Bulletins - 2008 - 04/15/2009
This
Week's Bulletin Was Written
By Jenny K. Goodman
Tanya Reid provided the invocation this morning and Jim Hester lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Linda Jalving conducted us in singing "Grand Ole Flag" which is always a club favorite. President Mel Gallegos read us a lovely card we received from Sandy Erbetta thanking us for our support after the loss of Ron and hopes that we will come visit if we are ever in Marblehead.
Tanya Reid got two chances to draw the purple marble and came up with nothing. She also thanked Karen Green for helping her buy property in Little Italy. Heather Xitco bragged that her new house was almost finished. The Greens announced an upcoming three week trip they were taking to Cambodia, Thailand and Hong Kong. Jim Hester celebrated his 19th wedding anniversary. Brad Leitch celebrated his first anniversary with his lovely bride. Karny Stefan bragged about connecting with her half sister whom she did not know had existed until recently. Jai paid a fine after completing a month long trip to Israel, Jordan and Eygpt. Sandra Schrift announced she was housing kids from Israel and Palenstine for three weeks as part of the Pathways to Peace program. Dr. Steve Tornay thanked Mel for introducing him to fellow Rotarians and for buying him a beer. Steve Seligman spent a fun weekend with his grandkids. Paul Marsh bragged about the police and fireman football team kicking teh L.A. team's butts even though San Diego's QB broke his arm.
We had Rotarians from the La Jolla Golden Triangle club in attendance this morning. Alex Montaya, Director the Pennisula YMCA also visited us. Jack Gilbert came to say his good-byes to the club before he moves away. We'll miss you Jack! Amanda from Rotaract joined us as well. Many Rotary spouses were in the house today too.
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Amanda announced Rotaract's annual Ace of Hearts fundraiser will be May 16th at the Maritime Museam. Tickets are available on their website. www.sandiegorotaract.org.
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Scott Carr proclaimed that the Speakeasy website was now active. Chris Jacobs reported on items donated so far and although we are half way to our goal, time is running out. There are many great auction items so get out your checkbooks!
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Jonathon Stone reminded everyone of the upcoming wine tasting at the Chapman Collection and also reported on his fun weekend at RYLA.
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Alex Kwoka asked for volunteers to help Gidget Rangel with water stations for her practice runs for the Rock and Roll Marathon.
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Mel Gallegos sent around sign-up sheets for Vocational Services Day on May 6th. Reminder: WE WILL BE DARK ON THAT DAY. Sign up for one of four alternative sites.
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Jack Gilbert said his farewells before he moves to Phoenix to be on teh faculty at Arizona St. He thanked us for the opportunity for fellowship and service.
 Larry Nuffer presented Alex Montoya with a Paul Harris Fellow. Alex was a former speaker for Rotary and has been very active with Rotary events. Alex, a triple amputee, is currently the Director of Latino Relations for the Padres. He has been an Olympic torch runner and speaks at RYLA each year about perserverance.
 Joe Marshall introduced Professor Carr Ferguson. He and Prof. Ferguson play golf every Saturday with Gary Green and Pat Cowett's husband, Michael. They are long-time friends. Prof. Ferguson teaches taxation of estates and trusts. He acknowledged that a tax lawyer doesn't necessarily know anything about the economy. He told us the story of when he bought some vacant property next to his lake house as an illustration of how the banks have gotten themselves into a bind. He noticed that his mortgage documents had an assignment clause in them which he objected to and when he asked the lender about it, they assured him that they had no intention of selling his loan because he was a good risk. Instead, they told him they only sold their high risk loans to collateralized mortgage orginizations. The CMO's then basically slice and dice the loan packages and sell them off to the point where eventually there were eight times the number of defaults than there were mortgages. When the real estate souffle deflated, the CMO's just folded up and now banks don't even necessarily own the houses. Banks are currently holding on and Wells Fargo is posting record returns. Cautious banking is the best approach and lending is starting to ease up a bit. Judgment about credit is the heart of banking. W
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