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Club Elections - December 3, 2014
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For President (2016-17): Dan Oweleen
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For Directors - 2015-17 (Select 3)
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Franki Berry
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Scott Dowds
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Bill Goetsch
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Bill Hite
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Raco Raco
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Ron Stock
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Any Rotarian wishing to serve, please contact Lee Brockett or Scott Dowds
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Bill Schenk brought the meeting to order at 12:30 p.m. In recognition of Veterans’ Day this week, he began with a brief tribute to veterans. He noted that, in our Rotary District, our club has one of the largest percentage of members who are veterans. He recognized the members present who were veterans and thanked them for their service.
Jay Kramer provided the Invocation, with particular thanks to the service of our veterans. Bob Jahncke led us in the Pledge. Pastor Greg Hickman had us forge ahead with rousing renditions of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” and “Smile.”
Joe Arnold had Lynnette Geiss introduce her guest today—her son, John Mark Geiss.
President’s Announcements—Bill presented Thad Sandford with a Rotary Citation. He thanked Terri Grassi for filing our club’s tax return. He noted the upcoming visit of Greg Huang, our Rotary International President. On December 28, he will be at a Rotary dinner and concert at the Grove of Anaheim. Entertainment will be provided by a group well known to older Rotarians, The Platters. Also, Jim Paddock, our District Governor, will be visiting our club next week. Bill also noted that there is an upcoming opportunity to join a trip to India to immunize against Polio. The members of the trip will be leaving on February 13. Members were also reminded of the STEM Expo that is being held this afternoon at Troy High School from 3:00 to 6:00. Special thanks to Meg Crider and Dan Ouweleen for their work on this project.
Member Announcements—Terri Grassi noted the upcoming Fellowship Event, the “Deck the Hall” concert at Cal State Fullerton, on Saturday, December 13. The concert will be from 3:00 to 5:00 with appetizers afterwards at Terri’s and Judy Atwell’s homes. Bill Peloquin took a poll of the number of Engineers in the club. Given that a satisfactory number raised their hands, he requested that the non-Engineers refrain from any repairs or maintenance of the Club’s sign.
Pastor Greg Hickman was the Recognition Master. He framed the recognitions today with three categories (all beginning with “C”)” Crib-Keeping (or “House-Keeping), Club-Keeping and California-Keeping. In the first category, fines were handed out to those who were sitting at the same table as they were last week, and to those sitting next to the same person as last week. In the category of Club-Keeping, Irene Lange and Jim Blake were recognized for their birthdays, Drew Napolin for his anniversary, and Dick Matthewson and Bill Heaton for their spouse’s birthdays. Terri Grassi was congratulated on her daughter’s marriage last Saturday. Jim Williams was thanked for coordinating the tribute to Jim and Dottie Young. In the category of California-Keeping, various fines were assessed to those who had not been to Disneyland in the last 5 years, studio tours, a Southern California beach, a Pro-Baseball Game, and their place of worship recently.
With $385 in the kitty, and only 2 chips left in the bag, Howard Minkley won the raffle by drawing the red chip. And his bonus gift was the last small bottle of tequila.
Bob Radde introduced the day’s speaker, Keith Mills. Keith provided the club with an engaging, thoughtful and articulate presentation on World War I, entitled “The Causes of ‘The Great War’: The Tragedy of the Twentieth Century.” He began by noting that our current Veterans’ Day was originally called “Armistice Day” in honor of the end of World War I (concluded on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). The war itself was marked not only by significant changes in warfare and technology (among them, trench warfare, zeppelins, tanks, submarines and gas warfare) but in major international shifts (including the breaking up of empires, the re-drawing of borders in the Middle East and the Russian Revolution) and even significant shifts in fashion.
For all its magnitude as a global event, historian John Keegan has written that the war was a tragic and unnecessary conflict. Keith described the complex events that led up to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife that triggered the conflict. Europe at this time was a hotbed of conflicting interests and fears. The players included the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Austrian-Hungarian Empire, Germany, France and Great Britain. With the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary issues a declaration of war and the Russian mobilization begins. Although, the Kaiser and the Tsar make an attempt to stave off the coming conflict, Germany declares war and, in essence, attacks Russia by first attacking Russia’s ally, France. When Germany attempts to drive its armies to Paris by first invading Belgium, the British find themselves compelled to declare war on Germany. Germany never reaches Paris and the initial result is the First Battle of the Marne, resulting in a devastating loss of life.
Keith noted that the American involvement in the war is, in part, the result of Germany and Mexico becoming allies. Ironically, Woodrow Wilson had been elected President on a platform of “He kept us out of war!” The threat posed by the Germany-Mexico alliance contributed to Wilson’s decision to go to Congress in April, 1917, to ask for a declaration of war. The ultimate cost in lives by the war was staggering, and the Treaty of Versailles that ended the war tragically set the stage for World War II.
Bill Schenk offered Keith our thanks for his excellent presentation, and presented him with a token of our appreciaton, a Rotary coin. The meeting ended with the reciting of the Four-Way Test.
| Proposed new members: |
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John Di Caprio, by Dan Kiernan |
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John Mark Geiss by Lynette Geiss |
