Bulletins - 2007 - 06/06/2007
This
Week's Bulletin Was Written
By Carrie Leising
Jonathan Stone greeted everyone at the door for a good a cause. Instead of the usual raffle item, Rotarians were asked to donate to “build a back pack” for wounded warriors. The group raised over $800! Dave McKee started our meeting with the pledge of allegiance and Rosalie Kramm with Craig Choy, the guitar-playing dude, sang "Downtown".
Rosalie Kramm announced many birthdays and other kudos. Let’s see if all of the bragging rights are remembered correctly….
It was announced that Nancy Vaughan can network her printer to behave without wires (hence the notion of “wireless) throughout her home….Gary Green auctioned off Mulvaney cookies to Dave Ferguson….Frank De Francesco sold a batch of rather large cucumbers to Margaret Opplinger. …Leah Swearingen Millett told us all a terrific story about paying a $300 parking fine at last week’s Rotary meeting. You had to be there! …Maureen Eberle gave us an update on Sailay Siddiqi, a medical student from Afghanistan who’s pursuing her dream to become a cardiac surgeon…. Ron Erbetta said a few words about last week’s meeting and how honored he was about the award that he received. He asked all veterans to please stand as we applauded their efforts too…Alex Kwoka gave us an update on Community Housing Works and the recent award for the #1 “green” building of the year….Jonathan Stone’s mother’s blood infection is now stable…Carol Jensen announced the district council meeting next week…. That’s all folks!
Paul Marsh filled in for Pete McGuire and did a great job of announcing our many guests, including three wounded warriors from recent tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
- Mary Dawe announced that our scholarship program has given four, $500 scholarships.
- Bobbi Spinner-Flack and Steve Seligmann gave $1,000 to the Rotaract Club for their Ace of Hearts event next Friday. Ace of Hearts is a fundraiser for Father Joe’s Villages.
 George Mullen and James Mulvaney introduced Craig Choy coming back to the club. Craig graciously accepted by busting out the guitar and singing, “WHOaaaa, Whoaaaa, WHoaaa!”
Lucy Killea introduced Sheila Hardin into the club. Sheila said a few words and was especially moved by the song of the day, “Downtown” since she loves living in downtown San Diego.
 George Mullen traded badges with Gary McElroy, now a proud blue-badger.
Dave Ferguson, Gary Green and Jonathan Stone gave an update on our upcoming Sixth Annual Golf Tournament, Holes fore, ahem, for Heroes. Dave asked all of the three wounded warriors to stand and thank them for their services. They have raised over $33,000 in sponsorships but need more!
 Finally, we heard our Speaker of the Week. Stacy Jer, a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, who was appropriately dressed in lovely blue and yellow, Rotary-fabric attire. Stacy has been on our agenda for a year and a half and we have all been waiting to hear about her experiences abroad. Stacy studied in a little country in Africa, called Ghana, thanks to her scholarship opportunity from Rotary. This UCSD student from Los Angeles studied Sociology in Accra, Ghana, Africa, at the University of Ghana and learned many valuable lessons. Stacy gave a stunning PowerPoint/slide show of her experience in Ghana. Thanks to her thought-provoking show, we can all now say that we know where Ghana is in Africa based on the maps and arrows. Stacy’s pictures also showed an eye-opening, cultural experience. Ghanaians’ lifestyle included pictures of Stacy’s version of “window shopping” (peddlers pressed against the car windows in hopes to sell their wares), “the Barnes and Noble” (a shack that sells books), and “Dinner” (an un-appetizing first meal). Pictures also included her fellow Ghanaian Rotarians, friends, host family, and children she befriended.
Stacy imparted precious wisdom that included the following guidelines:
--be a responsible tourist
--support people not buildings
--We make a living by what we earn. We make a life by what we give.
Many thanks to Stacy for an interesting and informative talk. We applaud her for taking the chance to try a new experience through Rotary’s Ambassadorial Scholarship program and come back an improved human being.
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