President Bob Hermann, Jr. (Information Technology: Administration | Retired) called the meeting to order at 12:15 PM, welcomed everyone attending in person or on Zoom, and shared the history of April Fools' Day.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
Today's Visiting Rotarian was Jannie Lammers from the Rotary Club of Almere-Weerwater in The Netherlands. Also in attendance were Michelle Pommier and Ruth Wenzel, both of whom will soon join our Club. Ruth brought her husband, Dick Wenzel, to this meeting and introduced him. Jim Patrick (Retail: Office Supplies | Patrick & Co.) introduced his son, Jamie Patrick. Phil Ye (Information Technology - Administration | Snowflake) introduced Jonathan Hao. Sue Robbins (Nonprofit Administration | Catholic Charities SF) introduced Bob LaLanae. Our speaker was Rick Laubscher. Welcome to all!
Flag Exchange
President Bob exchanged a Rotary flag with Visiting Rotarian Jannie Lammers.
Myanmar Earthquake
Past President Mary Liu (Real Estate: Sales | JM Real Estate Group) joined the meeting via Zoom to discuss the devastation in Myanmar that resulted from a 7.7 magnitude earthquake. The quake has killed 3,500 people to date. Mary had traveled to Myanmar in 2017 and shared before and after photos of Mandalay Palace, Mahamuni Pagoda, and Kuthodow Pagoda.
Mahamuni Pagoda (before and after the earthquake)
Rotarians were encouraged to pray for the people of Myanmar and to support disaster relief.
News to Celebrate
During this meeting, we celebrated the following Rotarians:
- President-Elect Frank Yoke III (Development | Serra Residential Center, Inc.) and incoming District 5150 Chief of Staff and Past President JT Forbus (Accounting | Bogdan & Frasco) at the 2025 District Assembly. Both have been busy preparing to begin their duties in July 2025. See full story here.
- Stacey Poole (Law: Family | Lerner Poole & Stewart, LLP) who was honored as the Rotarian of the Month for April 2025. We are grateful for Stacey's service as Social Chair, Club Secretary, Scribe, and member of the Club's DEI Committee.
- Vice President of Club Service Ozan Yasavur (Engineering: Mechanical | Bioforcetech Corporation) and Merve Yasavur (Information Technology: Computer Science | Self-employed) who became U.S. citizens. Ozan was acknowledged for his leadership in the Turkey Earthquake Project. In addition, President Bob presented to Ozan our Club's flag so that Ozan can present it to the Rotary Club of Izmir Konak.
- Vice President of PR and Communications Dan Davies who got a new job that will keep him in the United States.
- Sue Robbins who received her PHF pin and who attended the installation ceremony for Robert Walter McElroy as Archbishop of Washington.
Club Goals
President Bob announced that our Club had achieved 20 Club goals, one of which was that 90% of our members are using my.rotary.org
On the District level, our Rotary District 5150 was recognized for being No. 4 in the world in terms of giving.
Past and Upcoming Events
- Ruth Wenzel shared her experience at the recent Rotary DEI Film Festival. See full story here.
- Check the Club's calendar for upcoming meetings and events.
- Vice President of Membership Margaret Miley (Hospitality: Hotels | Retired) invited all to the Welcome to the Club on April 3, 2025.
- District 5150 DEI Chair and Past President Scott Plakun (Management Consulting | The Plakun Group) invited all to attend the Passover Seder on April 15, 2025.
- PE Frank Yoke invited all to serve at this year's Bike Build on April 26, 2025. This year, on April 24 and 25, we also need people to prepare meals for the Bike Build team. Sign up now!
Grants Update
PE Frank Yoke announced that 34 grant requests totaling $412,000 were received by the deadline of March 27, 2025. The San Francisco Rotary Foundation has a little over $200,000 to fund grants this year.
Guest Speaker
Sue Robbins introduced today's speaker — Rick Laubscher. Rick is the president of the Market Street Railway and led our Club on an interesting journey of the public transportation systems of San Francisco. He also discussed the history of how San Francisco developed into the amazing city that it is today.President Bob thanked Rick Laubscher and announced that 100 children would be inoculated against polio in his name.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 PM.
Meeting Volunteers
President Bob thanked today's meeting volunteers: Cecile Chiquette (Accounting | Retired) for serving as volunteer coordinator; PE Frank Yoke for serving as scribe; Jim Patrick for serving as photographer; Emily Borland (Engineering, Architecture, and Construction | Emily Borland Specifications) for managing the microphone; Kirt Burdick of the Academy of Art University for managing the audio-visual equipment during our in-person meeting; Treasurer Gary Dales (Accounting | Fly Leasing) for serving as greeter; Dan Davies for social media; Mary Liu for serving as Zoom Host; and Ozan Yasavur and Ann Daugherty (Financial Services: Private Trading | IBN Financial Services) for doing check-in at the Hotel Nikko.