Stories

Joe Brennan delighted with his presentation on the Steinhart Aquarium, which celebrated its 100^th anniversary last Sept. 29, having opened in 1923. It got its name through one man with a dream and passion to have a world-class aquarium in San Francisco. He and his brother Ignats, both from Bavaria, opened a successful dry-goods store in Placerville after the Gold Rush, and ended up with a string of dry-goods stores up and down California. Ignats, who went into banking and investing, dreamed that San Francisco should have an aquarium. The brothers each put up $20,000 to fund an aquarium. But the city demurred, not sure where to put it. 

A possible location was argued until 1922, when it finally opened. The architect was Timothy Fluger, renowned for his work on many big Bay Area facades including in Grand Lake and Oakland. By the time he died he had upped his donation to $250,000, with the stipulation that the aquarium be located in Golden Gate Park, funded by the city and managed by the Academy of Sciences. 

Joe was hired there for his “golden job” -- like Dianne had in Houston and Kevin had onstage as part of the Chip and Dale Review, he said. 

The Steinhart opened as a world-class, world aquarium, equipped to take care of any aquatic animal that anyone brought in. It had six different water systems – 3 salt and 3 fresh – with hot, normal (ambient) and cold salt or fresh water. There were also special systems for dolphins, penguins etc. 

The aquarium had “a real zest and brilliance” for exhibiting the animals, plus fun things like archer fish, “a real kick” for grade-school kids. This was a tank of fish that lived in the Amazon, that were very accurate at spitting: these fish could spit a stream of water to adjacent vegetation and zap insects to eat. At Steinhart, they set up a little plywood target above the tank and put crickets on it at 12, 2 and 4 o’clock, and fish would come up for delectable target practice.

One of many things Joe liked was the “womb with a view,” or little egg sacs found on the beach --- “meermaid eggs” --  or eggs of little flatfish, in which aquarium personnel would install tiny windows so you could see the egg developing. 

And electric eels: Aquarium workers put a microphone in the water for when one eel annoyed another. You could hear the “Zzzzt!” when the annoyed eel responded. That delighted the kids. 

They also had a fish roundabout and a tidepool where visitors could touch anenomes and shellfish.

Some had personalities, Joe said: like the Pacific octopus, the female can be three times larger than the male. The aquarium’s female was nocturnal; daytime visitors could only see a big pulsing lump and an eye peering at them. One day a staffer reported to Joe that the tank holding Dungeness crabs was missing a crab for the second day in a row. An employee from the Philippines and staff suspected noodles and crab were being cooked  (everyone laughed knowingly)  until someone found that the Pacific octopus was three tanks over, and shells were found on the floor of her tank. This octopus, Joe said, was able to lift the lid of her tank, squeeze out, slither along the intervening two tanks and grab a Dungeness crab for a midnight snack. “It was magnificent,” he said. So staff set up a camera to catch the thief in the act: Since the octothief could be in the air for about 40 minutes, she could get away with it. Staff glued astroturf between the water and the tank where the lid was, so she couldn’t get suction to help her plunder. “That was our octopus story.”

Joe told of the alligator swamp, where lived an albino alligator named Claude. An employee named Tommy Green donned boots to go into the swamp daily to feed chicken to the inhabitants (Joe said they didn’t bite Tommy because they liked chicken better) but one day Tommy he heard a scream of “Tommy Green, you get out of there this minute!” from his mother – the first time she’d seen what he did at work. 

Joe dedicated the talk to his boss, John McCosker the aquarium director, and described the swamp and its lush tropical vegetation. Wanting to add birds, they brought in a showy white cockatiel which was fed to delight the public. Plans to introduce birds into the swamp were announced to the press, who gathered with cameras ready --- until the cockatiel flew down toward the swamp and an alligator rose up and gave one chomp. All that remained was one white feather. “When publicity goes bad, it really goes bad,” Joe sighed mournfully.

The head of security at Steinhart, Lavelle Alderson, was introduced, and Joe spoke of her staff and their “interesting chore:” The alligator swamp had triangular-shape cast seahorses on the upright rails. Kids loved to look at them but got their heads stuck in the rails and had to be released with help from Vaseline which got in their ears. When their Moms told the kids to wash the Vaseline out of their ears, the kids could only say, “Huh?” That got a laugh.

At Steinhart they’d done pioneering work on different species, Joe said, including coral and penguins. The aquarium took on the project of artificially raising coral in a 100-gallon tank. Coral needs lots of strong sunlight as it eats by photosynthesis, so Steinhart had three 1,000-watt light fixtures, like those used at Candlestick Park, making the scene very bright. McCosker had an ichthyologist  friend interested in propagating coral artificially – who was the emperor of Japan, making security an issue. They sent the Secret Service to survey the area, but the emperor never did visit. 

When Joe took on the job of Chief Engineer, he had to be certified as a diver, which he thought would be handy at Steinhart. He had to go to the ocean on a collecting tour. But first the boat’s ignition key, then its motor, then the steering, all had trouble and had to be fixed. He also at one point had to go to Hawaii to collect coral, and successfully got lots of black volcanic rock, but discovered that they had also bought back some life forms and new species hidden in the rock – but ended up with a completely balanced ecosystem. 

Then he discussed the penguin project, which involved successfully setting up a habitat for “adorable” penguins. With funding from the World Wildlife Fund, he helped collect, in South Africa, some “jackass” penguins, so named for their color and their bray-like cry. Since a major oil spill such as the one from the Exxon Valdez could wipe them out, a vigorous number of penguins had to be collected in captivity; so Joe became part of collecting a dozen penguins and settling them into incubators that looked like an old Ferris wheel with rows of seats. That simulated the natural jiggles of the nest environment.  They also bought in a helpful “penguin machine”  that maintains the temperatures of natural life. That brought a very vigorous number of penguins, to have on hand in case the ones in captivity were wiped out and penguins in nature became extinct.

