President Bill called the meeting to order at 12:30. Larry Bennett led us all in the Pledge of Allegiance. Terri Grassi provided the Invocation, which included a reading of Saint Theresa’s Prayer—a prayer associated with her patron saint. Theresa Harvey was the song leader today and led us through “This Is My Country” and “Smile.”

Warren Wimer had Bob Hathaway, Duane Greenleaf and Tony Fabelo introduce their guests at today’s meeting. Bill Schenk reminded the membership of the up-coming visit of our Rotary International President, Gary Huang, at The Grove of Anaheim on December 28. The featured performers will be The Platters. He also mentioned that Matt Damon is on the cover of the latest Rotarian magazine, and his subject (of all things) is toilets. It is not generally known that the water we have in our toilets is generally cleaner than the drinking water many people have available in a number of developing countries.

Bill then introduced Scott Dowd who provided the membership with instructions on today’s election of next year’s President and three new Directors. Turning to announcements, Terri Grassi indicated that she had given out most of the tickets for the Deck the Hall concert at CSUF at 3:00, Saturday, December 13. She reminded everyone of the reception afterward at her home and Judy Atwell’s. Theresa Harvey announced the performance of the Fullerton Community Band at 7:30, December 9, at the Wilshire Avenue Community Church. Bill Schenk had a brief “Rotary moment” and mistakenly indicated that we would be meeting at the Sunnycrest Retirement Facility next week. In reality, it will be two weeks from now. Don Bankhead had the winning raffle ticket this week, but unfortunately didn’t draw the winning chip. So the pot increases next week.

Recognition Master—Today was Diane Masseth-Jones debut as recognition master/fine master. Her first fine was to President Bill Schenk for his “Rotary moment” during announcements. Diane noted her love of puns, and Randy McFarland (who also likes puns) received a “pun-ster” fine. Bill Mathy was fined for taking so long to ask Diane to be a recognition master. She also had those who had been recognition masters over the past twelve years rise, then those who had never been recognition masters rise, then those who have served on a jury rise, and finally all those connected with the legal system rise. Appropriate fines were assessed.

Joe Arnold and Dan Kiernan did not know that today, December 3, was the anniversary of their joining Rotary. Bob Clark, however, did know that he and his wife were celebrating their 39th wedding anniversary. Mike Cochran and Cathy Gach were recognized for their birthdays, and Bob Jahncke was recognized on the occasion of his wife’s birthday.

Bill Schenk regaled the membership with an Advent Calendar (with chocolates) that had been donated. It was rendolent with Santa images and no mention of the religious holiday. It was offered at auction. Furious bidding ensued with Rani Goyal winning the auction with a commanding bid of $12.01. Finally, Dick Matthewson informed the membership that the book offer associated with Frosted Flakes has now appeared on Raisin Bran boxes. So no more avoiding the issue because of sugary cereals.

Bill Kinkaid provided the Senior Craft Talk today. Bill joined Rotary in 1981, 33 years ago, and Dick Matthewson was his sponsor. He began by relating one of the more interesting stories of his engineering career. In 1970, the Soviet Union decided to construct a major truck-building plant in Kamaz, Russia, north and east of Moscow. Bill’s firm was hired to design machinery for the plant. The Soviets had their office in Paris, and Bill took over managing the contract. For 18 months, he travelled back and forth to Paris (the shortest trip was three days, the longest three weeks). When the Russians came to visit his company, Ingersoll, in Rockford, Illinois, he was concerned that they would not be able to find language translators to assist their meetings and conversations. To Bill’s surprise, it was amazing how many people in the community were fluent in Russian. He also related a heated exchange with the Russians when they wanted to change the contract. Also, being confronted by someone he didn’t even know outside a restaurant in Paris who knew his name and urged him to reconsider the contact. It all smacked a little of the Cold War mentality of those days.

Bill was born on February 3, 1927. He recalled the days of the Depression. He remembers people coming to the back door asking for hand-outs around noon during the day (fathers were all at work). His mother would prepare some food or other things to give them. He also remembers seeing the cardboard shacks that were a part of the “Hoovervilles” of those days. He talked about some of the influences in his early life: visiting the man across the street who was tool-and-die man and was making wall switches and plugs for General Electric; and his grandfather who worked for the railroads and would take him to the railroad yards. He also had a fondness for Leo Durocher, the player/manager for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Bill entered M.I.T in 1944. He joined the Navy in March, 1945, and was discharged in 1946. He returned to M.I.T and graduated with an engineering degree in 1949. He went to work for General Motors in Tarrytown, New York. During that period, he met his wife, Shirley. They celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary last November. They have three children, eleven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Bill also worked in various capacities for Norden (makers of the famous bombsight). In 1964, he joined Ingersoll in Rockford, Illinois. He later completed his M.B.A. at the University of Chicago. They moved to California to run a struggling tool-and-die plant. In 1980, he graduated from Western School of Law. He also worked briefly as an Investment Advisor. He eventually retired and joined Rotary. He was President of the Fullerton Rotary Club and active in the community (including St. Jude’s and as a Library Trustee). He told a wonderful story about a contract for a performance by John Raitt. As luck would have it, they had lost their contact information for him. As a sign of a much more relaxed period in our history, Bill just called the information operator and she gave him John Raitt’s phone number in Hollywood. He also related some fascinating history about the early days when membership in Rotary was opened to women members. He related his passions for golf, bridge, OLLI and grandchildren. He urged the members to embrace and enjoy old age. A superb craft talk and a standing ovation from the Club.

Lee Brockett announced the election results. Dan Ouweleen for President and three new Directors: Franki Berry, Bill Goetsch and Bill Hite.

The meeting closed with Ken Kaisch leading us in the Four-Way Test.