Rotations November 25, 2014

It was a little gray and rainy outside on Tuesday - - but it was nice and bright and friendly inside Scope when President Sigur rang the bell - - right on time! And we welcomed our friends with the Norfolk Kiwanis Club to our annual joint meeting!

Chip Vogan led us in music and started us off with #66, “Singin in the Rain”, in honor of the weather outside, followed by #65 “Sing Rotarians”, and concluded with the first verse of #559, “We Gather Together”. Considering the talent in the room, we sounded pretty good! The invocation was thoughtfully delivered by Eleanor Schoonover who carefully weaved our nation’s history of the celebration of Thanksgiving into her message.

The School of the week: Suburban Park Elementary School.

The Visitation Report was delivered by Ed Lilly who reported that Jack Magee is scheduled for heart surgery at Norfolk General soon and should be kept in our prayers. He also reported that Joe Massey is doing great and should be back to work by the first of the year.

Jack Hornbeck handled the Introduction of Guests. We had two visiting Rotarians with us. Buddy Early with the Princess Anne Club and Bill Isbister with the Brookfield, WI Club. We also had a number of Rotarians with guests. Joe Boone had Mark Clifton as his guest. Wayne Shank had Pat McCarty as his guest. Dean Thomasson had his wife, Erin, as his guest. Joanne Batson had Sherri Stine as her guest. And Jane Dembert had Lindsay Edwards as her guest. Both Pat McCarty and Sherri Stine are interested in membership with our Club.

James Paddy O’Brien came forward to talk about the Rotary Foundation and no better Rotarian to do the deed! Jim is a Paul Harris fellow eight times over and his personal generosity to Rotary International speaks volumes about his belief in and devotion to a world renowned international charity that does great work both here and around the globe. Jim, who joined Rotary in 1994 and served as our Club’s President from 2004-2005, spoke of how impressed he was by the work of the Foundation while attending the Rotary International Convention held in Japan during his Presidency. Jim championed our EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) program and encouraged all of us to give some donation to the Rotary Foundation each year. As Rotarians, it should be a “privilege” that is very high on our list!         

Congratulations and Fines: Buddy Early, with the Princess Anne Club, paid a fine in order for the privilege of exercising fund raising activities at our Club. The Princess Anne Club sells peanut products as one of their annual fund raisers so let’s help our fellow Rotarians and buy some great peanuts!! Bob Latimer paid to advertise his annual Hot Dog Extravaganza which will be held this year, as usual, at Doug’s Hot Dogs in Ocean View. Bob covers the bill so you can eat as many hotdogs as you want for free! This great annual event is scheduled for noon or so on Friday, December 19^th. Thanks again Bob for continuing this thoughtful annual tradition! Michael Desplaines paid a fine as an apology to President Sigur for initially agreeing, by e-mail, to provide  her a ride to the airport after our last meeting - - only to come down with the flu and, in his misery, both miss the meeting and forget about our president - - who was left waiting at the curb. Michael may be assigned some additional duties this year. Julie Keesling paid in honor of past member Pam Tubbs who, after what Julie described as having the, “longest leave of absence” in our Club’s history, may shortly be returning to the fold. Sharon Laderberg paid up acknowledging that she rode on the 22^nd Float in this year’s Grand Illumination Parade. A hat and gloves were required in order to handle the weather! Steve Jones paid in honor of his attending the same alma mater as our speaker, John Davidson. And finally, Cy Grandy paid in honor of his 31^st wedding anniversary! Congratulations Cy!!

Announcements:

1)  Foodbank Service Day scheduled for December 6^th , 9:00am - 12 Noon

2)  Club’s Holiday Party scheduled for December 16^th at Kaufman and Canoles. Sign-up sheets

    are on the tables. No meeting at Scope!   

The Program: Vice President in Charge of Programs: Bryce Burton.

Rotarian of the Day: Mal Branch.

Mal Branch introduced our speaker, John Davidson, who has spent the past five decades in virtually all mediums of the entertainment industry. Born to two Baptist ministers in Pittsburgh, PA, John struck out early for stardom! According to his biography, and something he failed to mention during his talk on Tuesday, he was an underwear model in the 1959 Sears catalogue, which would have put him at 17 years of age at the time. He made his Broadway debut in the 1964 production of “Foxy” with Bert Lahr, was a member of the repertory company on the CBS variety show “The Entertainers” in 1964, made his first film debut in “The Happiest Millionaire”, opposite Lesley Ann Warren in 1967 and made more than one hundred appearances on the original “Hollywood Squares” TV show during the 1966-1981 run. He also guest hosted “The Tonight Show”, with Johnny Carson, some 87 times! We may have been the first Rotary Club that John has played and he was told, in advance of our meeting, that he would be speaking to the “upper crust” of the area. He stated that his definition of “upper crust” was, “just a bunch of crumbs held together by a lot of dough” - - which got the first of many laughs from his audience. Displaying his considerable musical talents, John opened his “appearance” by singing, “It’s Now Or Never.” and sounded every bit as good as Elvis Presley when he recorded the song back in 1960. And not only did he demonstrate a fantastic voice, but proved a very accomplished guitar player as well. This might be a good place to point out that he has recorded some 12 albums. John mentioned that he is playing the role of the Wizard in the musical, “Wicked” which runs from November 26^th thru December 7^th at Chrysler Hall. He promoted it as great family entertainment and said that he is thoroughly enjoying the tour. “It’s about a green girl”, he said, “and how she doesn’t fit in.” We all, as he said, have times in our lives when we, “don’t fit in”. Judging from John’s very accomplished career, it is doubtful that he ever felt that he didn’t fit. After 54 years in show business, he is still a big box office draw and one that should not be missed between now and December 7^th at Chrysler Hall. John closed with a song he wrote in 2008, when the economy went bust, called “Wall Street Blues”. Doubtful John has any reason to be singing the blues. He’s The Wizard after all! Thanks John - - for a great half hour of wonderful entertainment! Godspeed!                  

Raffle: There was no raffle this week so the big pot remains available!