Rotary Club of Santa Monica

"2002/2003"

Rota-Monica

www.RotaryClubofSantaMonica.org 

 Entrepreneurial Enlightenment

 One of the vast perquisites that shower down on our president’s head is a trip to the Rotary International Convention.  Dee & Jim Menzies will go to Brisbane, our next nominee will go to Osaka and then the biggie: 2005 in Chicago, our founding city.  I hope many will go to this celebration—it should be huge.  Normally, the conventions alternate between the US and overseas.  Hal & Kai-Li Quigley had the great good fortune to go to San Antonio.

 You sent Kathleen and me to Barcelona, for which we are very grateful as we added a trip from Madrid to see other sights in that changing country.  We got to Barcelona and it took me awhile to figure out why there were three languages on all of the airport and highway signage.  My feeble Spanish did not work well as I learned that this financial capital of Spain speaks and writes Catalan.  Anyway, we checked in and made our way to the Opening Ceremony high on MontJuic in the 1992 Olympic Arena.

 This session was not repeated as planned as the attendance was lighter than expected, but nevertheless was full of kids with flags, the tall stilted costumed heroes such as Isabel, Ferdinand & Isabella and Columbus, seen in most Spanish street parades, great music and speeches.  Being that outgoing RI President Rick King had been an entertainer could have contributed to much of the grandeur.  He rarely left the stage.  He is an incredible contrast with Bhichai Rattakul, a quiet self-effacing man from Thailand, (see this month’s Rotarian).

 The next morning was the Far West Breakfast for all of the West Coasters and that evening Rick Mendoza, our District 5280 Governor, hosted a tapas party at a downtown pub.  Kathy and I wanted to see the next plenary session that was given to youth, a most inspiring and uplifting meeting, especially since Rotary is seeking younger members.  The speech from Mikhail Gorbachev was a profound connector toward Rotary as a global influence.  That evening there was an outdoor fiesta in a crafty tourist venue where I was able to catch up with some Presidents that I knew from other clubs.  We couldn’t stay for the closing ceremony that highlighted Jerry Lewis, as we had to get to the airport at the crack of dawn.

 It was a fine trip; we learned a lot and were inspired by the scope of Rotary.  Kathy and I thank our club for this opportunity to serve and study.

Make it a Great week!

Bill

Coming Our Way

Our speaker on August 16th will be Ambassador Hodgson, who has served as Under Secretary and Secretary of Labor as well as US Ambassador to Japan.  His birth in the Prairie town of Dawson, Minnesota belied his future academic accomplishments: After earning his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Minnesota and graduate work at UCLA, he was awarded five honorary degrees, named an Adjunct Professor and Regent’s Lecturer at UCLA, and was rewarded with the Medal of Merit from UCLA.  The Japanese government bestowed upon him the Order of the Rising Sun First Class in commemoration of his Ambassadorship to that country.  Ambassador Hodgson now serves as business consultant to a number of companies, and as director of United Television.  We’ll look forward to his talk entitled “A Rambling Rumination on Public Life.”

Notes From A Winner

What distinguishes him from so many other players is that Paul Westphal knows what it’s like to win.  The basketball coach at Pepperdine relayed stories from his successful career of 42 years playing the sport and coaching pro teams, the Phoenix Suns and Supersonics.  He regaled the group with ‘quotes to live by’, wisdom he’s collected over the years from the best in the business.  “Be quick, but don’t hurry” is how he coaches his own team, thanks to the words of John Wooden. But from Sparkey Anderson he learned that when you’ve got a group that wants to win, you gotta let ‘em.  Westphal learned how to reign in his own inclinations and let his players do just that.  And they keep on doing it under his effective coaching style.

Heads Up

Lending distinction to the head table were Jim Westbrook to introduce visiting Rotarians and guests; Mike O’Hara to introduce our key speaker Paul Westphal; Oded Wolf; and Jeff Moskin to give the invocation.

Of Significance

Get out your 2003 calendars and consider joining Santa Monica Rotary members at the International Convention in Brisbane, Australia.  Norma Barnes has a travel plan for 12 days prior to the convention that includes Melbourne, Cairns/Great Barrier Reef, Alice Springs/Ayers Rock (one of the great natural wonders of the world), and Sydney.  There will be a private deluxe motorcoach for touring and the services of a professional driver/guide throughout. The package includes full breakfast daily, 3 lunches and 3 dinners, and a cocktail reception.  Please contact Norma at (310) 312-3368 to indicate your interest.

The Welcome Mat

Richard Poynter and Anna Watson hailed from Kenilworth, UK, to join our meeting. Flags and good wishes were exchanged.  The Kenilworth Castle is a very regal 900 years old. Audrey Leavit made her way from King of Prussia.  Petra Haffter from Berlin North is getting comfortable in Santa Monica.

 WWII ace, Marine Corp Colonel (Ret) Vic Croizak, got a hero’s welcome.  The group was glad to have company from Morgan Oyler, Amir Wolf, Heidi Nyman, Akai Yang, David Ross, Sam Lagana, Linda Tisherman and Michelle Schrader.

Fine Time

Jack Siegal (whose name was inexcusably misspelled last week) will nonetheless have to cough up a $15 fine for being in the distinguished company of the Colonel.

And speaking of military might, Tom Loo will be $125 short for driving his Hummer.

Not to be outdone in the mighty department, $138 will be collected from Sam Muslin for being first in line at the dessert table at Hal Quigley’s Dethroning Party.

And who could resist fining the pres’ himself?  Bill Crookston will pay $75 for capturing the front page of the LA Times Business Section.

The More Things Change…

Apologies to newborn Hayden Rose Hill, who was inadvertently named Ann in this publication last week.

Horray

Carol Jackson knew it was Clark Gable who had a $5,000 bounty on his head placed by Hermann Goering, and she won the question-of-the-week prize.

On The Agenda

My pre-pubscent son was picky with his food and refused to eat anything I prepared.  In complete frustration, I finally asked him to tell me exactly what he would eat.  He said, “When you go to the market, only buy American food: tacos, pizza or sushi.” 

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