North Fresno Rotary

Meeting Recap 08/06/2009

by lou on 07/08/09 at 3:08 am

 By 11:50 the hall was filled with enthusiastic Rotarians: Charles Small, Scott Shewan, Cliff Sp8, Bill McGlasson, Roger Anderson, Tom Graves, Mark Brage, The Dales -

Teas, Mon, Clyde’s, and J&J. Nick Smaldino is buying lunch for anyone named Kim. Well just about everyone that is anyone was already here. I guess since PresLou doesn’t give us visiting time so we have to arrive early. Question: does Nancy Pelosy follow the 4 way test? Janet Powell brought her favorite sidekick Jim Powell, and Deborah McHenry had a mischievous grin while setting up the hula hoop show - what fun! And Bill McGlasson’s grandsons, Randy and Tyler were here too.

 Dave McGlasson gave us a terrific invocation while Mark Smith led us in the Flag salute. Robert Nuzzolese introduced the visiting Rotarians and guests - it sure is good to have Robert back in the fold. Visiting Rotarians were: Jim Powell, Doug Brinkly, Skip Disart, Chris Cummings, Ron Sumph, Mark Wilson and Patrick (1/8 of a mile) Furlong. Guests were Andre Busch - Scott Shewan and Jeff Ismalian - Shannon Stiner.

 Travellers were: Janet Powell who told us “Gemini travelled to Utah” and she rang the bell. Steve Varvis brought a pack of lucky cards from Disney Land while Paul Read brought PresLou a Rotary Banner from Frenso. PresLou was in Disney World and did not bring a gift so he rang the bell.

 Sunshine report by Julie Keitges: Bob Kittridge had spinal fusion on Monday.

 Mark Brage and Robert Nuzzolese made their first visit to the Elbow Room and were featured in Fresno Magazine as the best dressed duo in Fresno and that, fellow Rotarians, is the long and the short of it.

John Leonardo was the Rotarian of the week: Brought into Rotary by Paul Read 14 years ago when Pat Bradley was president. John’s favorite Rotary project is Camp Royal. His first job was as an accountant and his worst job was as an accountant. In other words John is an accountant.

 Janet Powell reminded us there are 16 days (could be less depending on when you read this) to go before Storyland and Jazz, so bring in those auction items.

 The Teams: Robert Nuzzolese is back (hooray hurrah) so Janet being the one on her feet and in control of the mic railroaded Robert onto the Gold team. And then along came the one and only Deborah McHenry to exercise the losing team (actually they are not losers, they have been deprived of being in the lead by those selfish Patriotic teams of Red, White and Blue) with the round hula hoops. I guess Deborah could not find the square ones - you see they work better than those pesky round ones. But, you know what, seeing John Frost twirling with his hoop leads one to work the imagination overtime. Editor’s note: Deborah, you are doing a terrific job of making this fun - thanks.

Charles Small said we are close to matching that $10,000 sponsorship. And Steve Varvis says, “sell, sell, sell.” Now why didn’t I think of that?

The raffle number was 267, but the holder did not come forward. A second ticket 373 had the same result and the third ticket was 266. I mention this because this writers number was 268 - day late and a dollar short. Four tickets valued at $66.00 each were auctioned by the VP of operations for the S.F. Giants Bobby (shame them into bidding up) Evans and they went to one of the Dale’s for $250.00.

 Dick Ellsworth introduced Bill Neukom, managing general partner for the San Francisco Giants. Bill grew up in San Francisco where he attended many Giants Games at Seal Stadium - his dad was a member of the Rotary Club of San Francisco. Bill Gates Sr. brought him to Seattle where his first job was negotiating a lease for Bill Jr. At that time Bill was an attorney where he built the firm to over 100 lawyers. He was highly complementary about Rotary saying Rotarians get the job done world wide. He asked: What business are we in? Baseball of course. Is that enough? No! We are in the entertainment business too as well as the information business. We are either bringing in information or pushing it out - it is a complicated game. We are teaching honor and integrity. Baseball is not a great investment, however, it is a quasi public trust - it is America’s favorite past time. The facility in Scottsdale is at best a modest facility while the minor league facility a mile away is state of the art. Every year 170 of America’s finest young men show up for training presenting a problem to management, who is the cream of the crop? When narrowed to 60 only 6 will get to the “show.” The Giants Way: 1) conditioning reduces injuries, 2) preparation, be prepared to win, 3) education, know all there is to know about baseball. By believing you can win, by golly, you can win. Under promise and over perform. The first half of the season does not matter because where you end the season matters. The # 1 goal is to return the San Francisco Giants to pos-season play every year. Go from competitive to contender.

 PresLou presented Bill with a book for the Lowell School Library entitled, The Life and Times of Tommy LaSorda. Is there any truth to the rumor that the Dodgers are moving to St. Louis to be near the Rams?

 That’s all for now folks, it has been a blast, Terry Jon

Lou would like to make a special note of Thanks to Steve Giel of the Fresno Economic Development Corporation who was our original speaker and rescheduled because of our special guest. He wanted everyone to know that things are going Great in Fresno County and he would be happy to talk to anyone about the great things going on in our County.