70 years ago, George Gates opened a barbecue joint in the 18th and Vine Jazz District of Kansas City, Missouri. One of its enduring trademarks is the fact that every customer who enters the store (now comprising six locations in the Kansas City area) is greeted by a warm, "Hi, may I help you?" This phrase is not only a trademark but an expression of the restaurant’s enduring commitment to customer satisfaction. In Rotary, our members are our customers. Without Rotarians, Rotary cannot fulfill the promise of "Service Above Self".
The Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of San Francisco recognizes that a strong Rotary club needs a satisfied base of members. If you are not satisfied, if the club is not meeting your need, you will be less inclined to help Rotary fulfill its purpose.
Every week we are striving to raise the bar of member satisfaction. We changed the greeting process to make everyone who enters our meeting space in the Sir Francis Drake feel welcome. Our directors of club service and membership, Michael Strohl and Dan Joraanstad, are assembling a team that will connect with every member to make sure his or her needs are met. For new members, we will be hosting new member dinners giving an opportunity for those who have recently joined the club to connect with established members. As we try out new ideas, and work to improve our system for membership connection, please do not hesitate to give us feedback on what is working and what is not working. And, of course, you are welcome to step forward and help us in our efforts.
July Board Meeting Summary
The July 26, 2016 focused on four major topics. I have already mentioned the greeting check-in process. The other topics are:
Approval of 2016-2017budget: The club operating budget is very tight with a $6000 cushion of expenses over the projected $141,000 income.
Community service funding requests: we anticipate over $144,000 in requests for the 2016-2017 Rotary year. Unfortunately, we only have about $120,000 to fund those requests. We would like to fund every project request. However, we may have to decline some requests and partially fund others.
Raffle tickets are free! We know that our lunches are expensive. Members do not need to be asked to contribute an additional $5 or $10 by buying raffle tickets. The board decided to give everyone a ticket and a chance to win a donated prize.
In lieu of buying raffle tickets, in the celebration and recognition portion of our meetings, those members who wish to do so can donate $5, $10, or any other amount to acknowledge whatever you want for those small things that happen in your life:
That perfect parking place you found on Clement Street right next to the restaurant to which you are going.
Pay forward that act of kindness you received.
Please continue to donate those larger amounts for the special events in your life like anniversaries, special recognitions and awards you receive, that new job or promotion, or that delightful vacation you took.
Farewell to an old friend: The first meeting of August started with a moment of silence in remembrance of Jack Ward. Jack died in July at the age of 98. Jack was a dedicated supporter of the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco. He was a past member of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Rotary Club and recipient of the Paul Harris Fellowship Award. His obituary is at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=180735059.
Interact leader scholarship recipients: On August 9, two $1000 scholarships were presented to two Interactors. Kelly Yuen attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) camp in 2015. Inspired by this experience, she was instrumental in starting and Interact club at Washington high school that was formally charted in the spring of 2016. In the 2016-2017 school year, Kelly remains active in interact as the advisor to her club at Washington as well as serving on the Rotary District 5150 Interact Council as co-secretary.
Fellenia Chan is a RYLA alumnus of the 2016 leadership camp. This experience inspired her to become the president of the Lowell high school Interact club. Along with Kelly Yuen, she serves as co-secretary on the District 5150 Interact Council.
Presentations: in August, four speakers gave us insight into a wide variety of topics. Jeremiah Pauley told us about his journey that started with fulfilling his passion serving his country in the United States Armed Forces. That passion was abruptly ended when he, like so many other soldiers, he was injured in Iraq. As a former soldier, he had difficulty adjusting and lost almost everything. Through the Wounded Warriors Project he has found a new passion in promoting the work that this project does in helping soldiers heal.
Jim Ware told what it takes to change meetings from a waste of time into a valuable tool. Dr. Charlotte Jacobs talk about Dr. Jonas Salk and his passion to eliminate polio. Trace Dominguez, a producer and host of YouTube videos for Discovery Communications talk about his passion for science and how he made a career of producing and hosting science videos on the Discovery Communication’s YouTube channels DNews and DNews+.
