BULLETIN FOR MEETING OF 3/04/10

DON HENDERSON gave the Invocation and JOE MASTRO the Pledge of Allegiance. SKIP CARLSTROM announced our Visiting Rotarians and Guests. STEVE VARVIS was the only one remotely interested in claiming he went out of town – he had $100 in his pocket before he even came to the front of the room. STEVE attended a conference in Atlanta on behalf of Fresno Pacific University. I stopped writing down the name of the lecture he gave because too many Rotarians were laughing. Needless to say, STEVE rang the bell and everyone clapped. That had to be the easiest $100 made by NFR!

CLIFF SPEIGHT announced an upcoming ARC bowling event for Saturday, March 6, 2010 from 8:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.; 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 a.m. He stressed how important this event is and how many people benefit from this very worthwhile cause. He urged Rotarians to volunteer to help. By the time you read this, it will have taken place and hopefully, with a great deal of involvement from the organization.

ERIC MAYU announced a pizza party planned at Lowell Elementary from 11:10 – 12:30 on Tuesday, March 9, 2010. In addition, there is an academic awards dinner at Lowell on Thursday, March 11, 2010 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. ERIC reports that several hundred kids will be present and this is an event that needs lots of Rotary participation and bringing spouses is encouraged.

STEVE VARVIS told the group that the RotarAct Club will be selling Easter candy at the luncheon on March 18^th. He said each bag is $2.00 and the proceeds will be used for a microcredit project in Angola. They would like to raise $2,500 and are looking for matching gifts from other clubs. STEVE would like our club to sell at least 200 bags on that day! I’m in….are you?

There was a ringer in the crowd. STEVE BERGLUND apparently showed up in the “news” smartly dressed in his Sunday-go-to-meetin’ suit. Naturally, it was pressed – and no harmful chemicals were used in the process.

BERNADETTE told the group that NFR was invited to the 14^th Annual Fresno Compact Business Education Shareholder’s luncheon. NFR was nominated for the recognition by Fresno High and we were one of 11 recipients. Apparently NFR had no representation except BERNADETTE, who sat at a table with Cathy Gonzalez, the principal and 5 students, leaving the table with 2 empty NFR spots. No comment from this reporter.

ERIC MAYU reported that there is a Girl’s Night Out and a Boy’s Night Out planned. More information to come since I couldn’t write fast enough to catch it all and ERIC is the “Great Communicator.”

Rotarian of the Day? Don’t think there was one.

Raffle: SCOTT SHEWAN, the previous winner of the raffle, had the opportunity of choosing a marble because LOU left the bag of marbles home last week for his kids to play with. Yellow marble – no deal. Sorry it didn’t work out SCOTT – CELSA had her fingers crossed so you better treat her to dinner!

BERNADETTE won the raffle at the meeting. I may be corrected on this but the prize was $82.50 plus I saw her carrying a nice looking bottle of wine!

The Guest Speaker was Dennis Janzen, Women’s Head Volleyball Coach for Fresno Pacific University. Dr. Janzen (Dennis) and his team have enjoyed 5 national championships, three of which were during the past three years! He is also a member of the NAIA Coaches’ Hall of Fame.

Dennis spoke of “How to Create a Winning Team.” He had so many wonderful ideas and examples that I can’t do justice to them in this newsletter, especially since his buddy STEVE was sitting next to him and had just rung the bell for giving that ridiculous lecture. However, I’ll provide some of the highlights because I was crippled by the time I finished taking notes.

• You assemble the right people in the right environment and let them do extraordinary things.

• The team’s culture is discussed all of the time – it is key to the success of the team.

• “People will rise to the level of the standard, but will fall to the level of tolerance.”

• Who sets the standard for a team or a company? For a team, the coach takes responsibility and ownership.

• Team culture permeates from coaches to players. What do we stand for? What are our core covenants?

• A covenant is much more powerful than a promise. It is WHO WE ARE.

• Great people and great players have the ability to make the people around them better.

• Dennis explained how the change in scoring turned into a recipe for success for the team – they now go into a game saying “Just get us to Set 5.” He explained this by giving the following statistic: His team wins 95% of the time when they go to Set 5. They obviously work well under pressure – a sign of a very confidant and talented team.