In Hawaii, dogs, cats, rats and humans made the penguins easy pickings. But from a small population of penguins in an Ohio zoo, they were able to repopulate Hawaii – both the big island and Maui. 

Flash forward, to when Joe left the Academy and was at a tech museum in San Jose. By that time they had a little pen and wading pool on the roof, with 20-25 surplus penguins looking for homes. Someone told him of an offer to house them in Las Vegas – Joe dryly thought, “Going over to the Dark Side? What the hell?!” but was reassured that the Nevada Fish and Game was part of the plan. A local casino had hired some agriculturists, so he said okay and headed that way. A few years later he was booked into a security conference in Las Vegas; en route to the conference hall he went through the yard of the Flamingo Hotel – and here was a lush garden with ponds and a pink flamingo, and on the beach beyond, jackass penguins! Joe told the Rotarians that he yelped “It’s me! Father Joe! It was such an emotional moment!” That summed up his “unnatural relationship with jackass penguins!” 

Fast forward a decade to Part II of his story: Joe’s niece Louise was going to get married and he was asked to solemnize the wedding, in Malibu Canyon in a venue with a lawn and big oak trees. But when there, upon spotting a dog carrier out of which walked two jackass penguins, Joe thought, “Holy cow!” He forgot the wedding to go talk to the owners who had secured the pair in Las Vegas, set free because they were no longer a breeding pair. Since penguins mate for life, the plan was to have Joe at the altar with one penguin and have the other at the back, and both penguins had the wedding rings looped around their necks. At a signal, the penguin in back would walk up to join Joe (bringing a chorus of oohs and aahhs from the Rotarians.) At the reception, guests came up to Joe to exclaim how cute it was to see the two penguins walk up the aisle together --- proof that “eyewitnesses don’t all see the same thing and we do have enhanced memories,” Joe said.

Part III:  Back to the aquarium when they had 17 penguins. That meant there was an odd man out, Joe said: a “rasty little character” named Oreo. This was 1991, the “year of Tibet” since George H.W. Bush had focused on the reunification of Tibetan families. As part of that celebration the Asian Art Museum had arranged a show of Tibetan art called “Wisdom and Compassion”, and the Steinhart Aquarium hung a show called “My Tibet” with photos by famous mountaineering photographer Galen Rowell paired with words by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and photos of wildlife and wild scenes. It was a double-header: the Dalai Lama himself was to open both the show and the “Wisdom and Compassion” across the street. He came to us first, Joe said, because he had led some treks in Nepal and visited Tibet. The spiritual leader got introduced to the head of the Aquarium board. 

Joe said: We’d heard that the Dalai Lama liked birds. So here we are at the Steinhart Aquarium; we overlooked every species of reptile and fish and amphibian we had, and we went to the birds and overlooked all of them except little Oreo. We were going to put Oreo out so the Dalai Lama could see a penguin. We made a little crib of Plexiglass and kitty litter on the bottom to keep their wretched stink down because they liked fish, and I opened the door and asked His Holiness in, and he looks over and he sees the penguin and he looks at it, and I’m thinking, “Mission accomplished! I’ve shown the Dalai Lama a penguin!” But no. He starts bending down, and picks it up to see how heavy it is, and I’m thinking to myself, Does he know that’s Oreo? (laughter filled the room). It crosses my mind – the headline in tomorrow’s Chronicle – “Penguin draws Dalai Lama’s blood!” 

Adam said he’d been in the business for 20 years, having started in 2004, and is the owner of Coastside Insurance agencies. Hopefully someday you’ll see something like “Kevin and son,” Kevin laughed. 

Both of them, primarily Adam, talked. In 20 years this is the hardest insurance market he’d ever seen due mostly to the wildfires and losses in California. He first started seeing carriers take action on policies about 10 years ago, mostly with homes in very exposed rural areas. Homeowners were skeptical about wildfires in their areas, which makes insurance a “hard sell,” but now people are seeing the losses.

Over the last five years, those non-renewals and company actions have dramatically accelerated, and gone from rural and mountain areas into downtown Half Moon Bay. So the insurance companies are serious about trying to limit their exposure, which is impacting people “all over” the state.  Right now, he said, many preferred carriers aren’t writing any new business in the property market for homes. He said you’ve heard about State Farm, Allstate’s not writing any new business.  The majority of his preferred carriers – quite a few – are not offering any new business at all. If you called him up today and said, Hey, quote my auto, my home, my umbrella, he would say, Yeah, I can, but I’m not going to be able to find one company to put that with;  I’d have to package it all together. So it’s brutal; it’s tough. It’s very challenging for us as agents, for the consumer, especially if they find themselves needing to buy insurance.

• Guest speaker Val Dubios

  • Susan led introduction 

  • Val is an engineer by training, spent 27 years in tech, currently in a transition to become a licensed fiduciary 

  • She is a trained climate reality leader, active volunteer with climate reality project

  • Disclaimer that information changes regularly, encourages everyone to do their homework

  • Her “why” is her children, both of whom want to go into environmental careers

  • Climate change and inflation reduction act

  • Home electrification 

  • Rebates 

  • Climate Reality Project

    • Founded by former VP Al Gore, the goal is education and advocacy about the crisis that is occurring, trying to do it in an equitable way 

    • Last year was earth’s hottest year on record, this year is on track to “beat” that 

    • Breaking out dependence on fossil fuels is essential, new tech is becoming available

    • If we get to net zero, the earth and trees will absorb (lots) of CO2, withion 30 years there will be a significant improvement 

  • Greenhouse gas emissions by sector: 

    • Natural gas: what we use most, mostly methane and releases toxic chemicals into the air, we end up breathing it inside and goes into atmosphere, cooking with gas stove causes illegal amount of polluants, can lead to childhood asthma 

    • Methane leaks the entire way it is transported, 1.5% leaks 

    • Learned that methane is worse for warming that carbon 

    • In short term methane is 84x worse at trapping heat in our environment

Nancy started by commenting that spouse PE and PP Irwin is having nose surgery and won’t be here to make faces. Nancy’s grandfather told her if your initials spell something it’s good luck—hence, Nancy Ellen Wolfberg, NEW. 

