE BADGE! Well done!  We are dark next week at Noon since our Holiday Party will be 7 p.m. in the evening at the Marriott in our regular meeting room, (not at the Convention Center.)  Please bring a wrapped gift for a child and indicate on the outside of the gift for whom the gift is appropriate (i.e. for a boy or a girl and the age.) Remember to dress up!  And, NO, there is no dispensation for Sully Sailors…you’re supposed to be fine free, not free of the party dress code! Go, Laurie Isham! (Besides, our club members are eye candy when dressed up!) Give your significant other a heads up and come enjoy the food, music, fellowship, and fun!

Given that this was the day before Thanksgiving, it wasn’t surprising to see a smaller turnout than usual at our meeting today. However, we had members attend today who we only see on special occasions (I won’t mention that Stan Simpson was here as was Steve Chrisman!)  And this WAS a special occasion, because our program was Mike Chrisman, State of California Secretary of Resources.  Charmingly introduced by his brother, Steve (they don’t look much like brothers, do they?) Mike tried to present a few of the many challenges facing our state such as size, population, demographics, and growth.  Of special concern is the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta.  What was a brackish marsh 100 years ago is now a system of levies and earthen dams controlling water depended upon by 24 million people.  Our folks in Sacramento are trying to take a “fresh” look at the Delta, how to protect it, and how to plan for the next 30 years.  The Delta area is 20 to 25 feet below sea level (New Orleans here we come?) and the sea level has risen 9 inches in the last 100 years (Noah, how long can you tread water?)  California’s Natural Disaster Plan works well (that’s good news!) Other areas of interest are as follows: The State is also concerned with the marine environment, the changes in the fish population, and helping communities transition from fishing to other industries; Desalinization plants are expected to provide no more than 15% of the water for the State in the future; The budget deficit needs to be solved by a combination of  increasing revenue and cutting costs (Hel-low-o!)  The budget deficit impacts all aspects of our state and may result in some park and recreation units being closed. (Tough choices.)  Mike encourages everyone to become engaged in the governance of our state.  Thank you, Mike, for all you do, and special thanks for coming to visit us today! 

Brian Hyde chaired our meeting today.  (He has a nice straight forward way of running a meeting, don’t you think?) The winners of the football challenge this week will received their prizes next week, along with (one would think) next week’s winners.  Tom Beene announced the debut of the Visalia Community Bank calendar featuring historic pictures is scheduled for December 2^nd.  Tom says historic pictures make him think of many of our members (Gee, thanks, Tom! That calendar makes us think of you, too!)  Doug Berg, Sergeant-at-Arms, named several new Sailors to join Sully’s crew; then he said some of them were not fined.  (So, like, does that mean they are Sailors for free or are they still bait for future press gangs?) Thanks to those who joined the crew today:  Stan Simpson (because he has been golfing all around the planet), Mike Chrisman (because there’ll never be another chance to catch him), Dave Heaney, Joe Pinto, and Chuck Sanford (because they volunteered.)  Congratulations, guys, you are exempt from fines for the rest of the year!  The Turkey Transit Singers dropped by to serenade us in their efforts to raise money for Emergency Aid (over $16,000! That’s great!)  Of special interest and enjoyment was their song about Tule Fog (to the tune of Silver Bells. Too cute!)  OK, time to trot off! Happy Thanksgiving! (Gobble, gobble!)

Water, water, everywhere…well, no…it isn’t.  Visalia’s water table is down 10 feet compared to last year.  This is not unusual in a time of draught, according to Phil Mirwald of California Water Service.  Phil did a nice job of introducing our program as well being part of our program.  He even needed a drink of water during his presentation, which made for a nice “plug” for his product!  Phil shared the presentation with Ken Jenkins, Government and Community Relations Manager for California Water Service, one of the largest publicly owned water companies.  Even though Visalia is one of the largest districts in California, a real live person still answers the phone (I love it!)  Visalia’s infrastructure is in great shape (thank goodness!)  Meters are required in California by the year 2025 (boo hoo!)  You can discover when to expect your meter installation by going to their website and looking up your address.  This works quite well.  I learned I’m receiving a meter during the first quarter of 2009.  (Rats.)  Rebate programs are available, so check them out.  Visalia water has more strict quality standards than bottled water. (I can understand why Phil doesn’t want a bottled water delivery truck pulling up in front of his house!)  Thanks to Phil and Ken for a “refreshing” presentation! 

“Welcome aboard” to our new Sailors:  Gary Geiger, joined for $300 because he has an awesome new Corvette (Vroom!) he’ll be the chef on board (you have your choice of broth or Whoppers!); Bob Carden, in whose place Randy Broom joined…so why didn’t Randy just say he was joining? Does this mean Randy is paying the membership fee for Bob? Or is Randy paying for himself, in which case it doesn’t sound like Bob is a member of the crew yet (ok I’m confused…not unusual, but, ok); Byron Riegel, because he returned from fishing in Panama.  Byron, with a vast knowledge of sailors’ knots, volunteered to lead the “knotty” boys on board ship (nice one, Byron, very clever!); Anil Chagan, who is celebrating the grand opening of his new Hampton Inn, was a VERY good sport about President Ed misspelling his name, which is saying a great deal because it was a really “gross” error…gracious, Ed, we have Directories to avoid that sort of thing! (don’t ask me how many times I misspelled his name just trying to write this article!) Anil volunteered to be the lookout man in the crow’s nest since he has “new eyes” now! Tom Peltzer is already a sailor, but he has a new grandson, Isaac (that makes 4 grandchildren for Tom…congratulations!) Thanks to you all!  

Our Holiday Party (I stand corrected…it is not a Christmas Party) is at the Marriott on December 10^th at 7 pm. Please inform your significant other so they can calendar the date and be ready to party with you! Football Pool News:  Susan Lucas had the winning team this week.  Her prize was a selection of baked goods…Yum! Join us next week at Noon.  Even though it is the day before Thanksgiving we are still having our meeting at Noon. Mike Chrisman, State of California Secretary of Resources will be our speaker. This is not an easy program to arrange, so please try to attend.  OK, I think the meter has run on this article!  See ya!

