Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving meeting was opened by President Bill. Flag Salute was lead by Diane Masseth-Jones. Ray Hansen's thought for the day was titled "Train of Life" with some important excerpts as follows: "Some folks ride the train of life looking out the rear.... They sit in sad remembrance of wasted days gone by.... But I don't concern myself with that...I look forward to what life holds and not what has been spent...I want to see what life unfolds as I move from place to place. I want to see what's coming up, not looking at the past....It's all right to remember, that's part of history; but, the enjoyment of living is not where we have been. It's looking ever forward to another year and ten... if you want to live your life you gotta drive the train."

Songs tunefully played by Don Ludwig and lead by our own talented members were "America" and "Smile".

Visitors
Visiting Rotarian's included Allen West from Brea and Allen Olson from Fullerton Sunrise who was also a guest of Don Bankhead. Other special guests included Bob Edwards, father-in-law to John Kunau, Randy McFarland from Sunny Hills Orthopedic, Dr. Frank Amato, also a guest of Don Bankhead and brother to Tony, Paul Dudley brought City Planner Joel Rosen, Diane Jones invited Alva Santiago who is currently helping the YWCA with computer issues, daughter Meghan and her cousin Lauren were guests of mine and Mike Escalante introduced us to the sideline referee for the USC/UCLA game last week, Nardy Samuels who is a hero or a ... based upon your school affiliation.

Announcements

• Russ Kaufman is a proud new parent. His son's name is Troy Russell and he arrived at 5:45 pm last Thursday (one month early) hale and healthy!
• Gordon Bagne has tendered his resignation because of his relocation to the desert. He has been a member since 1974 and his company Plasticolor may always be called upon for continued support.
• Wally Bartelt is making a last call for Foundation Raffle Tickets. You must purchase them no later than the meeting next week. Remember the money you spend may count as part of your Paul Harris Foundation commitment!
• Winston Creel let us know that we have over 50% of the Rich Little tickets sold. Get yours now before he starts to call. The show will be held at Plummer on the 31^st of January, 2004.
• Allen Atwell announced the "Senior Christmas Party" will be on Wednesday, December 10^th. He needs us all here by 11:00 am and plan on staying late to help 60-70 seniors on and off the buses.
• President Bill noted that Bill McGarvey was honored by CSUF for his long time community service. Jim Young, retired founder of CSUF made a $50,000 gift to the Green Room in honor of Dottie. Inspired by this, President Bill said "in my lovely wife Robyn's name" I will donate $15 to Fullerton Elks to have the storage closet named for her.
• The YWCA nominated Fullerton Rotary as "Service Club of the Year" because of our community involvement as mention in the Register last month per Diane Masseth-Jones.
• Pat McKinley announced that the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new wing at the police department will be on December 2^nd at 2:00 p.m. All are invited.

• The Boys & Girls Club of Fullerton's annual Christmas party for the kids is upcoming and while they receive great donations for the youngsters, the teens are usually left out. If you are interested, please drop your donation (or check) off at the main club at 348 W. Commonwealth and thank you.
• Per Tony Amato, Fullerton Rotary shirts need to be picked up if you ordered them and additional shirts in blue or white are still available.
• Placentia Rotary invited President Bill to their Founder's Day on December 3^rd at 7:00 a.m. He needs a representative from the club. Please call him if you can attend.
• 12/17/03 at 6:00 p.m. will be our annual Christmas gathering. Family is welcome and hamburgers and wine will be available. We get the hamburgers and the kids get the wine?

Rotarian of the Week
Franki Berry was honored for her work on the fellowship lunches last week. Al Tetreault received his clock this week for his great work on the program committee.

Raffle
J Richey sold himself the ticket, drew it from the canister and presented it to President Bill. The results of the raffle are under further review pending administration of the 4 Way Test.

Recognitions (Fines)
Pat McKinley was asked a sports question (no contest). Bob Savage missed on American History, but my niece answered it correctly. Nate Kvetny will never again forget his anniversary and correctly answered the question about Viagra uses. Les Christensen and Jim McKamy both have birthdays on December 1^st. Mike Nomura, thank you for a great job and closing quote, "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?", attributed to Warner back in 1927.

Program
Presented by Leroy Larsen, Mina Cho opened the program with a beautiful Thanksgiving song. She was followed by Dr. Bruce Templeton, minister for the 1^st Christian Church of Huntington Beach and Scott Dowd's pastor. (Boy you thought your job was tough!)) Dr. Templeton gave us a brief history of Thanksgiving and summarized by stating: In this time of plenty don't ruin your holiday with unrealistic expectations, don't allow affluence to keep you from being thankful for what you have received, don't allow negative companions or comparisons of yourself with others bring you down. Remember to build (and keep) generosity and gratitude in your life.

The meeting was closed by President Bill with this thought, "When you talk, you often repeat what you already know. When you listen, you often learn something new."

Next Week
Election of the 05/06 President & Board.

Candidates - President: Bob Savage Directors (2 years - Vote for 3): Franki Berry, Bob Clark, Jr, Bill Hite, Fred Johnson, Jim Lapak, Caroline Tormey.

Craft Talks from J Ritchie and Tony Montenegro

P.S. Dick Boyle was here....