ISSUE NO. 17 December 16, 2003 OUR 82nd YEAR
www.RotaryClubofSantaMonica.org
MONSIGNORS AND MENTORS
This week MONSIGNOR LLOYD TORGERSON giving the invocation. He was kept company by SUSAN ANNETT as this weeks new member. JIM WESTBROOK found our visitors and guests and welcomed them. And that professorial mentor maestro WILLIAM CROOKSTON introduced us to our main speaker, the erudite and enchanting SHARONA JUSTMAN who gave us a brief history of Presidential Impact.
Putting into perspective the long term effects of such Presidential Acts as the Louisiana Purchase, actually explaining the Monroe doctrine and clarifying Lincoln’s position on the effect of joining the Union, Ms. Justman gave a context within which all these acts happened and their effect on the country.
ELECTION RESULTS ARE OUT
DR. DICK RICE, presented the club with its new leadership for the 2004/2005 year. I can find only one discernable common trait among this years leaders, dedication. This year we have, again, a man of charm and grace ALONZO HILL, and a lady who brings a rose garden with her wherever she lights, ROSEMARY REGALBUTO as the Holdover Directors from last year. Our One Year Directors are KEITH MAGEE AND CLYDE SMITH, who are joined by STEVE ALEXIS and IAO KATIGIRI as the Two Year Directors. The money this year is being counted by man who is very familiar with cash, banker BARRY BOULEY. This year our resident scribe, ( no, not me!) is going to be the club Secretary DIANE MARGOLIN. Giving the President Elect LIONEL RUHMAN some help this year are Vice Presidents (Who’s got the cigars?) JONATHAN KEMP and HANK WALTHER. And in the wings for 2005/2006 year is President – Elect Designate PAUL LEONI, (That must be the longest title in Rotary!)
Congratulations to all of you, you ran clean campaigns and we are proud to look to you as the leaders of tomorrow.
STATE OF THE CLUB
The club has money, we have more members than last year, and if you want more information you should track down HANK WALTHER, who is this years treasurer and he will gladly fill in the blanks.
CALLING ALL CALLERS
The club is collecting all your old cellular phones. They are collected, refurbished and reprogrammed for distribution to women and children in emergency situations as 911 direct link phones. This is a worthy cause and I’m certain that most members of this club must have some old phones collecting dust, and a few newer ones that should, particularly during the speakers time.
CELL-PHONE COURTESY
The club’s Board has instituted a mandatory fine for any phone that goes off during a meeting audibly. AND OBVIOUSLY SOMEONE DIDN’T GET THE MESSAGE!!
At last weeks meeting a cell phone went off. Now I can understand that perhaps one of our members was unaware of the fact that it is the clubs rule that cell phones should be turned off during the meeting, or at least to vibrate. So if the phone goes off once, so be it, answer the phone, or shut it off. HOWEVER, last week the offending party allowed the bloody convenience machine to continue to ring, not once, twice, thrice, four times, but FIVE TIMES.
Now I am not the arbiter of club etiquette by any stretch of the imagination, and far be for me to decide how others should act in general, but seriously, to let your phone ring through to voicemail is simply rude to the speaker. They come to share their time and their knowledge with us. The least we can do is to be polite.
If you have a cell phone, and you are so important that you simply cannot go without it for the one and one half hours of our lunch meeting, put it on vibrate, set it to ring once, but please be considerate of the speaker and your fellow members. It was quite embarrassing for all of us to hear that phone continue to ring through the speakers presentation.
Okay, I’m done ranting about it.
NORTH POLE VISITOR
Our PresiDEEnt has announced that this Friday, we can expect a certain red-suited gentleman with a big jolly belly to join us and have presents for the shorter folks in the audience. Please bring those children and grandchildren for our annual Christmas Meeting. If you RSVP to JUNE, our club secretary, you might find that the Fat Man has something for your guests.
DAVID’S DOODLINGS
Okay, I’m not done. It really is rude to the other guests, the speaker, it is an affront to the respect we should accord our President and the Program Chair, and the many people who work hard to put on these weekly meetings. A phone is a tool, I would no more expect to see a contractor come in with a chainsaw to cut his meat or a reporter with a notebook computer to clicketty clacketty their way through a meeting than I would expect to see a lawyer chatting away on their phone in the room, or a realtor taking that all important escrow call, or a business manager chewing out an employee. And frankly it is the rudest thing possible to let it just ring itself off. It is simply rude and ill-mannered to behave that way in this room, with these people at this time. If your job is that important, that you have to be in contact that much, then you should take the responsibility for properly using your phone in as discrete a manner as possible. I leave mine in the car on purpose, no one needs me so much that I can’t take two hours on Friday off from the phone. Thank you. I feel so much better. Now I’m done. Really.