By: Hermann Welm
President Kathy Gailey, “The African Queen,” called the meeting to order, reminding us that the R.I. President is John F. Germ and his theme for the year is “Rotary Serving Humanity.”
Our Greeter, Marie Galbo, led us in the Salute to the Flag and gave us her Thought for the Day: “Without goals in your life it is like running around a football field and never having a score.” (This paraphrases a quote by Australian Cricket umpire, Bill Copeland, 1929 - 2011.)
PP Don Jones then led the group in the singing a Patriotic Song, a rousing rendition of “God Bless America!”
Visiting Rotarians: Michelle Lee, formerly of our club, and now with the Dougherty Valley/San Ramon club.
Other Visitors: Brian Shields, a guest of Stacy Litteral, plus Priya Jingan, a Stanford grad working in medical devices, who is attending as a guest of Lucky Sandhu. Cal High students and others associated with today’s Shadow Day will be named below.
Announcements:
Colette Lay reported that the Interact Club will hold a Community Culture Fair, at Cal High, on March 24th, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. Our club will have an information booth and we’ll need volunteers to man it. Several members will be at the District Conference so we’ll need help from those not going.
The African Queen announced that there will be a Young Professionals Conference on April 1st. More on this later.
Michelle Lee gave us a heads up about the upcoming -- September 16 -- V3 Hopfest, which benefits the Sentinels of Freedom organization. In addition to craft beer tasting from 10 breweries and live music, there will be 30, 60 and 100-Mile Bike Rides. In other words, fair warning to those who’d like to participate in one of the bike rides: start getting in shape NOW! Website: V3hopfest.com.
Dennis Harvey alerted us to the upcoming San Ramon Chamber Business Expo, where we will also have a booth. Sign-up sheets will be routed during upcoming meetings.
Dennis also mentioned that the Smoke Alarm Project, in Sunny Glen, will be held April 22, from 9:00 am until about 12:30 pm. More on this later.
Kathy Gailey noted that this year’s Run for Education will be held quite early, namely October 1st. This means that our Online Auction for Education will also have to be moved up, accordingly. Assignments for various management roles have been made, however, all club members need to begin soliciting auction items!
Good News/Fine Free: None.
Recognitions: None.
Program: Stacy Litteral introduced the Rotarian hosts for this morning’s “Shadow Day:” Steve Wilcox, Gary Sloan and Mike Gunning. She also thanked Shanin McKavish, the Life Skills (and Culinary) teacher at Cal High School, whose students are the participants of this annual event. Each group stepped forward with their host and described their morning experience.
Gary Sloan’s San Ramon Regional Medical Center:
Patrick Boughn shadowed in the Radiology Department where he had an opportunity to observe a brain scan and was shown additional pictures of different scans. He also bumped into a DVC student who is currently taking courses in this field; she shared useful information with him about the course of study needed to get certified.
Katie Marchuck shadowed in the Physical Therapy Department and observed patients relearning to walk after a stroke and a heart attack. It was very moving and reaffirmed her plans to enter that field after graduating.
Bailey Kraft shadowed nurses in the Family Birthing Center. She was very much impressed by the experience and is more convinced than ever that this is the field she would like to pursue.
Kelly Middleton shadowed nurses in the Surgical Ward and was similarly impressed by her experience. She too is planning on pursuing a career in nursing.
Steve Wilcox’s Summit Financial Group:
Anchal Adhikari joined Steve to learn more about business management and entrepreneurship. She is not necessarily interested in Financial Management (and who is?) but felt that the experience was very much worth while.
San Ramon Police Department:
Officers Mark Gunning (Mike’s son), Michelle Goldberg and Jeff Kim hosted three students for a tour of the facilities. Unfortunately, none got to participate in a “ride-along” that included a serious Call for Service!
Raul Carrillo had been debating becoming a chef or doing police work, so this was a great opportunity for him to get some exposure in this field. He, as well as the others, commented about the “aroma” in the Evidence Room. This Scribe wonders what kind of evidence might be stored that that has a peculiar -- and maybe to some an intriguing -- aroma? Maybe Chris Gallagher, with all his worldly experience, can enlighten us!
Matthew Lau has been debating whether to pursue a firefighter or police career so this experience will help him with a decision. The fingerprinting function impressed him; it was mentioned by the other two as well. He spoke about his favorable impression of how the department’s personnel work as a “Team.” All jobs contribute to the success of their mission!
Conrad Pelz came away fascinated with the equipment used by police officers. All three got basic instruction in the use of batons, including where one might strike a person resisting arrest, as well as having an opportunity to handcuff their classmates! Since none of the three was still wearing “bracelets,” one can safely assume that they also learned how to take them off!
The various experiences of these students seemed to have worked out quite successfully! And ALL were quite adept at presenting their talks in a lively and engaging manner!
Raffle: The Greeter’s Gift -- $20.00 -- was won by Stacy Litteral, who also won the opportunity to draw that elusive gold marble from the bag. She drew “Blue,” to everyone’s great dismay (?) but got another $10.00 cash as a consolation prize.
Next Week: Our Greeter will be Ed Duarte. This will be the St. Patrick’s Day Program, spearheaded by Dennis Garrison.
THIS WEEK'S GREETER PROFILE 
