Rotarian of the Month: The Rotary Club of San Francisco is booked with activity every week. Something is always going on! But when you ask members what brings them to the Club for lunch, most often it is the speaker. And that has been the purview of Lisa Stark (Video Production Services) for the past few years. As Speakers Committee Chair, Lisa has worked with a broad group of members to find and select quality speakers. She has been persistent in asking members to qualify speakers for content, presentation style and value. An amazing level of quality speakers has visited our Club, attracting new members and many guests. For her tireless efforts on behalf of the Club, whether in San Francisco or Tucson, we honor Lisa as April’s Rotarian of the Month!
District Conference: Our Club was a big winner at the District Conference! We were awarded commendations for Youth Service, Vocational Service, Club Service, Community Service, International Service, Public Relations/Public Image, and Membership. We also won a Best Club award, and took home the first District 5150 Governor's Bell for Best Large Club. Congratulations (and much appreciation) to all of us for so many accomplishments!Great Luncheon Programs:
- Blue Bear Music School with Renee Richardson and Steve Savage. This incredible music program/school has been around for 40+ years and is doing wonderful work with all age groups. Steve shared an overview while Renee shared more of the details and introduced a student who played guitar and sang three songs, one of which was his own creation. The entire Club stayed late to hear the final song and congratulate a real artist.
- Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). Youth Services Chair Lynn Luckow (Development; LikeMinded.org) launched his presentation with video of the RYLA weekend before introducing three impressive campers, each of whom had a moving story of personal development during the three-day program. It was a privilege to hear how RYLA impacted their lives and wonderful to know our Club was a part of the weekend.
- Club Assembly. Rhonda Poppen (Grant Writing; GRANTdog) facilitated a great meeting where the vision and objectives of the Club were presented and the members had a chance to ask questions and give their input to all the areas of activity that the Club undertakes. The "speed dating" round with all the board members created a real buzz in the room. Thank you, Rhonda, for a great lift-off for your year.
- Annie Yalon and Erik Rice told us about the Career Technical Education (CTE) program at the San Francisco Unified School District, an innovative approach to career development during the high school years. The program provides real-world experiences at local companies in the types of jobs that interest the students to help them focus on what they love and accumulate the skills necessary to follow their interests.
Service Above Self: A dozen Rotarians and a few younger family members joined with many other volunteers to clear out weeds and invasive plants in Rotary Meadows on the top of Mount Sutro. Despite the wind, we all broke a sweat making the area attractive and welcoming to all the hikers and bicyclists who visit the park. Amy, the activity leader from Sutro Stewards, was extremely helpful. After working all morning, we enjoyed sharing a lunch of pizza and beer.Lilian Tsi-Stielstra (Insurance Services; Wells Fargo Advisors) was the main mover at a Dinner Club at The Arc along with her husband, Scott Stielstra. As always, the Dinner Club provided a fun experience planning, prepping, cooking, eating, and cleaning up with a group of The Arc's clients and staff.
Supporting The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International (TRF): Thank you to these members for their significant contributions to TRF. recognized as levels of the Paul Harris Fellowship (PHF). These contributions help fund Rotary's impactful work around the world, including money that comes back to our Club for our own service projects near and far:- Initial PHF: Jane Mermelstein (Real Estate; Zephyr Real Estate), Michael Strohl (Financial Management; Sagemark Consulting)
- PHF+2: Ann Daugherty (Financial Advisor; IBN Financial Services)
- PHF+3: Jyoti Chokshi (Project Management; Talent Anywhere), Benjamin Lam (Banking Services; UBS Financial Services), Stacey Poole (Law - Family; Lerner-Poole)
- PHF+4: Jyoti Chokshi, David Dye (Management Consulting; Retired), Greg Gutting (Human Services; The Salvation Army), Laine Hendricks (Public Relations; County of Marin), Stacey Poole
- PHF+6: Emily Borland (Architecture; Emily Borland Specifications), Rhonda Poppen (Grant Writing; GRANTdog), Stephanie Schmautz (Retirement Living; The Carlisle)
- PHF+7: Casey Blair (Foreign Equity Trading; Feis Options), Emily Borland, Stephanie Schmautz