"2004/2005"
ISSUE NO. 22 April 22, 2005 OUR 83rd YEAR
www.RotaryClubofSantaMonica.org
Wow! Did our manly-man models and
RoseMary strut
their stuff, or what? Our terrific program on April 22nd honoring secretaries
and administrative assistants was one to remember.
Recently from New York, comedienne Millie Trachtenberg, a former Riviera Club
employee, was our opening act. Fashion expert
George Collins,
interrupted his consulting work with Camilla to fly across the pond to be
available to comment on the creative outfits put together by our stunning
models:
Clyde Smith; Harmon Sieff; John Lehne; Paul Gaulke; Nat Trives and Spyros.
(By now,
Spyros
can be referred to with one name, as his fame is undoubtedly equal to Cher and
Madonna). The piano accompaniment by talented
Pat Bofird
brought out the best in our models. From
Paul's
ice-fishing outfit,
John's
choice of clothing for a candle-light dinner at McDonalds, the cosmopolitan
looks worn by
Spyros
and
Nat
to
Harmon's
clever use of furs and feathers, our audience could only be impressed by their
unique styling. Let's not forget
Clyde's
memorable entrance in his stunning robe and matching pajamas or
RoseMary's
adaptation of "Pretty Woman."
George
said if that's how Meals on Wheels are delivered he wants TWO!
Greg Hargrave,
who usually juggles numbers, did a marvelous job juggling balls for our
entertainment. Most impressive was his closing act of juggling nine balls at
once!
Our well-dressed bear centerpieces (wearing a colorful Hawaiian shirt or sweat
shirt) were taken home by the happy guests whose employers were among the first
16 to send in reservations.
This production, for which we spared no expense, was possible because of the
help of many generous people, Rotarians, and friends of Rotarians. Thanks to
Vickie Laham, Pam Patton, Diana Beggs, Mary Matthews,
Kris
Andresen, Monika White, Lionel Ruhman, June Doy,
camera operator Lynn Waldron,
Carol Jackson, Jim and Jamie Menzies,
Diana Stern from the Riviera and Delores Jones along with the staff from the
Venice Boys & Girls Club Thrift Shop. (The shop is at 11347 Washington Blvd.,
one block east of Costco). Favors were compliments of Merle Norman, pens were
from Barry Bouley and the Red Cross and Macy's donated the cosmetic samples.
Thanks to all of you for a wonderful afternoon! --
Diane Margolin (and thank you Diane … we had so much fun and can hardly wait
till next year).
An Oldie fits in here really well …
A cat died and went to Heaven. God met her at the gates and said, “You
have been a good cat all these years. Anything you want is yours for the asking.”
The cat thought for a minute and then said, “All my life I lived on a farm and
slept on hard wooden floors. I would like a real fluffy pillow to sleep on.”
God said, “Say no more.” Instantly the cat had a huge fluffy pillow.
A few days later, six mice were killed in an accident and they all went to heaven
together. God met the mice at the gates with the same offer that He made to the
cat. The mice said, “Well, we have had to run all of our lives: from cats, dogs and
even people with brooms! If we could just have some little roller skates, we would
not have to run again.” God answered, “It is done.” All the mice had beautiful
roller skates. About a week later God decided to check on the cat. He found her
sound asleep on her fluffy pillow. God gently awakened the cat and asked, “Is
everything okay? How have you been doing? Are you happy?”
The cat replied, “Oh it is WONDERFUL. I have never been so happy in my life.
The pillow is so fluffy, and those little Meals on Wheels you have been sending over
are delicious.”
Saturday, April 9th Shirley & Bill Dowling, Bud & Ruth Snoot, Kent & Kay Colberg, Bud Arreola, Betty Wisda, Pat McPherson, Vivian Spurgin, Donna Betts, Elza Ruhman, Nancy Passarelli, Bill & Dolores Fritzsche, June Doy, Anita Finie, Phyllis Morrison, Rita Cornyn and their intrepid guide Bill Hunt took the Arboretum by storm. Along with the peacocks and peahens with all their chicks the flowers in bloom all had a wonderful day. Remember next time ya Gotta-Go!
It was a perfect day at Tom Loo’s Forbidden City, and the Sunday, April 17th’s Annual International Food Festival was an incredible success. Over 200 people attended and dined on fabulous fare for across the world. The auction was successful and three charities will benefit from the proceeds. For the whole scoop with pictures to boot check out our website: http://santamonicarotary.org.
So many executive and administrative assistants joined us with their Rotarian counterparts: John Bohn was with Portland Watson, Joni Ramos, Marine Shishmanyan and Jessica Bohn; Barry Bouley brought Maricella Cornejo; Bill Crookston, Jackie Yu; Clarence Davis, Lisa LaFrance; Carol Follette invited Carolyn Stark, Rosa Gomez, Shala Khaleghi and Athena Tidwell; Bill Frank, Gail Thomas; Alan Glick, Pearl Pearns; Jack Gregory, Sherry Raetz; Greg Hargrave brought Carol Macdonald; Bob Klein, Jerrie Ortega; Dick Lawrence, Chris Vanderweele; Frank Lavac, Carrie Bagshaw; Steve Litvack his better half Gail; Tom Loo, Mary Hong; Larry Maher, Tke Adams and Andrea Domingo; Monte Herring, Elizabeth Goldbeck; Dee Menzies, Ken Parr, Karen Kramer and Joan Holiday; John Pacheco, Marian Blount (guess John got the right date this time, huh) and Victoria Mendoza; Sally Pai, Anesha Henry; Fred Rafeedie, Charlotte VanBuren, Bob Trimborn, Stella Diaz; Scott Wagenseller, Nancy Brown; Monika White brought Teresa Modnick and Vienna Hays; Allan Young shared the day with Lauren Savage; and I brought my Assistant Director, Kevin McNulty. If I left someone out … I am sorry, we’re glad you were there too.
