Bill Schenk brought the meeting to order at 12:30. Pastor Greg Hickman provided us with a moving Invocation. The President commented on a recent L.A. Times article lauding Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s noteworthy accomplishments beyond the basketball court. This provided him the opportunity to honor our club’s “Big Guy,” Dick Matthewson, who as of May 7 will be absent for a few months as he devotes his time to thinning out the fish population of Minnesota with a rod and reel. Dick then led us all in the Pledge. Susan Smith ably served as our song leader and helped us achieve sufficient dignity and grace as we sang “This is My Country” and “Smile.”
Guests were introduced. District Governor Jim Paddock was with us, as well as District Governor Nominee Ray Sanford. Zoot Velasco introduced Stephanie Bobadilla, the new Education Director of the Muckenthaler. Bill Schenk invited the District Governors to join him for the Major Donor presentation to Jo Brannock. Jo and her husband, Fred, have made major donor contributions to Rotary’s commitment to international peace and understanding resulting in her award recognition at the Diamond Level. The President asked that our other Diamond Level awardee, Cathy Gach, join them for the group photo.
The President announced that we have a very full agenda next week, including the Collage Awards, sixteen Paul Harris plus awards and one new Paul Harris Fellow. As a consequence we will suspend recognitions and announcements next time. With that, he turned over the microphone to those who had announcements for today. Miko Krisvoy updated the Club on the upcoming Top 100 dinners for Sunny Hills High School (4/23) and Fullerton Union High School (4/29) and urged members to sign up on the volunteer sheet at the tables. Dan Ouleween reported that planning was underway for the Fall Jog-a-Thon and that there would be a meeting this Friday at 4:30.
Jay Kremer was today’s recognition/fine master. He first recognized Dan Ouleween for his company’s receiving the Company of the Year Award. For the award and all he does for the club, he was relieved from any fine. However, everybody else at his table needed to put a dollar in the kitty. J Ritchey was congratulated on both his birthday and his 46th anniversary. However, he was fined for having only one letter in his first name. The sheer amount of time this has saved him over the decades signing checks and letters, etc., deserved at least a modest fine. John Phelps was recognized on the occasion of his birthday, Greg Hickman and Mike Cochran were recognized on behalf of their spouse’s birthdays. Joe Lins was congratulated on the occasion of his wife Susie’s birthday. He shared the wisdom he had acquired over the years about planning your spouse’s birthday celebration. Husbands would do well to listen to their wives on the days approaching the date very…very…very closely. Dick Jones raised the issue that he was not recognized last week on the occasion of his birthday. As a consequence, last week’s fine master, Zoot Velasco, was relieved of a dollar from his wallet for having overlooked that birthday. Bill Schenk was congratulated on his wedding anniversary, as was Don Bankhead. Bob Radde fined himself for the pleasure of announcing the arrival of a new great-grandson. Following the recognitions, Dave Slomovic had the winning lottery ticket, and astounded the President by knowing the correct answers to the two questions posed to him: how many periods in a National Hockey League game (3) and who was the oldest newly-elected President (Reagan). Dave kindly donated his winnings back to Rotary! Thank you Dave.
Susan Smith introduced today’s speaker, Troy Gideon. Troy has served as St. Jude’s Emergency Services Manager and the Neuroscience Institute Manager. He began his work as an R.N. and is the proud father of three, a graduate of CSU Long Beach, and currently completing his Master’s at Colorado State University. He shared briefly St. Jude’s mission and focused today on the work of the St. Jude Stroke Center. The Stroke Center has expanded it services significantly beyond just acute care to such activities as recovery and rehabilitation. Strokes were the fifth leading cause of death last year. While people normally think of a stroke as a clot that blocks the blood supply, there are actually four different kinds of strokes, including TIA, Hemorrhagic and cerebral aneurysms. Troy shared with us some of the treatments available, including surgical clipping and endovascular coiling. Since 2009, the number of patients treated by St. Jude’s has increased significantly because of the quality of treatment now available at the Center and increased awareness of stroke symptoms by all those who work at the St. Jude’s facility. Troy also shared types of care available at different medical facilities in our country. St. Jude’s is in the process of soon being recognized as among those providing the highest level of service as a Comprehensive Stroke Center. That designation is one shared by only nine facilities in California and 85 in the nation. The membership clearly appreciated this presentation and Troy’s very personable style.
The meeting was concluded with Dick Daybell leading us through the Four-Way Test.