So who is Nancy?  She has a background in education and grew up in LA. Her dad was a management consultant and a musician. Her mom was an artist. She attended UC Berkeley during the free speech era, then transferred to UC Santa Cruz where she earned a BA in Oriental Studies. 

She started out teaching in Watts, while she earned her lifetime teaching credential at night and on the weekends. She taught there for two years and then took the Montessori training and taught in Santa Monica for two years.

She went on to earn her MA in Education at SF State. While working on her MA, she was the Director of a Parent-Education PreSchool for low income parents and children.  She did that for 5 years and also taught at Solano Jr. College – Child and Human Development and Creative Arts for Children. 

She then landed a job at IBM where she experienced incredible training and exposure to different cultures. She was then offered a job with an ultimate media company start up, composed of IBM and Universal Studios. This was the start of multimedia and AI. She went from there to Sony working with Lucas films and did more AI work. As Nancy worked with The Defense  Language Institute in Monterey to simulate reality in different languages and different locations. This was used to train diplomats and spies. On the consumer side, this became the foundation for the Rosetta Stone. 

She was then recruited by Wilson Learning to lead the Western half of the United states in the first soft-skills training on multimedia.  She spent 10 years there developing expertise in leadership development and training, sales development, customer service, and assessment and selection.  She was a strategic account manager for a number of global accounts and coached new hires.

Club member Arancha introduced today’s speaker, Jamie Weintraub of Main Street Scholars. Arancha spoke warmly of Jamie, calling her “to me, an angel” who embodies “service above self,” working with families and children who have been saved from fighting, trouble just getting to school, and her own work helping them “just breathe again” after all that. School doesn’t have to be a struggle or a fight but a place to grow in confidence, she said, adding that she had seen kids deemed as “hopeless” turn around under “beautiful care.” Arancha, who has known Jamie for many years and whose husband recently died, noted that Jamie came to her husband’s funeral and told Arancha that her kids were safe with her, and that we are blessed to have Jamie in this community. Jamie came in with her medium-small dog in tow, and amid applause, Jamie stepped up to speak.

Jamie spoke of how Arancha helped her through “scary times” when her husband was still alive, of how all negotiated and learned about being together after his death, understanding what the children were going through, how to “respect and honor” their father and family, and what they wanted for the kids.  It was a scary time but real. She added that one of the kids is in Oregon and another due to graduate in May, others have had acceptances into colleges, and how this story is not about her but rather about the kids and the families, and how 10 years ago this all started. She mentioned that Steve Wilson is a good friend too.  They knew each other, and she was teaching in the city, in Pacific Heights.

She told this story: Her daughter has four sons and son No. 3 was miserable. He didn’t want to go to school, and was crying all the time and starting to get in trouble; he was labeled a discipline problem. Despite what the teacher was trying to do, he decided he was just was going to read. He’d already read the books they had, and just didn’t want to go along with the curriculum. When asked a question, he would respond with, say, a lecture on how bees work, as bees had come up in a math problem. So he was being put outside the classroom so the teacher could do her work, then brought back in. When he moved up to middle school things got worse; he didn’t want to go. So Jamie’s son-in-law called her to say they couldn’t send him to school and what should they do? 

The boy was in sixth grade and they encouraged just letting him read. They took him out of school and he spent the next several months reading, and recovered from that process, but he still didn’t want to go back to school, so now what should they do? So Jamie learned about homeschooling and wrote a seventh-grade curriculum for him. That created a new problem as her daughter could do the English and history work but her grandson ended up not doing math or science for a year. Eventually, she and her husband started a school here, in an “attic office” for one kid. But the other kid needed help, but he was an athlete; in time she learned of other kids who needed help, including her own two grandsons. 

Now, 10 years later, she works with around 500 families. It didn’t matter if it was school or coaching or essay writing; her focus, she said, is “What do they need and how can we help?”

She identified her school business as Main Street Scholars, a “college high school,” and academic coaching center. It began when they started thinking about kids and how to invest in their futures. She listened to the kids more than to their parents, because the kids are the ones who tell her what they need and how to do school. Together, parents, kids and staff invest on what the child is trying to do – which became their mission. “What we really do is, we build confidence,” where they take their learning and move it in a way that the students engage in; a way they look to, to change their life. This became the Scholars’ mission – confidence with faith in self. 

“We do school different,” she said; going from dropping kids off at school at age 5 to taking them home 13 years later, and then the kids move out – a repetitive thing. They have accreditation now, they are certified; and they write all their own curriculum. They used to try to use curriculum and textbooks, and those are certainly references; but they write it all, so they might write a class for one kid. For example, they have one kid who does coding – the only kid who wanted to do it -- so they have an approved curriculum written by them. The core classes are all written.

