A New Rotary Year…and a New Queen

Every new Rotary year brings a change in leadership, but this one came with a royal plot twist.

President Sandra Parnell swept onto the scene, leaving no doubt that Jackie Maxwell — our beloved Good Queen — has been succeeded by a playful (and perhaps slightly sinister) Evil Queen Sandra.

First decree: EQ Sandra has banished Jackie to the far northern lands of Alaska. (Effective immediately… well, right after next week’s meeting. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.)

And so it begins — another great Rotary year in the making!

Thanks to Today’s Crew

Greeters: Char Vega & Ken Q
Invocation: Mindy Wilmot
Songstress: Denise Haynes
Guests: First Man Jon Parnell, Blair Knox, and Tina Burke (Tom’s official driver)
Visiting Rotarians: None — as usual.

Get to Know Your President

In a fun round of Q & A, we learned a lot about our new president.

When traveling, bring back chocolate or post cards rather than alcohol and other favorites of presidents past.
She enjoys running, even though she seems to think everyone in the club can outrun her (except, perhaps, recovering Tom Burke, who recently graduated to a cane from a walker…yay Tom!).
Do not (I repeat do not!) call her at 3:00 in the afternoon. That’s nap time.
Yachtley Crew vs. Motley Crue? Yachtley, please.
President Sandra loves to travel the world in search of “proof of Rotary life” in the most obscure spots (e.g. a sign in the middle of the road in Ensenada). [Perhaps we should all capture images of Rotary logos from around the world!]

Theme of the Year: “Today’s Actions Are Tomorrow’s Impacts”

Growing the BBRC endowment is a perfect way to put our theme into action, and eight club members were recognized for contributing at least $1,000 toward the BBRC endowment over the past year. Many thanks to: Ron Nelms, Jackie Maxwell, Kristine Hertin, Willie Gordon, David Spalinger, Kay Pitts, Pete Leveroni (at the $5k level) and President Sandra (at the $10k level). Let’s keep that momentum going!

New Board Members

The club’s new board of directors were introduced.

Celebrations

Birthdays were celebrated (Tom Burke and Donna Schwartz), and anniversaries were commended (Temo and his ~~car~~ wife Jacqueline--21 or 22 years, we’re not quite sure).

July Service Project--Pet Food Drive

People aren’t the only ones who suffer from an empty tummy when funds are tight; pets are hungry too! Did you know Bakersfield has a Pet Food Pantry? Unopened bags of pet food and treats will be collected over the next three Wednesdays.

So Much Money into the Coffers!

We were a happy (and generous) bunch! After a few moments of shyness, everyone seemed ready to donate all at once:

Kristine Hertin is going to travel to Italy and committed to an advance payment of $40.
Kay Pitts is also going to be gone and offered to cover half of Kristine’s fine (since she ratted her out), plus her own $40.
Yours truly was $22 happy that, 11 years ago, I sponsored President Sandra into the club.
Tom Burke was $25 happy for his brand new baby girl, Saoirse (an ancient Irish name pronounced “Seer-sha”).
Jackie Maxwell was $20 happy for the extra 20 minutes she got to stay in bed now that she’s not president!
Marti Sanders was $25 happy for her company’s recent award of a contract with Edwards AFB.
Stephanie Baker was $25 happy to have completed her time on the District board.

Finally, after an eventful kick-off to the new Rotary year, Past President Jeff Haynes was the lucky winner of $68 in the opportunity drawing.