President Emily rang her great-grandmother’s bell and called the meeting to order at 12:15. She then asked Suzanne Juptner to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. The Invocation was delivered by Fritz Brauner who led us in the very appropriate Serenity Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. For you trivia buffs, this prayer was composed by American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in 1932.
Visitors:
Our visiting Rotarian was our speaker, Mitch Postel, who is a member of San Mateo Rotary. Our Guest of Rotarian was former member Mike Matteucci.
Announcements:
Suzanne Juptner then reported on a very successful
Flamingo Flocking that she had arranged for a friend’s birthday. Not only was the birthday girl thrilled but all her neighbors enjoyed the sight, as well. This fundraiser has proven to be very popular and has netted the club almost $900. You, too, can bring cheer (or horror) to someone and benefit Burlingame Rotary. Details on our website.
Happy Hour this Friday at 5:00. Join us for National Hamburger Day.
Fun with Fountain Pens will be hosted by Chuck Voltz on Tuesday, September 22 at 7:00PM.
Cary Koh then announced that we will indeed host our 9th Annual Rotary Golf Tournament at Green Hills on Monday, October 12. It will be a scaled back event with no dinner. The number of golfers is limited due to COVID-19 restrictions. But we are on our way to a successful event as half the foursomes are registered. All information and sponsorship opportunities are on our website. Even though this event will not raise as much as in past years, it was important to keep the momentum going so that next year, our 10th, we’ll be able to attract all past golfers and sponsors.
Cheryl Fama gave us an update on the Community Service Committee. There are many opportunities for service projects in the community with many of our non-profit partners. Since our club does not want to do large group activities, we are deferring our participation in the District 5150 Cleanup projects until 2021. The Committee does have some proposals that will be brought before the board of directors.
Newscast:
Our perpetual newscaster, Fritz Brauner, began with a birthday report of notables celebrating today. He then turned to Suzanne Juptner to confirm that her special day was the day before, Tuesday. She affirmed that it indeed was. Fritz then asked her if she was aware that her birthday fell on National Linguini Day. That was news to Suzanne. He then requested that she share a bit of her background with those on the call. She informed us that she was from Southern California, Newport Beach to be exact. She came to Northern California to attend college and never left.
Speaker:
Donna Colson introduced our speaker,
Mitch Postel, who is President of the San Mateo County Historical Association. Mitch assumed that role in 1984. Besides running the museum in Redwood City, he oversees two historic sites in the County, the Woodside Store and the Sanchez Adobe. The Association also publishes the semi-annual magazine
La Peninsula. Donna also reminded us that the History Makers Gala will be held September 24, virtually, honoring
Chef Martin Yan.
Mitch began by giving a bit of background. The museum had the opportunity to acquire the historic Redwood City 1910 Court House building. In 1998, after extensive interior renovation, the museum moved from their previous location at the College of San Mateo to Redwood City. The centerpiece of this structure is the stained glass dome which is the largest on the West Coast. The move allowed the Association to create a state of the arts exhibit space. Mitch’s power point presentation allowed us to see many of the existing and planned installations. One he featured was the Immigrant Experience. In 1880 80% of the county’s residents had been born elsewhere. The exhibit puts the story in the context of the county today.
The Historical Association also runs two historic sites. One is the Woodside Store. The other is the Sanchez Adobe in Pacific. Mitch outlined the multiple improvement ongoing at this site. The expanded interpretive center will chronicle the three historical episodes of this location and its transition from an Ohlone village to a Spanish mission to the home of Don Francisco Sanchez.
Mitch then transitioned back to the plans for the museum. The Entrepreneur Gallery is being totally redone to be interactive and far more engaging. It provides a timeline of the innovative companies that were founded in this county. A new gallery is being planned. The Natural History exhibit will feature our pre-historic past. A center piece to the installation with be the Paleoparadoxia. This 12 million year old skeleton was discovered in 1964 during the excavation for the Stanford Linear Accelerator. It has now been gifted to the museum.
Another major plan is the addition of a 14,000 square foot three story extension to the museum. This will house the large carriage collection as well as providing space for rotating exhibits and an event venue.
Mitch then took questions from our group. Bob Doerr asked how the glass dome was being protected. Mitch said that many seismic improvements were made after the 1989 earthquake. As much as possible has been done. There was a question regarding the completion of the addition. Mitch hoped that approvals would be obtained by early 2021 and construction begun shortly after. Pierre Bouquet asked whether the model ships were still there. Mitch informed him that yes, all 25 of Charles Parsons’ ships are still on display.
President Emily then presented Mitch with a Polo Plus certificate for five polio doses in appreciation of his presentation to our club.
To view this meeting use the link below::
https://zoom.us/rec/share/Kng6qRtRbj5H2RLcP22BEj-OPbcYHalVJI4p-IqLwDZBQRheXrPipKWegDuL9wBR.TwxCrzBDOUDnBvrG Passcode: h8J7c!4L
Car Talk Series
Fun with Fountain Pens
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Think fountain pens disappeared in the 1950s, replaced by the ballpoint pen? Think again! Fountain pens are alive, well, and in use around the world. Wait, you've never given a thought to fountain pens? No problem! Join San Francisco Pen Posse member, our very own Charles Voltz, for Fountain Pen Fun.
Coming September 22 @ 7pm. Check our website for more info. |
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Home Flockings
The flocks have been flying! Below are photos of our first two flockings. Details about home flockings and order info on the
website.
Blood Drive Info
Rotary D5150 and the S. San Francisco Sister Cities Association are sponsoring a blood drive—we are asking you to share this information with your individual Clubs, your friends, your neighbors, families, any and all organizations about this drive. This is a great way to put our networking to use and to help during this critical time—when blood is short everywhere.
Vitalant (formerly Blood Bank of the Pacific) needs our help—and we can step up with Service Above Self.
WHEN: September 10, 2020
WHERE: S. San Francisco Community Center 33 Arroyo Drive, S. San Francisco, 94080
HOURS: 10AM to 3PM
Blood donations by appointment only. Sign up here.
