"Today marked the first meeting of the 118th year of the Rotary Club of San Francisco. We are proud to be the second oldest Rotary Club in the world." The Rotary bell rang at 12:17 PM. Immediate Past President Bob Hermann, Jr. (Information Technology: Administration | Retired) introduced Frank Yoke III (Development | Serra Residential Center, Inc.) as the 2025-2026 President of the Rotary Club of San Francisco. President Frank awarded the past president pin to Immediate Past President Bob.
President Frank Yoke
Following the applause, President Frank shared today's agenda:
Opening Ceremony
Two scouts from Troop 14 chartered to the Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance and the Scout Oath.
Troop 14 Scouts and President Frank Yoke said the Scout Oath.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
Over 80 people attended today either in person or via Zoom. President Frank welcomed everyone. Today's Visiting Rotarians were District Governor Mitone Griffiths from the Rotary Club of Half Moon Bay; Assistant Governor Erik Scheller from the Rotary Club of Fisherman's Wharf; Assistant Governor Adele Della Santina from the Rotary Club of Belmont-Redwood Shores; District 5150 Governor Nominee Tony Villanueva from the Rotary Club of San Mateo; Immediate Past District 5150 Governor Steve Wright from the Rotary Club of Pacifica; Past District 5150 Governor Peter Lagarias from the Rotary Club of San Francisco; Past District 5150 Governor Eric Schmautz from the Rotary Club of San Francisco (on Zoom); Past District 5150 Governor Ron Gin from the Rotary Club of San Francisco Chinatown; Past District 5160 Governor Brian Thiessen from the Rotary Club of Alamo; John Barrett Jr. from the Rotary Club of San Mateo; Sylvia Barry from the Rotary Club of Novato Sunrise; Lisa della Santina Wilsey from the Rotary Club in Utica, New York; Bob Doerr from the Rotary Club of Burlingame-Hillsborough; Barbara Gablin from the Rotary Club of Belmont-Redwood Shores; Steve Gross from the Rotary Club of Belmont-Redwood Shores; Mary Kay Kennedy from the Rotary Club of Menlo Park; Liz Mark from the Rotary Club of San Francisco Chinatown; Paul Penttila from the Rotary Club of Sparks in Nevada; John Richers from the Rotary Club of Fresno; David Stein from the Rotary Club of Oakland; Bobba Venkatadri from the Rotary Club of Burlingame-Hillsborough; Jerry Lee Winges from the Rotary Club of Burlingame-Hillsborough; and Pablo Wong from the Rotary Club of Mission Bay. Today's guests were Kirt Burdick, Thomas Estruth (on Zoom), Craig Rodriguera, Sean Rooney, Jeff Tsang, John Verdoia, Tim Welty, Troop 14 scouts, and Kline Wilson, Jr. (1988-1989 President of the Rotary Club of San Francisco).
Special Recognitions
- Global Grant: President Frank congratulated Vice President of Club Service Ann Daugherty for the approval from Rotary International of her global grant application to fund a vocational training team that will participate in the EXCEL Teacher Training program in Derry, Northern Island to strengthen peace education and intercultural competency among Palestinians and Israeli educators in East Jerusalem and Israel. The amount of the grant will be $51,550.
- Club Visioning: President Frank thanked Dan Joraanstad (Financial Services: Advising | Retired) for leading the Club Visioning in 2024-2025. President-Elect Ozan Yasavur will lead this visioning project in 2025-2026.
Texas Disaster Relief
Rotary District 5840 is accepting tax-deductible donations to support victims of the recent devastating floods in Texas. Allan Herzog (Financial Services: Advising | Wells Fargo Advisors) will match the first $1,000 donated from our Club to support this effort. If you would like to help, please contact President Frank Yoke or donate here.
First Business Networking Event
On July 2, 2025, eight people attended the first business networking event of this Rotary year. Vice President of Vocational Service Hana Xu Wang organized this productive and fun event held at DACHA Kitchen & Bar. If you missed this opportunity, please join Hana for the next one on August 6, 2025. Register here.