• 1 Rule: Don’t let your teammates down. (Think of all of the ways you can let people down and it covers everything that is important to us)

• He recommended reading Lone Survivor. I looked it up on Amazon.com. It is written by Marcus Luttrell and sells for $15.74. It is a story about a Navy Seal team and the life and death importance placed on the team. Letting a team member down has potentially tragic consequences.

• Dennis shared that he has learned 3 basic things about coaching:

  • Players will do what you train them to do

  • All success begins with a foundation of trust

  • Coaches tend to coach the way they were coached

• Bruce Brown, a friend and a coach, said:

  • 1 Athlete of character can change a team

  • 1 Team of character can change a school

  • 1 School of character can change a community

Q: What do you do to find the best teams to play?

A: It’s a problem – there was talk of hosting a tournament and no one wanted to come! Fresno Pacific holds “practices” with NCAA schools in order to learn and improve. They often “beat” many of them!

Q: How wide do you cast your recruiting net?

A: We recruit local. It’s possible because there is such talent here. Currently, there are 4 International students out of the 16 players on the team. Great cross-cultural experience!

Q: What is your conditioning?

A: Mostly biometrics. There is very little endurance training because it is not a high endurance sport. It’s all about working on jumping and getting from point A to point B as fast as you can.

The meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. and we emerged from Tornino’s into the sunshine!

BULLETIN FOR MEETING OF 2/18/10

The pre-meeting began with President Elect Janet Powell greeting all members and guests with a hug at the door. She is going to make a great president.

LET THE MEETING BEGIN:

Our distinguished Prez Lou called the meeting to order. Terry Huntsman invoked for us, and Larry Granados led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. At the head table were Paul Gibson, and Eric Mayu, Jr. Chair of Community Service, along with our speakers Shall and Pramilla Sinha. Shall is a Rotary International Peace Fellow, about which more later. New member Eve Liu welcomed visiting Rotarians and guests, and it was noted that she was the first to get visiting Rotarian George Zangle’s (Zingle, Zengle, Single?) name right. She is going to make a great Rotarian.

TRAVELERS:

Dr. Pad was the sole traveler this week. Claiming that he was really at a conference working, he admitted that he got the Prez a quick gift in the airport or hotel shop (couldn’t remember which), but the club liked it anyway and allowed him to get away without ringing the bell. Soft, it seems to me, but I am just the recorder.

IT WAS BIRTHDAY WEEK:

Only three of us showed up at the birthday table so we invited three visiting Rotarians to join us and enjoy the cake. Mark Smith, born in Fresno, claimed that the Olympic sport he most identified with was hockey—tough guy. Hagop Bedoyan, turning 50, and born also in Fresno, chose downhill skiing—fast guy. Steve Varvis, yours truly, was born in LA, and felt like a mogul skier—bounced around a lot, and neither as fast or as tough as the other two (but enjoyed the cake).

ANNOUNCEMENTS: a whole raft of them

• Arc Bowling is on For March 6 at Cedar Lanes, about 8:30-11:30, and 12:30-3:30. Cliff Speight (welcome back on crutches!) will have sign ups next week. Check your calendars.

• We will host a Pizza Party at Lowell School on March 9 honor improvements in scores, and a dinner for academic achievement on state tests at 5:00 PM on March 11. More information coming.

• Nick Smaldino outlined the wine trail and tasting trip to Paso Robles on May 15 at which we will have either 40 some or 80 some attending, cost $80-100 including lunch. Sign up with Nick.

• Bob Green from the Chowchilla club thanked NFR for our past contribution to the North-South Football game, supporting Fresno High students, and hit us up for another year. A worthy cause. He noted that they have given away $114,000 in scholarships and one of the first recipients as returned to the Valley as a Physician and is a President of a Rotary Club. Seems like a good investment.

• Katie Siemens asked for the floor, which was politely offered to her, and she rang the bell for Rob Norcross who died recently at the age of 88, and was past President of the Fresno Club. Heads nodded all around for Katie and Rob.

A SPECIAL PRESENTATION:

Ann Castro counselor at Cooper Middle School introduced Justin Hardison, student at Cooper, who won the NFR supported essay contest. Students wrote about “My Dream for the Future.” For Justin that is being an automotive customizer. He knows what he has to do to achieve that goal—what he needs to learn, and how to go about it. Well done Justin!

