President Christopher Wiseman (Nonprofit Management | Glaucoma Research Foundation) called the meeting to order and welcomed those online and those attending in person inside the Anzu Restaurant at the Hotel Nikko.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
Today's Visiting Rotarians were Past District Governor Chris Gallagher from the Rotary Club of Sausalito and Paul Vazquez from the Rotary Club of San Francisco Evening. Angelina Preza (Sales: Travel | Aquarium of the Bay) introduced her guest - Amy Heffner. Margaret Miley (Hospitality: Hotels | Retired) introduced her daughter - Laura Handlery. Robin Azevedo (Retail: Mattresses | Retired, McRoskey Mattress Company) introduced her son - Robert Azevedo. President Christopher introduced his husband - Eric Sleigh and guest - Anthony Clifford. Anita Stangl (Medical Services | Alliance for Smiles) introduced her guest - Robert Harris. Other guests were Rae Sansa and today's speaker - Vern Glenn.
Maternal and Child Health
Rotary International's monthly theme for April is Maternal and Child Health. Watch District Governor Gary Chow's April message here. For this theme, our Club under the leadership of Rhonda Poppen (Grant Writing | GRANTdog) supports the Homeless Prenatal Program.
Photo Policy
President-Elect Sunny Singh (Financial Services: Advising | PK Wealth Management) presented our Club's photo policy: By attending events of the Rotary Club of San Francisco, you are giving to our Club your permission to publish photos of you as an attendee at our events. If you have questions about this policy, please contact sfrotary2@gmail.com.
Wine Update
A former Rotarian who now lives in Sacramento donated 400 bottles of wine to our Club. President Christopher and Eric Sleigh picked up the wine. The next step is to get the wine appraised. Many thanks to the Handlery Hotel for storing the wine free of charge.Wine Update
New Members Inducted
President Christopher and Vice President of Membership Margaret Miley inducted Donna Duensing (Education: Seminary | Retired), Andrea Gung (Non-profit Management | Duo Duo Project), and Nikki Moore (Law | San Francisco District Attorney's Office) as the newest members of our Club. Donna is a retired clergy. Andrea runs a nonprofit to end the dog and cat meat trade in China. Nikki is an attorney in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office. Welcome to Donna, Andrea, and Nikki!
Photo of the Day
Today's Photo of the Day showed the Poppen family on Easter Sunday outside their home. They attended service at the Cavalry Presbyterian Church with Bob Hermann (Information Technology: Administration | Retired UCSF) and Dan Joraanstad (Financial Services: Advising | Retired) and heard Ann Daugherty (Financial Services: Private Trading | IBN Financial Services) sing at the Church.
Guest Speaker
Larry Booth (Engineering: Mechanical | Frank M. Booth, Inc.) introduced today's speaker - Vern Glenn. Vern joined KPIX 5/KBCWTV 44 Cable 12 in June 2012 as weekend Sports Anchor/weekday sports reporter and multimedia journalist and is a four-time Emmy® Award winner for Best Sportscaster. He brought his Emmys to the Hotel Nikko today for all to view and even touch.
In a newscast, there are different blocks. The A and B blocks are the news stories and often, bad news. In the C block, we hear from the meteorologists. The news in sports follow to lift up people's spirits. Vern certainly lifted our spirits today. He began his presentation by bringing out a step stool. He explained that since he is on the short side when it comes to height, he wanted to make sure that everyone could see him. Vern discussed his career. He had dreamed about becoming a sportscaster since the 10th grade. He got the nickname of Mr. Involvement with the help of his sound and camera crew before the Digital Age when he had to perform the stunts himself. He shared a reel involving himself in sports bloopers to great laughter from today's audience.Being a sportscaster means working seven days a week throughout the entire year. His least busy times are the first week of July and the first week of August. Some of the most inspirational athletes whom he has met include Willie Mayes, Hank Aaron, Ronnie Lott, and Dave Stewart. One of Vern's most memorable moments was when he was reporting on the Olympics in Sydney, Australia and found out from his wife that they were having a daughter. On the date of delivery, it was actually a son.
President Christopher thanked Vern Glenn and announced that 100 children would be inoculated against polio in his name.
Share Your Good News ($20 for Twenty Seconds)
- Eric Schmautz (Banking: Management | Retired) donated to announce that the City of San Francisco is moving forward as a candidate to host an upcoming Rotary International Convention.
- Angelina Preza donated to promote the BayEcotarium’s upcoming Resonance Concert on June 8, 2023 to celebrate World Ocean Day. Rotarians can purchase tickets at a discount. Contact Angelina for information and tickets.
- Anita Stangl (Medical Services | Alliance for Smiles) donated to invite everyone to the Alliance for Smiles Gala on May 6, 2023.
Club and District Events for Rotarians
Club Events: Check the Club's calendar for upcoming Committee meetings and service projects.
Recent Events
- Ozan Yasavur (Engineering: Mechanical | Bioforcetech Corporation) exchanged our Club's Rotary flag with the Rotary Club of Redwood City.
- Our Club celebrated Passover. Read the full story here.
- On Saturday, April 15, 2023, Club members gathered at the North Beach Farmers Market to have fellowship and enjoy delicious arepas made by Club Member Victoria Lozano (Catering Services | Andina). Victoria runs her own Venezuelan comfort food catering company, Andina, and has a stand at the Farmers Market every Saturday from 9 AM to 1 PM.
Victoria Lozano
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 PM
Meeting Volunteers
President Christopher thanked today's meeting volunteers: Alisha Marfatia (Information Technology: E-Commerce | EvolveWare) for serving as scribe; Jim Patrick (Retail: Office Supplies | Patrick & Co.) for serving as photographer; Bill Poppen (Banking: Management | MUFG Union Bank) for managing the microphone; Kurt Burdick of the Academy of Art University for managing the audio-visual equipment during our in-person meeting; Gary Dales (Accounting | Fly Leasing) for serving as greeter; and Robin Azevedo and David Dye (Management Consulting | Retired) for doing check-in at the Hotel Nikko.