Who’s the best Rotary club in our world?! Well, we are certainly among them with all we do, and certainly when it comes to potluck socials like the one at the Montara home of Bill Johnston and wife Austin last Thursday, attended by some 25 HMB Rotarians and many spouses. After the Pledge of Allegiance led by President-elect Irwin Cohen, everyone enjoyed a potluck dinner including a quiche casserole, sushi, Caesar salad, roasted chicken thighs and desserts of pies, cookies and brownies, and lively conversation,  until Irwin adjourned the gathering

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The day’s speaker, Kathleen McCarty, was introduced, and she told the Rotarians a little about herself. At the local senior center she leads and teaches regular weekly sessions in tai chi for groups of about 20 participants. Besides being a teacher of tai chi, she is also a skier and spoke frequently of the benefits she found in tai chi following her active and sometimes rigorous time on the slopes.

The focus of her talk was tai chi. She spoke if the changes that practicing tai chi can bring to the body and how it’s good for health, noting that she started practicing tai chi around 2012 with the goal of being a better skier – which it helped. 

She discussed the meaning of the name “tai chi chuan,” or “big extreme,” and likened tai chi to a story of choreographed movements with a foundation in martial art, vital energy and moving that energy around in the body – like a choreographed moving meditation. As she spoke, she rose and illustrated what she was speaking about, by posing and moving her own body accordingly.

Ralph asked, when should one begin practicing of tai chi? She responded, one can start at any time, though the practice cultivating awareness of the energies in the body can take time, so you don’t want to start from a too-advanced level. 

What a creative bunch!

 

 

 

Our October 26 meeting was all fun and no business. We took over the tent at Farmer John's and carved pumpkins.  Liz has circulated pictures of the winners and all of the entries were great.  Liz brought her signature cupcakes with a Hallowe'en theme.  There were Rotary pooches uknderfoot and nosing around.  A great time was had by all.

(For more photos click on READ MORE)

Liz introduced the day’s guest speaker, Kyle Haugen, Past District Governor from the Rotary Club of Prior Lake, Minn. Talking to us via Zoom, he told us about himself: From 2017 to 2018 he served as District Governor of Rotary District 5960; currently he is serving as a District Rotary Foundation Team Leader 2019-2021 and will serve as Region 36 Rotary Public Image Coordinator, 2021-2024. Liz met him when they served together on a polio immunization trip to India. The son of Rotarian parents and brother of a Rotarian, he had worked in insurance and coached T-Ball. A Rotarian himself since 2003, he had also visited Uganda, India, Haity and Rwanda; visiting Kenya on Rotary water projects, and was the youngest Governor of his district at the time. He and his wife are both Major Donors and members of the Bequest Society.

Throughout his talk, Kyle stressed the importance of story and, for all of us, the importance of telling our individual Rotary stories. He held the Half Moon Bay Rotarians enthralled, speaking encouragingly about membership and the Rotary Foundation, telling of his polio immunization trip to India and visit with a village leader, and his role as Rotary Public Image Coordinator, Zones 25B and 29.

He spoke about public image, “the delivery system” to members and to the public. We need to create an emotional response that makes people want to be involved -- everyone enjoys being part of a solution. Think about why you joined Rotary – Because you enjoyed being part of a group? Is there an emotional connection? What’s a good way to forge that – telling your story,  helping listeners to create a picture of themselves in that situation? Could you picture yourself there? Does that make you proud to be a Rotarian? Without an emotional connection, there is no story.

President Liz Schuck was unable to attend, and so President Elect Irwin Cohen stepped up to lead the meeting. 

For the Inspirational Thought, Stacy Trevenon offered her thoughts on last weekend’s 60^th annual Kings Mountain Art Fair, an event she annually attends and at which she volunteers as a “booth sitter,” sitting in at booths when the artists need a break. She likened the art fair and the many volunteers that produce it, to our Rotary Club, given the boundless creativity, energy and resources it draws upon to do the work it does.

It was a quiet meeting, with no guests and no visiting Rotarians.  When happy/crappy news was called for, Ralph Ely gave some sobering updates on Mike and Rose Serdy, both of whom were hurt recently due to falls.

Susan Kealey gave the latest on the Coastal Cleanup Day scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 23 at Dunes Beach. For this event we will be joined by members of the Rotary Clubs of Woodside and Palo Alto. Susan had brought posters about the cleanup day, to distribute to members to display from office or home windows.

DEBUNKING CLUB PRESIDENT KRYSTLYN GIEDT (2022-23

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Color set the tone as it filled the June 29, 2003 meeting of the Rotary Club of Half Moon Bay. Bright pastel plastic tablecloths, gold centerpieces and a handful of little stars graced every table, and several colorful tutus decorated the chairs. President Krystlyn Giedt, herself a star since “Star” is her middle name and her year’s theme and this was her debunking, brightened the room with her smiles. She herself wore a sparkling star tiara and a yellow tutu. And cheery multi-colored tutus sparkled on the chairs.
Incoming Club President Liz Schuck, who had chaired and planned the debunking event and luncheon, introduced Dianne Bobko, who in turn introduced Chef Ellie Angelini of "A Teaspoon of Love"who catered our delicious Luncheon. As Dianne treminded us, Chef Ellie has supported our Club's Magic of the Coastside Auction over the years each time donating a full gourmet dinner she prepared and cooked in the winner's home for 6 guests.  Dianne mentioned that she was the lucky winner twice, and they were amazing dinners. Chef Ellie hails from the Cordon Bleu. 

Liz asked members to introduce their guests who included Rosi Fontana’s partner Hal Novotny, Bo Bobko, Larkin Evans, Kathy, Wilson, and new member Wendy Smittle, who is due to be inducted in July.