Now I ask you:  How does Dick Combs do it?  How does he keep track of all the ins and outs of foreign policy?  And he is fluent in Russian, too! Dick really gave us some wonderful insights into the challenges faced by our new president as well as the background of various foreign issues. The transition from one president to another hinges on their outlook and governing style.  Our President Elect seems to be pragmatic, open minded, and willing to draw on non-partisan expertise.  The following is a summary of a meager portion of the information Dick presented: The issues Obama faces are the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Islam extremism, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, African problems of violence and humanitarianism, and emerging global powers (China; Russia and former Soviet countries.)  Russia is still a potentially hostile country with poorly secured nuclear weapons at risk of terrorist appropriation.  Mr. Obama needs to concentrate on what is in the American national interest, rather than the interest of other countries.  The Bush Administration has been internationally unpopular.  The Obama administration stands to improve relations with our allies. I’ll tell you something else:  I need to get out a map and re-familiarize myself with where all these countries are…things are sure different than when I studied geography 40 years ago…whoops!...I mean 20 years ago! Thanks, Dick for a very informative program.  (I didn’t see or hear anybody napping, either, so that speaks volumes to your success!) 

Our Football Pool is alive and well.  There is still time to join, so contact Justin Mosley.  He has a variety of “innovative” gifts for “winners” even when you team doesn’t win!  This week our notables were Doug Berg, Gene Yunt, and Gerry Schneider. Congrats, guys!  Andy Balerud conducted a brief salute to our veterans.  He even wore an Uncle Sam Hat…looks good on you Andy!  Board elections are coming up.  Turn in names of “people of interest” to President Ed, Al Fisher, or Paul Sonier.  Thanks once again to our Wine Auction Committee for a job well done!  Special thanks to our Shannons (Mike, Eric, Mark, and JR) for all you do for our club and our wine auction. Our club mourns the passing of Dick Shannon, member for 65 years and the last of the “John Waynes.” Remember to calendar our Christmas Party on December 10^th at 6 pm at the Marriot. Let’s all dress up again like last year…that was fun! 

Thanks to those joining our Sully’s Sailors crew. Larry Nava raised over $600,000 on the Library Foundation Board.  Larry volunteers to be Captain Al’s assistant…is that like a cabin boy? ; Phil Hornburg came back from Africa with a gift of fermented fruit juice the elephants prefer! (Do the elephants have, like, little cocktail parties or something?) Phil volunteered to be the mutiny mediator on board ship (good one, Phil!); Doug Lovik is our first honorary crew member.  Doug is an original Navy Seal (Wow! With a capital “W”) and volunteered to be morale officer; Dick Watson is back from his travels in Illinois, North Carolina, Oregon, Montana, and Hawaii.  He figures he’s got enough money left over to join the Sailors for $200 and give $100 towards the wine auction.  Thanks, one and all! Next week our program is about “Water Efficiency Programs,” presented by California Water Service.  (For some reason this makes me think “meters”) Also, plan to attend our meeting on November 26^th (the Wednesday before Thanksgiving) when Mike Chrisman, State of California Secretary of Resources, will be with us (not an easy program to set up!) TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!

“Gangs! Finding a Solution” was the topic of our program this week presented by Police Chief Bob Carden.  Bob packed much information into his talk:  6 of 12 homicides this year were perpetrated by people averaging 16 years of age.  There are approximately 3,000 gang members in Visalia.  Last year there were 1,000 gang arrests.  Gangs are run from the prisons.  3 out of 4 on probation reoffend within 3 years.  Sending more gang members to prison is not the answer.  It’s more effective to prevent the “disease” than to cure it.  The Solution is to reach kids before they become teenagers and give them a sense of recognition and belonging.  Visalia has many programs working toward this end:  Pro Youth Heart (there are more kids in after school programs than are in gangs!), Boys and Girls Club, Scouting, sports, and various other programs for kids.  Get involved, either personally or by contributions to support these programs.  Rotary is a great supporter of our community.  Keep up the “Good Job”, Rotarians! 

This week Rotary Salutes Mike and Margaret Haworth with a Paul Harris Fellow.  Mike and Margaret, involved in Young Life, have had an incredible impact over the years on the lives of teens.  Thanks for all you’ve done!  Announcements:  November 8^th, 9 am to 11 am, the Boy Scout Cabin will be dedicated at Mooney’s Grove.  November and December are board elections.  If you would like to be on the board or you would like to nominate someone to the board please contact Ed Sullivan, Al Fisher, or Paul Sonier.  Mark your calendars for the Monterey District Conference from June 5^th to the 7^th.  After next Wednesday’s meeting the Christmas Party Committee will meet.  Save the date for the Rotary Christmas Party: December 10^th.  The wine auction is November 5^th in the evening so we will be dark at Noon.  Contact Susan Lucas if you need to RSVP, 901-6673. 

Thanks to our new Sailors:  Bill Gerlach, who acquired two grandsons this year (Bill is our Webmaster! If you haven’t seen it, check out our Visalia Rotary webpage...thanks Bill for all you do for us!); and Mike Schauffele, who returned from visiting friends and family in Europe and brought President Ed a beer coaster and a beer mug.  Mike volunteered to be in charge of the beer on the Search for Paradise and he also volunteered to be Assistant Skipper.  A Great Big Special Welcome to our new member, John Estes, sponsored by Cal Gomes.  John has returned to Visalia to retire.  Uh Oh, another USC grad! Join us next week for another exciting installment of: “As the Rotary Wheel Turns.”  (I ‘m going to hunt up some coffee.  I think this article put me to sleep!) Zzzzzzzz…

Francie couldn’t attend today’s meeting and asked me if I would be okay with writing the article. Since I’ve only written a few….I will try and make this as entertaining as possible. The meeting began with Derek Wisehart leading us all in the Flag Salute and the invocation was given by Don Hutton followed by a warm and fuzzy meet and greet by all members. The football poll was announced with glasses of wine flowing throughout the room. Texas is currently in the lead! 