RAFFLE:

With a full six marbles left, Dr. Pad (who got off easy on his travels) walked off with somewhere around $160. What a day for Dr. Pad. We start over building the pot next week.

Guest Speaker, Shall Sinha, Rotary International Peace Fellow, and winner of the
RI Donald McCray Peace Award.

Dr. Shall, an inspirational speaker, is the author of four books, on Gandhi and others. He spoke to us on “Herbert J. Taylor’s Gift.” Who? And What? We see it each week above the head table. Herbert Taylor wrote “The Four-Way Test of the things we think say or do: Is it the Truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build good will and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?” Dr. Shall told the story of Taylor’s life, not indicating what the gift was until well into the story. Taylor wrote the test as a tool for saving his company during the great depression in 1932 (much worse than the current recession), and it was both effective and profitable. He even gained a copyright on it and received royalties from it. In 1954, the year of his presidency of RI, Taylor gave the test to RI. It has been with every Rotarian since then. Shall noted that you can’t just practice the test some times. It gets into you, and you become a better human being. One question of particular interest was asked. How can we get universities to use the test in their business programs and why don’t they do so? Pramilla Sinha described her experiences trying to make this happen and the resistance she met. Being oh so polite, and not wanting to contradict our speaker I did not say anything at the time, but I do know of one university in Fresno that does have business ethics courses, and one professor, who was the bulletin recorder for this meeting, who uses the test in his business ethics course. I am not naming names, but I can say that the test is alive and well on some university campuses, one of which has the initials “FPU”–just setting the record straight. Dr. Shall tells a good story, a reminder of one of the ways Rotarians make the world a better place.

New Reporter STEVE VARVIS. Awesome!

TERRY JON HUNTSMAN, an elite member of the dais, sitting with his better half, MARSHA, said brevity is the spice of life. So I will be concise, succinct, to the point. In other words, I will use concision in writing this Bulletin.

Husbands are awkward things to deal with; even keeping them in hot water will not make them tender. Mary Buckley

SARGEANT at ARMS: DEBORAH McHENRY

INVOCATION: DOYLE DANIEL

God help the man who won’t marry until he finds a perfect woman, and God help him still more if he finds her. Ben Tillett

PLEDGE of ALLEGIENCE: STEVE BEZZERIDES

Marriage is one long conversation, chequered by disputes. Robert L. Stevenson

VISITING ROTARIANS and GUESTS: CHRIS WONG

BULLETIN FOR MEETING OF 1/28/10

1The 11:30 club is a House of Friendship and Sharing. A warm and cozy place of conversation. The development of our Rotary Family is abundantly clear as we join in force for this most pleasant task. Those in attendance this last Thursday in January of 2010 were: Roger Anderson, Charles Small, Ted Marsella, Dave Reuland, Jerry Dale, Scott Shewan, Paul Chin and his guest Cindy, The Right Honorable Lou Smaldino, Sir Nick Smaldino, Tom Graves, Janet Powell (the soon-to-be), Stan Whaley, Kevin Oflazian, Charlie Wadhams and Katie Siemens. You see folks this is the ever pleasant place where “everyone knows your name.” Now if only someone would bring into the club a “mailman.”

Sir Nick Smaldino is going to be taking a few select Rotarians on a wine tasting tour of four wineries in the Paso Robles Area. It will be in May but Sir Nick is not sure about the date of this tour. You see Deborah McHenry is adamant (No No No! Bill Stevens it does not mean “a very hard native crystalline carbon”) about not conflicting with the District Conference. The District Conference is May 14, 15 and 16.

At the head table were Don Henderson, Roger Anderson and Patti O’Neill and of course our esteemed Program.

The Invocation was eloquently given by Terry Huntsman, the pledge of allegiance was led by Scott Lowe / side note: Sean Borchardt’s son, Luke, was with him and as we recited the pledge Luke stood at attention with his hand over his heart and didn’t miss a word - you should have seen it - it made this humble reporter proud. And Mark Smith introduced the visiting Rotarians and guests.

