NOURISHMENT:    Lunch was a scrumptious green salad, steamed carrots in a butter sauce, potatoes sliced in quarters, seasoned then baked, pork tenderloin and fruit.  The desert was a chocolate cake with a light chocolate cream filling topped with a firm chocolate frosting.

ENTERTAINMENT:                        Deacon Jay played lovely background music as his fingers danced upon the Rotary piano.  Great job Jay.

CALL TO ORDER:   President Chief Patrick McKinley called the meeting to order at precisely 12:29.04 pm with an authoritative clang of the gong. 

FIRST THINGS FIRST:       President McKinley awarded the coveted Fullerton Police Shoulder Patch and coffee mug to Mark Geiss for his steadfast hard work and successful Fullerton Rotary Annual High School Track Meet. 

FLAG SALUTE:        Zoot Velasco’s wife, Monette sang a beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner!  While we can never replace the Flag Salute, what a fabulas job she did with our Country’s National Anthem. 

INVOCATION:         Mark Geiss, filling in for Pastor Greg who was spending time with parishioners, brought us back to our Rotary roots.  He reminded us about the object of Rotary and our opportunity to serve, not only in Rotary but in all areas of our lives as well.  Mark then thanked God for that opportunity and the strength to continue.

NEXT UP:      Griff Duncan brought Monette back up and led us in singing My Country Tis of Thee, reminding us to think of the words and what they mean as we sang them.  You know the routine, SMILE was next and loud it was……….

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS:     Drew “I never saw an insurance policy I didn’t like” Napolin had the honors.  He thanked Chief Pat “I never met a perp I didn’t arrest” McKinley and moved on with his duties.  Bill Christensen, “John Christensen’s brother” sat next to Uncle Les Christensen while visiting from the Orange Club.  You will read later as to why this just might be the last time he visits us for lunch!  The lovely Wilma Peloquin joined us as a guest of her husband Bill.  Monette Velasco was the guest of that guy Zoot and as stated above showed what a great voice she has.  Anthony Guinn was the guest of absent Mike Solyards.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:          The Town Crier was Cathy Gach.  The 16^th Annual Hoby Brenner Golf Tournament benefiting the Boys and Girls Club of Fullerton will be Monday, April 6 at the Hacienda Golf Club.  See Fred Johnson, Dan Kiernan or Bob Jahncke for more information.  Fullerton Union High School Academy of the Arts presentation of “Damn Yankees will close out this weekend at the Plummer Auditorium.  Call 714.525.0676 for Tickets.  Spring Holiday Festival and Monster Egg Hunt will be Saturday, April 11 at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center.  See Zoot or call 866.411.1212 for more information.  Continuing onward, Cathy brought our attention to Women of Orange County, that Cone Collision Center in Concert with YWCA of North Orange County will be hosting “Women in the Driver’s Seat” on May 16.  Learn maintenance skills, avoiding being a victim and effective parking techniques just to name a few.  Contact Diane Masseth Jones for more information.  Next on the agenda was Rick Crane updating us on Rotary Titan Baseball on April 21 at 6:00 pm.  President Chief will be throwing out the first pitch.  Rick also thanked Jim Thompson for starting the first Fullerton Rotary Track Meet 18 years ago.  Theresa Harvey encouraged all of us to purchase tickets to the annual concert.  The date is April 24 at the Phoenix club including dinner and the famous music of Peter Brandon.  In addition, raffle tickets are also available for $5.  President Chief Pat McKinley will not be present next week due to a meeting of Police Chiefs, it should be his last due to his pending retirement.  So, with that said, Mike Oates will preside, it only seems right due to it being April 1!

4/26	Warren Wimer's "Rotary Day at the Lido" - Barbecue & Boats
4/1	Status of Fullerton Elementary Schools by Mitch Hovey
4/8	Tribute to Bill McGarvey by many whom he has inpacted over the years.
4/15	Fullerton Rotary Best Joke Day with Master of Ceremonies Bill Mathy

