March 2, 2005

This week’s Bulletin was written by Jennie Goodman

THIS WEEK’S MEETING

Call to Order:  President Ron Erbetta called the 32nd meeting of the Downtown San Diego Rotary to order.  Mr. Erbetta, towering over the group on his new dais, noted there were only 17 more meetings before the highly energized Maureen Eberle begins her tenure as president.  Mr. Erbetta singled out Carol Jensen and the Centennial Committee for their fun and informative Centennial Program at the last meeting.  Club 33’s Centennial Program which Mr. Ebertta also attended dulled in comparison. 

Invocation/Pledge:  Dave Dawson gave both the pledge and the invocation in reverse order confusing many in the process who are used to a particular schedule of events.  Mr. Dawson selected several quotes to read including one from Jack Herbert which implies that one with a chip on his shoulder has wood higher up.  Could this account for the mix-up in the pledge and invocation this morning? 

Song of the Day:  Led by Linda Jalving and Jim “On this Note” Mulvaney, the group gave a rousing rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”  The group is clearly ready for the Padres outing planned for April 8, 2005 (see below). 

Presentations

David McKee and Alexandra Kwoka were both presented with Paul Harris Fellowship awards.  Congratulations to both of them and for those of us who remained sitting while the rest of the Paul Harris Fellows stretched their legs, its time to pony up!  Remember, if you contribute any money between now and June 30, 2005, the club will match your donation. 

A little club housekeeping also resulted in the presentation of many jewels to Martin Blair.  Mr. Blair received his 2, 3, 4, and 5 Sapphire Pin as well as his Ruby pin recognizing his generous financial contributions. 

Last, but not least, the club presented Joe Cioken with a $1000.00 check to help offset the loss of funding for the All Navy Judo Team. 

Announcements

Ø      Padres tickets for the April 8th game are available in limited quantity on a first-come, first-served basis (limit two per member).  A pre-game social at Kansas City BBQ is also planned.  Tickets are $20.00 each.

Ø      After well-deserved mutual accolades between Ron Erbetta and Maureen Erberle for their work as president of the group, Ms. Eberle announced the new board and committee chairs as follows:

President-Elect:  Carol Jensen
Secretaries:  Linda Jalving and Eileen Henesey
Treasurer:  Don Lang (didn’t he know this was a lifetime appointment?)
Sgt at Arms:  Larry Nuffer
International Services Co-Chairs:  Steve Waterman and Lynn Hamilton
Community Services:  Bobbi Spinner-Flack and Mike Whitehurst
Youth Services:  Bill Poirier
Vocational Services:  Margaret Oppliger
Bulletin Editor in Chief:  Tom Sayer
Fundraiser Chair:  Steve Espino and Joe Marshall
Golf Tournament Chair:  Melissa Blackburn and Eileen Henesey
Membership Chair:  Jay Sener
Military Liason:  Joe Ciokon
Program Chair:  Nancy Vaughan
Public Relations Co-Chairs:  Leah Swearingen-Millet and Rosalie Kramm
Rotaract Chair:  Martin Blair
RYLA:  Heather Xitco
Website Chair: Scott Carr

There are still plenty of opportunities for members to get involved in committees so contact any of the above individuals to discuss your specific interests.

Ø      March is Preventing Blindness Month.  If you have any useable eyeglasses, please bring them to our next few meetings so they can be recycled and used by others. 

Ø      Fundraiser Update:  There is one more month to donate items for the silent auction.  Our goal is to have each member donate at least one item which can be a service as well as a tangible product.  Be creative.  Corporate sponsorships are also available with just under $7000 pledged so far. 

Ø      Humane Society Telethon Volunteers:  Report for duty at the Humane Society on Gaines Street at 12:15.  We will handle the phones from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. 

Ø      KUSI will be presenting a program on Affordable Housing on Thursday, March 3, 2005 at 9:00 p.m. for anyone interested.  This program has a tie-in to the Senior Community Center. 

Sgt. At Arms

Ø      Mike Gilligan must have been in a good mood this morning as fines were minimal.  George   was fined for his recent birthday and Pete McGuire was fined for reporting his son Daniel finished well in a Masters Competition for wrestling.    The Progressive Card Game rolls over to another week.  The pool is getting interesting as odds of winning increase.  Cynthia Sener’s heart stopped for a brief second when she pulled a 3 of Clubs.  Sorry, Cynthia, right number, right color, wrong suit.

Centennial Moment

Mr. Erbetta discussed the origin of the slogan “Service above Self” which apparently got its beginnings in 1911 when the then General Secretary used the phrase, “Service, not Self” in a speech.  Around this time Rotary was expanding to Great Britain and Ireland. 

Program

Norm Manson and Ken Colclasure from the San Diego Automotive Museum made an informative presentation on the development and history of the automobile in America and its economic and social impacts.  We have gone from a society in which the main mode of transportation was horses to over 133 Million autos.  While today we are worried about pollution from cars, in the early 1900’s, citizens were worried about the impact of the “emissions” from the hundreds of thousands of horses which traversed the cities daily.  The Oldsmobile was the first mass produced automobile thanks in large part to Henry Leland who introduced the concept of interchangeable parts.  Originally an automobile was considered a luxury item for the adventurous rich considering the fact an automobile cost approximately $800.00 and the average wages of most workers was less than $5.00 per day.  The earliest automobiles were unreliable and often broken down and required the old steadfast horse to pull it out of trouble.  Perhaps this is where the term “horsepower” actually derives.  Not surprisingly, women drivers helped change the “for the rich only” mentality when they began driving as well.  Alice Ramsey is credited with being one of the first to drive across the country, doing so in a mere 50 days, over undeveloped territory.  The automotive industry helped spurn the development of the National Highway System as well as supporting service industries such as gas stations, restaurants and motels.  Other important eras in the development of the automobile include the post-World War II era when demand was high and the 1970’s when the oil shortage became a wake up call to begin developing better fuel efficiency and alternatives to using oil.  The museum has a lot of different exhibits and this interesting history can be reviewed in more detail at the museum.  After the meeting I jumped into my SUV and drove well paved streets to my office and contemplated how different life had been without automobiles.  One wonders where the industry will go in this next century. 

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