Bill Shenck called the meeting to order at 12:39 p.m.  The invocation was led by Ken Kaisch.  He began with a moving reflection about the mottos we live by.  He recalled that in his youth the Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared,” was particularly inspiring.  Recently he has found a varyingly attributed ancient motto to be very provocative—“Be kind, for everyone who you meet is fighting a great battle.” He related that to our everyday experiences (for example, encountering a homeless person).  Thad Sanford then led us in the pledge.  Kim Barlow was our song leader.  We began with “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” (as a tribute to the current Freeway Series) and concluded with “Smile.”

Joe Arnold led the announcement of our visiting Rotarians and guests.  Don Fox was with us from the Cupertino Rotary Club.  Tar Rakhra was introduced as the in-coming District Governor of Rotaract.  Bob Muschek introduced his granddaughter, Mia.  Zoot Velasco introduced Adam England from the Anaheim Rotary Club.  Bill Heaton introduced his guest, Mike Cochran.

Announcements—Jim Williams announced that Will Abbott will be taking a 90-day leave of absence (something to do with a bachelor, reality television series).  The married members of the club were awed, and a few could be seen trying to remember vaguely the days of their misspent youth.  Dan Ouweleen announced that there would be a Jog-a-Thon committee meeting this Thursday.  Bob Raade announced an up-coming lecture on human trafficking that will be given at Vanguard University.  Warren Wimer announced that several members would remember fondly J. Larry Ballard, who passed away this last Monday. Memorial services will be held at the United Methodist Church in Fullerton.
Thad Sanford was not the winner of the lottery this week, although he did receive a small bottle of tequila as a consolation.

Bob Clark served as the Recognition Master.  Les McCarthy was recognized for her very Irish birthday, Susan Smith for her husband Gary’s birthday, Bill Hite on the occasion of his wife Vickie’s birthday,  Thad Sanford for celebrating his 74th birthday, Ron Stock on the occasion of his wife Nancy’s birthday, Chris Meyer for his 22nd wedding anniversary, and Bill Klinghoffer on the 10th anniversary of his becoming a Rotarian.  Greg Hickman was questioned about swapping out his high school picture in the Rotary directory.  Bob complimented 5 of our members for being Rotarians over 50 years (Roy Hansen, Bill McGarvey, Jim Vanderburg, Allan Bridgeford and Roy Harvill), and also gave a nod to those with 40 or more years, including Jim Young and Warren Wimer.  It was also noted that there is an excellent article about Jim Young in the most recent Fullerton Stories magazine.  Pat McKinley was quizzed about who was the greatest pitcher in baseball (Cy Young) and what happened on this day in Cy Young’s life.  Pat thought he won his 300th game, but it turns out that today was Young’s 1st win (in 1890) of what would be 511 wins.  Bob Jahncke was informed that on this day in history in 1991 the World Wide Web became publicly available.  Jim Blake pointed out that the Recognition Master was  overlooking the most important event associated with August 6.  This is National Root Beer Float Day.

Irene Lange introduced our speaker, Lynn Cudd, who shared her experiences as a member of the Orange County Grand Jury.  By way of background, Lynn retired after 40 years of service in the public schools including serving as Principal at Richman Elementary in the Fullerton School District.  Since retiring she has served as a docent at the Bowers Museum, the Nixon Library, assisted with court tours at the Santa Ana Courthouse, and once a week enjoys serving as an aide in a 2nd grade classroom taught by someone who had formerly been Lynn’s aide.
Lynn shared with us some of the history of the grand jury and the qualifications necessary to serve.  The “grand” jury is so designated because it contains a large number of members—19.  It started in Great Britain and existed in America as early as 1635 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  Grand juries exist in every county in every state in the U.S.  The qualifications to be a member are the same as any other jury, but also require that members have a general knowledge of government, skills in report writing, substantial background in committee work, and computer skills.  They begin to accept applications for the grand jury in October.  Applicants are whittled down to 90 individuals. They have a background check by the Orange County Sherriff’s Department and are interviewed by two judges.  The applicants are screened down to 30 individuals.   The final 19 are selected by lottery, with the remaining individuals serving as a pool of alternates.  Grand jury members serve for a year, receive $60 a day for each day of service, mileage, a reserved parking place, 10% off in the cafeteria, and 24/7 access to the courthouse.
Because of its size, Orange County has 2 grand juries.  25% of the cases are criminal with the other 75% being civil.  The purpose of the grand jury is only to determine probable cause; that is, there is enough evidence to proceed to trial.  Only 12 members of the grand jury need to vote positively for an indictment to be issued.  Among the better known cases that Lynn served on were the Salon Meritage murders and the Ocampo serial killings.  In her function with civil cases, she was involved in inquiring into the conditions and management of county jails and facilities.  The grand jury has a “watchdog” responsibility over county government.  Lynn noted that the grand jury reports are available on line.  She worked on reports on elder abuse, sex trafficking in Orange County, and bullying.  She noted that it is very time-consuming but very rewarding.  The grand jury system is at the heart of the democratic process.
Meeting was adjourned at 1:28 p.m.