A heart-felt thank you went to Cal Gomes and his crew for a great event last week at his ranch. I had a great time with all the members that attended and enjoyed the quite countryside, although I believe I still smell like campfire smoke. Wayne Yada announced the visiting Rotarians and guests. General Crowe announced the birthdays, Tom Brodersen announced the wedding anniversaries and Gail Riley announced the club anniversaries. A special announcement was made by Greg Meis regarding make-ups, and the ability to complete this task (via the internet) with clubs around the world. I missed exactly how to accomplish this, but Greg would be able to help you with the details. 

Sully Sailors welcomed a number of new shipmates aboard. David Hyde was first to join with the new arrival of grandson, Grant. He also announced his engagement (for an extra fine of course). Next to join was Andy Balerud who presented pictures of his family and will share his “Norwegian Pride” with us at a later date. Now of course he could leave us without telling a hilarious joke. You still got it Andy! 

A video rolled next displaying “Voices in Harmony” featuring our very own Doyle Pope. Although I couldn’t hear the vast of awards that were won, they are 1^st in the United States and 3^rd in the world! Doyle will set sail with the rest of the crew as the entertainment director of the ship. 

President Ed wanted to make sure everyone is receiving the Rotarian magazine. If not, you can contact Wayne Yada to be signed up. Also the wine auction was announced for Nov 5^th at the Visalia Country Club. We will be dark that day at noon, and please bring your donations/gifts to Don Hutton’s office to be cataloged. 

Sergeant at Arms Don Hutton and Brent Calvin were roaming around the room for victims. They began with Jim Wohlford whom was asked to talk about the crazy financial world we are now in. Next was Nancy Powell who, when asked how she could sit with a bunch of attorneys, her response was…”I deal with over 2,000 students each day, they don’t scare me!” And last but not least, Don Hutton got his wish for a smaller vest!!! The Elmo sized jacket worked!!! 

Many “Thanks” to Dick Combs and Gene Yunt for their review of the various ballot propositions.  This is a great service and a wonderful way to gain some perspective on the morass of initiatives and legislative referrals.  You are encouraged to read the voter information pamphlet. The first eleven pages or so contain summary information and provide an easier read.  You can always vote “No” if the proposal is too confusing or if you feel it is poorly written.  Vote “Yes” or “No” but Vote!  Also, a gentle reminder: if you need to leave the meeting early, please excuse yourself to the program speaker.  Eating your lunch near the exit to avoid notice when you leave actually IS noticed!  Meetings are required because you can’t network and build camaraderie if you don’t interact with the other members on a regular basis, so try to attend the whole meeting. Thanks. (This was a public service announcement!) 

This week we did not have a winner for the Football Pool, however, Pete Akin won the opportunity prize:  an autographed copy of Dick Combs book, “Inside the Soviet Alternate Universe” (available from bookstores for just under $20…President Ed, you should get a commission for promoting this book!) Congratulations, Pete!  Eric Shannon (Thanks, Eric!) donated two sets of “wine and Rotary wine glasses” as door prizes to promote our wine auction (November 5th, at the Country Club; let Gary Paden know what you are donating and drop off your donations to Don Hutton’s office at 300 W. School St. Cash donations welcome!)  Tom Beene as one of this week’s Sergeants-at-arms, was challenged with his report…heck, he was challenged just putting on the vest/dress, but we graciously cut him some slack because things have been rough for Tom and banking lately! Doug Berg, proving to be an over achiever, really got into the spirit and recognized several people: Raphael Arzate was fined $25 for his jewelry promotion: “if it doesn’t rain you get your purchase for free”…I think you need to check with Raphael about the specifics of that promotion!  Gary Herbst joined Sully’s Sailors as athletic director because his handicap dropped from 10.4 to 7.8 just by watching Doug Berg practice his golf swing.  This is amazing!  This is like some kind of weird psychic osmosis thing! It must be more than a little scary for Gary to be that closely connected to Doug Berg (Du du DU du).  I might be tempted to suggest that’s a CPA-thing, kind of like how male children that are half human half vampire are poisonous but the females are not, but that is REALLY weird, so I won’t go there! Pete Akin was fined $25 for attending a COS class studying the greats from Plato to Al Fisher…pretty comprehensive curriculum!  Pete also supports Proposition I, which will enhance the COS campus and programs.  Bill Miller joined the Sailors in search of Paradise as chief communications officer because he is now a great-grandpa (Congrats!)   Tom Brodersen’s Rotary Foreign Affairs Roundtable meets at Café 225 the last Monday of the month.  Contact Tom for more info.  Frank Serpa joined the crew of Sully’s Sailors because rumor had it he was driving a Cadillac (heaven forebid!)  Frank brought President Ed an itsy bitsy bottle of something to take his mind off his economic woes from the Korean President of Kia Motors.  Frank volunteered to be in charge of cleaning the heads on board ship!  That’s the way to go, Frank!  Congratulations to Joe Kuhn and Lisa Nunes:  Drum roll please! brrrrrr! They received their Blue Badges today! Woo Hoo! Next week:  Facial Rejuvenation presented by Dr. Mitts.  I won’t make any jokes about the appropriateness of the talk…hits too close to home, anyway!