Travelers were: Paul Gibson, Costa Rica his gift to The Pres was (oh darn); Chip Putnam, attended a Rail Road Convention somewhere either in the U.S.A. or elsewhere in the world as he was also in Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands and I assume a few airports as well. Speaking of well, Chip brought back a pair of Boobies In Action. Hey I don’t make these things up I just report what I hear, or maybe it’s what I want to hear.

Bernadette Hansen announced the need for us to help with the ARC Bowling on February 6^th and March 6^th. The sign-up sheet went around and many were eager to help Bernadette.

Our Rotarian of the day was Jim Snell. His favorite thing about Rotary is the conversation. So, Father Jim come on over to the 11:30 club. His first job was being a janitor at the church and when asked, “where?” some lovable bloke said, “The Vatican.” Actually it was in Kansas City. His worst job was being a janitor for the school district where at the tender age of 15 this Loyal Servant whom we have all come to know and love was scraping Asbestos Tile off the ceiling without wearing a mask. Now why would he want to wear a mask? Maybe because he is so easily recognized. Father Snell graduated from The University of California in Berkeley. And his favorite job is tending the Flock at St. Columba’s Church.

Mark Smith won the raffle. This was with very little fanfare - Ho Hum.

The ever lovely Patti O’Neill introduced our speaker for the day, Nathan Magsig with the Coalition for Urban Renewal Excellence - CURE. Nathan is a guest lecturer at Fresno State, involved with the Boys and Girls Club, The Salvation Army and The Rescue Mission as well as being a Clovis City Councilman. In 2002 Nathan was working for the State Legislature when he got involved with The Habitat for Humanity. The Housing Authority, Habitat for Humanity, CURE and a total of 80 organizations work together to provide housing for low and moderate income families – Total family earnings are < (Bill Stevens, that means less than or equal to) $42,000 per year for a family of four. This home remodel or construction is done either by a complete make- over of an existing house or from the ground up. There have been 70 + homes made available in the Fresno/ Madera Area in the last ten years. There are currently 89 lots in Fresno ready for action. CURE is a 501 3© corporation and they have established the Neighborhood Stabilization Program that allows these homes to go from “bad homes” to “good homes” in as little as 45 days. These homes vary in size from 1200 square feet to 2000 square feet in size and made affordable for these low to moderate income families by a lot of donated time and material. The thought is that by using quality appliances and other material the new home owner will have a worry free home for the duration of the mortgage. CURE is funded by Banks and Insurance Companies. Wells Fargo was singled out as a major donor for this noble cause.

Well that is another marvelous day in the can, so I must bid you Bon Au Revoir. Ok, ok, Bill Stevens, I know that is difficult for you so here it is: Bon Au Revoir is Norwegian for Good Bye. Sorry, Skip Carlstrom, I couldn’t help myself.

Thank you to those who have answered the call to be future Scribes - the unseen benefits are “enormous.” There I go with the big word again. Bill that means: extraordinarily large in size or amount of degree.

So, l’adieu mes amis. (Another of Norway’s famous sayings: farewell my friends)

Just remember to not dismiss as nonsense that which makes no sense, but rather listen and learn so that it might make some sense – that’s common sense.

Terry Jon

Hum for a Blustery Day

From:  Winnie The Pooh and the Blustery Day
Written by: Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
Performed by: Sterling Holloway [Pooh]

Hum dum dum ditty dum
Hum dum dum

Oh the wind is lashing lustily
And the trees are thrashing thrustily
And the leaves are rustling gustily
So it’s rather safe to say
That it seems that it may turn out to be
It feels that it will undoubtedly
It looks like a rather blustery day, today
It sounds that it may turn out to be
Feels that it will undoubtedly
Looks like a rather blustery day today

With that in mind, ZDS and WDS ambled into the meeting hall full of some of the best people Fresno has to offer. After retrieving our badges of acceptance and reading the lay of the land, we sauntered over to a group and started a discourse with them. ZDS talked baby talk with RICH COLBY and elaborated to KEVIN OFLAZIAN, the finite intricacies of computer logistics, while WDS jostled with the similarities of the words of Homer and Freud with the toothologist, Dr. SIEMENS. Words such as ego, id, Iliad, libido and Oedipus sent us on an Odyssey. After exhausting our topics and needing to repose, ZDS and WDS sashayed to a table.