Liz then invited Joe to offer a few words as the key part of Krystlyn's debunking.  Joe Brennan, calling this “a good year,” obliged with the following limerick. “First with apologies to Frank Sinatra, he then read,"

 
“The year twenty twenty two / Was a very good year / It was a very good year for a small town girl / On first Thursday nights / She played under lights / On Main Street / In twenty twenty two … 
“As twenty twenty two closed / It was a very good year / It was a very good year for Chamber girl / Who wrapped up the year / With a meeting at Odd Fellows / And it was some fun / Goodbye twenty twenty two … 
“Now it is twenty twenty three / Which is a very good year / It is a very good year for warm-blooded girl / Of the Chamber’s dreams / Who’d work long hours / Burning the candle at both ends / Twenty twenty three is a very good year …
“Now in mid twenty twenty three / It is a very good year / Her term is winding down / She’s holding together / The whole damn town / And passing on the Rotary crown / Twenty twenty-three is a very good year … 
“Krystlyn fortunately never suffers the blues, / Because in her closet she has all those tutus. / If she starts to feel blue, / She can take the cue / Slipping on a tutu and high, high top tennis shoes!
“Tracking the Goonies at Columbia River’s end, / Taking a well deserved vacation with a friend. / They visited the Astoria Jail, / But didn’t have to post no bail. / Visiting all the Goonies locations as penned …
“Krystlyn answered the Chamber’s call / It takes half of every 24 hours, that’s all / Then came the Rotary call / She took it without stall / But her office support evaporated by Fall!
“She found it difficult to be in two places at once / The frustration gets one’s knickers in a bunch. / But she balanced her events / Whether in offices or tents / And survived the year with only a few lumps ... 
“It became a year of almost endless Zooms / Allowing her to be in two if not three rooms! / It was hectic to be sure / But also a stop gap cure / Allowing her distance from numerous sure glooms ...
“Committee meetings had to be the worst, / You’re on the agenda but you’re never first / If you bide your time right / You’ll be in the spotlight. / Miss your cue and you’ll be exposed  … and cursed!
  
“This year saw the town’s first Pride parade, / Many came out into the sun from the shade / It was colorful to be sure, / Seeing the rainbow’s allure / Celebrating what progress we all have made!”
Joe than called Krystlyn up front and presented her with her own Starr award and, in recognition, a crystal statue of a star and her Past President pin that “you’ve worked all year to achieve.”

Amid applause, Liz gave Krystlyn heartfelt thanks. Krystlyn then acknowledged that it was a group effort. She said she took on the presidency with good intentions that ended up flying right out the window. Thanking Liz for being her unofficial “sounding board” all year, and helping her keep the Club going, Krystlyn turned it over to Liz who presented her with a beautiful engraved piece with a star on the top from the Club.

As her “last official act” as President, Krystlyn rang the bell. “Thank you to everyone,” she said to the club. “It was a group effort. Love you all!”

NOTE: Click "Read More" to read about the Club Meeting and Announcements that followed and see lots of fun pictures in the PHOTO GALLERY.

Our speaker today was introduced by Susan Kealey. Karen Wang is a Montara resident and mom of 2 kids. She is also the Communications Officer for the County of San Mateo Office of Sustainability where she oversees communications to promote sustainability education and initiatives within the County and the community. She was formerly, the Director of the nonprofit, Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) and the founder and Director of Because Health, an environmental health education campaign. Karen completed her PhD in Strategic Management at the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. Karen also holds a MS in Environmental Science and a BA in Economics from Stanford University.  

The following are the key points covered by Karen in her presentation.

First the History of the Office of Sustainability - it  was formed in 2014, part of the county manager's office, helps the community become more sustainable. Now own county department, joined recently, solving for today and our long term future 

Karen asked our members, "What do ou think about when you hear sustainability? " The responses were:

• Food, environment, climate change, running out of resources, agriculture, housing, 

• Rotary has two beach clean ups coming up 

Karen Then presented the Mission statement: Building a sustainable community that fulfills the needs of the present and future. 

The OOS includes 20 partnered cities.  Her following slides listed:

• Four areas of programs:

  • Climate protection

  • Climate resilience- adapting to effects of climate change we are seeing  

  • Waste reduction- how to deal with waste resources 

  • Livable communities- housing and transportation 

Irwin introduced our speaker, Peter Master, who will cure Irwin of his accent. Peter is Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics in the Department of Linguistics and Language Development at San Jose State University. He is the author of “Systems in English Grammar:  An Introduction for Language Teachers.”     

The focus of today’s talk is the A and The articles. English learners have trouble with late acquisitions to English—articles, prepositions and third person singular—s. They are considered late because we can be understood without them. 

Articles belong to the determiner system, a noun phrase. The book, a book or a zero article—coffee (noun) is good for you. An article has Countability—I can count them. For example I can count a book. I cannot count air or make it plural. 

The binary system for teaching articles—a category, use a. If it is something you are supposed to know, use the. Which would be the green one. The is the most frequently used word in the English language. Peter found that zero article is the most frequent after a study. First mention and subsequent mention is a way to determine the article—a man walked in, subsequently, the man walked in again. When teaching English, this mention (first mention, subsequent) as a way to give your student a win. 

We move on to ranking adjectives—descriptive adjectives. 

He shared some exercises—all the answers are the same to get students to get used to the sound of several “a” sentences, then several “the” sentences. Superlative sentences are ranking sentences and must use the. Unique adjectives—two of the same, you and I are holding the same pen, not a same. 

Every other European language had an academy to make and enforce rules to keep it organized. English, on the other hand, grew organically. It takes more words in other languages because they are limited. “He asked why did I do that”. The correct sentence would be  “Why he did that.”

Despite triggering PTSD from Mrs. Kastner’s fourth grade sentence diagramming, I did learn some useful ways to help ESL students sort out the mysteries of English. And, I now know why English is so confusing. 

