President Bob Hermann, Jr. (Information Technology: Administration | Retired) called the meeting to order at 12:10 PM and welcomed everyone attending in person or on Zoom.
Today's Guests
- We welcomed David Gallagher, Mary Jansen, Roland LeBron, Gary Rose, and Fernando Valverde. Our speaker was Dr. Alison Simon.
- Angelina Preza (Sales: Travel | Aquarium of the Bay) introduced her husband, Michael Sudol. Angelina and Michael were married in Honolulu, Hawaii on January 3, 2025.
New Member
President Bob recognized La'Juan Payne (Business Growth and Development | Odabi Inc.) who was on Zoom. La'Juan joined our Club on February 20, 2025. See full story here.
Jessica Hansen
President Bob congratulated Jessica Hansen (Nonprofit Management | Alliance for Smiles) for becoming a finalist in the Women Changing the World 2025 Awards.
Greetings from Turkey
Past President Christopher Wiseman (San Francisco Rotary Foundation) and his husband, Eric, joined our meeting via Zoom. Both Christopher and Eric had attended the International Peace Conference in Turkey, the site of the newest Peace Center covering the Middle East and North Africa. They were impressed with the breakout sessions covering topics such as the conflict in the Middle East, AI, and the polarized world.
Rotarian of the Month
Congratulations to Rick Harrell (Arts Therapy | Heroes' Voices) for being selected as the March 2025 Rotarian of the Month. Rick and Heroes' Voices bring comfort and community to veterans via music and poetry. Rick's music has also brought a lot of enjoyment to Rotarians.
Paul Harris Recognition
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. Today, Robert Beadle (Real Estate: Sales | Coldwell Banker) was awarded his PHF pin and certificate.
Service Project at De Marillac Academy
Mary Fermi (Education | Retired) reported on the recent service project at De Marillac Academy that serves 120 students in grades 5-8 in the Tenderloin. Rotarians from our Club and the Rotary Club of San Francisco Castro replenished the students' school supplies and then assisted at the Trimester Two Awards Assembly where academics and attendance were celebrated. The students' delight was thrilling. See photos here.
Mary Fermi, Greg Scott, Darlene Wilson, President Bob Hermann, and La Carre Ivy
Rotary Projects
President Bob directed us to https://spc.rotary.org/projects to view local and global Rotary projects. He also shared these invitations:
Upcoming Events
Check the Club's calendar for upcoming meetings and events.
Guest Speaker
Robin Azevedo (Retail: Mattresses | Retired, McRoskey Mattress Company) introduced today's speaker — Dr. Alison Simon. Dr. Simon is a retired Senior Director of Amtrak, holds several graduate degrees in Urban Planning, and has a long history in transportation. While setting the picture for sustainable transportation, she showed where the automobile, the train, and the airplane fell into place and provided details on carbon dioxide emission and greenhouse gases in the transportation sector.
President Bob thanked Dr. Simon and announced that 100 children would be inoculated against polio in her 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; Robin Azevedo for serving as scribe; Jim Patrick (Retail: Office Supplies | Patrick & Co.) for serving as photographer; David Dye (Management Consulting | Retired) for managing the microphone; Kirt Burdick of the Academy of Art University for managing the audio-visual equipment during our in-person meeting; Tim Hornbecker (Nonprofit Management | Retired, The Arc CA) and Clifford Phillips (The Arc San Francisco) for serving as greeters; Christopher Wiseman for serving as Zoom Host; and Gary Dales (Accounting | Fly Leasing) and Ann Daugherty (Financial Services: Private Trading | IBN Financial Services) for doing check-in at the Hotel Nikko.