In the Beginning…
President Cheree rang in the New Year and welcomed an overflowing crowd of Rotarians and guests “to the best Rotary Club I know.” She then invited Bob Davis to lead us in the flag salute and Michael Scar to give an Invocation. After Tony Thacher told us of the additional baseball equipment he is sending to Cuba (and asked us to endorse baseball gloves after the meeting) President Cheree recessed the meeting for lunch – asking that we escort our guests to the buffet table.
Appreciation…
When she resumed the meeting President Cheree invited everyone to continue with lunch while she thanked Fred Coleman and Bill Prather for room setup, Don Reed for Desk Duty, Bryant Huber for A/V setup, Suzanne Scar for serving as our Greeter, Bob for the flag salute, Michael for the invocation, Tara Saylor for chaperoning the roving mike, Judy Gabriel and Ray Powers for serving as our Fine Masters, Carl Gross for continuing to serve as our photographer extraordinaire, your obedient servant as the Reminder Editor, and – most of all – Ginger, for our lunch and her continued good cheer.
Welcomes…
President Deirdre then welcomed our many guests – including my beloved special guest, Suzanne Gilbreth – and made the following announcements:
Announcements…
- Thanked Betsy Watson and her Committee, Suzanne Gilbreth and her fellow musicians, and the many others who made our recent Holiday Party such an enormous success;
- Called upon the undersigned to describe this month’s upcoming programs;
- Invited Tony Thacher to elaborate on his imminent shipment of additional baseball equipment to Cuba; and
- Recognized Don Reed as last month’s Rotarian of the Month.
Student of The Month…
After a thoughtful introduction by her Meiners Oaks teacher, Richard Bird, fifth grader Shaelyn Weston was honored as our Student of the Month.
Blue Badge Presentations…
To rousing applause, and a standing ovation, Membership Committee Co-chairs Deirdre Daly and Jack Jacobs presented Blue Badges to Kathy Yee and Brian Berman.
Fining…
Judy Gabriel and Ray Powers then took the podium as joint Fine Masters – to less than thunderous applause – and, with Tara Saylor as the bearer of their bag, extracted sorely needed coin with a series of questions concerning the Peace movement.
The Program…
After an effusive introduction by Bret Bradigan, our
spellbinding speaker, Film Producer, and fellow-Ojai resident, Howard Winchel Koch, Jr. a/k/a “Hawk”, regaled us with a series of hugely entertaining, stories keyed to such themes as:
- Have fun;
- Primal screams;
- Do something that matters;
- Show up;
- Live your dream;
- Have Courage; and
- “Magic Time”.
[For an explanation of the last theme I refer the reader to Hawk’s recent book, “Magic Time, My Life in Hollywood”, which he co-authored with his wife for life, Molly Jordon.]
Closing….
President Cheree concluded the meeting by warmly thanking Hawk, presenting him with our traditional Speaker’s gift of Ojai’s Pixie Tangerines, and gaveling the meeting to a close at 1:30.
