Oakland Rotary News

Marga next introduced Christopher Wiseman, President-elect of San Francisco Rotary Club as Program Moderator.  Christopher explained the speaker lineup included our current Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta, of the Calcutta India Club, but he had not yet joined us via Zoom to talk about his “Each One Bring One” approach to recruitment. Rotarians being an efficient and resourceful group, we proceeded with the speakers already in attendance. 

Jeff Borek then introduced Patrick Galvin, member of the Portland Rotary Club and a professional business coach, TED Talk speaker and author of the book “Trusted Way.”  He’s been connected to Rotary ever since receiving a college scholarship and is delighted to be an active Rotarian today. Patrick shared his thoughts on the power of personal connection and the physical, mental and emotional benefits of service to others. He encouraged us to tell personal stories and experiences and opined that Rotary is still a best-kept secret in many communities today. Given the competitive marketplace for membership organizations today, Patrick feels we have the advantages of being able to discuss the outcome and impact our projects have had on our communities as well as on the Rotarians working to bring them to fruition. We might even promote the fact, says Patrick, that service engagement is one of the keys to longevity, with research showing a 22% reduction in mortality for the service-oriented populations versus those who do not engage. (Eureka, has Rotary found the proverbial “foundation of youth?)

Next up on the speaker agenda was Jenny Bates member of the San Rafael Evening Rotary Club and former President of the East Fresno Rotary Club.  Jenny is a Clinical Social Worker/Therapist and owner of Waves of Change Recovery Services. 

Jenny noted that oftentimes clubs don’t have a problem recruiting new members but find it difficult to retain them. The challenge is helping new members “find their place” in their club, and the club’s challenge is helping them succeed in doing so.  Rotary’s recent focus on diversity and inclusion is an important step toward creating a bigger tent for everyone, looking at new ways of accommodating younger members, people of color, the LGBTQ community.

Regarding retention, Jenny said that current Rotarians can help in the onboarding of new members by networking one-on-one and engaging in “active listening.” Jenny suggested that the principals of Motivational Interviewing, used in her profession, could be useful. This involves asking the person Open-ended questions, Affirming their responses, Practicing Reflective listening so people feel they have been correctly heard, and then Summarizing the discussion with any next steps (OARS).

In summary, Jenny said that the many new friendships gained by joining Rotary are also a major benefit to membership worth promoting, noting that the best friendship of all for her was meeting her wife through Rotary.

The speakers were virtually applauded, and all material presented was well received, judging by the number of chat room comments. Marga officially thanked each speaker and announced that as an expression of appreciation for their presentations, each would be gifted a Paul Harris Fellowship and prestigious membership in the Paul Harris Society. Congratulations!

Patrick Galvin donated copies of his book “Trusted Way”.  Ten were awarded to attendees via an Electronic Spinning Wheel upon which each attendee’s name was entered.  Among those winning a book were Oakland members Mike Bruck and Alex Poulsen!

Mary Liu adjourned the program portion of the meeting at 1:54 pm.

Next came an opportunity for audience participation in Break-Out Sessions to share ideas and experiences on the topic of membership recruitment and retention, which are sure to benefit the many clubs participating in the program.

Happy Birthday! Celebrating between October 6 - 15 are:

9 – Tommy Edwards

9 – Pat Williams

10 – Pauline Fox

11 – Isaac Kos-Read

12 – Wise Allen

14 – Pete Agnoletti

14 – Renia Webb

Thank you for your years of service to the Rotary Club of Oakland and the community!

Jerry Wendt – 45 years

Les Hilger – 43 years

John Protopappas – 38 years

Eric Angstadt – 29 years

Charlie Elliott – 27 years

Yuri Mok – 27 years

Ana Chretien – 21 years

Joe Goralka – 19 years

Marilyn Harryman – 18 years

Danny Mai – 18 years

Krishen Laetsch – 15 years

Stephanie Casenza – 11 years

Steve Nicholls – 11 years

Len Raphael – 7 years

Preston Pinkney – 5 years

Bruce Nye – 4 years

Ruth Stroup – 4 years

Greg Annis – 3 years

Fred Mackay – 2 years