BBQ news:President David offered a few lessons on barbecue including a basic definition. He noted that barbecue is not just throwing meat on a grill. Real barbecue means smoking the meat at a low temperature, preferably hickory smoked, over a long time (as long as 12 to 18 hours).
Recognitions and celebrations:Rhonda Poppen (Independent Grant Consultant, GRANTdog) recognized her daughter Emily, part of the band Pipelights, for recent success including their first album release. Cecile Chiquette (Certified Public Accounting - Regional; Retired) celebrated Ellie Giorgis (Investment Advisor; Gruber & McBaine Capital Management) returning to a Rotary meeting after her recent recovery. Emily Borland (Architecture; Emily Borland Specifications) appreciated a successful speech class for her son, John Mathers (Management Consulting; eVo Associates) was glad that his daughter came to Berkeley with the grandkids for the first time, Dan Joraanstad (Retail Brokerage; Retired) celebrated his recent wedding trip to North Dakota, Melissa Galliani (Broadcast; Cumulus Media) told a tale of woe about retrieving her daughter's lost ID - which turned out to be fake, Scott Plakun (IT Consulting; The Plakun Group) found out that a favorite high school teacher had kept a thank you note her wrote to her for the rest of her life, Jim Bradley (Insurance Agencies - Property; CAL Insurance) enjoyed a sailing race even though he fell off the boat, Jim Kennedy (Design Consulting and Space Planning; James Kennedy Design) told us his wife admitted he was right about something, John Hoch (Estate and Business Planning; Retired) recognized Clif Thomas (Tax Accounting; Clifton S. Thomas CPA) for showing up at a meeting. Additional donations were made by Tom Briody (Elder Care; Institute on Aging), Anita Stangl (Nonprofit Management; Retired), Peter Lagarias (Law Practice - Civil Litigation; Lagarias & Napell), Michael Mustacchi (Photography, Michael Mustacchi & Associates Photography) and Tom Brunner (Health Care; Glaucoma Research Foundation. And Allan Herzog (Stocks and Bonds; Wells Fargo Advisors) was fined when his cell phone rang during a meeting.
Dinner for new and prospective members:Dan Joraanstad hosted a dinner at his home for 25 Rotarians and new or prospective members of the Rotary Club of San Francisco. Anita Stangl served as the chef. This dinner is just the first in a series of dinner opportunities to connect new and prospective members with long-standing club members. Thank you Dan and Anita for putting together this successful event!
It's often hard to invite a friend or colleague to come with you to Rotary. But do it, push yourself to wear that Rotary pin and trigger conversations!
To help you, here's a note that you can send in a situation where you met someone in a casual informal setting. Use part of the email content below or the whole thing. Adapt it to your style. But if you send a note like this to someone who has expressed interest in talking of Rotary, you will be on track for helping them enjoy the benefits of Rotary while helping to grow our membership.
Hi, It was fun to meet you at ______. Interesting that the topic of Rotary came up. As an enthusiastic member of Rotary Club #2 I am always happy to know of interest in our great organization.
Rotary is about Service Before Self, first and foremost. In today's tough old world, people seem to value more and more any opportunities to help other people — and that's what we do at Rotary — help others. For example, we have projects in San Francisco like building bikes for grade school kids, or getting dictionaries for third graders in underserved communities. We have a long and growing list of good works. Coming up next is the Walk to End Alzheimers on Sept 17.
Rotary is also about making friendships. Working together, helping people, sharing values in common, all of this promotes long lasting friendships.
In summary if you have an interest in helping others, and of making friends Rotary Club #2 is the place. At this week's meeting we have a particularly good speaker on _________.
We meet in the Sir Francis Drake Hotel near Union Square at 12:00-1:30pm. Please join us. Feel free to call me at ### ### ####. It would be a pleasure to have you as my guest.
As a boy in Parkersburg, WV, Frank Yoke achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. As an adult, he has spent his entire career working for the Boy Scouts of America.
