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Looking, as always, Presidential in these waning days of his reign, Pres Stan brought his kingdom to order by welcoming all and introducing Chandini Flinn for some inspiring comments. Noting that she was born in India, she gave us thoughts from the wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi. Ed Glazener led us in song with Joe Zakowski’s piano virtuosity on display. Bert Wahlen delivered the news with a zinger to take the bite out of the sad…”The economy is so bad that the Mafia is letting off Judges”. Susan Basinger introduced the San Diego High School students visiting today. Always eloquent Cheryl Wilson shared with us the seniors that were dining with us today and commented on their individual life stories. Beaming happily, President Stan called to the podium both Shandon Harbour and Jen Martino to exchange their respective red badges to blue. These energetic women have stepped forward to work on many Club 33 projects. Rumor has it that they are Rotary Twins separated at birth, but clearly they have unique talents… and that our President is in love with both of them.
Sheryl Bilbrey had the honor of introducing Lisa Bruner as a new member. She is the Executive Director of the Alzheimer Association that educates and gives support to the community on this deadly disease. Bob Russell had fun introducing Greg Pyke as our newest attorney/member sharing with us the good news that Greg is a member of the Hartley family. We expect great things, Greg! A very surprised Greg Zinser made his way to the podium to accept his Rotarian of the Quarter honor. Greg has given quietly in so many ways to this club, and we celebrated his efforts today. Congratulations, Greg! Leane Marchese encouraged us to strap on our pedometers (or at the least our walking shoes) and head to Mission Bay this Saturday morning for some fun, fellowship and exercise. Patti Roscoe was honored for her magnanimous gift to SDSU that endows a professorship in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. She is the first female in 100 years to make such a gift. Patti helped to found this Department many years ago and has been a strong advocate for educating future leaders in this field.
COD Tyler Cramer called Frank Partnoy, law professor at USD, to the podium, for a most informative and timely discourse about the history of Wall Street scandals and schemes. He has just written a book, “The Match King,” a thriller involving the 1920’s financier Ivar Kreuger. Swedish born Kreuger was one of the wealthiest real estate magnates in the world. He brought to NYC from Europe his promises of high fiscal returns during a time of profound instability in the markets. B. Madoff must have taken lessons from this master. The modus operandi is strikingly similar. Frank’s intriguing and fascinating talk about investors and their abilities to ignore warning signs of criminality/fraud in the market place was illustrative of many current problems. Between credit swaps, derivatives, poor disclosure information and abysmal credit rating companies, it is clear that what goes around, comes around….even 70 years later!
Your Editor’s reminder: “The Roast” is 5 weeks away ….and the Roast Committee suggests you not miss poking some fun at President Stan as well as applauding his tenure!
Editor: Geri Warnke
Photographer: Paul Nestor
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