Kudos to our Sergeants-at-arms, Randy Smith and Randy Groom.  They really hustled those microphones around!  Many thanks to those who waited to use a microphone…it really helped everyone keep track of what was going on…thank you, thank you, and thank you!  I joined Sully’s Sailors today.  I’m so very proud to be a member of this club, and I figured the crew searching for Paradise needed someone to serve, so I volunteered to be a passenger!  What?  OK, so I’ll help write articles of crew meetings, too.  Is that better?  Of course now I’m fine free, so if I want to tease someone I can! Watch out, now!  Also joining the President’s Club were Gerry Schneider and Dick Combs.  Gerry Schneider, fisherman extraordinaire, almost became our program as he described trail-side wildlife identification techniques (black bear scat, aka poop, from eating berries; Grizzly bear scat containing canisters of pepper spray…good one, Gerry!)  Gerry volunteered to be the wildlife officer on board which translates into super-duper-pooper detective!  Dick Combs joined the club in honor of grandson #2 and his book which is finally in print (5 books equal one doorstop!)  Dick volunteered to give lectures on foreign policy on the poop-deck of the ship!  Welcome aboard! 

The football pool held a drawing for this week’s treat: Byron Riegel won 2 tickets to the Taste of Downtown.  Congratulations, Byron!  Tom Beene delivered an assessment of local bank health.  His advice:  “Calm down a little. 98% of the banks are fine.”  Andy Balerud was back among us after traveling to just about every place on the planet.  Welcome back, Andy! Russ McKinney brought President Ed a “message in a bottle” from 16 Ukrainian sailors interested in joining his crew to search for Paradise.  They sent some Pirate Grog as enticement.  Speaking of grog… a reminder:  Our Wine Auction is November 5th, 5:30 pm at the Country Club, we are dark at noon that day.  Get a description of your contributions to Susan Lucus.  Cal Gomes Ranch will host the COGS event on October 10th.  All members are encouraged to attend and it’s FREE!  Dress is Rotary Western!  RSVP to Marilyn Mitchell at 901-6754.  Our Student of the Month, Chang Ho Lee, a senior at Mt. Whitney impressed everyone so much he almost received a standing ovation…the applause just didn’t stop!  Chang Ho came to this country as a 5th grader from Korea.  He has a GPA of 4.15, is a member of many clubs, and participates in many sports.  He plans on attending UC San Diego followed by pharmacy graduate school.  Truly a worthy honoree! 

Bill Scroggins spoke about College of the Sequoias.  Measure I, a bond measure to provide facilities, will be on the ballot.  There are many exciting uses planned for the funds:  New track, pave the back parking lot, a new gym, remodeling the old gym, solar panels on 2 buildings to save $50,000 a year on energy costs, a nursing program building and special nursing school equipment, outdoor lighting to enhance security on campus, and emergency phones located around campus.  Programs planned to enhance or initiate include a physical therapy program, medical translation program, paramedic program, and registered veterinary technician program.  We are blessed to have such a wonderful school opportunity in our community.  Do your “homework” on Measure I and vote on Election Day!  Postpone voting your absentee ballots and join us next week for Gene Yunt and Dick Comb’s presentation on the “November Elections.”

“Special Thanks” go to our Webmaster, Bill Gerlach, and Joe Kuhn, (our member with the Marriott), for the heads up on the projected parking squeeze today…That was a great warning! We appreciate it!  As you may notice, I try to write these articles based on what happens at meetings.  This week’s article promises to omit information, because, honestly, (4-way test), I don’t know what happened.  Yes, I attended, but between passing the microphones around like musical chairs, people speaking before receiving the microphone, people holding the microphones too low to be heard (if you can’t hear yourself over the microphone, nobody else can hear you either!), and people talking too fast, this was one of the most difficult meetings to catch what was happening. I’m toying with idea of buying one of those gadgets you see on TV that let you eavesdrop on the birds and neighbors just as a backup so I can hear what’s going on at the meetings.  I developed eye strain from trying to read lips!  Maybe I need to take a speed listening course? No, I’m still not going to use a tape recorder! Not hearing it once is enough!  So here we go:  

Football challenge:  looks like a few folks were actually in attendance to win a drink for their team’s #1 standing for the week.  President’s Club:  By no means did I manage to catch the names of everyone joining this week.  It was challenging to discern who joined and who was just sharing! (Please forgive me if you joined and are not listed)  Soapy MulHolland joined because she rafted down the Colorado River and volunteered to serve wine on the voyage in search of Paradise.  President Ed joined the club as Captain in order to be fine free the rest of the year…I’m sure that’s a relief for President Ed since he was heading the list of those fined!  Secretary’s Report:  $5,000 donated to the Tulare County Library and $500 given to Rotoplast.  Paul Harris Awards presented to Christine Rowan and Tom Broderson.  Congratulations!  (62% of our members are Paul Harris Fellows. Well done!)  The Wine Auction is November 5^th, 5:30 pm at the Country Club.  RSVP to the Committee and let them know what you are donating.  The Board has some matching points.  It sounded to me like if you spend an amount at the auction that when matched entitles you to a Paul Harris Award, then the club matches your donation…clear as mud?  October 4^th is the Wish Upon a Star Oldies Car Show and Dinner Dance, contact Wayne Yada.  Also on October 4^th is the Tulare County Association of Realtors Walk-Run benefitting Pro-Youth Heart and another organization I missed, contact Gail Riley.  October 10^th at 6 pm is the COGS event at the ranch of Cal Gomes, mark your calendars.  Visalia Breakfast Rotary is holding their Golf Tournament and Crab Feed on October 17^th, contact Matt Kneeland at 559-805-8211.  

Now to our Program:  Update on Measure R presented by Ramon Lara and Elizabeth Wright.  Measure R was passed in 2006. You may recall this was the measure for the half percent sales tax increase to improve the transportation infrastructure in Tulare County.  So far over $33 million has been received.  There is an oversight committee that keeps an eye on the funds being received and used as intended.  Thanks to the Oversight Committee for being there and for all your hard work!  Some examples of projects resulting from Measure R are the widening of Road 80, street paving around Visalia, and the Bridge to Premier Graphics…Whoops, I mean the bridge over 198 at Santa Fe!  Next week bring your personal amplification devises and join us as Bill Scroggins talks to us about “College of the Sequoias.”

