SIMPLE IS BEST!  Our invocation, delivered by PAUL WATERMULDER, was a prayer from the pen of John Baillie.  His brief verse lauded the quiet, too-often neglected, virtues--chief among them kindness . . . CHRISTINE KROLEK led off with another gem of simplicity, The Pledge of Allegiance (its full official title). 

 

GARDENS ARE GOLDEN!  We will be joined by members of the Woodside/Portola Valley Rotary Club for our long-delayed, eagerly-anticipated "Holiday Party Do-Over" from 4 till 6:30 p.m., Sunday, June 27--a priceless opportunity for which we are indebted to fellow member DONNA COLSON . . .  Our gathering place, easy to find, will be the Upper North-West Lawn, 86 Canada Road, Woodside  . . .  We will be met by live music, food, a no-host bar, and the glories of Filoli in the full light of early summer.  All for a mere $45!  . . .  Best of all: SUZANNE JUPTNER has saved a place for you and yours!

 

MARK LUCCHESI IS BACK! . . . this time as The Inquiring Reporter, and this week's victim was ALEX BULJAN--Serra High School (Class of '05) and Loyola Marymount graduate, boxing enthusiast, Netflix watcher, and Art of Negotiation reader.  Under relentless questioning, Alex disclosed his age, marginally less than PIERRE BOUQUET'S . . .  He also revealed his secret addiction, Nikes, and his guilty pleasure, brownies.  Alex's favorite quotation: "Always trust your realtor." . . .  Beware. No longer the Jolly Greengrocer, Mark threatens to focus his blinding light in the perspiring faces of a fresh victims for weeks to come . . .

 

TRASH IS FUN! . . . except when it's a headache.  And then throbbing fills the cranium of JOE LA MARIANA, Executive Director of the South Bayside Waste Management Authority--otherwise known as "Rethink Waste" . . .  The organization is the product of a 1982 Joint Powers Agreement among eleven municipal entities . . .  Joe presides over the Shoreway Environmental Center, site of solid waste removal for 151,300 residents and 6,000 businesses . . .  That adds up to about a half-million tons of "material" per year . . .  Solid waste management faces plenty of challenges.  These include (a) an "organics to energy" pilot project that will feature mind-blending automatons able to pluck unusable trash from the "disassembly line" . . . (b) facility enhancement, the effort to acquire needed land for Center services . . . (c) development and promotion of battery disposal safely measures . . . (d) major reductions of dangerous methane gas by finding and implementing alternatives to organic materials disposal . . . (e) adapting to changes in world waste disposal markets (like China) . .. . (f) fighting recycling misinformation . . . and (g) leading the struggle against the scourge of plastics proliferation . . .  And, as if that weren't enough, soon Joe will be taking on--for the second time!--the many responsibilities of a Burlingame Rotary Presidency . . .  Hail to the (In-coming) Chief!

 

DUFFY IS REMEMBERED  . . . A memorial celebration of DUFFY OFFIELD's life will be held a 2 p.m. Saturday, June 26 at the Kohl Mansion in Burlingame.   Appetizers and beverages will be served.  The Reverend  PAUL WATERMULDER will lead the prayers and offer remarks in celebration of Duffy's life.  A microphone will be open for those who wish to add their remembrances of our departed fellow member.

 

COMING:  Our June 16 speaker is Yves-Langston Barthaud.  His subject: "Human Trafficking in San Francisco" . . .  Then, on June 30 arrives, none too soon, the Debunking of President Emily Matthews . .  .  No meeting on July 7.  What could follow Em's exit?

 

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!