President Bob Hermann, Jr. (Information Technology: Administration | Retired) brought the happy and full house to order promptly at 12:15 PM.
Visiting Rotarian and Guests
Today's Visiting Rotarian was Andy Licht from the Rotary Club of Beverly Hills; Andy joined us via Zoom. Today's guests were Ambassador Hoàng Anh Tuấn; Jackie Herrin — mother of Past President Stephanie Schmautz; Holly Huebel; Erick Orantes, and Odilie Orantes. Today's speakers were Jessica Hansen (Nonprofit Management | Alliance for Smiles); Rick Harrell (Arts Therapy | Heroes' Voices); Heidi Kühn (Peace Building | Roots of Peace); and PDG Eric Schmautz (Banking: Management | Retired) .
Club Excellence Awards
At the recent District 5150 Conference, the Rotary Club of San Francisco received six Club Excellence Awards for outstanding achievement in the following: Membership, Community Service, International Service, Youth Service, Public Image, and Vocational Service.
Membership News
- Red Badge Completed: Dan Joraanstad (Financial Services: Advising | Retired) congratulated Phil Ye (Information Technology - Administration | Snowflake) who had completed his red badge requirements and is now a full member of our Club. Phil was also recognized for all of the volunteer work that he has been doing.
- Rotarian in Action: Anil Bhargava (Economist | Banyan Consulting) was the featured speaker at the Rotary Club of Burlingame and spoke on his international work in regenerative agriculture.
Rotarian of the Month and the Year
Christopher Davies (Real Estate: Property Management | Self-employed) was honored as Rotarian of the Month for June 2025. At the recent Board meeting, the Board also approved Christopher Davies to be the Rotarian of the Year in recognition of his exemplary service to The Arc San Francisco, Alliance for Smiles, the Bike Build, and the Homeless Prenatal Program. Chris could not be present today as he was biking on the East Coast. Congratulations, and thank you, Chris!
New Paul Harris Fellows
Paul Harris (1868-1947) founded the first Rotary Club in Chicago in 1905, hoping to bring some of what he treasured from his rural Vermont upbringing to the big city. Rotary would not exist without his vision of a group of business professionals who helped each other by helping others. For each $1,000 donated to The Rotary Foundation, a person can become a Paul Harris Fellow. Congratulations to Ruth Wenzel (Nursing | Retired) who received her PHF + 2 pin and Bridget Mahoney (Nonprofit Administration | Catholic Charities SF) who received her first PHF pin.
Ruth Wenzel, President Bob, and Bridget Mahoney
New Member Inducted
Dan Joraanstad joined President Bob to induct Eric Orantes (Transportation | Retired). Eric is a serial service volunteer and has a huge collection of vinyl records. Eric introduced his wife Odilie and his son Erick. Members of our Club welcomed Eric and his family and committed to support them in their Rotary journey.
Dan Joraanstad welcomed Eric and Odilie Orantes.
Thought of the Day
Allan Herzog (Financial Services: Advising | Wells Fargo Advisors) read today's Thought of the Day by David Hume: "It's when we start working together that the real healing takes place... it's when we start spilling our sweat, and not our blood." This thought shows that cooperation, not conflict, leads to progress.
Past and Upcoming Events
- Wendy Shew (Nonprofit Administration | Building Education) shared her experiencce at Rotary Meadow. See full story here.
- Check the Club's calendar for upcoming meetings and events.
Panel Presentation
Heidi Kühn introduced Ambassador Hoàng Anh Tuấn, the Consul General of Vietnam, who was here today with us to hear from the four panelists: Jessica Hansen, Rick Harrell, Heidi Kühn, and PDG Eric Schmautz.
Heidi Kühn introduced Ambassador Hoàng Anh Tuấn.
- Jessica described how the Vietnam conflict led to the beginning of her life. Her father was a pilot during the Vietnam war, and he met her mother in Thailand. Vietnam today has a very high incidence of cleft palate, and Alliance for Smiles is there to help.
- Rick opened with a video of four Vietnam veterans who shared their story and their concerns for fellow veterans. He also read a poem from a second generation PTSD patient that showed the challenges and the determination of those who had fought in wars. Rick's mission is to bring the calming message of music to those suffering from PTSD.
- Heidi described her Roots of Peace initiative that started during the Vietnam war. She was working around the world reporting on conflict and discovered that her real passion was to facilitate the de-mining of valuable agricultural land and to help local farmers produce high quality and valuable crops. Heidi also talked about her joy and fear when her son said that he wanted to go to Vietnam to continue turning mines into vines.
- PDG Eric detailed the five Rotary programs that have positively touched almost 19,000 lives in Vietnam:
- Rotavision that sponsored training and equipment for corrective eye surgery in Vietnam.
- The Rotary Foundation that funded a clean surface water source to replace groundwater contaminated by Agent Orange.
- Rotaplast that sponsored six medical missions to correct cleft lip and palate for 490 patients.
- The Vietnam War Reconciliation conference at UC Berkeley that drew 500 participants from the Ford Foundation, the Aspen Institute, and Rotary International.
- The Rotary Wheelchair Foundation with the help of Rotary District 5150 and Dr. Scharleen Colant that delivered 280 wheelchairs to the mobility challenged.
Jessica Hansen, President Bob, Rick Harrell, PDG Eric Schmautz, and Heidi Kühn
President Bob thanked Jessica Hansen, Rick Harrell, Heidi Kühn, and PDG Eric Schmautz and announced that 100 children would be inoculated against polio in each of their name.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 PM.
Meeting Volunteers
President Bob and today's audience thanked the volunteers who helped to make this meeting possible: Cecile Chiquette (Accounting | Retired) for serving as volunteer coordinator; Larry Booth (Engineering: Mechanical | Retired, Frank M. Booth, Inc.) for serving as scribe; Jim Patrick (Retail: Office Supplies | Patrick & Co.) for serving as photographer; Allan Herzog for managing the microphone; Kirt 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) for serving as greeter; Dan Davies (Information Technology: Consulting | Matrix Comsec) for social media; Peter Logan (Law: Insurance | Peter Logan Law Offices) for serving as Zoom host; and Dan Joraanstad and Gary Dales (Accounting | Fly Leasing) for doing check-in at the Hotel Nikko.