DOWN TO BUSINESS:

The Prez, L², rapped the bell to bring us to order and introduced himself to us for the 26^th time. We don’t have Alzheimer’s LOU. I think LOU LOU is doing a good job. All clap. Gracing the head table were, PAUL CHEN, SHERIAN ECKENROD, BERNADETTE HANSEN, Dr. AZARI (our speaker) and The Prez. PAUL DYER got the lead out and galloped around the room with the mike as Sergeant At Arms. First to JOHN KRIKORIAN, who led us in a prayer, then to SHANNON STINER, who led us in the pledge of allegiance? GENEVE PUENTE pranced to the podium to do a fantastic job of introducing the visiting Rotarians and Guests. Lots of V Rs and Gs.

TRAVELERS:

Boy, we get around! PAUL DYER traveled to Amsterdam and Vienna, bringing back a Rubik Cube with famous paintings on its’ faces and a chocolate bar. GENEVIE PUENTE is now a Grandparent to a happy, health girl who lives in Santa Cruz. PAT BRADLEY and DAVE REULAND left CHEEP PUTNAM in Tahoe, after their skiing adventure ended. They did not bring gifts, so had to ring the bell. The bell tolls for CHEEP, in ernest, if he forgets to bring back a gift. I was going to travel to Malaga, in southern Fresno, but decided to set the trip aside. I was told that it was not at all similar to the town in southern Spain. But that if I did make the trip, I may bring back a memento, some lead in my head.

VISITING ROTARIANS TUCKED IN:

This Reporter and DIANA visited GIB RAMBO at the Nazareth House two weeks ago. He is in room B8 and would enjoy visitors. He looks good and has a fantastic attitude.

A MONMENT OF SILENCE:

Dr. KATIE’S paternal Grand Mother passed away recently. She was in her 90s.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Hear ye, hear ye. We have many events to happen yet.

ERIC MAYU decreed that Cooper Middle School will have a luncheon each month to pat outstanding students on the back. It will occur on the 3^rd Tuesday starting in March. He will keep us posted. It would be nice if some Club members would attend.

BERNADETTE HANSEN beseeched the Club to aid with the ARC Bowling occurring on February 6^th and March 6^th. A sign –up sheet with be e-mailed soon.

NICHOLAS SMALDINO entreated us to partake in a trip to Paso Robles, the town, not to be confused with paso doble, the dance. The wine you drink could facilitate one of the travelers to attempt the dance with a partner. The bus trip is scheduled for May 15^th. I understand that PATTI O’ and RICH are dancers. PATTI and RICH start practicing. All clap.

B-DAY TABLE:

It was a very haphazard celebration for the January babies. Two visiting Rotarians were sitting at the table and several babies were sitting elsewhere. BERNADETTE HANSEN was sitting at the head table. PAT BRADLEY and CHUCK WHALEY were sitting at the adjacent table. As it was, one of the visitors is a January baby. RICK QUAN and STEVE BEZZERIDES were the only legitimate sitters. DAVE McGLASSON was a sit-in for Ms B. H. There was a lot of sitting going on. Maybe they needed to repose also.

ROTARIAN OF THE DAY:

BRIAN McCULLY, a past president and an always accepted attendee, was present to hear Dr. Azari speak on FCC. L² used the visit to high light BRIAN. He was sponsored by his father, CLYDE, during his term as President in 1984. BRIAN’S term was in 1990, the same year women were allowed to join Rotary. BRIAN sponsored SHERIAN in 1992. He is hoping that his current class schedule will allow him to visit more often.

RAFFLE:

5076836271809 was the winning number, or maybe it wasn’t. But anyway, JANET POWELL trooped up to the podium and pull out the greenest marble ever. Not the winner. Walk off with a bottle of wine though.

FCC, THE FIRST IN CALIFORNIA AND SECOND IN THE NATION:

This is Fresno City College’s 100 year anniversary. Any information I can put in this bulletin is better found on their web site, www.fresnocitycollege.edu. Click on, Fresno City College: Home, and open to the full story. Joliet Junior College in Illinois was the first. FCC has the lowest fees, $26/unit, in the country. Those fees can be waived if the individual makes below a certain amount of money.

