Last Week’s Meeting

By

Wilma Butfit

 

Classification:  Airline Seat Tester

 

President Cynthia called the meeting to order at 12:10 PM.  Lynda Gantt delivered the Invocation and Carlie Engel led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Laura Segura introduced Michael Hunstad from the Grover Beach Club.  President Cynthia introduced Molly Schiff and Alex Magana from the Rotaract Club.

 

Secretary Heather Weare read the list of candidates for next year's Board:

 

               President – Fred Donati

               President Elect – Virginia Perry Souza

               Immediate Past President – Cynthia Schur

               Secretary – Alli Borja

               Treasurer – Heather Weare

               International Service – Bob Curry

               Club Service – Jim Talbott

               Vocational Service – Yvonne Biely

               Community Service – John Henning

               Youth Service – Danielle Martinez

               Co-director – Cynthia Schur

               Co-director – James Stoddard

               Rotary Foundation – Tom Martinez

               Bulletin Editor – Jim Talbott

               Sheriff – Ken Dally

               Sergeant at Arms – Carlie Engel

               Weekly Speakers – Scott Dunn

               Weekly Speakers – Bob Frias

               Pyramid Builder - Ron Nanning (I just tossed that one in there to see if you were paying attention)

 

Tom Allen had the Exemption Badge.  He is a 1961 graduate of Santa Maria High School, along with Fred Donati  and Alice Patino.  He talked about a lot of things, but he said that he has always not been afraid of asking what he didn’t know.  He liked to pretend he was a fighter pilot in the B29’s at Hancock College.   He always worked when he was going through college or law school and that made him appreciate his education. Yvonne Biely has the Exemption Badge next week.

 

 

 

 

Every year on February 2^nd Punxsutawney Phil comes out of his lair, looks for his shadow, and predicts whether western Pennsylvania will have an early spring or six more weeks of winter.  Every year on February 14^th men buy flowers and chocolates for their spouses or girlfriends, in hopes that the spouses or girlfriends will let them lie on the couch all weekend and watch sports on TV.  Every year on February 1^st the Green Bucket reappears from the dark recesses of my garage and makes its way to the check in table at our club until the end of March, in hopes that Rotarians will fill it each week with soaps, shampoos, lotions, mouth washes, toothbrushes, and other hygiene items that they have appropriated from hotels.  In April we have a stuffing party in the Santa Maria where we stuff these hygiene items into Ziploc bags, which we give to the Good Samaritan Homeless Shelter or to Catholic Charities.

 

I will bet that some of the newer members of our club do not know how this ritual started.  Long ago and far away, well, not really all that long ago and not so far away, there was a troll named Travis living under a bridge in the garden spot of Maricopa.  He was doing his troll thing, scaring any passersby and shaking them down for anything he could get for the privilege of letting them cross his bridge.  It was a pretty good life, but a solitary life.  Trolls live alone because they have no sense of hygiene.  Consequently they can’t even stand to be in the company of other trolls. At times he did wonder what it would be like to have a companion.  One day a Rotarian was walking on his bridge and as he had done hundreds of times before he tried to scare the Rotarian and take his packages as part of his Travis Troll Toll.  The Rotarian was not scared in the least by the trolls ugly countenance, and was in fact sympathetic to the Travis, who asked, “Why are you not scared of me?  What is wrong with you?”  The Rotarian replied, “Why, my dear friend, I am a Rotarian, you know a “good deed doer.  I am going to help you.”  The Travis answered, “I don’t need your help.  I’m perfectly happy the way I am.   Now I’m going to take your packages and you can cross my bridge.”  The Rotarian was not going to be intimidated, “You think you don’t need my help.  Well, how come you skin is green and your breath smells like buffalo flatulence?  Think about it, you need my help.”  Travis was stunned and didn’t know what to do, “OK how are you going to help me?”  The Rotarian answered, “Just come with me.”  He took the Travis back to his hotel, the Ritz-Carlton Maricopa, and using many bottles of the complementary hygiene items he got the Travis looking and smelling decidedly untroll-like, maybe even pleasant.  Travis looked in the mirror and then smelled his breath.  Tears of joy rolled down his formerly green cheeks.  “I don’t look so bad anymore, and I think I smell pretty good,” said Travis.  The Rotarian added, “I think you could say that you look ruggedly handsome, and some female troll would be happy to spend time with you. As a matter of fact, Travis, I would like you to meet someone I helped right before I met you.”  At that he opened the door to the hallway and there stood Tiana the Troll.  It was love at first sight and smell. Travis announced, “I am forever in your debt, Mr. Rotarian.  You have changed my life forever, and now I am going to help you change the lives of trolls and other persons lacking in hygiene items.  I will help you collect hygiene items from all the hotels in Maricopa so we can give them to persons needing them.  When we finish in Maricopa we will move on to Santa Maria.  We can collect these items in a green bucket.  It has to be green as a reminder to myself of the former color of my skin and what a difference hygiene has made in my life.”   Rotary changes lives.  And that is how the Green Bucket came to Santa Maria.