Soon after graduating with a degree in secondary education from West Virginia University in 1981, Frank was recruited by the Boy Scouts as a district executive, basically the local field representative. His career took him across the country, beginning in Cleveland, then taking him to Canton, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and west to San Mateo and San Francisco, where he worked for nine years before moving to Phoenix. He moved back to San Francisco in 2015.
Frank also served as a field director, overseeing several field representatives, then as Chief Operating Officer in Pittsburgh, but the rest of his career has been in fundraising. His title with the San Francisco Bay Area Council, which is headquartered in Oakland, is deputy CEO with responsibility for fundraising, fiscal management and risk management. He has just started a two-year term as our Club’s Vice President for Development.
Club President David Dye worked with Frank in San Mateo, then during his first tour in San Francisco. Frank and his wife, Patsy, live in Fremont and will celebrate their 25th anniversary at the end of this month. His son Jim works for the city attorney’s office in Pittsburgh, and his son Brian is a telemarketer.
Frank first joined Rotary in 1999 in Ambler, PA, and later became a member of the Rotary Club of Burlingame. He joined the Rotary Club of San Francisco in 2015. His Club fundraising goals include doing “something significant for the 100th anniversary of The Rotary Foundation.” That “really substantial” goal is $50,000 during FY16/17. He also expects to emphasize planned giving for the San Francisco Rotary Foundation.
He is drawn to the service aspect of Rotary and says “the high point for me about this particular Rotary club is the people. I have found them to be a lot of really great people.” He cites the long history of the Rotary Club of San Francisco with the Boy Scouts, including Past Presidents Harold Hoogasian and Howard Waits who also served on the local council board.
Frank is a golfer and looks forward to getting involved with the Rotary Twilight Golf Tournament, as well as Thanksgiving at The Arc and the dictionary project. He is also “a significant history buff,” with a focus on World War II. He reads a lot of WWII history and watches old WWII films. Next week, he will be in New Orleans on business and plans to visit the World War II Museum, founded by Stephen Ambrose, author of “A Band of Brothers,” among many other books.
Another amazing club member! Although she has been a member for awhile, Susanna Seltzer may not be known to some in the club. Growing up back east, Susanna was a Rotary Exchange student in 2000 and took her degree from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service specializing in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. As a Rotary Scholar in Strasbourg, France, she studied European Union Law and Economics, Human Rights Law, Development Economics and WTO Negotiations. As if this wasn’t enough skill development, Susanna’s love of foreign lands has led to fluency in English, Spanish, French, Italian and Arabic. Since 2002 she has been working in Washington DC as a spokesperson for the Qatar Embassy helping them present themselves to this country and helping US-based diplomats, academics and business people interface with Qatar. As part of the job, Susanna edited and published various communications that focused on the modernization of Qatar.
Susanna has a son, Jacob, who is an extremely fine dancer in his mid-teens (level 7 for those who know ballet). After strenuous tryouts he was accepted at the ballet school here in San Francisco, which led to their decision to move here. As Susanna put it, the prime for boys as dancers starts when they are 18 to 20, so missing the opportunity to have Jacob in this program was not going to happen. Moving was only part of the change required. Due to Jacob’s schedule at SF Ballet, he has no time for school, so Susanna is home schooling him and has started a consulting service (for individuals, groups and companies) to provide home schooling curriculums (www.kingmakersolutions.com).
But Susanna is also a dancer, songwriter and singer. In her spare time (where does she find it?), she writes songs for her son and has created a website where they can be found (www.reverbnation.com/susannajoy). A visit to the site is well worth the time.
Susanna was a member of a Rotary Club in DC, and helped start a Rotoract Club in DC so it was natural for her to look for a club here that would give her an outlet for her strong service orientation. She has jumped in with both feet, participating with Interact and various other projects, including the ARC, RYLA, caroling and Larkin Street. As she has more time (she is just finishing a difficult schedule of multiple projects at work) she will seek to participate in more community and international projects.
Susanna is a fascinating individual with a wonderful background, and as she has time and the opportunities are available, will join in even more club social and service events.