Dr. Cynthia Azari is another statement in success. I have cut and pasted her credentials, below, for you to assimilate. She is a daughter of migrant workers from Tulare and worked in that capacity as a child. Cynthia has six brothers and sisters and attended eleven elementary schools from California to Texas. She was fortunate enough to have a teacher that impressed upon her, in a loving manner, the need for an education. She has carried that belief through to today. This Country offers all peoples a path to success. Cynthia took hold of that offer and made a professional future for herself and raised a family also. All clap.

Cynthia E. Azari, Ed.D.

Educational Credentials

• Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Seattle University, Washington, 1996

• Vasters in Industrial Relations from west Virginia University, West Virginia, 1978

• Masters in Education Administration from West Virginia University, West Virginia, 1977

• Bachelors in Government, with a minor in History from Huston College, Texas, 1974

Professional Experience

• President, Fresno City College

• Served as Vice Chancellor for Workforce Development and Educational Services at State Center Community

• College District, Fresno, California

• Served as President of Butler County Community College, Butler, Pennsylvania for five years

• Served as Vice President for Instruction, Olympic College, Bremerton, Washington for seven years

• 11/ Held a three-year term as Dean for Business and Engineering at Olympic College

• Held the position of Director of the Education Division for four years at the Texas State Property Tax Board in

• Austin, Texas

• Served three years as Technical Coordinator at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas, and two years as

• Associate Director of Admissions

Community Service

• Member of Rotary International, American Association of University Women and United Way of Fresno Self —

• Sufficiency Council

• Previously served on the Pennsylvania Governor’s Commission on Training America’s Teachers, the

• Community Development Corporation Board, the Butler County Historical Society, Butler County Chamber of

• Commerce, Downtown Butler Revitalization Committee, Keystone Innovation Zone Board, Association of

• Community College Trustees Awards Committee

• Served on the United Way Board in Bremerton, Washington and has served on a variety of council and board

• positions with Girl Scouts of America over the past twenty years

• Other philanthropic activities include the American Cancer Society, Butler Arts Council, Associated Artists of

• Butler County and local Chamber of Commerce committee work

Awards

• Central California TRIO award, 2007

• /11 Received the “Distinguished Service Award” from the Association of Washington’s Community and Technical

• College and commendation for service as Instruction Commission Chairperson, 2000-01

• 111 Received the “Woman of Achievement award from YMCA, 1996

Personal

• Married to Bijan for 34 years, with two daughters:

Bani, who attends Mitraat Brooklyn in the M.D. I Ph.D. program

Vitra, an attorney in Los Angeles

Good Night and God Bless.

For Photo’s Click here

Emily’s Day

NFR bid a melancholy farewell to our 2009 Youth Exchange, Emily O’Grady.  NFR members who hosted Emily offered their favorite recollections of Emily’s experience with the beachless, palm-tree-free reality which is the Greater Central Valley.  Pres. Lou Smaldino remembered introducing Emily to the joys of Captain Crunch and Bagels and Cream Cheese, Dr. Kathryin Siemens reported on Emily’s admirable dental hygiene practices, and Deborah McHenry allowed that Emily would always be her favorite Youth Exchange Student for all time.

On a sadder note, NFR also bid farewell to the memory of Pete Peters, who passed awy this month.

Scott Shewan gave the invocation and Larry Granados led the club in the Pledge.  John Leonardo welcomed visitors and guests.

Travelers abounded during the Christmas break.  Rick Quan returnd from the Caribbean with a bottle of banana ketchup.  Nick Smaldino returned from Mexico with noisemakers and a bottle of Tequila.  Steve Varvis brought back boxer shorts with a tastefully done Union Jack logo.  Needless to say, the bottle of tequila did not have to ring the bell.

Announcements were made.  Roger Anderson underwent surgery. 

Gib Rambo is at the Nazareth House for visitors. 

Terry Huntsman hit a “hole in one,” but did not buy the traditional round of drinks. (Huntsman quip of the day: “People can call me a cheapskate, but that doesn’t bother me.”)  D

Doyle Daniels reflected on how a Youth Exchange Student from 20 years ago is now the father of two and remains a good friend.

Ted Marsella congratulated Sean Borchardt on getting his first Paul Harris Fellowship.

The raffle was won by Paul Gibson.