Clockwise: Attending on July 2, 2025 were Kayla Trunecek, Emily Borland Wong, Hana Xu Wang, Thomas Estruth, Janet Beach, President Frank Yoke, Margaret Miley, and Andrew Bolt.
Volunteering at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank
President Frank thanked those who bagged 2,175 pounds of rice at the Food Bank on June 28, 2025. See full story here.
The Buzz on Bugs
Yana Sharma (Software Sales | IBM) talked about the environmental project in collaboration with the Rotary Club of San Francisco Castro and high school students on June 21, 2025. See full story here.
Pride Parade
Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Tim Hornbecker talked about our Rotary District's participation in the San Francisco Pride Parade on June 29, 2025. Tim invited all to the next DEI film on July 20, 2025.
Induction of 2025-2026 Club President and Board of Directors
President Frank introduced District Governor Mitone Griffiths. DG Mitone read the duties and responsibilities of Club President and inducted President Frank. Next, she administered the oath and welcomed the Board.
From left to right: Immediate Past President and TRF Chair Bob Hermann; Vice President of Development Maureen O'Shea (Governmental Relations | Retired); Vice President of Community Service Darlene Wilson (Nonprofit Administration | Catholic Charities SF); Treasurer Gary Dales (Accounting | Fly Leasing); Vice President of PR and Communications Wendy Shew (Nonprofit Administration | Building Education); Vice President of Vocational Service Hana Xu Wang (Financial Services: Advising | Wang Wealth Advisors, LLC); Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Tim Hornbecker (Nonprofit Management | Retired, The Arc CA); Vice President of Club Service Ann Daugherty (Financial Services: Private Trading | IBN Financial Services); President-Elect Ozan Yasavur (Engineering: Mechanical | Frank M. Booth, Inc.); Vice President of Membership Margaret Miley (Hospitality: Hotels | Retired); Vice President of International Service Stephen Geisheker (Retired); Club Secretary Dora Dye (Education | San Francisco and San Mateo Counties); President Frank Yoke, and District Governor Mitone Griffiths. Not pictured was Vice President of Youth Development Stellie Kim (Psychology | City and County of San Francisco).
Key Roles
President Frank acknowledged the following members in these roles to support him during his year:
Also, anyone who would like to contact our Board should go here.
Grand Slam Winners
Immediate Past District Governor Steve Wright awarded the District 5150 Grand Slam award to David Dye (Management Consulting | Retired) and Dora Dye.
This District 5150 recognition program called the Grand Slam recognizes those members who are Major Donors AND members of the PolioPlus, Paul Harris, and Bequest (has agreed to leave a bequest to The Rotary Foundation in their estate plan) Societies.
$25 for Twenty Five Seconds
Today's donations will go toward youth scholarships. Today's generous donors were Mary Liu (Real Estate: Sales | JM Real Estate Group), Sunny Singh (Financial Services: Advising | PK Wealth Management), Todd St Vrain (Education: Administration | University of Melbourne), President Frank Yoke, JT Forbus (Accounting | SD Mayer and Associates, LLP), Assistant Governor Erik Scheller, President-Elect Ozan Yasavur, Club Secretary Dora Dye and David Dye, Barbara Gablin (President of the Rotary Club of Belmont-Redwood Shores) along with Rotarians Lisa della Santina Wilsey, AG Adele Della Santina, Steve Gross, and Sylvia Barry, PDG Peter Lagarias (Law: Franchise | Lagarias, Napell & Dillon), Kline Wilson, Jr., Milo Hanke (Financial Services: Advising | Hanke & Co. Wealth Management, LLC), John Barrett Jr. and District Governor Nominee Tony Villanueva from the Rotary Club of San Mateo, Harold Hoogasian (Retail: Florist | Hoogasian Flowers), Heidi Kühn (Peace Building | Roots of Peace), Lisa Stark (Communications & Media), David Stein from the Rotary Club of Oakland, Vice President of Vocational Service Hana Xu Wang, and Evelyn Abad (Medical Services | Rotaplast International).