Please join me in welcoming Susanna Seltzer to our club.
Our own President-Elect, John Mathers, is also the Chair of Organizational Development for our Rotary District 5150. In that role, John has recently completed a study of the issues that are common across the clubs in our district. Come and hear about the findings of that study and how we are working to address those issues.
Join The Rotary Club of San Francisco for a friendly round of golf and a chance to win the coveted Rotary Club of San Francisco Golf Series Trophy! Points are based on participation, not necessarily golf score, so all skill levels are welcome! Come out to Harding Park and join us for some golf fun and fellowship. Fellowship follows every outing. September 8, September 22, October 6.
Martha Ryan, founder and Executive Director of the Homeless Prenatal Project will tell us about their work with homeless families to help ensure that babies will be born healthy into safe, nurturing families where they can thrive. HPP's staff of 80 (half of whom are former clients) serves 4,000 families each year here in San Francisco.
Give back to your community as a volunteer for the San Francisco Walk to End Alzheimer's! Ask your friends, family, and coworkers to join the effort combatting Alzheimer’s by which so many people have been affected or have concerns. Rotarians from all San Francisco Rotary, Rotaract, and Interact clubs are working together to help make this event a success.
DON'T MISS THIS SPECIAL EVENT: Bring prospective members and new members! Past Rotary International President Rick King, widely regarded as one of the best speakers in the Rotary world, will talk to our club about how Rotary is making the world a better place for all. Let's fill the room with people who will enjoy this fabulous presentation.
Join The Rotary Club of San Francisco for a friendly round of golf and a chance to win the coveted Rotary Club of San Francisco Golf Series Trophy! Points are based on participation, not necessarily golf score, so all skill levels are welcome! Come out to Harding Park and join us for some golf fun and fellowship. Fellowship follows every outing. September 22, October 6.
This phrase is not only a trademark but an expression of the restaurant’s enduring commitment to customer satisfaction. In Rotary, our members are our customers. Without Rotarians, Rotary cannot fulfill the promise of "Service Above Self".
Interact leader scholarship recipients: On August 9, two $1000 scholarships were presented to two Interactors. Kelly Yuen attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) camp in 2015. Inspired by this experience, she was instrumental in starting and Interact club at Washington high school that was formally charted in the spring of 2016. In the 2016-2017 school year, Kelly remains active in interact as the advisor to her club at Washington as well as serving on the Rotary District 5150 Interact Council as co-secretary.
As a boy in Parkersburg, WV, Frank Yoke achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. As an adult, he has spent his entire career working for the Boy Scouts of America. 
Our own President-Elect, John Mathers, is also the Chair of Organizational Development for our Rotary District 5150. In that role, John has recently completed a study of the issues that are common across the clubs in our district. Come and hear about the findings of that study and how we are working to address those issues.
Join The Rotary Club of San Francisco for a friendly round of golf and a chance to win the coveted Rotary Club of San Francisco Golf Series Trophy! Points are based on participation, not necessarily golf score, so all skill levels are welcome! Come out to Harding Park and join us for some golf fun and fellowship. Fellowship follows every outing. September 8, September 22, October 6.
Martha Ryan, founder and Executive Director of the Homeless Prenatal Project will tell us about their work with homeless families to help ensure that babies will be born healthy into safe, nurturing families where they can thrive. HPP's staff of 80 (half of whom are former clients) serves 4,000 families each year here in San Francisco.
Give back to your community as a volunteer for the San Francisco Walk to End Alzheimer's! Ask your friends, family, and coworkers to join the effort combatting Alzheimer’s by which so many people have been affected or have concerns. Rotarians from all San Francisco Rotary, Rotaract, and Interact clubs are working together to help make this event a success. 
DON'T MISS THIS SPECIAL EVENT: Bring prospective members and new members! Past Rotary International President Rick King, widely regarded as one of the best speakers in the Rotary world, will talk to our club about how Rotary is making the world a better place for all. Let's fill the room with people who will enjoy this fabulous presentation.