Rotarian of the Month:The Rotary Club of San Francisco is built on the commitment and actions of our members. From the first time that Bill Poppen (Banking Management; MUFG Union Bank) jumped in to make a difference, he did so not in any way to stand out but to be sure that the job got done. Bill simply looked at what needed to be done and did what was necessary. As a result, he has quietly become an integral part of the success of the Club over the past year, contributing to every area, from Club Services to Membership and innumerable projects. For Bill’s thoughtful and consistent ownership of the success of our Club, we honor him as May’s Rotarian of the Month!Great Luncheon Programs:
- Joel Engardio: We live in a “shades of blue” political environment here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Joel made some sense of it while sharing the historical evolution since the founding of San Francisco. We enjoyed a whirlwind trip and great fun with this dedicated San Franciscan.
- Amy Alkon, the advice Goddess, shared with the Club her study on how primordial culture impacts our decision making and how best to handle it. Amy is an energetic writer of an advice column syndicated in 70 papers around the country. Clearly, she has fun with the subject of human behavior, her own included, and shared her enthusiasm with the Club.
President-elect Nominee Casey Blair (Foreign Equity Trading; FEIS Options) led a memorable debunking of outgoing President John Mathers (Management Consulting; eVo Associates). Casey, dressed up as a young John, complete with mustache and 1970s-style long hair and sideburns (looking eerily like John in the photos shown in the presentation!) reviewed John's life beginning with his tender years. He also facilitated a spirited game of Jeopardy to which every answer (in the form of a question, of course) was "Who am I: John Mathers!?!?" from John himself at different ages played by Lynn Luckow (Development; LikeMinded.org), Rhonda Poppen (Grant Writing; GRANTdog), and David Dye (Management Consulting; Retired). Gifts included a gift certificate to a restaurant in Rome, where John and his wife, Peggy, plan to vacation soon and a walking stick hand-made by David Dye. And John, who is about to be our newest past president, received a warm standing ovation from the crowd.
Events:
June 3, 2018: Heroes' Voices presented The Soldier's Journey, a fantastic revue of poetry and song led by our own Rick Harrell (Veterans Services; Heroes' Voices) to celebrate the winners of the second annual National Veterans Poetry Contest. The Rotary Club of San Francisco was the principal sponsor of the contest and this performance. Several members were on hand to help make the performance a success.
June 5, 2018: Go, Giants! This picture spoke of the fun our Club members and families had at the game despite the outcome. Thanks to Michael Strohl (Financial Management; Sagemark Consulting) for being a great fan and for making this outing possible.
June 12, 2018: Stuffing diaper bags for the Homeless Prenatal Program is an excellent Club service project. Thanks to Emily Borland-Wong (Architecture; Emily Borland Specifications) for leading this effort and to Harold Hoogasian (Florist-Retail; Hoogasian Flowers) for hosting the event.
June 14, 2018: Two days later, the stuffed diaper bags were presented to expectant mothers at the Homeless Prenatal Program during a baby shower. Representing the Club at the AM shower was Dora Dye (Education; City College of San Francisco); at the PM shower were Anne and Warren Grawemeyer (Soft Drink Manufacturing; Retired), Susan Dean (Nursing (retired); UCSF) and John Dean (Law; UC Hastings College of the Law).
June 14, 2018: We celebrated the Rotary year of John Mathers at Il Fornaio.
June 18, 2018: Bill and Rhonda Poppen cooked and served tacos at the Dinner Club at The ARC, another excellent Club service project.