New Honorary Member
President Frank invited Vice President of Membership Margaret Miley to introduce and welcome our Club's newest honorary member — Robert Hunter (Event Planning | Hunter Events). Robert and Margaret have known each other since their childhood and now live five blocks away from each other. In our Club, Robert has volunteered often behind the scenes to make our events successful. Welcome to Robert!
Robert Hunter and Margaret Miley
Fun Facts
Kline Wilson, Jr. (1988-1989 President of the Rotary Club of San Francisco) sponsored Harold Hoogasian when Harold joined our Club in 1988. Harold Hoogasian (2001-2002 President of the Rotary Club of San Francisco) sponsored Frank Yoke when Frank joined our Club in 2015. Frank Yoke became the 2025-2026 President of the Rotary Club of San Francisco.
Upcoming Events
Check the Club's calendar for upcoming meetings and events. RYLA Director Todd St Vrain reminded everyone that the deadline to sign up to visit the 2025 RYLA Camp is July 13, 2025.
New Adventure for the Schmautz Family
The Schmautz Family will spend almost a year in Croatia. We wish them well and look forward to hearing about their experience.
Meet President Frank
President Frank shared his journey from Scouter to Rotarian and Volunteer. He and his wife, Patsy, have been married for 34 years. His sons, Brian and James, are both adults now.
President Frank recognized Club Members who had taken on roles in Rotary District 5150. One who stood out was Past President JT Forbus, now serving as Chief of Staff for District Governor Mitone Griffiths. President Frank thanked his advisors on this Rotary journey that he began today:
President Frank shared not only the priorities of the new Rotary International President Francesco Arezzo, but our Club's priorities:
Finally, President Frank weaved in this year's Rotary International Theme and the Four-Way Test. Everyone who attended in person received a card containing the Four-Way Test and a pin of this year's RI Theme.
Drawings and Prizes
Everyone who attended in person received a ticket to draw for a year of flowers delivered once a month from Hoogasian Flowers. Thank you to Harold Hoogasian for this generous gift. The winner of the drawing was Club Member David Folk.
The second drawing was among those who had participated in today's $25 for Twenty Five Seconds. See above list. The winner was David Stein from the Rotary Club of Oakland who won a dinner for 10 people at his house to be prepared by the Salvation Army Culinary Team.
Celebration Time
Our Club celebrated the 25th wedding anniversary of DG Mitone and her husband, Phil. For the occasion, President Frank presented flowers from Hoogasian Flowers to DG Mitone:
DG Mitone led a toast for President Frank. Everyone was invited to enjoy champagne immediately after this meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:33 PM.
Meeting Volunteers
President Frank thanked today's meeting volunteers: Cecile Chiquette (Accounting | Retired) for serving as volunteer coordinator; Dora Dye for serving as scribe; Jim Patrick (Retail: Office Supplies | Patrick & Co.) and Bob Hermann for serving as photographers; Carrie Schucker (Counseling | Retired) for managing the microphone; Kirt Burdick and Jeff Tsang for managing the audio-visual equipment during our in-person meeting; Christopher Wiseman (San Francisco Rotary Foundation) for serving as Zoom Host; David Dye for serving as greeter, Wendy Shew for posting on social media, Yana Sharma for distributing raffle tickets, and Larry Booth (Engineering: Mechanical | Retired, Frank M. Booth, Inc.), Gary Dales, Ann Daugherty, and Dora Dye for doing check-in at the Hotel Nikko.
In this photo are Larry Booth, Gary Dales, and Dora Dye at the registration desk. Are we having fun yet? Larry showed us that registration and check-in duties can be fun! Contact Vice President of Club Service Ann Daugherty if you would like to join this fun.