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With Prez Wayne Goodermote recovering from throat surgery, that gentle soul Prez-Elect Jo Dee Jacob (henceforth PE Jo Dee) was in charge of today’s meeting, which for most of us was a welcome relief from the Reign-of-Terror often experienced under our current Prez. Gentle soul? Well let me get back to that!
After reminding us that our Club was the “bestest,” PE Jo Dee introduced the very glib Jenni Prisk who, keeping with our program theme, wowed us with a variety of quotations regarding freedom of speech as our Inspirational Moment. Next up was Steve Hubbard to lead us in the Pledge and “God Bless America” with Larry Showley accompanying.
As a special note, PE Jo Dee raised Steve’s singing leadership to the ‘Kate Smith-level.’ Clearly the man has talent. George Alexander wailed on the news, this week sponsored by Ray McKewon and his Xeceptional Music Company. My own remarkable brother (he can pay me later), Woody Ledford, introduced our talented visiting students from La Jolla High.
Chuck Pretto, our PEE (that’s right, our Prez-Elect-Elect), continued this year’s tradition of recognizing our Club’s past presidents. This week Chuck gave us the skinny on Gene Trepte (’79-’80), Fred Frye (’90-’91), and Stan Hartman (’08-’09), all of whom left us a better Club and community with their leadership.
Michael Brunker introduced our newest Honorary Member, the truly Honorable Leon Williams, and then brought our newest member, Miro Copic, to the podium for his self-introduction. We’ve really honored the Club with the addition of Leon. He qualifies as one of our community’s best. Miro is also looking forward to serving the community.
World traveler Michelle Candland introduced our Monarch Student of the Quarter, Lexi Martinez, who declared her destiny to be a UCLA student! Thank goodness we have the Club’s fishing trophy, because it made the Perpetual Golf Trophy look interesting. The thrill on this one however is pretty much gone, with Dick “the Ringer” Green receiving the trophy from golf chair Marten Barry for the third year in a row. You’ll have the chance to wrench it away from Dick by joining the tournament at Noon on February 10 at the San Diego County Estates (call the Rotary office for details).
Did I mention that PE Jo Dee was a gentle soul? In a glimpse into the coming year, our PE wacked the wonderful Rotary couple of Matt and Julie Hom for $250 after they unveiled the gender of their soon to arrive baby, much to the delight of the Club! By all indications, our year with the PE should be a wild one…
Our Chair of the Day was that man with the Golden-Tongue, Paul Palmer. Ever wonder why Paul has been so successful at Big Brothers & Big Sisters? Try a very long and profitable career in media sales! And that was his connection to our speaker, John Lynch, because they worked together and competed with each other in sales for many years.
Unless you’ve been completely out of touch, you're aware that Mr. Lynch and Doug Manchester have purchased the San Diego Union/Tribune. Given the state of print media these days, there were many questions on our minds as Mr. Lynch began his presentation. He covered most of them with skill.
Starting with the recognition that San Diego is a “mega region,” John walked us thru the rebranding of the paper, U-T San Diego, and their efforts to develop various channels of revenue by growing the digital business and emulating their successful counterparts. He stressed the need for the paper to take a leadership role in solving the regions challenges, without losing touch on local issues of importance to the communities they serve. It was truly a very newsworthy program!
Editor of the Day: Richard Ledford
Photos by Paul Nestor
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