A near record crowd of 35 Rotarians and guests gathered in the Elm Room. After a period of fellowship, President Cary called the meeting to order. He asked Mark Johnson, who was uncharacteristically early, to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Cary invited Paul Watermulder to come forward to deliver the invocation.
“The “thought for the day,” or the reflection, devotion, meditation of the day is something of a confession, by me. I had an adversary. A person came into my life and pretty much made things miserable for me, and for my family. He did this largely on purpose, willing to cause pain and suffering. Maybe you have such a person in your life, a person who occupies way too much bandwidth in your soul, and you know it. Therapists tell us that every person has some relationship or situation that is bigger than they are and that they wrestle to be able to cope, even to conquer.
Jesus called this person in your life or mine, “enemy.” No need to sugar coat it; this is not merely a misunderstanding! Jesus said three words about your enemy: “Love Your Enemies.” I’ll call this our “Rotary Word for the Day.” It can sound foolish (why waste your love on somebody so undeserving?) If only we were talking about loving our family and friends. If only we were talking about loving visionary leaders, virtuous pillars of the community. But our Rotary word for today deals with real trouble: “love your … enemies:” Here is the end result of when you are gifted to have an enemy, and you commit to loving that enemy: you no longer carry the burden of keeping score,
of telling others either secretly or publicly about how victimized you are,
of being a person without inner peace.
I end with Jesus’ last word: you know what Jesus had to say to God about your enemies: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” May it be so for you, me & all of us! Amen.
The Sunshine Report was delivered by Mark Lucchesi. He reported that Cody Crosby, son of longtime Rotarian John Crosby, passed away in his sleep. A card was being circulated so we could express our sympathies to the family.
President asked for visitors. Mark Watson, Assistant District Governor and Foster City Rotarian introduced himself. Christine Krolik introduced Burlingame Councilperson Andrea Pappajohn. Rachel Ni brought along two colleagues, Jose Cervantes and Soah Hsu. William Li introduced a fellow Hillsborough employee, Sarah Bowab. Marilyn Orr was a bit belated in acknowledging former Burlingame Rotarian Georgette Naylor.
President Cary then made a follow-up announcement regarding the potential name change of our Club to include the Town of Hillsborough. The new name would be the Rotary Club of Burlingame & Hillsborough. There will be a communication going out to all members to weigh in on this initiative.
The announcement of upcoming events included our Annual Golf Tournament on September 30 at Green Hills Country Club. Also, plans for our gala celebration of the Rotary Club of Burlingame Centennial are underway. It will be held in January 2025.
Doug Person, membership chair, asked Cheryl Fama and Ana Pulido to join him at the podium. He then welcomed Ana Pulido, CEO of the Peninsula Health Care District, as our newest member.
Bob Doerr then gave a brief update on out Global Grant International Project in India. The approvals are almost complete so funding can begin soon for the Digital Education for Tribal Welfare Girls.
Rotarian Mark Watson had some district accolades to present to our Rotary Club. We were awarded several Club Excellence Awards. These included Youth Service, Public Image, Community Service, International Service and Vocational Service. We’ll display the plaques on our banner.
Marilyn Orr then reminded the Rotarians who had not yet joined President Cary’s that they only had a couple of weeks to do so. “We know who you are” she ominously said. No real threat but the link to join is below!
