Ces Butner, President of Rotary Club of Oakland
Call to Order – Ces Butner
President Ces Butner called our Civic Thursday Zoom meeting to order at 12:30 p.m. noting this is the 5,328th meeting in our 111-year-old Club.
Thought for the day – Gary Flaxman
Gary Flaxman quoted James Baldwin for his thought for the day. Part of the quote included “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed that is not faced” .
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
Past President Ed Jellen was happy to introduce visiting Rotarian Dianne Dorn, a past President of the San Leandro Rotary and guest of Jesse Bowdle. C J Hirschfield hosted Lois Corrin who is considering becoming a member. Bob Peltz brought Linda Peltz, Libbi Peltz and Jay Rosenblatt with him.
Bob Peltz
Member Reintroduction
Jack McAboy reintroduced us to Bob Peltz. Born in Brooklyn, Bob moved to New Jersey in high school and went to college at Rutgers where he was on the tennis team. After college he joined the Air Force. He attained the rank of Lt. Colonel and retired after 33 years. As a civilian he worked at Crocker Bank and Civic National Bank. Bob also taught at the City College of San Francisco. A 41-year member of Oakland Rotary, he has been involved in many community activities, some of which include the Oakland Police Retirement Board and Oakland Parking Authority. Bob is recognized as an athlete, teacher, banker, military man and a community servant.
Steve Hart
New Member Induction – Steve Hart
David Stein introduced us to new member Steve Hart. Steve lives in Oakland and is the owner of Advantage Micro Systems. Two fun facts about Steve: he is such a big Cal football fan that he waited until the Cal-UCLA game was over to go to the hospital when his wife was in labor. Steve won the Corn Hole championship the first time he played. Welcome Steve! You can educate us all on what a Corn Hole competition is.
Bike rides
High Adventure Events
Committee Co-Chair Mark Rosen and the High Adventure team have bike rides scheduled every 3rd Saturday and hikes scheduled every 4th Saturday. These are easy events that are good for novices. The group will hike around Berkeley Marina on February 27th. Contact Robert Kidd at robertfredkidd@gmail.com for more details.
Continuing Effort on Racial and Social Justice
In recognition of Black History Month, President Ces read our Racial and Social Justice Statement. Oakland#3 has continued to diversify. Our membership is 30% people of color and 46% female. Our female membership is higher than the average Rotary. President Ces is creating a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. If you would like to join this committee contact Pres. Ces or Executive Administrator Jesse Bowdle.
Jasmine Rashid
Speaker for the Day – Jasmine Rashid
Celeste Gordon introduced our speaker Jasmine Rashid, Directory of Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships of Candide and Editor-in-Chief of Visibility Magazine. Passionate about social justice, Jasmine has developed The Financial Activist Playbook for supporting racial justice. She reviewed with us eight things we can do to promote Financial Social Activism.
Click here to watch her segment:
Tea & Cooking with the President
President-Elect-Elect Mary Geong provided final information about Tea & Cooking with the President at 5:30 p.m. in honor of Chinese Lunar New Year 2021, Year of the Ox. Chef Henry Poon has provided a recipe for Pan-Seared Black-Tiger Prawns which has been emailed to members.
Bellringers
Executive Administrator Jesse Bowdle announced the following bellringers:
- Dudley Thompson and Ces Butner rang the bell for Bob and Linda Peltz.
- Linda Chew, Wil Hobbs, Linda and Jim Boessenecker, Jack McAboy, Mike Bruck, Stephanie Casenza, Bob Barth and Linda Peltz all rang the bell for Bob Peltz.
- Bob Peltz rang the bell for Jack McAboy and Dudley Thompson.
- Keith Uriarte rang the bell for the Club’s Diversity Efforts.
Adjournment
President Ces Butner closed the meeting by ringing the bell and his closing adage “and that’s the way it went” plus the reminder that Rotary Opens Opportunity for Service Above Self.
Birthday Greetings
Happy Birthday! Celebrating between February 16 and 28 are:
16 – Charlie Adams
17 – Nancy Williams
24 – Linda Bradford
25 – Kim Cohn
27 – Keith Uriarte
28 – Riza Hernandez
Membership Anniversaries in February
Thank you for your years of service to the Rotary Club of Oakland and the community!
- L. Morris Johnson – 45 years
- Ken Richardson – 38 years
- Joel Parrott – 35 years
- Shannon Hackley – 33 years
- Sean Marx – 28 years
- Rick Baskin – 16 years
- John Weaver – 13 years
- Bob Breecker – 9 years
- Abel Guillen – 8 years
- Brad Gill – 6 year
- Jason Wizelman – 6 years
- Renia Webb – 5 years
- Bryan Morgan – 4 year
- Emily Morgan – 4 years
- Isaac Kos-Read – 3 years
- Jim Ippolito – 3 years
- Nicholas Williams – 3 years
- Susan Schroeder – 2 years
- Sam Miller – 1 year
- Cory Nott – 1 year
- Pauline Fox – 1 year
- Rod James – 1 year
Annual High School Speech Contest
Next Meeting, February 25 – Annual High School Speech Contest
Jesse Bowdle announced our program will feature Round 1 Club Level of the annual Richard King District 5170 Speech Contest. Four local high school students will compete with their speeches on the theme “Rotary Creates Opportunities” sharing what they have learned about the 4-Way Test integrated into the presentation.
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