President Mary Liu (Real Estate: Sales | JM Real Estate Group) called the meeting to order at 12:15 PM and welcomed everyone to the second oldest Rotary club in the world. This is our Club's 113th year.
Visiting Rotarians and Special Guests
New member Esther Landau (Nonprofit Administration | The Arc San Francisco) introduced her guests - Barbara Streett and Kristen Pedersen. Joining online were Rosa Santos and today's speaker — John Rothmann.
New member Esther Landau (Nonprofit Administration | The Arc San Francisco) introduced her guests - Barbara Streett and Kristen Pedersen. Joining online were Rosa Santos and today's speaker — John Rothmann.
Upcoming Events
- Frank Yoke (Development | Golden Gate Area Council, Boy Scouts of America) invited Club members to be his guests at the Boy Scouts of America 2021 Construction Industry Lunch-O-Ree on Friday, October 8, 2021. This is the 44th annual lunch-o-ree valued at $400 per person. Thank you, Frank!
- President-Elect Christopher Wiseman invited us to join the Blue Angels' Viewing Party, an exclusive Rotary Club of San Francisco event on October 9, 2021. Ticket prices have been lowered to $50 per person thanks to the generous donations made by the event sponsors: Academy of Art University, Fisherman’s Wharf, Flavors Catering, Sodexo Food and Wine, Alliance for Smiles, Floorcraft, Larry Booth, HuaQiao Foundation, JM Real Estate Group, Orthoworks, and Roots of Peace. Free attendance will be given to Rotary Volunteers for the event. Please contact Christopher Wiseman for more details.
- President Mary shared the line-up of speakers, service projects, and events in October 2021. See the Club's calendar to register and more details.
District 5150 Rotarian of the Month for October 2021Bob Hermann (Information Technology: Administration | Retired UCSF) received a standing ovation for achieving District 5150 Rotarian of the Month in October 2021. "Since joining our Club less than four years ago, he has contributed hundreds of volunteer hours towards service projects. Bob is the first to raise his hand when a call for volunteers is needed whether it be with a community service project, international project, club services project, or as the welcome registration person at our Club's live, in-person meetings." To read more, go here. Congratulations, Bob!
Grant Presentation
Dan Joraanstad (Financial Services: Advising | Retired), President of the San Francisco Rotary Foundation, awarded a grant in the amount of $12,500 to The Arc San Francisco. Joining Dan on the podium were Bob Hermann (Vice President of Community Service), Esther Landau (Senior Director of Advancement of The Arc SF), Barbara Streett (Volunteer Manager at The Arc SF), and Kristen Pedersen (Executive Director of The Arc SF). Dan spoke about the powerful and longstanding partnership that The ARC has had with the Rotary Club of San Francisco and the important role that The Arc plays in our collective communities. “Every year we do things that last for years and years; 500 thanksgiving meals made and delivered . . . what more can we do?” said Dan.
$20 for Twenty Seconds
Donating today were the following:
- Mary Liu donated to celebrate Bob Hermann for becoming the October 2021 District 5150 Rotarian of the Month. Joining Mary in her celebration of Bob and his volunteer work were Rhonda Poppen (Grant Writing | GRANTdog), Dan Joraanstad, and Frank Yoke.
- Rhonda also donated to celebrate the recent event of the Vocational Services Committee. Frank also donated to show appreciation for the servers at the Hotel Nikko.
- Tim Hornbecker (Nonprofit Management | Retired, The Arc CA) donated to celebrate The Arc SF and his grandson who is a client of The Arc. Tim also donated in memory of his father-in-law.
- Peter Logan donated to celebrate The Arc and the San Francisco Giants' big win.
- Harold Hoogasian (Retail: Florist | Hoogasian Flowers) donated to thank the volunteers on September 25, 2021 at Rotary Meadow.
- JT Forbus donated to thank Mary Liu for "rolling with the punches" with the technical difficulties with Zoom.
- Margaret Miley donated to celebrate her son's wedding last week. Her "baby boy" has grown up.
- Mary Liu donated again to thank Christopher Wiseman as our Zoom host.
- David Dye (Management Consulting | Retired) donated to promote the District's Rotary Race to End Polio.
Guest SpeakerStephanie Schmautz (Elder Care and Senior Services | The Carlisle) introduced today's Guest Speaker - John Rothmann. John began by congratulating Stephanie for her new position as Director of The Carlisle. He is a KGO 810 radio talk show host and political commentator. Some of the takeaways from John's talk included: “Not since 1968 has our Nation been so divided" . . . ”We are less safe today than when we were in Afghanistan” . . . “Freedom of speech is to be preserved and protected”. John left plenty of time for questions and gave the Rotary Club of San Francisco a great deal of heartfelt praise for all that it does.
President Mary thanked John and announced that 100 children would be inoculated against polio in his name.
A Special Member Moment
At the end of his presentation, John Rothmann was surprised to be greeted by Susan Dean in a very Special Member Moment. The families of John and Susan go way back! Susan’s mother, a nurse at the hospital where John was born, was present at his birth. John holds in his possession the walking stick that Susan’s grandfather had used when he walked into the Dachau Concentration Camp. John’s father was a doctor and took care of Susan’s grandparents and parents when they first came to San Francisco from Germany via Shanghai. John attended high school with Susan’s sister at George Washington High School in San Francisco.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.
Editor's Note: Thank you to Ann Daugherty (Financial Services: Private Trading | IBN Financial Services) for serving as scribe at this meeting, to Peter Logan (Law: Insurance | Peter Logan Law Offices) for serving as photographer, to Matthew Madsen (Nonprofit Management | The Salvation Army) for managing the microphone, to Susan Dean (Healthcare: Nursing Services | Retired) for collecting lunch tickets, to Maureen O'Shea (Governmental Relations | Retired) and Margaret Miley (Hospitality: Hotels | Retired), both of whom served as greeters, to Greg Grundstrom of the Academy of Art for managing the audio visual equipment during our in-person meetings, to Christopher Wiseman (Event Planning | Glaucoma Research Foundation) for managing those who were attending via Zoom today, to JT Forbus (Accounting | Bogdan & Frasco) and Michael Petricca (Education Management | Academy of Art) for doing check-in today at the Hotel Nikko, and to Gary Dales (Accounting | Fly Leasing) for serving as cashier.