Irwin introduced Warren Hack. Irwin first met Warren as he was bushwhacking Montara Mt.  Warren taught sound and filmmaking at SF State. Warren introduced us to his grandson, Jacob, who is 8 years old and on Spring Break. 

The film, Roaming the Steppe, chronicles Warren’s second trip to Mongolia and reveals the culture of the nomads of the Steppe. The film is a finished cut and he  is  going back again to finish it up this summer. He describes Mongolia as an island of democracy surrounded by China and Russia. The huge uranium deposit in the Gobi Desert threatens this democracy. The nomads of Mongolia have roamed the Steppe, or high prairie, for hundreds of years. Their culture embraces shamanism, throat singing and Nadam (games). Warren’s documentary employs three generations of Kazakh eagle hunters, a shaman and a man who spent the winter in a cave at a Buddhist monastery to learn how to deal with his anger. 

The film allows us to experience this rich, engaging culture along with the stunning views of the land itself. We also become aware of just how fragile it is. China and Russia’s presence looms, technology spurs changes and young people move away for other opportunities and a different lifestyle. The film opens with a golden eagle and expands to reveal the enormity and desolation of the Steppe. Mongolian tradition is to keep the Eagle for 5 years, train it, hunt with it and then release it. One hunter, on releasing his eagle, explained that it is hard—she is a member of his family—but it is necessary to allow her to be free to raise a family of her own. We were able to see how eagles are trained and used in hunting. We also heard that women now are allowed to hunt with eagles. 

This film is not your usual travelogue. Sure, the cinematography is stunning, but the insight into a people who seem to be at one with their environment, who are super competitive, who include shamans, monks and hunters is a unique opportunity to experience another culture.Under the previous government, monks and shamans were persecuted. Now, with democracy monks and shamans can express themselves and be part of their community again.  During the interview with the shaman, she described how she helps her community, organizes chants, prays with them, connects with animals and reads her dreams.  She predicts that there will be tough times ahead and that we need to be sensitive to life and the earth. She also indicated there will be a new beginning. 

The rhythm and singing reminded me of American Indian chants—the drums are actually very similar. Sadly this nomadic way of life is disappearing. 

Q and A

What stops the Russians and Chinese from just taking over? Mongolia became democracy  when the Soviet Union disbanded. Both Russia and China have other priorities at this time. 

What altitude?  The altitude is 5,000 ft at the capital. In the far west it is 6,000 feet. They camped at 11,500 feet. 

How did you get onto this project?  Michael Powers said “Warren I’m going to Mongolia, wanna go?”  Of course the answer was “sure”. He went back in September and is going back this summer.  If anyone is interested, he will be going in July. 

Is Mongolia is open to westerners and filmmakers?  Yes, partly because there are so few people. It is important to be respectful, guides are very important. Regarding photos or filming, ask first. His technique is to give out pictures when he goes back, he made books of photos for the Eagle hunters. 

It is impressive to see women’s rights and women hunting with eagles. How did the yogurt vodka taste? It was nice—warm, earthy, a little like wine. There is equality, they are surprisingly modern in that respect. 

What happened in Mongolia during bloodbath? The reindeer herders fared okay as they are in remote areas. Many shamanic practices continued in secret. Sadly hundreds of thousands of monks were killed. Most temples were torn down, some have been rebuilt. 

Guests -

Krystlyn opened the meeting starting off by introducing our guests Mike and Gity Salari who plan to start an education-based business in Half Moon Bay. They are new to town from Michigan and are semi retired and doing tech consulting. They wish to give back to the community by helping children through tutoring. They plan to open a Kumon franchise. Kumon is a tutoring franchise that originated in Japan. They are planning for an August opening. 

Announcements 

Barb, let us know about the upcoming Cunha Challenge Day — they are looking for volunteers. She also shared part of a video by Steve Hartman, CBS, called One Good Deed.  She will be sharing it with her girls group. The film highlights various ways of volunteering—haircuts for homeless, visiting seniors, etc.

The film was inspiring. It offered the premise that a single act of kindness could change the world. It also covered paying it forward. For example, a young woman received help adopting a relative’s child. To pay it forward, she started a thrift store to raise funds to help with other families’ adoptions. It also discussed viral kindness and the Big Brothers/Sisters organization—which is in 12+ countries now. You can find this film on YouTube. 

At Irwin’s suggestion, we went around the room with our stories of receiving kindness from someone. 

Krystlyn shared that seven farm worker families are moving into apartments now. They need household goods, especially mattresses (they must be new by law). Liz interjected that our Foundation recently raised $3,500 for farm workers by soliciting other clubs. BAM!  A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to use those funds to buy mattresses. 

On a related note, Ralph advised he was able to rent 3 units for 1 month and now has rented 4 units for a year to farm workers through Abode, the charitable arm of Airbnb. 

Barb, report on Cunha students post shooting, some had been displaced. She has been bringing speakers to her girls group that include artists and covering topics like mindfulness and empowerment. Her group is currently comprised of 10-16 girls and there is a waitlist. The girls are in the 6th grade. This is part of Smart Girls, a national program through the Boys and Girls Club. There is interest in growing the program—if you’d like to be part of that, talk with Barb. 

Liz shared her firsthand Star Wars experience at Disneyland and advised that the Disney Company is now 100 years old. 

Joe, EJ, Rose, Bill, Austin and Kevin are in Mexico on our postponed Club trip to La Paz, Baja California Sur that was organized by Joe. This trip is to help the free clinic serving the very needy in southern Baja founded by Dr. Nancy Harris of Moss Beach…and to view the Gray Whales in Puerto Adolfpo Lopez Mateos.

