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Bulletin Editor
Anne LeClair
Special thanks to photographer Peter Webb, MD
 
Prez Chris’ Swan Song
 
In honor of Prez Chris’ last day as club president, Marion Brown gave the pledge and Kitty Lopez shared a thought for the day from Mr. Rogers, basically saying that we never know how much we mean to other people.
 
Now Past President Chris posted a quote from Bill Clinton: “Being president is like running a cemetery: you’ve got a lot of people under you, but nobody’s listening.” Badaboom.
 
We did listen as Mitch Williams gave the sunshine report noting that Bob Campbell and his daughter are both doing well. GREAT NEWS! Anxious to have you back, Bob!
 
Jodi DeSmidt introduced the only visiting Rotarian: her husband Dave DeSmidt of the Foster City Rotary Club.
Eric Schwartz then inducted Lisa Nash into the club. Lisa is a retired marketing person who is anxious to get involved and give back to the community.
 
Jim Engel publicly thanked Laura Porter for organizing the fun day at the SF Giants game. If you missed it, you missed a lot of fun—and a win!  Laura did a great job on it and it was a blast.
 
Now Past President Chris announced that he’d be emceeing the first Concert in the Park Series in San Mateo’s Central Park on June 28. Sheila Canzian piped up and made sure all knew that Chris had to pay for that privilege. 
Erin Sinclair was hit for what she believed to be her second President's Club fine; Bob Spence joined, but said he's avoided it by not attending very often. 
 
Tom Stucker said he IS a member of the President's Club, having mailed a check since he's "such a low profile character with nothing to pay attention to",  and Martin Harband refused to pay full price, saying Vic Carboni is his only friend and they'd split it. Vic, of course, is already in the President's Club, so Martin turned back to Tom Stucker,  who agreed to "whatever Martin said." Very generous, Tom!
With that, a tuxedoed Mitch Williams took charge of the roast crew for Prez Chris, with script written by Tony Villanueva, I believe, who was traveling.  Acting in the production were Cheryl Angeles, Jody DeSmidt, Carey Gorgolinski, Amy Cook, and Steve Parker, playing respectively: Chris’ mother, his prom date, his high school principal (a nun), a victimized chamber member and Chris’ former real estate mentor.
Amog the highlights: Cheryl talking about a difficult delivery of Chris, due to the big size of his head, and his proclivity toward Jimmy Choo shoes by age five; Sister Mary Mother of Patience (Carey) saying they had to change the name of his school from Our Lady of Hope to Heaven Help Us Academy, due to Chris’ determination to pick on other students, including Peter Pee Pee Pants, Jodi’s description of a steamy prom date after having been picked up by Chris in a black Ford Crown Victoria, Amy’s tale of being locked up by Chris until he was arrested by Chief Manheimer and Steve’s tale of how he created Chris’ former slogan, “I’ve Got a Head for Real Estate.” 
 
It was a hard working team doing a thankless job, but they pulled it off in front of our tough crowd.
 
The actors then accepted questions from the audience, with nearly all directed at Prez Chris.  Among the Qs: When did he stop putting his large face on his car? (Answer: It was dropped ten years ago, once he made a name for himself. His wife wouldn’t ride in the Dave Skromme-wrapped car with Chris’ big face on it.); How many pairs of shoes does he own? (Answer: 35 pairs, plus athletic shoes,etc.)
 
How many closets does he have? (Answer: Six, more than his wife has); and, from Joy Morriss, “I have more clothes and shoes than you do.  If I were to turn my kitchen into a closet, would it hurt the resale value of the house?”. (No one heard that answer, because we were all laughing.) 
 
With that, Chris thanked all for a great year and for everyone’s help, and "bequeathed his legacy" to now President Bruce in the Beanstalk.  (Chris handed his crown to Bruce.) Chris noted that he wanted a better stone in Bruce’s president’s pin than a paltry diamond, so he went upscale with a cubic zirconia. 
With that, Sheila Canzian stood in for the traveling Tony V, presenting Chris with his past president’s pin, complete with a real diamond.  She gave Chris a gift from the club, but it was never opened, so the contents will have to be revealed in next week’s Spinnings
 
Prez Bean There, Done That, thanked Chris and announced that we WILL be having a meeting next week on July 5, with Jim Wagstaffe as our speaker.
 
Thank you, Chris, for a great, fun year.  You were always a good sport and always took the high road. 
 
Reminder: Oscar Lopez-Guerra wants to remind Rotarians about this easy to use, free app you can download from the App Store.  It will provide you with a handy source of contact information about Rotarians you may need to contact.  Download Clubrunner.
 
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AL
 

 

 

 
 
President Chris Eckert
Now a Has Been