Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation
The Pledge was led by Marc Friedman. Marc acted as an enthusiastic President “substitute” in Mike Horwitz’ absence, as Mike was celebrating a big birthday in LA LA Land. Happy Birthday, President Mike.Rev. Paul Watermulder gave the invocation, inspiring us all to feel very thankful as we gathered on a beautiful day.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
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Scott McMullin, with San Carlos Rotary Club graced us with his presence and Eric Hanson from Burlingame, was a guest of the club. Both Eric and Scott were also welcomed as guest speakers for the day to represent the “Villages of San Mateo County” .Stephanie Arevalo, Executive Assistant at Peninsula Health Care District, joined us as CEO Cheryl Fama’s guest. Welcome Stephanie.
Announcements
Acting President Marc Friedman playfully questioned the audience, reminding us of our club meeting schedule starting next month (March 2018): First Wednesday of the month we’ll meet for breakfast, 7:30-9:00 AM. 2nd and 3rd Wednesdays we’ll hold lunch meetings, as usual. The 4th and last meeting of the month will consist a group service project activity and/or a social gathering. If there is a 5th Wednesday of the month, there will be no meeting.
Bill Tiedeman announced that the “Paul Harris” award, symbol of generous giving to the Rotary Foundation, was received by John Delaney, congratulations and thank you John!
Director of Communications, Mary Murphy encouraged everyone to install the ClubRunner App on our mobile devices. She explained that there would be no charge for the App. But in the installation process, the Apple Store does us to confirm our payment method - strange! This is just part of their built-in procedure. Just do it!
Bob Doerr announced that the first planning meeting of the “Bistro Burlingame” upcoming special event would take place right after lunch. All are invited to volunteer in this event planning. Contact Bob Doerr if you are interested in participating in future meetings.
Newscast
Reporter Cheryl Fama, once again, delighted guests with a very “educational” and entertaining newscast presentation. Her compilation of slides, with her very serious, yet funny “voice-over” narration and punch line delivery, had many in the audience “LOL” .
Program
Rev. Paul introduced our speaker Scott McMullin, whose presentation was about “The Villages of San Mateo County” . Eric Hanson was also introduced as the Chairman of one of these villages.
These are virtual senior villages which have started to proliferate and grow as a greater percentage of the population in our nation and county turns “65 and over”. The mission of these villages is to provide services, resources and community connections so that its members live vibrant, healthy, and fulfilling lives in their own homes. There is a recognized village movement, which started with the first village of “Beacon Hill” in Boston in 2001. By 2011 there were 60 operating villages. And today there are 235 of them throughout the country. Palo Alto, Redwood City (Sequoia), Mid- Peninsula and Foster City already have villages established. Plans are underway to set them up in East Palo Alto, Daly City, and South San Francisco among others. Members can join for $600/year or slightly higher to include specialized services. Transportation, home safety and repairs, tech assistance, directory of pre-screened vendors, social interaction, and community building are all services commonly provided. One of the largest villages is “Avenidas” in Palo Alto, with 300 hundred members.
There are tremendous volunteer opportunities in the operation of these villages, which Rotarians could take advantage of. Sheryl Young and other attendees praised this movement and all were encouraged to learn more about it, volunteer, share ideas on how to spread the word, and participate.