The elegant Casa del Mar Hotel, on the shore in Santa Monica, will never be the same for over 175 Rotarians and guests who came to celebrate the Club's 80th anniversary. President Hal Quigley wanted a party and he got a gala event. The setting was a '20s night club, down to the music, candlelit centerpieces, entertainment and cigars. (Chocolate, of course.) Ladies received pearls when they arrived and men pinned on boutonnières. The Club was graced with the presence of District Governor Len Wasserstein and his assistant, Carmela Raack and her husband Jim. Highlights of the event were the unique performances of talented members.
The Club's 80th Birthday Party at the Hotel Casa Del Mar held Friday night 2/1/02 was a blast!
Special thanks goes to the following:
| Klaus Mennekes for his assistance with the catering. Klaus, is it true that two Rotary members spent the night of the party in the Presidential Suite? |
| Diane Margolin, party planner extraordinaire |
| VP in charge of programs and Master of Ceremonies George Collins |
| Erik Jorgensborg, director in charge of the event |
| Paul Gaulke and his wife, Jennifer, club history display (See picture below) |
| Jim Haljun, for his presentation of the history of Santa Monica through a slide show program |
| Rosemary Regalbuto, Lionel Ruhman, and Bill Bullock, who greeted the guests |
| Sara Frank, Barry Bouley, and Steve Eorio, who helped with the set up |
| Steve Litvack, who did the program |
| Barbara Hopper, for coordinating reservations, and adding sex appeal with her flapper outfit. |
We give hats off to the Rotary Players:
| Bill Werner, on the harmonica |
| Greg Hargrave, juggling |
| Monika White, playing the spoons accompanied on the harmonica by her husband, Roger Goodman |
| Joyce Khoury, rollerblading |
| Bill Hunt, one-man band |
| Carol Jackson, tap dancing. |
George Collins is quoted as saying "You all have great talent, but keep your day job."
Our Roving Photographers caught some great pictures of a night that will go down in Rotary Club of Santa Monica history. (Click on the smaller pictures below to see the full size picture, then click on your browser's back button to come back to this page)
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Thank you Chair Person Diane Margolin for the awesome job! Diane shows us the 80 year history display of our Club. |
| President Hal Quigley shown here with his wife Kai-Li. Hal is posing to show all future presidents of the club the proper presidential attire. |
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Pictured is Master of Ceremonies George Collins. George is
not only a great attorney, he is a great talent scout. He single-handedly
recruited 6 of the best SM Rotary talent to perform for us. |
| What an elegant dinner ! | |
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Jim Dyer leads his table in a toast to the Rotary Club of Santa Monica. He wishes us success for the next 80 years! |
| Mr. Insurance Bob Gabriel shown with his wife, Louise. |
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Larry and Brenda Maher love Barbara Hopper's official "Flapper outfit". Barbara tells me she is looking for a head to toe picture of her outfit so she can email a copy to her sister. |
| Well Barbara, thanks to Radomir Samardzic we found that picture. Tell your sister all she has to do now is to log on to the Rotary Club of Santa Monica Web Site to see a "head to toe" picture of her good looking sister! |  |
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Another toast from Bill Dowling, Henry Alcantar, and Phil Whiting |
| Lionel "Clark Kent" Ruhman is shown with his wife. Lionel does an outstanding job as the Co-Editor of our weekly newsletter. |
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Click here for our Entertainers and member theme pictures