Our dear sweet Lionel wrote “My Secretary” and shared it with a dedication to us all. It went something like this:
“I met my secretary August 25, 1951. She being very young was then unaware of the bright future as an executive secretary and administrative assistant, which she would soon be assuming. We defined and outlined the duties, burdens and responsibilities, benefits and privileges, as well as compensation and contractual obligations.
We also discussed such things as service above self, punctuality, absenteeism, tardiness, high expectations and so on. With this understood we began our journey.
It has truly been an exciting experience and we have adjusted very well into a comfortable routine dealing with our daily tasks. For example, each day we regularly take time for our morning coffee, lunch and afternoon tea, which is punctually served by me at 9AM, 12 noon and 3PM respectively. As for all that other stuff in the forgoing paragraph … forget it, it’s not that important.
What I have mainly learned from this experience during the 54 years of continuous education at my workplace is that my secretary likes her coffee with cream, a light soup and sandwich for lunch and English tea with cookies for the afternoon snack served by guess who. Her last task every Friday by noon is to make reservations for dinner that evening.
Incidentally, I am proud to say Elza has taught me to type 32 words per minutes and thank God for spell check.”
Lionel – Administrative Assistant
P.S. Elza told me that this entire story is not exactly true …
She prefers, the healthier, nonfat milk with her coffee instead of cream.
California Wine Alert: California vintners in the Napa Valley area, which primarily produces Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio wines, have developed a new hybrid grape that acts as an anti-diuretic. It is expected to reduce the number of trips older people have to make to the bathroom during the night. The new wine will be marketed as Pino More.
The fifteen charter members were: Jack H. Kirkpatrick, President: Joe C. Gilbert, Vice President: Ernest L. English, Secretary: Ted Fach, Treasurer; Russell K. Hart, Neil Nettleship, & Theodore D. Plumer, Directors: and members Oscar A. Anderson, Sam V. Carlisle, Len J. Murray, Dick Neelands, Roland Speers, W.H.L. Symington, J. Walter Todd, and Harry B. Wilson. Within a few weeks Kirkpatrick resigned as president due to his relocation to Ukiah, and Joe C. Gilbert succeeded him.
Since its inception our club has met at several locations, including the original Santa Monica Athletic Club at 1441 Ocean Front, the Uplifters Ranch in Santa Monica Canyon, the Brentwood Country Club and the Miramar Hotel. In 1977, during the presidency of Ed Rafeedie, the club began meeting at the Riviera Country club in Pacific Palisades.
Our club has sponsored two other clubs in our district: the Westwood Village Club in 1929 and the L.A. Westside Sunrise Club in 1988. In 1955 John English, son of founder Ernest L. English and our President in 1947‑48, was elected governor of our district. He also served a partial term as governor in 1958 following the death of the incumbent. In 1988 Archie Morrison, our President in 1982‑83, became our club's second district governor. Our district, originally designated as number 23, has also been designated numbers 2 and 528, prior to the current 5280.
In 1967 we established two scholarships at Santa Monica High School in honor of past president Russell Hart and one at St. Monica's in honor of past president Tom Fox. In 1982 we established a scholarship at Santa Monica College in honor of past vice‑president Nick Holt and a scholarship at Olympic High School in honor of John English. In 1983 under President Dick Rice we established two vocational scholarships at Santa Monica College, which are funded by our host/hostess parties and named in honor of Archie Morrison.
On the occasion of our 50th anniversary, during the presidency of J. Scott King, we established the Santa Monica Rotary Foundation with an initial value of $50,000 to provide capital funds for worthwhile charitable projects in our community. A highlight of our 60th anniversary in 1982 was the adoption of our new club logo, designed by Spyros Delaportas. Four years later, following changes in the bylaws of Rotary International, our club inducted Esther Johnson as the first woman member of Rotary. The following year in Munich, Germany, Esther became the first woman delegate to a Rotary International convention. Thank God for Esther!
It is always sad to say goodbye … Dr. A. Ewing Konold, husband of 73 years to Hazel Jane Bragg Konold passed away peacefully April 17, 2005 at the age of 95 in Ojai, California. He was a man with a passion for education and dedicated his life to helping others.
Born June 7, 1909 in Pasadena, California Ewing he attended Pasadena High School. He received an A.B. and LL.D. from Chapman University, a M.S. from the University of Southern California, and an Ed.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was education director of the Civilian Conservation Corp, vice principal of Alhambra High School, principal of Santa Monica High School, chairman of Education and special assistant to the president at San Fernando Valley State College which later became Cal State University, Northridge. Dr. Konold was a member of the California Teachers Association, National Educators Association, Parent Teachers Association, Philharmonic Artists Association, Scholastic Sports Association, Phi Delta Kappa and Alpha Phi Gamma. He served as past president of Santa Monica Rotary and was an avid Ham radio operator for many years.
Ewing Konold was a dedicated father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He is survived by his loving wife, Hazel, his daughters, Elizabeth and Carole, 4 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. His brothers, Bill and Evan, preceded him in death. He was always there to lend support to his family and friends, and will remain an inspiration to us all.
There will be a private service for family. Memorial donations may be made to the Konold Scholarship Fund (SAA), c/o SamoHi Alumni Association, 527-21st Place, Santa Monica, CA 90402.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
April 28 – May 1, 2005 District Conference Palm Springs
April 29 Stepping up to the Plate David Closer
June 10 The Governor’s Reform Agenda Billie Greer
Respectfully Submitted … RoseMary Regalbuto
