Prez Denise’s last meeting was opened with a moving invocation from “Mountain” Mary Breckenridge. Michele McClure filled in for the flag salute and Bill Black led us in “Good Night, Ladies,” honoring what he referred to as “The Trifecta” – 3 consecutive female presidents named Jackie, Kay, and Denise.
Mary Jo Pasek and Frank Wooldridge were thanked for greeting us, yours truly was thanked for being scribe for a final time, and several guests were introduced by members. Denise introduced her wonderful hubbie, Scott; Craig Holland introduced his beautiful wife, Carol, in honor of their upcoming anniversary; and Queen Jackie introduced her other half, Tom Roddy.
Since there were no visiting Rotarians, we moved right into a very important part of any Rotary meeting: induction of a new member! Pat Thompson was pleased to welcome our newest member, Jackie Alexander. She’s currently a petroleum analyst at Berry Petroleum but regaled us with her educational background (accounting) and the fact that she’s the proud mom of 4 very successful children. I guess having spent some time in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant commander may have helped that process. She was sponsored by Denise and is very glad to be a part of BBRC. Welcome, Jackie. Enjoy this wonderful group of Rotarians.
CELEBRATIONS:
Mike Stepanovich has been a member of Rotary for 15 years.
Darin and Shannon Blunt have been married for 19 years; Gerry and Robin Starr have been married for 14 years; Jeff and Amy Bell have been married for 21 years; Leslie and Matt VoVilla have been married for 11 years; and Craig and Carol Holland will celebrate 48 years on the Fourth of July! (But since we’ll be dark then, he got credit early.)
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- The May and June Satisfaction Survey Results were on the tables. Denise thanked everyone who answered even though percentage was low.
- There was some updated information on the Amarok Society who helps mom become teachers. They are working with the Cambria Rotary who is launching a global grant to create a new guidebook for these teachers. Mike O’Doherty got a grant approved for school supplies for this project.
- The Community Service Participation report was on the table, too. Denise asked all members to check their names and be sure participation was accurately recorded. Dave Spalinger will enter this information for Rotary International since each club has to account for members’ volunteer services.
- Unfortunately, between ¼ and 1/3 of our club members have not yet paid their Foundation pledge. Denise has this list of names or you can check with Susan Searey for verification.
HAPPY SPOTS:
- Denise put Andrew Ozanich on the spot since there was a lovely picture of him in a Rio Bravo magazine. He ‘fessed up to actually being in 3 magazines, all without his Rotary pin on his work shirt, so he agreed to a $100 fine for the 3 “offenses.”
- Pat Thompson had a wonderful trip to Greece and was $20 happy about it. He brought Denise a trivet and a shot glass. He was also another $20 happy since his daughter got engaged this past weekend.
- Martha Zamora had an exciting trip to a wild game reserve in South Africa and just arrived home last night! She was $20 happy – maybe not to have been some lion’s lunch?
- Greg Desme has a daughter getting married this weekend. Also, his younger son has accepted a job on the coast and his other son is currently playing minor league baseball in Lancaster, PA, and went 3 for 3 in his first game! All this made Greg $20 happy.
- Heather Ward informed us that she has filmed a couple of ads – I’m assuming for her employer? – and is $10 happy.
- Adoree Roberson explained how she won bets on horse racing’s Triple Crown within her own family, but she didn’t win any money. Hmmm… how is that winning?
- Sister Judy relayed how she became a great aunt again on Easter Sunday (how appropriate) while she was in Nebraska and experiencing 20-degree temps. She was $10 happy.
- Mike O’D. pointed out that one table was comprised of only female members, so each person was then fined $5. NOT HAPPY!!
DISTRICT AWARDS:
Each Rotary club goes through 6 Avenues of Service to earn points. We are a medium-sized club and earned Gold in each Avenue! This caused BBRC to earn a Gold Club of Distinction Award.
Foothill High School, under the liaison of Bree Goodmon, received an award that Bree will present to them when school resumes. Also, District 5240 Rotarian of the Year went to Li Gibbs who was instrumental in bringing KernYES to our community this award.
RECOGNITIONS:
Many members received a special water bottle from BBRC in recognition of perfect/near perfect attendance for the year. Leslie VoVilla keeps track of meeting attendance and all other activities each member attends.
All of Denise’s Board Members – some displaying signs of being “worse for wear” – were thanked and recognized for helping her through a successful year. Each person received a token of Denise’s appreciation for all the hard work; hence, the canes/walkers/bandages.
A very special final presentation was the Paul Harris Fellow. It took until this point in the meeting for Denise to get teary-eyed, but that’s because the recipient was none other than Denise’s other half, Scott. She thanked him for being with her during both good and tough times and let him know she couldn’t have made it through this year without him.
The final Fit for Rotary moment combined mental, physical, and emotional activities. Studies have proven that people need at least 8 hugs a day for mental, physical, and emotional stability. This was actually the BEST Fit for Rotary moment all year since everyone got up and hugged other members both at their own table or other tables. It really made this scribe feel sad to be leaving so many wonderful people who care about each other.
The final 50/50 of the Rotary year went to Jeff Haynes and the final 100 Paul Harris points were awarded to Bobbie Hake. Thank you to everyone from Denise Haynes, now Past President! (who admitted she has filmed 2 drug recovery commercials) We made it!!
P.S. I will miss all of you but will stay in touch with your fun activities via Facebook, which I finally joined. I'll let you know when I find a new Rotary in or around Columbia, SC. And if you're ever in that part of the country, we will have plenty of room for guests. Have a wonderful summer and Ron: good luck in the upcoming year as President of the BEST Rotary Club.