RECOGNITION MASTER:            A RECORD WAS SET!  Minard Duncan is “the man”.  As Recognition Master, he set the bar high and beat the previous record by $5!  New record is $155.  First up was Nate Kvetny who conveniently left the room on his phone to avoid telling us about his nice trip.  What’s a “nice trip”?  Next question was, ‘Who knows who is on the cover of our latest magazine”?  Those few who stood because they knew the answer got set free, those of us who didn’t, that’s the majority, had to pay $2.  Minard fined himself $1 and announced that Veterans, while not in uniform, may salute our Country’s flag.  John Christensen celebrated his and her’s birthdays on the 22 and 23 of March.  This is where his brother may not come back, brother Bill Christensen was fined $4.  Leslie McCarthy was called on the celebration of her 24^th anniversary.  She said she had already paid last week in addition to 24 years!  Chris Meyer, our city Manager, was asked by Minard to send surplus city money to the school district.  You know what Chris said, “no”.  Well, Minard then hit him for $1.  Ed Little’s fine was waived; he celebrated his 83^rd birthday on April 24.  Griff Duncan also got off easy as I guess with the same last name as Minard he was able to escape his 76^th birthday today unscathed!  Mark Zane was looked for and missed because he has a cool last name, we’re not sure what he was going to get fined for, stay tuned.  Minard signed off with “That’s all Folks”!

DRAWING:   Ticket number 813908, held by Bob Sattler, was the lucky number.  With not so good help, in fact they didn’t get it, Jim Williams, they failed to identify Witch Doctor or Walla Walla Bing Bang by David Seville.  $10 from Claude Jones, Bill Christensen’s look alike!

PROGRAM:              Bob “Danger is my Middle Name” Hillhouse talked about his climb of Mount Rainier.  This is not a vacation it’s an expedition!  The climb began on the South side of the mountain headed for Panoramic Point.  Bob explained that exposed areas are called cleavers.  Mount Rainier is the most glacier populated mountain. 

            The gear needed is extensive to say the least.  Bob showed us the life saving harness.  The one that held him upside down 400 feet off the deck, and the scary part is he was starting to slip out, now that would have been a killer fall!  The helmet is designed to save his brains, to which Bob Savage quipped, “if you had any you wouldn’t be mountain climbing!”   Next on the list was 190 feet of rope.  You will need to replace that rope every once in a while as the worst thing that could happen is for it to break under stress.  His best friend on the climb was the ice ax.  The goal is to keep it on the high side to rest the fall.  The last thing on the list is the water bottle which is used in the middle of the night for other liquids too.  I guess you would never want to mix the two up!  Bob said that they would drink a minimum of 3 quarts a day!

            Mount San Gregornio is a great place to train for the rock climbing part of the expedition.  An average day of training would burn approximately 1,000 calories per hour!  The best part was the stop at A&W Rootbeer for a reload on the way home.  No matter how much Bob ate he always seemed to loose a few pounds.  June Lake makes a great place for ice training.  While he was climbing up the frozen water fall he could hear the water flowing underneath.  At Tioga Pass they used spikes similar to giant cleats.

            Bob brought along 100 lbs. of gear that was tapered down to 75 lbs. before he even began by the leader of the pack.  Everyone on the expedition is obligated to carry weight.  On the first day they set camp at approximately the 6,000 foot level as the weather was cold and wet and the chance of an avalanche was great.  The group wanted to press forward, however, the leader insisted that they stay put.  That was a good thing as later, when they would have been in the area, an avalanche did occur.  Death for Bob and his group would have been a sure thing had they continued.  They learned that their 29 year old leader was wiser than his age would lead them to believe. 

            As you can imagine, the days were long and nights short as some days started at 1:00 am and with the excitement of the climb it was hard to go to sleep, especially with 4 men to a tent sleeping head to toe.  We learned that most accidents happen on the way down, the terrain is very steep.  Ice blocks made a nice wall for protection and the second wall made time for recovery in the event you slipped.

            With spectacular views and wonderful pictures Bob’s presentation kept us all awake.  One of the pictures showed a fixed rope on the upward slope, “no self respecting climber would ever grab that rope.”  The wind was so strong at times that you could lean into it and not fall forward.  In addition, any track of the guy 15 feet in front of you was erased by the time you got to his point.  In closing, Bob let us all know that everyone in the group made the full climb with the exception of two, and they were the youngest of the bunch.

            Nice presentation Bob Hillhouse.

BACK TO THE PRESIDENT:         Patrick thanked Bob Hillhouse for his presentation and presented Bob with the coveted Fullerton Police Shoulder Patch Suitable for Framing and a coffee mug for his morning brew.  Take a poster of our Club Concert and post it in a conspicuous place.

MEETING ADJOURNED:              1:29.59