Our District Governor, August Hioco spoke to us today, and I must give him the highest praise I can give a speaker, which is:  by the end of his talk the coffee pot was still full!  An engineer by trade, August is dedicated to Rotary (20 years.)  His parents immigrated to the U.S. from France in 1940 and his original family name was truncated upon entering this country, so “No” he is not Asian!  He grew up in Colorado where his dad worked in the coal mines. He was a Bronze Eagle Scout (32 merit badges!)  He has pledged our district’s support to Rotary International President, D.K. Lee, to “Make Dreams Real.”  D.K. would like to see children around the world helped in the seven areas of water, literacy, medicine, health, hunger, agricultural projects, and solar energy.  He would also like to see Rotary membership increase 10%, which would be approximately 300 net new members for our district.  

Thanks to those joining the Search for Paradise:  Tom Seidler (proud of Notre Dame) will be in charge of selling hot dogs and beer; Amy Pack who said she would bring hula skirts, coconut shells, and help with entertainment (she quite clearly did NOT say she WAS the entertainment, nor did she say she was going to model the hula skirt and coconut shells!…and if we’re talking “South Pacific” it’s the guys who wear that stuff! Eeeew!); Nola Sherman joined in honor of her 3^rd grandchild and will supply binoculars for crow’s nest duty; Drew Sorensen who is proud of his parents and his dad’s new book (Drew will fish for the crew!)  Lee Goldstein, returning from the Olympics in China, supplied a flag for the mast of the ship.  By the way, does the ship have a name?  

Nancy Powell introduced Student of the Month, Jordan Simons.  Jordan has a 3.96 weighted GPA.  He participates in cross country, track, Sequoia Youth Symphony, California State Honor Orchestra, and is president of the Golden West Orchestra.  He would like to attend the Air Force Academy.  Congratulations, Jordan!  Ian Fisher, introduced by his very proud grandfather, Al Fisher, presented a summary of his Eagle Scout Project.  Ian has a 4.0 GPA, he’s on the varsity swim and water polo teams, and he plays bagpipes. For his Eagle Scout project, Ian renovated the kitchen and bathroom at the Girl Scout Friendship House. Ian discovered he ended up doing more than he planned…which is the nature of remodeling!  Well done, Ian!  

Announcements:  Lost meal cards will be replaced (keep in mind the 4-way test!)  Mark your calendars for the wine auction on November 5 and let the committee know what you will contribute.  As long as you are at your calendars, put down December 10^th for the Rotary Christmas Party! Next week our program will be an update on Measure R.  See you then!

Stan Carrizosa, Jr. started off our meeting with an example of his contest winning abilities by singing “The Star Spangled Banner” like we’ve never experienced it before!  How exciting to have a home grown celebrity in our midst!  Stan was greeted with cheers and applause for his accomplishment as the winner of the Disney High School Musical III “Get in the Picture” Contest.  We were even treated to a clip of the announcement on TV!  (…more cheers!...more applause!)  Stan, Sr. was so very, very proud he joined Sully’s Sailors a SECOND time this year and volunteered to be the entertainment officer!  Stan Carrizosa, Jr.’s dad was our program today on the state of the Visalia Unified School District.  The API baseline has increased from 624 in 2002 to today’s score of 735, compared to other districts in California like Long Beach with a score of 732.  94% of our students, including special ed students, passed the High School Exit Exam in our District, compared to 90% for the state as a whole.  Visalia partners with many organizations and programs to connect the children to their school community including sports and especially the commitment to the music program.  Kudos to everyone working towards the success of our kids! Special “Thanks” to Stan, Jr.’s dad!  

None of the winners of the weekly Football Pool were present so the treat reward of “grog” went unclaimed, despite the volunteers willing to stand in for the winners! You still have time to enter the Pool.  Notify Justin Mosley if you wish to participate or drop your business card with your team written on the back into the jar at the signup desk.  It’s $50 to join.  Pick a team and if your team is rated #1 for the week you get a “treat” (determined by Sailor Harry Wood – keeper of Sully’s Sailors Key to the Wine Cellar.)  If your team wins the BCS National Championship January 8^th in Miami you receive a refund of your entry fee, the ability to honor a person of your choice with a Paul Harris Fellowship, and all other entry fees are awarded to the organization of your choice. The sooner you join the sooner you can win a weekly “treat”!   

Dick Watson, Sergeant at Arms, conducted a reverse fine, by fining everyone $5 who did NOT attend the recent COS fundraiser. Interesting twist, Dick! Tom Beene, Sergeant at Arms, embarrassed Nancy Lockwood into joining Sully’s Sailors by referring to her picture in a local publication as a “centerfold”.  Nancy agreed to be Communications Officer during the search for Paradise.  Lee Mirviss, recently returned from a trip to South Africa with his wife and 4 grandsons, brought President Ed a shirt from South Africa and joined the crew after first trying to join with a 500 million piece of currency worth about ten cents!  Dave Miller, the “Elder”, returned from Israel (the self proclaimed 51^st state!)  with a “president” t-shirt and a prayer cap for President Ed.  Should President Ed wear both items while in the Middle East he would be a target no matter where he was!  Dave volunteered to clean the boat in the search for Paradise.   Next week our District Governor, August Hiroco will speak. Please plan to attend and add to the standing ovation!  

