This week’s Rotary meeting was a tie blow-out, and began with a brief scare as Zoot took heed of the instructions to wear a tie for this week’s meeting—and nothing else. We implored him to not stand during the pledge.

After calling the club a crazy bunch of loons, President Ken opened with the sacred text of Taoist tradition. He shared the idea of the Tao Te Ching—exhibiting our duty to serve one another. Extending a hand to help someone up somehow builds all of us up. This posture of the heart makes us all stronger—both the one helped and the helper.

Club News:

1) Ken is asking our club to come together in prayer for Bob Bean’s wife, who has been put on hospice.

2) In glad news, Jon West is recovering from COVID-19, after being hospitalized on 3 separate occasions.

3) Ken announced a change in our membership and fee structure due to our nontraditional meeting arrangements—more details coming soon.

4) Ken offers special recognition for Service Above Self: Cathy Gach and Vimal Seth (accounting extraordinaires); Dan Ouweleen (Ken’s right hand man with the budget); Bob Muschek & Joe Lins (volunteering to help host our Zoom meetings); and our incoming board—Susan Ouweleen (what doesn’t she do?), Monica Fernandez, Travis McShane, Christian Esteban, Karen Xie, Glynnes Speak, & Howard Minkley.

Mike Cochran led the pledge of allegiance, and Kim Barlow’s invocation implored & empowered us to be smarter than our passions and our politics. Amen!

Thad Sandford introduced his guest from last week—Antonia Graham, Deputy City Manager of Fullerton.

Announcements:

1) Do you enjoy storing things and the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with storing things? Here’s your chance! We need someone to store the street signs that direct visitors to our meetings. If you could store them, please contact Susan or Ken.

2) Rotary’s in need of someone to update and post pics to our website. If you have those kinds of skills, please contact—you guessed it—Susan or Ken.

3) In promoting our upcoming programs, Ken stumbled a bit with the name “Meymuna Hussein-Cattanick.” Let’s see how he does with the even more convoluted “Fred Lentz.” More on Meymuna’s excellent program in the next Rotagram, and look forward to Advance!-ing onto College with Fred Lentz next week.

4) It’s a Muck Movie Night! Mark those calendars for August 12th. Instead of our regularly scheduled meeting, we’ll be screening a surprise movie with connections to Fullerton. Bring your masks (unless you’re eating popcorn, of course) so we can comply with city ordinance and Farrell’s sanity.

Tie Competition:

Ken and “that paragon of sartorial elegance,” Joe Lins, moderated Rotary’s first-ever (as far as I know) tie competition.

From homemade ties to patriotic ties, Rotary ties to honorary ties, multiple ties to decades-old ties, everyone came to compete—except for those with no ties.

1) Most Attractive Tie: Our speaker for the day, Bev Berryman, thanked the Academy as she accepted her Oscar statuette for her fancy tie with pearls and matching earrings.

2) Ugliest: Bob Hathaway swooped in to win with an abominable USC tie, declaring his support for the team as they prepare for their battle against Stanford.

3) Most Outrageous: Zoot Velasco’s outrageous ensemble included an, err, understated USC-colored tie...and nothing else. He’s ready for Rotary Chippendales—or as Joe said, Chunkendales.

4) Most Conservative: Judy Atwell sported a tie from Allyn Atwell, finding a soft spot in Joe’s heart and a big cup trophy for herself.

5) Best in Show: Bailey Kline claimed the big prize for her shiny, festive, inclusive, candy-corned last-minute scrambled & miscellaneous holiday tie, incorporating St. Patricks, Halloween, Mardi Gras, & more.

Fine Master:

Finemaster Joe Lins fined Blake Smith for 72 years of marriage with Irene, Travis McShane for his anniversary with Becca, Bob Bean for his birthday, Chuck Busey’s anniversary, and Jay Kremer for his wife Gloria’s birthday.

Susan self-fined herself for no birthday plans for Dan, as she’s been busy with unofficial Rotary Couple of the Year duties.

In honor of National Hotdog Day, Joe revealed to have a hotdog in his possession. Ken called Joe a “wonderful hotdogger.”

Program: Guest Speaker Beverly Berryman, Crittenton Services for Children and Families

Beverly Berryman, Rotary’s newest member, is the Community Engagement Director for Crittenton Services for Children & Families in Fullerton.

“Had a supervisor that saw potential in me.” Bev grew up in Pasadena, started working for Bank of America at 15, and went to Pasadena City College, where she met her husband. She spent 16 years with BOA.

“Weird hours to be there for staff and customers.” Bev moved to San Francisco, had her first child, and worked in a 24-hour service center.

“Saw the kids who needed people.” Bev the Babysitter moved to Connecticut, had her second child, became the resident daycare provider for her neighborhood, and discovered her passion for working with kids.

“Helped the kids I could have been.” Bev dove into PTA, became a scout leader, and, upon moving to Fullerton, volunteered with Crittenton for 15 years. Through the National Giving Alliance, the FSD school board, and other platforms, she advocates for children on local and state levels.

“Every child who ends up doing well has had at least one stable and committed relationship with a supportive adult.” In her time with Crittenton, she has brought in over 5,300 volunteers, who have served over 13,000 hours. Through it all, her favorite job has been as a wife and mom.

Bev’s email is bberryman@crittentonsocal.org.

Closing Thoughts:

Ken’s closing thoughts come from 2 gems from our “great observer of human frailties,” Will Rogers:

—”There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.”

—“Things ain’t what they used to be and they never were.”

Zoom Comment of the Day:

“Movie night at Muck? “Oh cool. I LOVE that place.” —Farrell, following Ken’s announcement to host a movie night at the Muck

Don’t miss your chance to share these special programs with a guest

Invite a Friend and Share Rotary

07/29/2020 * CREATE COMMUNITY OVER DINNER
Meymuna Hussein-Cattanick / Assimilation of Cultures

08/05/2020 * ADVANCE TO COLLEGE
Fred Lentz / Learning How it’s Done

08/12/2020 * NEW MEMBER CRAFT TALK
Dawn Bowman / Show me the Money

08/12/2020 Outdoor Movie Night at the Muck ~ 7:30
Evening Club Social Event at Muck Amphitheater

08/19/2020 * ON THE ROADS AGAIN – Proposed Sales Tax
Mayor Jennifer Fitzgerald / City Staff Members

08/26/2020 * EDUCATION IN RWANDA / Opening Opportunities
Julie Virjee / CSUF School of Business

09/02/2020 * TITANS REACH HIGHER IN CHALLENGING TIMES
CSUF President Fram Virjee / CSUF School of Business

09/09/2020 * BUILDING FULLERTON ROTARY
Travis McShane / Director Club Service

09/16/2020 * NEW MEMBER CRAFT TALK
Bailey Kline / Look Out! Here’s Comes Bailey.

09/30/2020 * NOW WHAT? POLITICAL ANALYSIS 2021
Barbara Stone / Retired Professor CSUF

10/14/2020 * NEW MEMBER CRAFT TALK
Monica Fernandez / “Hear Yee. Hear Yee”