President Emily called the meeting to order at 12:15PM. She then asked Jim Shypertt to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. He did so with no hesitation. Emily then called on Jennifer Pence to deliver the invocation.
Visitors and Guests: Joining the Club Zoom meeting were the District Governor Mary Bates and Assistant District Governor Matteo Rizzo. Mary hails from the Foster City Club and Matteo is currently a member of the South San Francisco Club. Also attending for his second visit is the new superintendent of the Burlingame School District Chris Mount-Benites.
Announcements:
President Emily then asked
Bob Doerr to tell us about an upcoming series of virtual events. Bob let us know that there will be a series of four
presentations called
Car Talk, hosted by a different Rotarian each week. The first one is Tuesday, August 25th at 7:00 PM when Bob will discuss Mercedes-Benz. On September 1st
Mike Heffernan will dazzle us with his expertise on the Ferrari. That will be followed a week later by
Charles Rosebrook expounding on American muscle cars. The finale will bring us the history of Hillsborough’s Concours D'Elegance as told by
Alex Buljan.
Not to be missed is the upcoming Fountain Pen Fun presented by San Francisco Pen Posse member, our very own Charles Voltz. All this information is posted on ClubRunner.
Newscast (Plus):
Flash!
Cheryl Fama Flocked! A secret squad descended on Cheryl’s home in the dead of night and delivered a Flamboyance of Flamingos to her front yard. She will forever be known by her neighbors as Flamingo Fama, the Red Hot Mama. Now for the back story.
At the previous week’s meeting Fritz had asked if
anyone knew the connection between this week’s speaker and an Alfred Hitchcock movie. He listed all the possibilities: The Man who Knew Too Much, 39 Steps, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, The Birds. The first one, but not the only one, with the correct answer was Cheryl. Psycho. The connection? District Governor Mary Bates and
the setting for the movie, the Bates Motel. Cheryl, therefore, received the flocking, compliments of Fritz. He reminded everyone that they too could flock friends and neighbors for pennies a day.
As an aside, Fritz mentioned an upcoming movie featuring Duffy Offield; The Man Who Didn’t Know Enough.
Program:
Bob Doerr introduced Assistant District Governor
Matteo Rizzo
. Matteo was a middle school teacher and administrator for 40 years. As a super involved Rotarian, he has been the president of two different Rotary clubs. Matteo then introduced the current District Governor of 5150,
Mary Bates. Mary has been a member of Foster City Rotary since 2005. She attended San Francisco State where she earned a degree in Public Administration. She is the mother of four daughters.
DG Mary noted how appropriate Fritz’s little contest had been. She was born a Bates and then married a man named Bates well before the 1960 movie Psycho was released. And in the bargain, she got a father-in-law named Norman Bates.
She began her presentation by asking us why we chose to become Rotarians. Mary suggested that we consider the three essential elements in our
lives, i.e. what we can’t get along without. This concept was part of her long DG training that she shared with 29 other incoming District Governors from the Western US and parts of Canada. This exercise then expanded to the three essential elements of Rotary;
Brand, Membership and Foundation.
We can promote our brand through our website and other promotions within each community. Simply asking prospects to become part of our organization goes a long way to expanding membership. And supporting the Rotary Foundation allows it to secure and grow programs throughout the world.
Mary related an encounter with a young man named Victor. He noticed her Rotary pin and told her that Rotary had saved his life. He was born into a violent home life. School was his sanctuary. He was eventually placed in a foster family and then adopted which provided a stable home life. In high school he became a foreign exchange student going to Germany. After graduating from college, he wanted to pursue a master’s degree, so he again looked to Rotary. He became a Global Scholar and upon completion came back to this country and founded a number of businesses. He continues to give back to those less fortunate. He has spoken at PETS and other Rotary sessions.
Mary thanked us for what we have contributed to the Foundation. She hopes that our members would attend the various upcoming District 5150 events. There will be a Polio Plus Summit in October and the EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) effort is about to begin. She then concluded her remarks. Mary did promise to take advantage of our Flamingo Flocking fundraiser in October.
President Emily then adjourned the meeting at 1PM.
