Spoke Newsletter – April 13th, 2023

TODAY

This week we have the pleasure of having MONTÉ STUCK, a retired Air Force officer in public affairs as our speaker. Several years ago, he started work on a major project to document the
architectural designs that LEON ARMANTROUT, past member of this club, worked on in Redlands. It will be of interest to members of the club who know LEON to see the breadth of his work, and also as an introduction about LEON to newer members of the Club.

HOW TO JOIN MEETINGS ON ZOOM:

We would love to see everyone in person at Rotary Club of Redlands, but if that is not possible, the following Zoom option is available by going to:

https://www.redlandsrotary.org/meetings-online/

LAST WEEK

It was our pleasure to welcome JOE RICHARDSON back to our club. He was not a stranger, as he was a University of Redlands ASB president, many of us remember when he weekly enlightened our club meetings. JOE is a very successful attorney in town and is highly respected by the local bar. We were reminded that it took him 9 years after meeting his lovely wife JOY, one of the editor’s former speech pathology graduate students, for him to marry her. He then reminded us that his daughter JULIA, a journalism student at Northwestern was a Rotary Student of the Month during her high school years in Redlands. He spoke on “My Journey of Service”. He pointed out that service is the lifeblood of any successful community. The members of such a community must have a service mentality. He suggested that each of us have an ethical and moral responsibility to provide service to those who need our help. He further commented that we should all be grateful for the service of others we receive every day and also for what we have. He is now also doing significant media work on Court TV and will be starting a Pod Cast shortly with TONI MOMBERGER. It was great to see him at our meeting once again.

NEXT WEEK

GEORGE HANSEN, General Manager of the Bear Valley Mutual Water Company, will be speaking to us. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from UC Irvine and his Master’s of Science from Cal State Long Beach. Before being General Manager of the Bear Valley Mutual Water Company, he worked for 7 years for the City of Riverside as an Engineering Manager and as an Assistant General Manager for Energy Delivery. He has been in his present position since July of 2021.

ORIGINS OF OUR ROTARY SCHOLARSHIPS

In Ralph Hones’ Book, The Rotary Club of Redlands 1920-1988, we find the first mention of Scholarships on page 50. “The Frank Arraujo Scholarship was named for Redlands first casualty in the Korean War, with the award going to a boy or girl of Mexican-American descent.” (This was created around 1950) On page 70, we learn, “of more lasting significance was the Club’s decision to
study and develop its funds for scholarships and awards. As early as February 1970, … several Rotarians – notably Ernest Cronmeyer – had made gifts or bequests to this most worthwhile service area of Redlands Rotary Club. In March of 1972, all scholarship funds were placed in an interest-bearing savings account. The funds were to stay this way until 1985 when the Redlands Board of Directors created the Redlands Rotary Foundation.” Did you know that our own current member DICK JONES was one of the nine original foundation officers?

LAWYER HUMOR

As a lawyer woke up in the hospital after surgery he asked, “Why are all the blinds drawn in here?” The nurse answered, “There’s a fire across the street and we didn’t want you to think the operation
had been a failure.”

A rabbi, a Hindu, and a lawyer are in a car that breaks down in the countryside one evening. They walk to a nearby farm and the farmer tells them it’s too late for a tow truck but he has only two extra beds and one of them will have to sleep in the barn. The Hindu says, “I’m humble, I’ll sleep in the barn.” But minutes later he returns and knocks on the door and says, “There is a cow in the barn. It’s against my beliefs to sleep in the same building as a cow.” So the rabbi says, “It’s okay, I’ll sleep in the barn.” But soon, he is back knocking on the door as well, saying, “There is a pig in the barn, and I cannot shelter in a building with a pig.” So the lawyer is forced to sleep in the barn. Shortly, there is another knock on the door and the farmer sighs and answers it. It’s the pig and the cow.

A PARTY AT THE PRESIDENT’S HOUSE

Tomorrow night, don’t forget our Rotary Social at PRESIDENT JEN’S beautiful home for a little time to unwind. 5-7 p.m.

SERVICE CLUB FOOD DRIVE

The Redlands Family Service Association is in need of food for their pantry. We have been challenged by the Optimist and Kiwanis Service Clubs to see who can provide the most food. Food donations can be dropped off at Hatfield Buick GMC through May 4 where the food will be weighed, and a weekly update will be provided to each club. The final winner will be announced on May 5. KYRA STEWART, the Executive Director of Family Service is a member of our club. Now are we going to embarrass her by allowing another service club to celebrate at Family Service? No way. So, grab a grocery bag and fill it with the heaviest foods available and head over to Hatfield Buick!

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

This Friday is our Spring Social from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.!
Stop by for some time with friends during cocktail hour. As promised, I will be offering a limited number of glasses of Ron Jeffrey’s Silver Oak to those who will donate to the foundation at the suggested donation amount of $100.00 per glass. The board has voted to honor Ron’s legacy by establishing a scholarship in Ron Jeffrey’s name. All funds donated Friday evening will be directed
as “seed money” for this scholarship. I believe Ron would wholeheartedly approve of our use of his prized bottle. If you are feeling charitable, feel free to donate even if you do not plan to imbibe!
Look for my email to provide location information and details.

Editor – Christopher Walker – Edition No. 39, April 13, 2023