CROW’S CALL - JUNE 7, 2018 by Priya Jhingan
Upon the start of our lunch meeting on June 7, it dawned on me that after a long break as scribe, I now had the honor and somewhat daunting task of covering Lucky Can-Do Sandhu’s second-to-last meeting as our President. As such, I wanted to begin this week’s crow call by reiterating Edgardo’s thoughts around how outstanding of a job Lucky has done leading our club this year. We’ve had a terrific year, and though he will no longer be at the podium on a weekly basis, we know Lucky will continue to be our faithful cheerleader as John Milich takes over his duties.
President Sandhu opened by reiterating RI President Ian H.S. Riseley’s theme of making a difference, and after the pledge, Herm Welm led us all in singing “My country tis of thee”. Kicking off the multi-generational Rotarian theme that was present throughout the day, George Gayler was our greeter, following in the footsteps of his son, Chris Gayler, who was our greeter last week. And it seemed only fitting that his thought of the day would be about family: “In the home, it’s more important to have peace than be right”. Undoubtedly, he was referring to maintaining peace despite his son’s shenanigans over the years, which we've all witnessed ourselves in the club. That being said, we will definitely take George’s advice to heart and make sure we cultivate peace in our own homes. George also mentioned that we haven’t seen him in a while because he’s been working very hard (while his son has been winning all the awards…). In all seriousness, this was a great start to the lunch, as we continued to witness the incredible contributions of Rotary families, such as those of George and Chris Gayler.
Our guests for the day included Paul White and Michael Hock, while our visiting Rotarians included Pat Paterson’s daughter, Sharon, and former San Ramon club member and former governor of our district, Mark Von Hoetzendorff. Visiting us from Boise, Sharon kicked off the day’s theme around amazing multi-generational Rotary service by describing her experience as a fourth generation Rotarian. Mark was visiting us from Sedona, where his biggest adventure has been re-joining Rotary at Sedona Village. To Lucky’s satisfaction, Mark, who helped shape the wonderful legacy of our San Ramon club, expressed a longing for our lunches after experiencing 7:30am breakfasts at Sedona Village. However, he has gotten quite used to life in Arizona, and upon arriving in busy California, he claimed that the hundreds of cars on the freeway tried to kill him. It was a great joy to have Mark back again for a meeting.
Announcements
Colette Lay has been doing some amazing work, as usual, with our youth initiatives. She recently received board approval for her idea to have 2 new benches at Cal High - 1 for Rotary and 1 for Interact. She also mentioned that the recent class at Camp Venture, which is a motivational camp for high school students interested in business, is graduating on 7/1. Our club is very proud to have been instrumental in developing and sustaining this camp that drives so much positive impact for the youth in our community.
Kathy Gailey reminded us that we're dark this week, as we’re all getting together to officially demote Lucky on Thursday evening. If you missed the sign-up sheet that Kathy passed around or need additional details, please contact her.
Herm took part in some self-professed and very well-deserved bragging about his son and daughter-in-law, who are both breast cancer researchers. Both have applied for big research grants, and his daughter-in-law’s was just approved. She has been granted a whopping sum of $6.7 million for 5 years of research and clinical trials. His son will also be receiving news on his grant soon. Kudos!!
Guy Greco mentioned that in August, interested parties will have the chance to golf at the Diablo Country Club, which is a scenic experience not to miss. On related news, Lucky has been practicing his swing (please refer to pictures from last week's Crow's Call)… We all know that no amount of practice will do this man any good, so you’ll definitely want to be at the Diablo Country Club golf event to witness the entertainment he brings as well as additional festivities.
Several birthdays were announced, including those of Pat Paterson, Valerie Nevarez, Sally Garrison, and Mike Gunning, which brings us to the cake and celebrations that kicked off the main program.
Program - Renan Dominguez and seven amazing decades of service
Our program began with a very special treat - a chocolate cake for both Pat Paterson and Renan Dominguez, who just turned 92. We all attempted to sing an on-key “happy birthday”, after which slices of cake were distributed.
Our guest of honor, Renan Dominguez, has established an amazing legacy while being a Rotarian for over 70 years. Lucky saw him speak at Rotary International this past year, and was truly inspired by his decades of service. We were all extremely honored and proud to have Mr. and Mrs. Dominguez with us at lunch.
And with that, Ana Dominguez, a third generation Rotarian herself, walked us through a slideshow introducing her father and 17-time Paul Harris fellow, Renan Dominguez. A major donor, Mr. Dominguez has been President of his club and has been featured in the Rotarian magazine twice. His many accomplishments and contributions as a Rotarian have included wheelchair distribution, international service in Argentina and Bolivia, construction of the Rotary Plaza (a senior housing development in South San Francisco), and engineering work on notable buildings, such as the Marin Civic Auditorium and the San Jose Performing Arts Center, with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
Renan, donning a bright red Rotary tie that so perfectly captured his heartfelt dedication to Rotary, took the mic and walked us through his history as a Rotarian. He reflected on being born amidst the Depression in 1926, going to an American school in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, and attending the University of Illinois, where he also joined his first Rotary club.
After marrying his beautiful wife, Renan decided that California was where the gold was, and headed West. Since these were the olden days, he had to wait until his engineering practice was set up in California before he was able to join a local Californian Rotary club in 1966. But soon after, his new club brought to his attention a huge proposal to build a senior center in South San Francisco, a Rotary Plaza for those who are underprivileged and over 60. Taking on this very large-scale project, Renan helped make his club one of the most impactful and wealthiest. Renan also talked about his other terrific projects with Rotary, including donating 100 wheelchairs and organizing an international exchange student program with countries including Mexico and Japan. This exchange program has been happening for 20 years!
After Renan mentioned how proud he is of Ana’s service as a Rotarian, Lucky fittingly asked him for advice on behalf of us all on how to move forward with our own service. Mr. Dominguez’s response was truly inspirational. Not knowing any other organization in the world that produces so much good without expecting anything in return, he urged us to “Just keep doing what Rotary has been doing. Rotarians are going to be saving the world.” So let’s stay true to Mr. Dominguez’s advice, and continue to do our parts in spreading peace and happiness, because each one of us, by being a Rotarian, is truly changing the world.
Raffle
To end the meeting, Geoff Disch had the winning ticket for the greeter’s prize of $20, and Cathy Opila had a shot at the cumulative pot, but ended up picking a blue marble. On final news, a reminder that we are dark this week and there is no lunch meeting on 6/14, as we’ll be celebrating Lucky’s demotion on Thursday evening. Again, if you need details for the party, Kathy Gaily is our host and go-to contact. Onwards!