Emily then reflected on her year in California.  She described that she has become fluent in “American” and how odd it is to celebrate Christmas when it’s cold, rather than warm and sunny, as it is in her native Australia.  She told NFR how the year has made her more confident about her ability to handle the future and that she has made lifelong friends in America.

Which is as it should be.

submitted by Peter Bradley

North Fresno Rotary

December 9, 2009

Meeting was called to order at 7:17 am by President, Lou Smaldino. Board members present include: Eckenrod, Reuland, Powell, Wong, Hansen, Clark, Varvis, Bezzerides, Daniel, Mayu, Boyajian, and Smaldino. Absent member was Puente. Visitor was Chip Putnam. It was MSP to approve minutes of the last meeting with correction of the Valentine’s party to be February 11^th.

President’s Report: President Lou reported that the President’s Meeting with the Rotary International President will be Feb.19, 2011. Our representative will be determined later. He then reported on area projects that are proceeding including Terry’s House and Rotary Storyland/Playland. A Christmas gift for Exchange Student, Emily O’Grady was discussed and it was MSP to purchase a gift in the range of $100. NFR is to be honored by Fresno Compact for our work with Fresno High School. A District midyear assembly will take place soon.

Secretary’s Report: Secretary Reuland advised that Accounts Receivable is in good condition. No new members have been proposed. There are several members with attendance problems.

Treasurer’s Report: Doyle Daniel reviewed the expenditures of the Avenues of Service, Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual. Those Statements were distributed and reviewed. Nearly half way through the year and everything appears to be in order. Doyle along with Chip Putnam discussed and presented the paperwork to finalize the establishing of The Foundation of the Rotary Club of North Fresno. All forms were signed and it was authorized that the checking account for the Foundation would be established. It was suggested that the Foundation be presented as a program at the Club.

Club Service: Steve Bezzerides reported that the Christmas Party will be held at TorNino’s, with Terry Huntsman in charge. New dinner groups will be announced in January. Valentine’s Party will be February 11^th, details to follow. Charter Night budget and expenses were discussed. The cost of $50 each will be billed. Sherian Eckenrod advised that Cogs will be selling Raffle tickets. Chairpersons have been appointed to the following committees: Head table, website, Internet Resource Center, Historian, Public Relations, and Badge Board.

Community Service: Eric Mayu reported that the Mentor lunches at Cooper will be the 3^rd Tuesday of each month, next one is Dec. 15^th. Lowell Christmas will be a field trip as a Club Meeting. The BBQ and turkey give away were successful. The SPCA is having some financial problems; this may be an area for us to serve and a potential program.

International Service: Ralph Boyajian reported Emily’s presentation will be the first meeting in January. They are currently working on the ambulance for Guasave, Mexico and steps are being taken to assist the security system of the museum in Armenia. Group Study Exchange participation and involvement is encouraged. Ralph is working on having someone eligible for the Ambassadorial Scholarship this year.

Vocational Service: Next project will be ARC Bowling in February and March.

Endowment: None

Old Business: None

New Business: None.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:30.

Next Board Meeting will be January 13, 2010 at 7:15am. The location is the Well’s Fargo Conference Room, 3rd Floor. The building is on Fresno St and Friant Rd.

Respectfully submitted,

Dave Reuland

Club Secretary

Sean Borchardt informed us that the highly successful dinner groups would be forming again soon. He is taking sign ups now for the next couple of weeks. The format would be: groups of four couples; “round robin” rotation of hosting, occurring once a month. There is great creative latitude on how the various folks may host the event. PP Don Henderson, in fulfilling his leadership as recent past president, announced our new President elect-elect: John Krikorian. Congratulations! John was respectfully described as “a good guy, good father, good husband, good Rotarian, a pilot who helps fly people including doctors) to our medical/dental clinic in Ocoroni, Mexico, and devout Christian. “ We look forward to his leadership as President in the future.

Our “speaker of the day” was a time of singing, led by Rhonda—whose beautiful voice we had heard at previous meetings. Besides the listening of favorite Christimas standards, we also had an opportunity to divide our luncheon groups by table, and sing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” including acting out—at times in a most goofy/comedic manner—the various days of the song. Special thanks to Terry Huntsman and his team for hosting our annual event.

–Chris Wong