As her last official duty, President Emily Matthews called the meeting to order at 12:15. She then called on Suzanne Juptner to lead those virtually gathered in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Invocation:
Jennifer Pence delivered the invocation. Earlier this year she was walking in San Francisco and passed a park that contained several very large tree stumps. She was surprised to notice that one of the tree stumps had an entire poem carved into its flat surface. Upon returning home, she looked up the poem online to learn more about it. The poet, Douglas Malloch, was known as “The Lumberman’s Poet” since he grew up among logging camps in the late 1800s and often incorporated references to forests and logging into his poems, including the one that Jennifer found. While the gendered pronouns in this poem may now feel outdated to us, the poem’s philosophy about developing strength of character through overcoming adversity still rings true.
Good Timber
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees,
The further sky, the greater length,
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.
By Douglas Malloch
Announcements:
Happy Hour will again be held this Friday.
The Filoli Garden Party was a rousing success. We had over 100 Rotarians and guests in attendance. The weather was perfect and the music truly added to ambience. A BIG thank you to Donna Colson who was able to secure this fabulous venue. What a treat to see folks in person!! Nancy treated us to a slideshow of photos she took at the event. They are available on our Facebook page.
The Debunking of President Emily Matthews or A Very Unusual Year
Jerry Winges began the process with a few etiquette rules.
Once the protocols were explained, the fun began. Jerry reviewed Emily’s early years. She was born in New Orleans in the turbulent, hazy days of 1968. Jerry claimed that baby Emily was left on the porch of the Burch home wrapped in a copy of the Rolling Stones magazine. The Burch household was then joined 18 months later by a sister. Her father took a position in Bahrain where the family lived until Emily was five years old. The family then moved to Lagos, Nigeria. They all returned to the US in 1975 settling in Houston, Texas before moving to Dallas.
We were treated to many photos from Emily’s varied activities from horseback riding, hunting, fishing, and a variety of water sports. There were a few glamour shots from her adolescence, as well.
Emily attended Tulane graduating in 1990 with a history major. While there she spent her summers working at the famous French Quarter restaurant, Galatoire’s. With that experience under her belt, she enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Upon graduation, Emily moved to Newport Beach to take a position with the exclusive Four Seasons Hotel. While in Southern California she met Tim Matthews, whom she would later marry.
Tim and Emily’s wedding in Los Angeles was attended by their extended family.
In 2004 they moved to San Francisco and later to Burlingame where they still reside with their two children, Ben and Sophie. Emily has pursued many water sports. She is currently a paddle board enthusiast having competed in a number of river runs throughout Canada and the US.
Emily joined Burlingame Rotary in 2009. She has been an engaged and active member throughout. Fortunately for our Club she agreed to be its President and led us successfully through an extraordinary year due to the pandemic. Her tenacity and creativity turned what could have been a lost year into a rousing success. Thank you, Emily.
As we enter a new Rotary year, we will be led by Joe La Mariana whom we “recycled”, agreeing to reprise his presidency from 2009.