The last Little Library has been installed. 

The Pacifica Club is having a Bowl-a-thon.  EJ and Rose are signed up so far. See attached poster. 

Linda Craven has back problems and needed to moved out of the area. She thanked us for our hospitality. 

Liz went to PETS last weekend. Powerful speakers, enjoyable time, loads of ideas…

He began by passing around an old photo album and asking if anyone had any idea what the pictures were of? --- “Rotarians,” guest Mallon deadpanned – and how old? “Not as old as me,” quipped someone (Rose, maybe?) Warren estimated the photos were collected in or around 1988, and he put stickers on them for people to identify: current, past or no-longer-with-us Rotarians, and passed it around.

We’re having a meeting regardless of popular demand, a social, Warren said, starting with announcements. Ralph suggested a shop talk and Warren promptly nominated him. 

He  rang the bell and asked EJ Dieterle to lead the Rotarians in the Pledge of Allegiance which he did. Warren the asked if any veterans were present, and mentioned flag etiquette; for example, if the flag is flown at night it should be illuminated, and how the field of stars should always be flown in the upper left. 

He asked for an inspirational thought, and Ginger Minoletti said, “The sun is shining,” and Doug added “We had snow days,” which was cool (literally). Joe Brennan spoke of a first international exposition in four years, in La Paz, Mexico, on which he planned to be one of eight volunteers to help open a medical clinic and to which he would like the club to make a donation to support. After the visit, he said, he will make a report as to what the clinic really needs. The trip includes a visit to the coast to see the blue whales

He says he still dreams about Dollar rentals. He started with a survey - how many did not know that we have a local radio station?  Everyone knew we have a local radio station. How many listen to the station - we had a fair percentage. Jim encouraged is to give the station a listen as it has a plethora of offerings. 

The station went on air in October 2009. At that time they covered Ocean Colony, Ocean Corners and Canada Cove. They have since expanded to cover most of the coastside. Cara Schmaljohn was an early listener. She would even listen through the static. 

About 6 years ago the station was given an FM license with 100 watts. They have two antennas:  AM is 1710 and located at the Debenedetti Building on Main Street. FM is 100.9 and is located at Cameron’s RV Park. KHMB are the call letters they use although KHMV are the actual call letters. It’s the same thing KCBS does. You’ll hear the real call letters  at the top of the hour. They are also an emergency broadcast provider.

There was a discussion about the increased workload, RI emails and paperwork. This is not just a HMB issue, now there are more regulations, more activities, more paperwork. There is also an immense amount of communication now as opposed to the past. We could also use help with onboarding new members.  This was a common complaint at PETs. A recommendation was made that the club hire an admin to assist Presidents. We already have a bookkeeper contractor. We estimate around 5-6 hours a week to 20 hours a month. 

PE Liz reminded us that Irwin who will be our new PE starting in July 2023 was President in 93-94.  She announced the incoming Officers, Directors and Committee Chairs for her second time as President (2023-24) starting July 2023 - a copy of the list is attached. She reminded us  that Rotary is asking us a lot for each area of service.

She also reported on our Community Service updates:

• Adopt a family, Barb and Renee completed our list. They had a good time, even though Barb hates to shop. 
• Mary - Coastside Hope—Stacy, Doug, Joe all help—3rd Thursday of month at Mary’s. $4,700 grant should last through year end. Email reminder to come. 

Our speaker was Joe Pinzeron, a Coastsider now retired from a varied and interesting career that morphed from electronic and computer-based music to assisting U.S. and European technology companies with "tech transfer" projects, mainly setting up and launching manufacturing in Asia and in China specifically.  Joe's early career on the music faculty of University of Illinois in the 1980's would have been interesting all by itself, as he was on the cutting edge of development of electronically based music and went on to compose and perform.   

 

Time and tide were running in Joe's direction, however, and the pull of the technology tide was irresistable.  He went to China on a sabbatical 1986-7 to build a computer music studio and his vistas began to change. He began working for Logitec (mouse manufacturer) and for 10 years helped run the company's efforts in moving suppply chains and factories from the Western world into (first) Taiwan and then a China which at the time, under Deng Xiao-PIng,  seemed open and friendly to partnerships with the West.  HIs involvement with China was both technical and, because of his background, cultural.    

This presentation was about the Coastside Sky Tram (via Zoom). Peter von Bleichert, a business professor at the College of San Mateo, has been visiting Half Moon Bay for decades and is familiar with the issues of Highway 92. “I sat there once for two hours just trying to get to the pumpkin festival.” He’s published books on the work of his great-great-grandfather Adolf Bleichert, who built Germany’s first aerial ropeway in 1872.  And last year wrote an article for an industry engineering magazine about how an aerial tramway might work for Half Moon Bay. This got picked up by the San Mateo Daily Journal in a piece that was read by Mayor Debbie Ruddock and led to her inviting him to present to the City Council. Since then the idea has picked up steam.  

There is an exploration team forming, email CoastSkyway@gmail.com to be added to their email list. Deborah Harter Williams was in attendance with a model tram and informational materials.  They are currently in the exploratory phase, a feasibility and engineering study would be the next step. A multi national engineering firm is interested and he feels funding is  available. 

President Joe Brennan then shared Limericks he had penned for some members, in the hope they were amused. 

(Click on "Read more"below to enjoy all the great limericks from our Irish Poet Joe Brennan and the rest of the article and Club News)

Patricia Roma introduced Donald J. Ayoob, a resident of Half Moon Bay and a neighbor of hers. He is currently the Criminal Supervising Judge, Drug Court-Proposition 36 Judge, Multiple DUI Court Judge and Trial Judge. He has been a Superior Court Judge in San Mateo County since 2010. 

