Bulletins - 2009 - 01/21/2009
This
Week's Bulletin Was Written
By Karny Stefan
Dave McKee gave an Invocation and included our hope for the new White House Administration followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to our Flag lead by Paul Downey, and Jim Mulvaney and Linda Jalving lead us in singing Zippity Do Dah.
A few brags were shared and fees paid including:
Karny Stefan will be on Fox 5 tomorrow between 7:30 and 8:00am talking about adoption of special needs foster children; Heather Xitco shared that we missed a great jewelry party and that she had a house and a car for sale; Joe Ciokin, our in-resident true patriot, reminded us that the Navy is hard at work with three carriers in port, the USS Lincoln, the USS Ronald Reagan, and the USS Nimitz. George Mullen was fined for his latest article to be published calling him Mr. Nobody who predicted the economic crisis in his 2005 and 2006 UT articles; Maureen Eberle, patron saint of Rotary, thanked everyone for a very successful Rotary Gala, and noted that the San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary beat the upstart La Jolla Golden Triangle for attendance. Truly, the rivalry was all for the joy of raising money to help the world; And of course, it’s not a Rotary meeting unless Gary Green “outs” someone, so we learned that our 3rd Rotary couple has been married and there is a 4th in the works. Yes, he always pays a very generous fine for his chuckles.
The San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary Club was filled with luminaries. Special guests included: Past Rotary International President Wilf Wilkerson; Past Rotary International Director John Germ; Past Rotary International Director Ron Beaubien (Coronado Rotary); Current District Governor Pam Russell; Past District Governor Jim O’Meara; and two District Governors from Malaysia Leslie Salekoddon and Latid Sarrugi.
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It was announced that there will be a District Council Dinner on February 10th. The topic will be the History of Rotary District 5340.
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Rotary International’s World Understanding Month is February, and Club Peace Chair Sandra Schrift has organized a terrific line up of speakers starting with Pat Cowett and herself reporting on their Rotary trip to Ecuador. Week two will be two Ambassadorial Scholars from China and Korea. Week three will be Restoration International, an agency working against slave trafficking in Uganda. Week four will be Dr. Heidi Kraft talking about her experiences in Iraq.
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On February 25th, the San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary will also present its 3rd annual Peacemaker Award … and we will be blessed to have a San Diego legend in our midst as our honoree. Yes, Sandra is keeping it a secret!
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Scott Carr announced the date of the spring fundraiser which will be held on April 18 at the Elektra building in downtown. More details to come.
 Foundation Chair Mike Whitehurst presented several Paul Harris Fellows. It was a particularly wonderful treat for the recipients who received their medals from Past Rotary International President Wilf Wilkerson. Awardees included:
Karen & Gary Green’s grandchildren: Jackson who shared with us that there are “1.2 million” Rotarians in the world, Braiden who shared that the motto of Rotary is “service above self” and Hudson who Gary swore named him “best grandpa”. I guess you needed to be sitting in the front row to hear the little toddler share that accolade.
 Other Paul Harris Fellow recipients included: Paul Downey, Lucy Killea, Mike Whitehurst, Jim Lauth, Linda Jalving, Scott Carr, and Don Lang.
Other Rotarians honored for giving $1,000 annually to Rotary Foundation included: Mel Gallegos, Jeanne Merrill, Jonathan Stone, and Martin Blair.
Jim O’Meara came to the podium to introduce our illustrious speaker Past Rotary International President Wilf Wilkerson. Mr. Wilkerson Rotary resume was so impressive that just the highlights could awe every member present. From the Trenton, Ontario Canada Rotary Club, Mr. Wilkerson has served as a District Governor (1971-72), a Rotary International Director (1992-94), a Vice President of Rotary International (1993-94), a Rotary Foundation Trustee (1997-2001 and 2002-04), chair of the Centennial committee, and President (2007-08). He had more honors and awards than you can imagine including being honored by the Pope in 2001 with the Ecclesiastic Pontifica Medal. And so, PRIP Wilf Wilkerson took the podium.
 Mr. Wilkerson shared about the meaning of the Paul Harris Fellows and congratulated all who were honored today. He also talked about the upcoming international conventions – Birmingham in 2009, and back in Canada in 2010 for the 100th Anniversary of Rotary in Canada. In 1964, he attended his first International Convention in Toronto and that was when he saw what Rotary was all about. He was hooked. The great international speakers included a Nobel Lauriat who was working for peace in Gaza who said, “You can’t have peace until people meet one another.” And at that time, it was the middle of the Cold War and there were no Rotary Clubs in Russia. Look at the difference today!
Mr. Wilkerson also shared his experience meeting Pakistani President Mushareff who honored Rotary for its humanitarian efforts. That year, Mr. Wilkerson cut the ribbon on the first of seven schools Rotary was building in Pakistan. Through Rotary, he also met the newest Pope Benedict and the Turkish leader at the palace in Istanbul.
Other great Rotary successes include the $100,000,000 gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
His closing remarks were the most poignant, when he talked about Rotary being in 200 countries, has 1.2 million members, including men and women, and Rotarians represent all faiths and all creeds. He said, “All the world need to achieve peace is more Rotarians.” What more could be said … Mel adjourned the meeting.
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