President Doug Person called the meeting to order.
Bob Doerr led the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Doug delivered the invocation.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests: Paul Watermulder introduced a Rotary couple visiting from India. They are here visiting their daughter who lives in San Mateo and just had a baby boy. Congratulations!
Sunshine Report:
Paul Watermulder shared the sad news that yesterday afternoon Alan Drummer passed away. He had been diagnosed with brain cancer five years ago and was expected to live only 12-18 months. Charlene and Alan felt that these last years have been a gift. Charlene will return to Rotary at some point and appreciates the Club’s support. May Alan’s memory be a blessing.
Announcements
Japanese Exchange Program: Marc Friedman reminded the Club about our fellowship program with the Rotary Club of Edogawa, Japan. This year, Edogawa is bringing five students to Burlingame on March 7. Principal Jen Fong has helped set up programming at BHS. Most of the adults accompanying the students will join Marc and Maki Kobayashi in Scottsdale for a few days of golf. Christine and Jeff Krolik are organizing the welcome and goodbye parties for the delegation. All club members are invited to the welcome party on March 7 at 6 pm at Topgolf. Let Jeff know if you’d like to join the welcome party. The goodbye party will be a week later at the Krolik’s house from 4 to 8 pm. Marc is the District Chair for the international youth exchange program. If you want to host an international student for a year (August to Memorial Day), get in touch with Marc.
Burlingame’s Got Talent: Jerry Winges announced that the event is happening on April 19. Save the date and help locate folks with talent who want to participate. This year, we are looking for sponsors for the first time. If you can secure any sponsors, please do so!
High Gear: We still need more volunteers. Please lend a hand so poor Marilyn Orr doesn’t have to write so many! Please sign up!
Coming Attractions: Jennifer Pence reminded the Club about our upcoming speakers: Emily Beach next week, Lisa Goldman on February 4, and the District Membership Chair on February 11.
My Rotary Story: Jerry Winges announced that Jennifer Pence was Suzanne Juptner’s Rotary sponsor. Jerry asked them to share their Rotary stories. They met when Jennifer was tutoring Suzanne’s daughters. Jennifer brought Suzanne to lunch, and the rest is history. Suzanne gave the backstory about the Fun Fairies, which grew out of the women-only Pink Parties. Stay tuned for another Fun Fairies party in the future. Lage Andersen is an honorary Fun Fairy because he looks great in purple and can wear wings and lipstick with the best of ‘em.
Jonnie Dukes is organizing an NFL pool. It’s $20/square, and there are 100 squares. The Club will keep half the proceeds, and the winners of each quarter will get one-quarter of the remaining funds. So, buy your squares NOW!
Program:
Lisa Goldman introduced Rich Holtz, the City of Burlingame’s Parks Superintendent and City Arborist. Rich reviewed the history of trees in Burlingame. Before development, there were few native trees. Once people started settling here, they planted trees, often to establish property lines or wind breaks.
As the community evolved, the trees planted early on continued to grow. The trees planted on El Camino in the late 1800s were eucalyptus and elms. The eucalyptus was supposed to be wind breaks to allow the elms to grow, but they ended up taking over.
Protection of trees has been a longstanding practice in Burlingame. The City passed its first tree ordinance in 1911 to protect the trees on El Camino Real, and Burlingame has been a Tree City USA for 46 years.
In the 1970s, the City Council passed tree ordinances related to public and private trees. In the 2010s, the City developed an Urban Forest Management Plan, and in 2025, the Council passed an updated Tree Ordinance.
The City’s tree maintenance program has evolved over the years; there is a strong focus on preventative maintenance. The Parks Division maintains over 17,000 trees. Every four years, each tree is inspected and pruned if needed.
Managing risk is a delicate dance. There is always some level of risk with each tree. Staff identifies potential tree failure points and anticipates the likelihood of that failure occurring in a specified amount of time. They also try to anticipate the consequences—is the tree near a house or business or picnic table, or is it in the middle of Mills Canyon with no people nearby? Tree failures cannot be predicted with certainty, and tree evaluations can be subjective, especially since only the visible parts of the tree are evaluated.
When trees are removed, the staff tries to repurpose the wood into benches, tables, and art in the park system.
In the future, staff will continue to work to plant the right tree in the right place, avoiding conflicts with infrastructure like power lines. They also try to maintain an even canopy distribution and plant trees that are well adapted to the climate.
In wrapping up his presentation, Rich shared photos and told stories about some of the tree failures and near-failures we had during the severe rain and wind storms of early 2023. We are lucky that nobody was injured and that we were able to do emergency tree removals and crown reductions. Great work by Rich and his staff!
President Doug adjourned the meeting after thanking Rich and presenting him with a certificate noting that Burlingame Rotary is donating polio doses in his name.
Curious about public transit in San Mateo County? Whether you are a regular rider or just want to learn more about how our systems work together to connect our community, join us for an insightful program on January 28th. Emily Beach - fellow Burlingame Rotarian, former Mayor, and current Chief Communications Officer for the San Mateo County Transit District - will provide an overview of the systems and current happenings at SamTrans bus, Caltrain, the Transportation Authority and the U.S. 101 Express Lanes. We’ll explore how these public agencies connect people, drive innovation, and support a sustainable future.
