Pledge of Allegiance: Mike Heffernan lead the pledge.
Thought for the Day: Marilyn Orr read a Memorial Day poem by Paul Lawrence Dunbar. The poem, published in 1896, honored those who gave their lives in service to the United States, particularly during the Civil War, highlighting its themes of peace, sacrifice, and the enduring legacy of those who fought and died for freedom.
Thoughts and Prayers: Delia Montano shared positive news about her son's recovery and being moved out of the ICU. Fritz Brauner hurt the middle finger of his right hand—this puts him out of commission for important communication.
Visitors:Susan Baker introduced Deepa Menon, proprietor of Canvas and Café on Burlingame Ave.
BHS Scholarship Presentation: Marilyn Orr showed slides of the BHS senior honors night last Thursday. She reported that the Rotary Club honored scholarship winners at the Burlingame High School auditorium, distributing over $50,000 total across multiple programs including four-year scholarships, community college scholarships, and support for BIS students. The ceremony included recognizing a Doc Schepler Athlete of the Year and featured eight graduating seniors receiving four-year scholarships, ten existing CSM students receiving continued funding, and seven graduating seniors heading to community college. Mike Heffernan added how moving it was to see the auditorium full of hopeful graduates and their beaming parents and siblings.
Memorial Day Parade: Jerry Winges showed slides of our Club members walking, and others riding in this year’s Hillsborough Memorial Day Parade. The parade has become a Town tradition, and our own Christine Krolik was instrumental in starting it years ago. Some members rode on the historic 1950 fire truck sounding the siren as it was pulled along on a flatbed trailer by a pickup. The parade started at Hillsborough Town Hall and ended at North School Field where there was a memorial celebration, speeches, music performances, kids games, and community groups displaying information. Our club hosted a Rotary Club table with displays and information on membership and what we do. This was a fun day for all, and a good way to make Rotary and our club more visible to the public. We hope to have more members join this parade next year.
Club Announcements:
Marilyn Orr is still seeking High Gear writers—we really need volunteers to help produce this valuable communication vital to keeping our Club members informed and engaged. This is so much simpler now that we use AI to transcribe the meeting and is largely a cut and paste exercise. Please consider volunteering, even if you agree to do only one or two issues. You just need to paste together the summary, and Marilyn does the rest!
Jennifer Pence handed out new copies of the Burlingame’s Got Talent Restaurant Bingo Cards. Please patronize those restaurant sponsors who all donated food to our fundraising event. When you go to any of those listed, simply thank them for being a sponsor for Rotary. Then you can initial the box and turn it in for BIG PRIZES at the end of August.
Jennifer Pence previewed upcoming programs— A notable upcoming speaker was announced for June 10th: Steve Hathaway, a photographer who documented mayors across all 50 US states. Please try to attend as many lunch meetings as possible—we have great speakers and need you there! Help us avoid small turnouts which are embarrassing for the club and the speakers. Without you it is hard to cover meeting costs and food expenses, so thanks for supporting the weekly meetings to keep the Club fun and vibrant!
Program
Christine Krolik and fellow performers Sarah Steppe and Lauren Mayer presented a Broadway cabaret show titled "Broads of Broadway,” featuring songs from various musicals including Mac and Mabel, Chicago, She Loves Me, Mamma Mia, Hello Dolly, and Mary Poppins. What incredible talent we have in our local community and in our Club!
It was a wonderful and entertaining program, replete with props from these very accomplished ladies.
The show was well-received by attendees, with Bobba Venkatadri describing it as the best Rotary lunch meeting he had attended in his six years with the organization!