Another EXCITING Rotary meeting! I made the mistake of concentrating on work instead of writing this article immediately, so I’m learning that the meaning of my notes decreases in direct proportion to the time it takes me to start writing!  Let’s see…Well, Don Hutton was the center of a debate regarding the vests worn by the Sergeants-at-Arms…are they vests or dresses?  Well, if the shoe fits…well the shoe doesn’t fit, now does it?  That’s the whole point!  So what’s the alternative?  Form fitting vests/dresses? How about hats with fruit piled on them? Where did that come from? Probably the same place the vests came from…which would be what?…a yard sale?  Onward to the business at hand:  a round of appreciation for our “fine-ees” of the week:  Doug Berg, $20, because he didn’t wear his vest/dress last week; President Ed, $5, back from Colorado visiting his new granddaughter (nobody is immune from fines); Steve Chrisman, $25 for a fishing trip (watch out fishing buddies… the finers are out to getcha!); Dino Simoni, $25, coaching at El D and a test (can’t remember what my notes mean!); and Eric Shannon, wasn’t fined, but he returned from a trip to Alaska where he saw Sarah Palin’s house and brought President Ed some salmon and some playing cards.  New recruits to Sully’s Sailors:  John Heinsohn brought back a gift from France of a hospital “wine carafe”…yes, you guessed it, it’s similar to the “beer mug” President Al received last year, designed to relieve the middle man! (John “visited” a hospital as a patient and wished he were home in Kaweah Delta); and John Crowe who volunteered to be the sonar operator on the search for Paradise.  Dean Singh returned from the Democratic National Convention as a delegate …very exciting for him!  Justin Mosley introduced the Rotary Football Challenge:  for $50 you can join, name your team, if your team wins you get back your $50 and can donate to a Paul Harris Award or donate the proceeds to the charity of your choice…and if I am deciphering my notes correctly, weekly winners receive some kind of treats from Harry Wood…would that be sweet prayers?  

Our program today was Pamela Creedon of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.  This agency is just concerned with quality of water not the quantity, so the primary charge is to protect water quality, including ground water.  The current challenge is trying to derive a plan to protect the land from salts carried by the water. There is talk of a valley drain for the brine.  I have trouble visualizing this concept, but the presentation didn’t come with visual aids and I was challenged to hear and understand this much!  Join us next week for Stan Carrizosa with an update on our schools…and probably an update on his son’s progress in the Disney contest, as well!  

Well, I think Randy Groom, Sergeant-at-arms, has found a rapid fire way of attracting members to join Sully’s Sailors: give them the option of joining the crew or help demonstrate for our speaker today, Dr. Marty Prah, who spoke on “New Treatments for Prostate Cancer.”  Randy snagged three members today with that incentive:  Tom Brodersen, Harvey May, and Ron Hellstern.  I’ve never heard anyone say “Yes” so fast!  Can’t say I blame them for turning down demonstration duty! Dr. Prah presented slides and a short video on a new, less-invasive surgery procedure for removing the prostate called da Vinci Prostatectomy. (No, this has NOTHING to do with ancient conspiracy theories involving “The Last Supper” ! !)  September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.  Wear a pale blue ribbon and spread the word for men over 50 to have a PSA test as well as the more commonly known “digital rectal exam” (that is “digital” as in “finger”, not “computer”!) Early detection is the key to the best prognosis.  Before introducing Dr. Prah, Lindsay Mann delivered a brief response to a recent Times Delta editorial which cast an unfavorable light on Kaweah Delta District Hospital.  The editorial chose a very narrow segment of all statistics to criticize KDDH.  It’s the ol’ “figures never lie, but liars figure.” I’m concerned that if I try to paraphrase Linday’s comments here I’ll do more harm than good, so if you have questions about this situation, please give Lindsay a call!  

Other folks fined or joining Sully’s Sailors:  Rob Fox (made a trip back to Oshkosh), Rolf Westly (cruise to Alaska…wait a minute, does this mean Rolf already has experience sailing?), and Val Saucedo (his son is studying law at USF; Val will take care of the sentencing of Sully’s Crew!)  

Various Announcements:  Shave-The-Brave update: Our Rotary Club donated $3,000 to Make a Wish Foundation and members donated $1,825 for J R Shannon shaving his head for the cause! (“Too cool!” ) The wine auction is scheduled for November 5^th, so save the date.  Plan to attend our September 17^th meeting when the District Governor is expected.  Correction from last article: Meal cards are available at the sign-in desk.  The cost is $120.  This is billed to your account.  Each card has 24 little “$5” marks on it, so you can mix’n’match any combination of full lunches or soup’n’salads.  Greeters at the desk will punch out the amount you are spending for lunch.  This is a great way to pay for your lunch by check, keep your cash in your pocket, and the greeters are less likely to run out of five dollar bills for making change!  Next week our program is Pamela Creedon from Central Valley Regional Quality Control Board.  See you then…Same Rotary time, same Rotary channel!  

In President Ed’s absence, Wayne Yada conducted the meeting and the ranks of Sully’s Sailors are swelling…10 in this meeting alone!: Frank Surroz (who wanted to wait for Vic, but joined even though he’s nervous about an airman being the navigator!); Pastor Dave for his new parking lot WITHOUT compact spaces…I applaud you, Pastor Dave!; Rick Strid for pictures of his daughters in the newspaper, one daughter got married and the other graduated…2 times the daughters so he volunteered to pay 2 times the fine…$500…three cheers for Rick!; Stan Carrizosa who is proud that it’s his son’s name is all over the press instead of his own (Stan Jr. is one of 8 kids picked from 10,000 kids across the country currently participating in a reality-type show relating to Disney’s High School Musical 3); Dean Singh who is a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver; Ralph Bookout, car magnate/slum lord, with 2 two self-proclaimed skills: selling used cars and turning back speedometers (the statute of limitations has run…guess the statute can’t be turned back!);  Bruce Nicotero, celebrating 8 years with JoAnn Stores and his 3^rd granddaughter born in February; Gene Yunt, because he has a friend to brag about (Major David Sablan, U.S. Army) with 6 awards for valor; Michael Phelps, who designed the jewelry worn by Richard Allen’s wife as seen in Influencials; and Don Sharp, who turned 70, sold his Fresno agency, but still has his Visalia agency.  Thanks to all our new recruits!  

