April 20, 2005

This week’s Bulletin was written by Tom Sayer

Vocational Services Day

There was no formal meeting today – instead we met at four separate venues described below.

Announcements

Ø      April 23rd: Rebuilding Together Project.  This Saturday April 23rd is our BIG Event. Rotary Club and Rebuilding Together will rebuild Everlena McNelty's home. We will meet at the Old Town Trolley parking lot to carpool at 7am in the morning on Saturday morning. Work begins just before 8am at Everlena's home.  If anyone has questions or concerns, please contact David Dawson asap at 858-336-2112.

 

Ø      April 23rd Fundraiser.  As all of you know, our Club's Annual Fundraiser is this coming Saturday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m. aboard the Midway.  If you have not RSVP'd yet, please contact Carol Jensen immediately at JENSENCM@aol.com.    Here are a few other key points to keep in mind:

ü                  Our theme is  "A 1940's Night at the Midway Dance Hall".  The USS Midway will be decorated in the spirit of a World War II "USO-style" dance hall.  We encourage you and your guests to dress in 1940's attire.  However, casual business or cocktail attire is perfectly fine.  There is still time if you are interested in renting a 1940's costumes for the event.  Run (don't walk!) to Buffalo Breath if you want to do so.  Buffalo Breath is offering a 10% discount.  Here is their website for more information: www.buffalobreath.com.

ü                  We strongly encourage everyone to arrive at 6:30 p.m. promptly  --  the Silent Auction tables will be open and complimentary wine will be served!  We will also have Flight Simulators available for you to launch, complete dogfight missions, and land aboard the carrier with Mach Combat F-8 and F-4 phantoms!  Tickets are $10 each for the Flight Simulators.  Please note that the Flight Simulators will only be open for 2 hours, so plan to arrive early and reserve a timeslot!

ü                  Please remember to dress warmly.  The hangar deck (interior deck) of the Midway gets quite cool in the evenings, and we hear there is a chance of rain forecast for Saturday evening.  Our event is entirely indoors--so you won't get wet.  But the Midway's elevator bays will be open and it will be a bit chilly.  Also, for safety reasons, please remember to wear flat shoes.

ü                  In lieu of his "Centennial Moment" this week, here is Ron Erbetta's "History Moment" . . .Women in the 1940's didn't wear nylon hosiery because all of their nylons were donated to the war effort.  So, most of the women wore Bobby Sox with their dresses.  Maybe this isn't a bad idea for this coming Saturday to keep warm aboard the Midway! **  :-)

ü                  Parking is on your own.  There is a large parking lot next to the Midway on Navy Pier.  The cost is $5 on weekends.  If you need more information on the Midway before our event on Saturday go to:  www.midway.org.

ü                  Be prepared for an INCREDIBLE array of Silent & Live Auction items!  We will also have live vintage music by the Phil Shopoff Quintet.

ü                  On behalf of the entire Annual Fundraiser Committee, we look forward to seeing you on Saturday!

Hall of Justice

Scribed by Larry Nuffer – 4-20-05

Our gracious host was the Honorable Patricia Cowett.  Here are few things we learned about our Superior Court system:  San Diego now has the 3rd largest trial court system in the nation, behind L.A. and Chicago.  10 facilities throughout San Diego County, 1,600 employees, a $200 million annual budget.  Filings were up 7% this past year; felonies up 10%.  The courts have one of the largest child care systems in the area; 17,000 kids use the waiting rooms while their relatives are in court for jury duty or other reasons.  Jury Commissioner Neal Methvin said that Superior Court calls over 1 million people a year to jury duty.  The average case runs 4.5 days.  Did you know that in civil cases, only 9 of the 12 jurors have to reach consensus?  Court reporter Laura Runyon said you have to be wired a certain way to succeed in her profession; only 1 out of 100 people who attempt to become court reporters in California ever make it.  Accents, soft-speakers, fast-talkers . . . they have to capture and transcribe everything.  How do they manage when so many of us have difficulty simultaneously sipping OJ and paying attention to the Centennial moment each week?  Patty Duke (no, this one’s not two of a kind) told us that providing security to Superior Court is the Sheriff’s Department’s largest contract. 

POLICE STATION

By Nancy Vaughan

On Wednesday, 5 of us had a wonderful, fast paced tour of the San Diego Police station at 14th and Broadway, courtesy of Lou Scanlon, AKA " Chief."  A sixth person tried to join us but it turns out he was there for his polygraph....despite our pleas that we be allowed to give the man his polygraph, Lou sent him around to the main entrance!  We saw the huge facility, top to bottom, including Chief Landsdown's office ( since he was in Palm Springs on a retreat).  The building houses state-of-the-art equipment, an extensive gun collection, a laboratory, an in house television studio, and of course a place to register sex offenders...Lou kept us out of that room for some reason...It was a fascinating morning!  Thank you to Lou and all of America's finest for the wonderful job you do!

CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

By Tom Sayer

Ten of us toured the remarkable Hematology/Oncology Care Center at Children’s Hospital.  This 80-bed facility is the largest pediatric cancer care facility in San Diego and Imperial Counties. A team of highly skilled professionals ensures that families receive the resources they need to cope when a child is diagnosed with cancer.  In addition to chemo treatments, bone marrow transplants, and the host of other medical treatments provided, the facility also tends to the educational, entertainment and social development needs of the kids.  Click here for more information.

Convention Center

By Joe Ciokon

Maureen and her fellow staff members provided an outstanding in-depth briefing and tour of the Convention Center and what it does.  I would like to have her event planning committee on MIDWAY; they are so interconnected and competent.  They impressed upon us the impact their convention and special events scheduling has on the city and port district which has led to the increased development in hotels and condos.  A new Hilton is planned directly adjacent to the Convention Center and a partnership with them and other hotels may be in the offing.  All in all, an eye-opener.

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