The opening traditions orchestrated by not-for-much-longer president Bill Schenk were admirably performed by:
Invocation-Jon West, Pledge-Ray Hanson, Song- Greg Hickman
Announcements-Theresa Harvey told us that State Assemblywoman Young Kim told her that the State Assembly adjourned in honor of our friend Bill McGarvey. Jay Kremer reminded us to sign up for the June 10 meeting to be held at Angelo & Vinci's Restaurant followed by a tour of renovated Fox Fullerton Theater. It’s been about 6 years since we first had a Rotarian Tour of the venue, so we’re looking forward to see what has transpired!
Introductions- Zoot Velsco introduced his daughter Hannah who we were pleased to have join us! President Bill announced that our next meeting is “Youth Week”, so on that day the average age of our attendees will go down significantly!
Recognitions- Tom Meyer started by recognizing Zoot Velasco and Griff Duncan on recent presentations they gave. Dan Ouweleen was given kudos for his Power Point expertise that was very helpful. Tom then fined all club members $1.00 if they own a two door sports coupe and $2.00 to all those who have a red Corvette, like Bill Mathy. Tom grilled Rick Crane about 3 sports questions just to harass this mild mannered Rotarian sports event organizer. Rick stayed calm and collected as he always does. Cathy Gach is celebrating her 27th anniversary to Don on May 27th. Congrats!
Opportunity drawing- For those who don’t like suspense, you’ll be glad to hear that we had a winner very early this time. The winnings amounted to $23. which Ray Hansen wasted no time in donating to the Boys and Girls Club.
Program- We had a double header this time, leading off with Carol Danforth-Futterer who came to Boston at the age of one after her birth in France. One of her vivid memories was when her French grandfather showed her his radio equipment in the basement where he facilitated communications that helped the Allies win the war!
Carol moved several times in he younger years because her dad was in the service. She remembers her family hosting many servicemen for dinner just prior to leaving Travis Air Force Base for Vietnam. Her father passed away on a May 30th when she was 21, a date that frequently falls on Memorial Day. Carol was accepted to UC Berkley where she received her degree in Economics. She received a Masters in Psychology and spent her first of three careers with the Bank of America for 27 years.
Carol met Eric Futterer (producer of the ‘Jazz at the Muck’ series). They committed matrimony and moved to Fullerton. They have daughters and the most recent addition to the clan is a 16 month old granddaughter!
Carol’s second career was with Experian giving her the opportunity to visit England and Calcutta. Her current career is with Century 21 as a real estate agent. She expressed her appreciation to many club members who have helped her including Bob Clark, Jr., Debra Sanchez and Joe Lins and others she met through her serving on the boards of the Muck and the Boys and Girls Club. She also has a relocation service called Partners Interior Design targeting seniors who want assistance with moving from their homes.
Carol loves anything to do with water, telling us of a close encounter with a hammerhead shark and has dived at the Galapagos Islands, a memorable experience! If you were at the meeting, you would have experienced the rare self-divulgence of a woman member’s age which she plans to celebrate with a dive at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
We were then treated to a senior craft talk by Lee Brockett who was born in East Los Angeles, moving to Long Beach at age 6. He remembers it as a great place to be back then. Lee divulged how he chose tennis as a sport to pursue at Long Beach City College and he was also on the school gymnastics team.
Lee transferred to Occidental and upon graduation he went to work for the city of Los Angeles acquire land for future roads. He also worked 3three years as a longshoreman at Long Beach which helped him complete law school in three years in San Diego without owing any tuition debt!
Lee took a tax law program at New York University. Living 100 yards from the school. He accepted a job offer in California and lived near UCI area for 2 years. We has worked with Dale Schuumaker, Warren Winer, Rick Crane and more. Lee helped develop Adjustable Rate Mortgages traveling Philippines, China and Japan. He realized that he was traveling too much when the airline crews new him by name! Lee worked for an Asian famly for 20 years as an attorney and was awarded a safari in thanks for delaying a planned vacation to Italy. For the past couple of decades, Lee has been helping people with estate planning. Not mentioned was his successful year as our club president!
Final words from President Bill Schenk before he rang the Rotary Bell: “Like us on Facebook!” “Give a good review on Yelp if you have done it before!” Red Nose Day raised $420 which was split between Raymond and Richman schools in care of Minard Duncan.