Lindsay Mann presented our Scout of the Month, T.J. Andreas of Troop 302.  T.J. is a cross country runner and he received a perfect score on the ACT (mercy!)  After graduation from high school he plans on attending Cal Poly as an engineering major (Go Mustangs!). For his Eagle Scout project he chose to fix up the Elbow Creek Cemetery.  He added visitors’ benches, removed weeds, and put down material to inhibit future weed growth covered with seed gravel.  He showed before and after pictures…that’s the spirit, T.J.!  

Our program, Dana Shoir, gemologist, was introduced by Michael Phelps.  Dana travels to actual mines for the rough gems so he can certify their origin.  He shared amazing pictures of his travels. The mine deposits for some of the gems are the same, be they in South America, Africa, or Asia because the deposits were formed while the continents were one land mass (the super continent called “Pangaea”.)  If Sully’s Sailors tried to sail around that to find paradise they’d be sailing in one big circle!  Next meeting:  Shave the Brave!

Hey, no singing today!  As much as I like to test my knowledge of patriot song lyrics it is nice to rest the memory on occasion! Our president today was Brian Hyde…well done, Brian!  Brian received a standing ovation for running the meeting (…sorry, Ed…) Well, OK, we were already standing when he told us he was in charge…a mere technicality! (I guess President Ed was looking for paradise a little early, except I wouldn’t think Colorado would be the place to start that search!) Since members have the option of joining the President’s Club or paying $25 and being available for future fines, it’s interesting how many folks are opting for the $25 route.  Thanks to those who accepted fines today, at whatever level:  Eric Lindberg (expecting a grandson any time now), Jim Ford (great golf game!), Dick Combs (fined once again for his first book…Dick, you need to write a book quicker so it doesn’t lap Presidents!), Al Fisher (for his cookbook with jokes…book #4 for Al), Gerry Schneider (20 year anniversary in his profession announced on PBS and almost causing Doug Berg to cut his own throat while shaving…better luck next time, Doug!),  Randy “Dance Daddy” Groom (whose daughter is a member of the award winning Dancers’ Edge), B.J. Perch and Basil Perch (B.J. is expecting his 3^rd son), Matt Graham (whose boss is reported to be a slave driver…aw, come on, not BRIAN HYDE!...and who received his first paycheck…it didn’t really bounce, did it?...BOING!), Susan Lucas (because the wine auction committee meeting was going to be at the Holiday Inn until Joe Kuhn challenged her to move the meeting to the Marriott and then he’d join the club, too!), Joe Kuhn (see previous detail!)  

Dean Glass introduced Dan and Rosa from the Ridge Creek Dinuba Golf Course who presented pictures of the new facility before, during, and after construction.  Built to recycle waste water (that doesn’t cause the course to smell bad, does it?) instead of letting it evaporate, its design follows that of European courses (maybe the Europeans don’t notice the smell?)  It sports a 205 acre golf course, 30 acre driving range, 115 acres for residential development, the longest hole in California (#15), a 3.5 mile walking path around the course open to the public, not to mention the pro-shop and club house…all this and it’s debt free! Does President Ed play golf?...maybe paradise is in Dinuba? ? ?

The Star Spangled Banner and salute started the meeting on a great note with the Olympics just around the corner….go USA!! Al Fisher read the birthdays and wedding anniversaries, followed by the Phil Mirwald announcing the club anniversaries. President Ed reiterated the “idea” of the sergeant of arms in that you can be “recognized” for $25 (maybe less) or you can join Sully Sailors (President’s Club). 

Sully’s Sailors are growing fast and the ship will have to accommodate all classes: joining this week was Rick Wehmueller for Bank of the Sierra ranking No. 6 by US Banker for return on Equity. Rick will be counting and cleaning fish. Mike Wiley recognized for having a grand opening for their bank (Suncrest) and Eric Shannon asking everyone to bring the new bank money. Mike will be the banjo player on the ship and Eric will bring the drinks. Phil Luna will be the bouncer of the ship and asked to carry the 4 Way test coin along for support. Laurie Isham also jumped aboard and will be bringing her husband’s book “Court Expert” which is with a publisher in San Francisco. Laurie also offered to cook for the crew. Secretary’s report was given by Wayne Yada and indicated a contribution was given to the Fox Theatre for electrical products. Brent Calvin was also recognized along with his mom, Linda Gist-Calvin. Linda is the President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). They recently attended a conference and Brent brought back some gifts for President Ed. Brent agreed to join Sully Sailor’s as the sail….Gerald Steiner was recognized for losing a lot of weight and when ask how he said….”I just stopped eating”! Well okay, he just cut back. Gerald also joined the sailors and will be swabbing the deck. Jim Hurlbutt also joined Sully Sailors after returning from a 17 day trip to central Europe. He brought back some honey liquor and agreed to be the court reporter for the mutiny trials aboard ship. Tom Peltzer was last to join the ship this week after returning from Africa. He agreed to be in charge of the “hookers” and I was glad to hear it was for the fishermen…..I wasn’t sure where that whole “job” was headed??? 

