President Christopher Wiseman (Nonprofit Management | Glaucoma Research Foundation) called the last meeting of the 2022-2023 Rotary year to order at 12:13 PM and welcomed those online and those attending in person at the Anzu Restaurant in the Hotel Nikko.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
We welcomed Past President and now Visiting Rotarian Casey Blair from the Rotary Club of Boise. Visiting us via Zoom was Lisa Schwie from the Rotary Club of Burnsville Breakfast in Minnesota. Thank you to Lisa for facilitating the wine donation to our Club.
Dan Joraanstad (Financial Services: Advising | Retired) introduced former Club Member Xu Wang who returned to visit us. Donna Duensing (Education: Seminary | Retired) introduced Barbara Lowe. President Christopher introduced his husband - Eric Sleigh - on Zoom. Another guest today was Margarita Baxter Lozano.
Today's Meeting Recorded
You can view today's meeting by clicking here. Please note that you can only hear but not see the Fashion Show portion as the performers were not in front of the camera.
Juneteenth
President Christopher shared the history and significance of this day that has been a federal holiday since 2021.
Photo of the Week
President Christopher shared the wedding photo of Rhonda Poppen (Grant Writing | GRANTdog) and Bill Poppen (Banking: Management | MUFG Union Bank). Rhonda and Bill celebrated 36 years of marriage this week. Congratulations and much love from all of us!
Rotarian of the Year
From the 2022-2023 list below of Rotarians of the Month,
| July 2022 - Alisha Marfatia | January 2023 - Ann Daugherty |
| August 2022 - Ozan Yasavur | February 2023 - Michael Petricca |
| September 2022 - Larry Booth | March 2023 - Dora Dye |
| October 2022 - Robin Azevedo | April 2023 - Bill Poppen |
| November 2022 - Dan Davies | May 2023 - Stephanie Schmautz |
| December 2022 - Clifford Phillips | June 2023 - Nancy Graydon |
Michael Petricca (Education Management | Retired) was selected as the 2022-2023 Rotarian of the Year. Michael has retired from the Academy of Art University and is now at home with family. He joined the meeting via Zoom to thank us for the honor and to give us a preview of his replacement. Congratulations to Michael, and thank you for all that you have done for the Rotary Club of San Francisco and Rotary District 5150!
Donations to the Foundations
Vice President of Development Maureen O’Shea (Governmental Relations | Retired) announced the following amounts donated in 2022-2023: $63,929 to The Rotary Foundation and $42,000 to the San Francisco Rotary Foundation.
Club Events for Rotarians
Club Events: Check the Club's calendar for upcoming Committee meetings and service projects.
Share Your Good News ($20 for Twenty Seconds)
Here are today's donors:
- Lisa Stark (Communications and Media | Self-Employed) donated to celebrate her son's graduation from law school.
- Past President Casey Blair donated to thank President Christopher. Casey also returned a gavel and a set of keys that belonged to our Club.
- Nancy Graydon (Development | Glaucoma Research Foundation) donated to thank President Christopher and Eric Sleigh.
- Jim Patrick (Retail: Office Supplies | Patrick & Co.) donated to express love for the City of San Francisco and to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his family business.
- Bob Hermann (Information Technology: Administration | Retired UCSF) donated to thank President Christopher and to ask everyone to be kind to him (Bob) during the roast of President Christopher later in this meeting.
- Tom Brunner (Nonprofit Management | Glaucoma Research Foundation) donated to thank President Christopher and to welcome Christopher back to the Glaucoma Research Foundation.
- Angelina Preza (Sales: Travel | Aquarium of the Bay) donated to thank President Christopher and to celebrate her grandson's selection to participate in the International Soccer Tournament in Denmark.
- Frank Yoke (Development Consulting) donated to recognize Maureen O'Shea for her work in the Development Committee, Ann Daugherty (Financial Services: Private Trading | IBN Financial Services) for her amazing work on a grant proposal that was approved, and President Christopher for a great Rotary year.
- Anita Stangl (Medical Services | Alliance for Smiles) donated to thank President Christopher.
- Carrie Schucker (Psychology | Retired) donated to thank President Christopher.
- Allan Herzog (Financial Services: Advising | Wells Fargo Advisors) donated $1 to thank President Christopher and $99 to celebrate the achievements of his granddaughters: one was accepted into UCLA and the other secured an internship with the Federal Reserve.
- Matthew Madsen (Nonprofit Management | The Salvation Army) donated to share that his daughter was the valedictorian in her class and now on an assignment with the Salvation Army.
- Rhonda and Bill Poppen donated to celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary and their trip to Anchorage, Alaska where they brought back a Rotary flag exchanged with a Rotary club there. Rhonda also donated to express appreciation for the PowerPoint slide showing President Christopher all dressed up.
- Assistant Governor David Dye (Management Consulting | Retired) donated to recognize Dora Dye (Education: Elementary and Community College | San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) for all of her work behind the scenes to keep our Club up and running.
- Mary Liu (Real Estate: Sales | JM Real Estate Group) donated to thank President Christopher and to celebrate her 60th birthday.
Toasting and Roasting President Christopher
President-Elect Nominee Bob Hermann served as the Chair to toast and roast President Christopher and began with an actual roast brought out by Dan Joraanstad. Bob then shared photos of Christopher's childhood and life achievements and invited the audience to shout out words that describe Christopher. Eric Sleigh, Alisha Marfatia (Information Technology: E-Commerce | EvolveWare), and Past President Casey Blair shared their experiences working with President Christopher.
Maureen O'Shea, Margaret Miley (Hospitality: Hotels | Retired), and Mary Fermi (Education | San Francisco Unified School District) prepared and led President Christopher on a memorable fashion show. The toast and roast concluded with parting gifts from the Club to President Christopher and a brief speech by President Christopher. President Christopher thanked Bob Hermann and announced that 20 children would be inoculated against polio in Bob's name.
The meeting concluded at 1:37 PM with the ringing of the Rotary Bell by President Christopher who was surrounded by Past Club Presidents in attendance: (from left to right) John Hoch (Financial Services: Advising | Retired), David Dye, Anita Stangl, Scott Plakun (Management Consulting | The Plakun Group), Jim Patrick, Christopher Wiseman, Rhonda Poppen, and Casey Blair.
Meeting Volunteers
President Christopher thanked today's meeting volunteers: Dora Dye for serving as scribe; Jim Patrick for serving as photographer; Bill Poppen for managing the microphone; Kurt Burdick of the Academy of Art University for managing the audio-visual equipment during our in-person meeting; Robin Azevedo (Retail: Mattresses | Retired, McRoskey Mattress Company), Maureen O'Shea, and Ann Daugherty for serving as greeters; and Gary Dales (Accounting | Fly Leasing) for doing check-in at the Hotel Nikko.