President Cheri called the meeting to order and asked Suzanne Juptner to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

She then had Cary Koh read the Rotary Four-Way Test. 

 

Guests:  

Andrew Comstock was the guest of Emily Matthews and prospective new member.  Ron Karp, Foster City Rotarian, was a guest of John Delaney.

 

Rotary Business:

President Cheri thanked all Rotarians who completed the survey, reminding the fellowship that our feedback matters. The results of the survey are being reviewed by the BOD and findings will be shared next month.

 

Cheri asked Sheryl and Doug to the podium where both Cheri and Sheryl presented Doug with a donation check to the Salvation Army as part of the Giving Jar. The club was happy to raise money for the Salvation Army and Doug thanked the club on behalf of the Salvation Army.

 

She them thanked the Reception Committee (Joe Galligan, Sheryl Young, Marilyn Orr, and now Chris Ramirez) who greet all Rotarians as they enter the room each week and collection lunch payments.

 

During Fellowship time, Cheri asked John Delaney to the podium. John asked, “show of hands if you are married? Keep hands up if you have been married more than 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, and 50+ years. He then congratulated and asked for the fellowship to celebrate a member who recently married, Christopher Ramirez. After a wonderful 5 years with partner Brian Yu, Chris and Brian decided to complicate things by getting married. Chris is happy and looks forward to spending the rest of his life with Brian. Chris thanked everyone for such a wonderful celebration.

 

As a reminder, the Taste of New Orleans 94010 will be held on Sunday, April 26^th from 4:30pm to 7:30pm at the Hillsborough Racquet Club.  It will prove to be a very fun event.  You can sign-up on our website, www.burlingamerotary.org  or https://tasteofneworleans94010.com/.  Everyone is encouraged to bring guests. 

 

Doug Person and Fritz Brauner asked Julius Aries to come to the podium. Julius proceeded to tell us about his upbringing in South Africa where his first job was working the counter at his parents Bicycle Shop. Later in life, the skills he learned from working at the family Bicycle shop allowed him to begin a career as a CPA where he helped many bicycle shops account for their money. When asked who would play him in a movie, we all agreed that Brad Pitt would be a suitable actor.  

 

 

Speaker: 

Kent Putnam, serial Dealership Owner, gave the group a very thorough overview of the Automotive Car Sales Industry. Kent proceeded to share the story of how the Putnam name became the biggest Dealership Empire in the Peninsula with over thousands of dealerships on California Drive in Burlingame. The story began with a chilling story in one of the Dakotas where he and his family were in the full swing of winter. It was then when his father, Joe Putnam, travelled to Northern California in search for a new beginning for the Putnam family. While Joe was in Sunny California, the family was bearing the cold winter of North Dakota. In frustration of the freezing cold and frozen oil in the home’s furnace, Kent’s mother decided to warm up the home by lighting a fire under the oil furnace. We expected the story to end there with an explosion and a fresh start in California but there was no explosion, thankfully, and with the purchase of Joe Putnam’s first Buick Dealership, the family moved to Burlingame in 1957.

 

Joe recruited his brothers Bob and Jim to help with the newly owned business. As the years passed, the Putnam family began purchasing more dealerships in the Burlingame area creating a mini-brand of their own in the mid-peninsula. Putnam now employs employees ranging from all parts of the Bay Area and are known as the prime Automotive Dealer of Burlingame and Peninsula.

 

 

President Cheri presented Kent with a certificate of appreciation noting that we would be providing 5 polio vaccinations as part of Rotary’s effort to eradicate the disease.