Our meetings under our new President Ed are assuming a comfortable agenda sequence.  President Ed is doing well developing his own style of meetings and I applaud him for avoiding the temptation to mimic other meeting styles…Well done, Ed!  Our Sergeants-at-Arms, the Two Randy’s  (Randy Groom and Randy Smith) stalked around hunting prey for Sully’s Sailors in their adorable uniforms…ok, so I COULD have called them aprons, but that seemed unfair, and hey, the term “sergeant” has a military ring to it, so “uniform” seems an appropriate term.  David Nash joined “The Crew” because he said our Sergeant-at-Arms’ “uniforms” made our club resemble Kiwanis…or was that Lions Club?  In order to join Sully’s Sailors, Dave had to think up a skill to help out on the boat.  It was decided that Dave was a “not-guy”…no, whoops, sorry..that’s “knot guy.”  V T Tsvirinko offered to join the club when Fresno Pacific completes their new building.  Tom Beene reassured all members that their deposits at the bank are FDIC insured up to $100, and he reminded Steve Chrisman that he can’t withdraw an overdraft.  Tom offered to pay $20 now and join Sully’s Sailors later.  Brian Hyde, who was the first to join Sully’s Sailors, was a candidate for double-jeopardy, but our Sergeants-at-Arms were reminded that once a member becomes a Sailor that member is exempt from fines for the rest of the year!  Even the Sergeants need to join The Crew, so Randy Smith joined because he’s back from a wonderful cruise to Alaska.  Randy brought back gifts for President Ed: Alaskan Moose Balls (Neapolitan flavor!) and Hunter Sticks (reindeer jerky…poor Rudolph!)  Joe Kuhn was awarded a $25 credit for retrieving our Rotary computer that was abandoned after the last meeting…way to go, Joe!  

Wayne Yada delivered the Secretary’s Report:  Thank you notes were received from Associated Charities (for donation), the Library Foundation (for donation), and the City of Visalia (for help with the Student Exchange.)  Also, Cal Gomes is returning to our club…Welcome back, Cal!  Wayne read a letter from a Miss Mai Lin looking for her man, named Dave Burr.  It was decided that this was a fictional story, (the names were changed to accuse the innocent) and had no basis in fact.   Dave didn’t want to join the Crew (who could blame him?) but he DID pay his attorney, Russ McKinney, one dollar for defending him against the atrocious allegations contained in the letter.  Y’all better watch out!  Deep Throat 3 is out there and just waiting to getchya!  

Membership Committee:  Al Fisher encouraged everyone to bring in new members.  We need about 20 new members each year just to stay even and another 27 members to reach the District goal of a 10% increase.  Packets are available to give prospective members and an application form is in the back of the Club Roster.  

“Rotary Salutes” honored Lt. Commander Murrell Twibell with a Paul Harris Award.  Murrell joined the Navy in 1935 and served on the “Enterprise,” an aircraft carrier, during World War II.  His invention of a breathing apparatus allowed personnel to descend into the burning carrier to unlock the steering mechanism which was damaged during a Japanese bombing raid.  This was the subject of a History Chanel special.  A clip from this show was presented for viewing.  All I can say is “Wow!”…followed by a standing ovation…Wow!  Special note:  Murrell Twibell can still fit into his uniform!  

Steve Creel presented our program today on “Public Speaking.”  Steve gave us such pearls as:  Stay on topic, don’t be lured off topic by audience reaction, give credit if you use someone else’s material, be yourself when you speak (don’t try to become someone else), prepare (be concise and keep it simple), if you rehearse and ask for feedback don’t argue with the comments, prepare your speech then let it get “cold” before you assess it, and last but not least:  know when to stop!  So, having said that…we’ll see you next week for a joint meeting of all four clubs in the Convention Center! 

Welcome to the second meeting of our new president, President Ed…only 50 more meetings…sorry I missed the first meeting…I was totally under-the-weather.  What does that mean, anyway?  I’ll tell you what it means…you’re hitting turbulence!  Anyway,…back to the meeting…First, we have the Sergeant At Arms Report, which seems to be the Press Gang for joining the President’s Club aka Sully’s Sailors…Yo Ho!  Welcome aboard to Gary Paden (whose house was featured in Lifestyle Magazine, his wife liked the article, so all is well with the world!), Tony Correia (because he’s NOT going fishing with the guys), Dick Hopper (who is following in the footsteps of George Washington as Masonic Grand Master.  Dick was concerned about having to row Sully’s boat if there’s no wind…I don’t think that’ll be a problem, Dick.  From the sound of it, there will be plenty of wind produced on that boat!), Tony Salierno (because he actually returns phone calls and says “yes”, plus he’s joining under the “Yacht” package for $350, to help buy a motor big enough to keep from rowing!), and Duane Scott (who got his first eagle off the blue tee on the 9^th hole at the Country Club, and is proud of his Fresno Diamond Dogs…Woo Hoo!).  Thanks to you all,  Maties! Arrrh!  

The new roster is out.  Look for your committees and check your information.  Report any errors to Wayne Yada to correct in the roster next year.  A reminder:  roster information may not be distributed without prior Board approval. Bills for dues will be going out. Membership is a great deal at only $160!  Laurie Isham, with ProYouth/Heart, presented Past President Al with a plaque in appreciation of his support which helped 3,000 kids.  That’s our Al!  Our meeting on July 23rd will be a joint meeting with all four clubs.  So you are forewarned!  Steve Creel is taking names of those interested in giving the invocation at meetings.  Contact Steve if you are interested in helping (627-1660.)  

Duane Scott introduced our program by demonstrating his singing talents with Dan Pessano of Good Company Players.  (Duane sang well… I have to say that ‘cuz he’s my senior partner, ‘n’ all.)  Little known trivia:  Dan used to perform as Ronald McDonald at Grand Openings in the early days!  A true celebrity! Dan gave us an entertaining program, exchanging quips with members and presenting various facts about the Company and its programs.  Good Company Players is celebrating its 35^th anniversary as a dinner theater.  It is currently presenting “Annie Get Your Gun” and will be moving on to “Chicago” and the “Producers”, to name a few upcoming shows.  Royalties to produce a show can range from $25,000 to $40,000, (paid 6 to 7 months in advance) which does not include the cost of scripts, scores, and costumes.  The Company is totally funded by “butts in seats.”  There are no grants to help meet expenses, so the Company works diligently to give you a great deal for your dollar.  Dan brought along two cast members, Jessica and Emily, to sing a few songs for us. Now THAT’S singing! What clear, beautiful, bright voices! For performance and ticket information go to their website at www.gcplayers.com or call the ticket office at 266-9494.  Time to castoff for home!  See you next week!