He has a background as a Public Defender, appellate defense and death row appeals. He’s taught about advocacy and the death penalty and has served as a death penalty defense attorney. Despite that pedigree, he was appointed as a Superior Court Judge by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

With respect to courthouse operations, there are changes to civil case assignments. Rather than a master calendar, the system will ensure the same judge throughout the process. Mask and social distancing have been eliminated for now per the County Health Department’s recommendations. Zoom appearances, especially by inmates, will be reduced and in person appearances will increase. Zoom was used especially for inmates as it was feared that the jail could be a vector for COVID due to it being a closed environment. On death row, nine inmates died from COVID. These are prisoners who spend 23 hours in their cells with no direct contact with anyone—still, nine died. During this time, the San Mateo Sheriff was very proactive. There were no fatalities in the jail, 860 inmates are incarcerated there now. 

During 2016 there were a lot of calls about Trump’s connections and his allegations of others. At that time his agent suggested a book to help non-lawyers understand treason. He wrote On Treason:  A Citizen’s Guide to the Law, with an eye toward the law and history. The book’s chapters alternate between law and history. 

Treason is defined by the U.S. Constitution in Article 3, Section 3. It is hard to prove as it sets stringent standards, which is unique, to avoid persecution. The founding fathers intentionally wanted it to be difficult to prove. 

The Civil War, applied to a particular law and wouldn’t be considered treason as a whole. The revolt on January 6, 2021, would be considered treason, from  the 18th century point of view. Our speaker, however, doesn’t see treason being charged for January 6. 

Mitone is a Past President (2013) of our Club and has gone on to serve at the District level. Mitone has been involved with membership at the District level for a number of years and currently serves as District 5150’s Membership Chair where she leads workshops and formulates policy to assist the District’s 46 Clubs engage, grow and maintain their memberships.

During COVID Peloton grew by two million members. In 2021 they outpaced their competitors.  Their user engagement increased by 333%!  How did this happen and could there be some gems of wisdom for Rotary in this success story?   Mitone shared with us the three key areas we should focus on—Community, Brand Experience and Influencers. 

Ann founded The Learning Company (TLC) so her software could reach millions of kids instead of waiting for schools to change.  She also helped Leslie Grimm develop "Reader Rabbit".  Organizations including Apple and the  National Science Foundation have awarded her grants. Ann has been awarded Parent’s Choice, Best Software of the Year from Learning Magazine, and other awards.  

Ann found that children could use computer games and applications to learn things like  basic shapes, nature, reading, etc. Now she is designing VR games about clean energy which let children design a clean energy system that transforms how electricity flows in California. It will be aimed at teens, but she hopes it will entice adults as well. In 1983 she helped design "Reader Rabbit" with six colors and 64k of RAM and floppy disks. In 2024 she also worked on "Reader Bee" which has millions of colors, 128 GB of RAM, works with high speed Internet and is on 250 million iPads.

“The History of Veterans Day and What it Means to Me” — Patrick Hall is the current President of the Pacifica Club, he is also Past President of that club, 2004. Patrick was an Air Force pilot during the Viet Nam war and is an attorney. 

In 1919 Armistice Day was established the 11th hour on the 11th day in the 11th month, it was a State and Federal holiday. It was changed to Veterans Day in 1954. In 1968 it was changed to the 4th Monday in November. President Ford changed it back to November 11. France, Britain and Canada have similar holidays. 

Regarding the significance of the red poppies, The Flower of Remembrance:  “In Flanders Fields” was the poem written by World War I Colonel John McCrae, a surgeon with Canada's First Brigade Artillery. It expressed McCrae's grief over the "row on row" of graves of soldiers who had died on Flanders' battlefields, located in a region of western Belgium and northern France. The poem presented a striking image of the bright red flowers blooming among the rows of white crosses and became a rallying cry to all who fought in the First World War. 

Patrick graduated from Santa Clara where ROTC was mandatory. Upon graduation, he volunteered for the Air Force and went in as a Second Lieutenant in 1969. Prior to joining up, he had an epiphany while at a concert—realizing that his friend was engaged in battle at that time. As a result, he volunteered for pilot training, a one year course which included a four commitment. He considered making a career out of the military and remained in for six years. He flew refueling planes and did three 90 day tours in Southeast Asia. He also flew DC3s to carry intel officers for a year in Viet Nam. He met his wife, Marilyn, when he got back—she is from Belgium. Patrick is proud that our country reconciles with former enemies. 

• The U.S. Marshals Service was the first federal law enforcement agency in the United States.
• Federal marshals have served the country since 1789, often in unseen but critical ways.
• The Marshals Service occupies a uniquely central position in the federal justice system. It is the enforcement arm of the federal courts, involved in virtually every federal law enforcement initiative.
• Presidentially appointed U.S. marshals – one for each federal judicial district – direct the activities of 94 districts. (Don is one of them!)
• Approximately 3,738 deputy U.S. marshals and criminal investigators form the backbone of the agency. 
• The duties of the U.S. Marshals Service include protecting the federal judiciary, apprehending federal fugitives, managing and selling seized assets acquired by criminals through illegal activities, housing and transporting federal prisoners and operating the Witness Security Program.

Byron shared a video with us, a reworked version of a video he prepared for his kids’ career, which included samples of his work.  He also went over his process—the steps he takes to produce a film. From prep, reading the script, meetings with the director and others to planning, making a storyboard, planning lighting, location, more planning, more meetings and shooting. His crew, who he has the utmost respect for, is responsible for operating the cranes, the cameras, the lighting, etc. Basically, he draws and paints with light. Each frame is a painting.