Shop Talk by Ginger Minoletti and Ralph Ely Oct 2

Ginger Child-Minoletti born on June 29, the youngest of 3 girls and daughter of Carl Child, former District Governor for Rotary. 

 

Ginger grew up in Grand Rapids MI and spent summers in Bayview MI, a town that's only open for the summer months from May to September. 

 

She graduated from high school in 1969 and went on to college though she didn't stay long. She left college and went on to work. She went back to college after meeting a man 12 years her senior who was in the process of finishing his PhD. They went to France to live and that's where she began her career in the travel industry. She worked for Avis car rental and learned to speak Italian.

 

She moved back to Northern Michigan and then traveled to Italy by herself. Traveling on her own was a big deal - something she wouldn't encourage her own daughter to do ... if she had a daughter. This time in Italy was where she fell in love with all things and all things travel. 

 

When she returned to the US, she moved to Arizona then on to San Francisco where she moved to the inner Mission and worked for Aliotos and the fern bar. She met her husang Paul Minoletti and they were married in 1980. 

 

Paul finished law school in 1984 and they had their son Chris. They moved out of Glen Park to Pacifica. Ginger worked as a travel agent part-time with her mother-in-law for 10 years before buying out the business.

 

Through the years, Ginger has gone back to Bayview, Michigan each summer. Her grandmother started going there since 1916 with her 5 children and their children and grandchildren have carried on the tradition. 

 

Ralph Ely has been a Rotarian since 1998. He prefers small pins because he says it prompts people to ask what it is he is wearing. Today, he wears 2 larger pins proudly. The first is a Paul Harris Fellows pin and the other is a National Association of Realtors pin for his Emeritus status. Ralph has been a Realtor for 40 years. 

 

Ralph was born in Indiana, in a small town called New Augusta just outside of Indianapolis. His grandfather had 30 acres and each of his 2 sons and daughters had a piece of that land. He grew up together with his cousins and spent the first 12 years of school in the same building.

 

Ralph shared some events that stand out for him and helped shape his life.

 

Since he was a young boy, he's had an interest in mature radio which his neighbor had introduced him to when Ralph was about 12 or 13 years old. He passed the morse code test tapping out 13 words in a minute.

 

He went to a Lutheran Church camp for a few years in the summer and for 2 or 3 years, he applied and was admitted to serve as a camp counselor. He was the youngest camp counselor at that lakeside camp. 

 

He went on to college in Bloomington and graduated in 1965. He joined the military in 1966 and went in for infantry basic training then moved on to advanced infantry. All but 3 in his group were sent to Vietnam. He went on to Washington, DC to serve on the President Johnson's honor guard. He was in the US Army Drill Team and spent lots of time in training and drills. He became the historian for the honor guard, was on the ceremonial honor guard for the White House and was part of all things presidential and / or ceremonial.

 

He moved to California with some friends in the military. He settled in Manhattan Beach and settled on his friend's couch for the next 4 months before getting his own place. He left after a couple of years and moved on to Mammoth Lake and skied all season. 

 

He moved on to the Bay Area was married for a year and then single for the next 10 years. He began his real estate career in 1972 in Burlingame and moved to Moss Beach and later to Half Moon Bay. He's been on the coast for over 25 years now.

 

In 1978 he traveled extensively throughout Europe by himself. He bought a car and drove everywhere. He met his wife Christine Ely when he came back to California. When Chris had to go back to her homeland, Germany he remembers calling her long distance and it would cost $3 a minute. You can see Christine's story here at 0:16.

 

Thanks for sharing your stories Ginger and Ralph! Always great to hear fellow Rotarians tell us the story of their lives.