the valley sunrise - Clayton Valley Concord Sunrise Rotary Club

the valley sunrise - Clayton Valley Concord Sunrise Rotary Club

THE VALLEY
SUNRISE
-------------- April 3, 2014 ------------Award-Winning Newsletter for THREE CONSECUTIVE years (2010-2013)
Photographer:
Reporter:
Editor:
Rotary Int’l President:
District 5160 Governor:
CVCS President:
Clayton Worsdell
Mureleen Benton
Mureleen Benton
Ron Burton, Oklahoma
Steve Lack, Pleasant Hill
Bill Fuller
HOW IT STARTED
President Bill clanged that bell and he wished everyone to have a nice day. Since we ran the meeting in
reverse, the newsletter will also be in reverse.
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2
The Difference Between Men And Women.
3
Let's say a guy named Fred is attracted to a woman named Martha. He asks her out to a movie; she
accepts; they have a pretty good time. A few nights later he asks her out to dinner, and again they enjoy
themselves. They continue to see each other regularly, and after a while neither one of them is seeing
anybody else.
And then, one evening when they're driving home, a thought occurs to Martha, and, without really
thinking, she says it aloud: "Do you realize that, as of tonight, we've been seeing each other for exactly
six months?"
And then, there is silence in the car.
To Martha, it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself: I wonder if it bothers him that I said
that. Maybe he's been feeling confined by our relationship; maybe he thinks I'm trying to push him into
some kind of obligation that he doesn't want, or isn't sure of.
And Fred is thinking: Gosh. Six months.
And Martha is thinking: But, hey, I'm not so sure I want this kind of relationship either. Sometimes I wish I
had a little more space, so I'd have time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we
are, moving steadily towards, I mean, where are we going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other
at this level of intimacy? Are we heading toward marriage? Toward children? Toward a lifetime together?
Am I ready for that level of commitment? Do I really even know this person?
And Fred is thinking: ...so that means it was...let's see...February when we started going out, which was
right after I had the car at the dealer's, which means...lemme check the odometer...Whoa! I am way
overdue for an oil change here.
And Martha is thinking: He's upset. I can see it on his face. Maybe I'm reading this completely wrong.
Maybe he wants more from our relationship, more intimacy, more commitment; maybe he has sensed even before I sensed it - that I was feeling some reservations. Yes, I bet that's it. That's why he's so
reluctant to say anything about his own feelings. He's afraid of being rejected.
And Fred is thinking: And I'm gonna have them look at the transmission again. I don't care what those
morons say, it's still not shifting right. And they better not try to blame it on the cold weather this time.
What cold weather? It's 87 degrees out, and this thing is shifting like a garbage truck, and I paid those
incompetent thieves $600.
And Martha is thinking: He's angry. And I don't blame him. I'd be angry, too. I feel so guilty, putting him
through this, but I can't help the way I feel. I'm just not sure.
And Fred is thinking: They'll probably say it's only a 90-day warranty...scumballs.
And Martha is thinking: Maybe I'm just too idealistic, waiting for a knight to come riding up on his white
horse, when I'm sitting right next to a perfectly good person, a person I enjoy being with, a person I truly
do care about, a person who seems to truly care about me. A person who is in pain because of my selfcentered, schoolgirl romantic fantasy.
And Fred is thinking: Warranty? They want a warranty? I'll give them a warranty. I'll take their warranty
and stick it right up their...
"Fred," Martha says aloud.
"What?" says Fred, startled.
"Please don't torture yourself like this," she says, her eyes beginning to brim with tears. "Maybe I should
never have...oh dear, I feel so..."(She breaks down, sobbing.)
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"What?" says Fred.
"I'm such a fool," Martha sobs. "I mean, I know there's no knight. I really know that. It's silly. There's no
knight, and there's no horse."
"There's no horse?" says Fred.
"You think I'm a fool, don't you?" Martha says.
"No!" says Fred, glad to finally know the correct answer.
"It's just that...it's that I...I need some time," Martha says.
(There is a 15-second pause while Fred, thinking as fast as he can, tries to come up with a safe
response. Finally he comes up with one that he thinks might work.)
"Yes," he says. (Martha, deeply moved, touches his hand.)
"Oh, Fred, do you really feel that way?" she says.
"What way?" says Fred.
"That way about time," says Martha.
"Oh," says Fred. "Yes." (Martha turns to face him and gazes deeply into his eyes, causing him to become
very nervous about what she might say next, especially if it involves a horse. At last she speaks.)
"Thank you, Fred," she says.
"Thank you," says Fred.
Then he takes her home, and she lies on her bed, a conflicted, tortured soul, and weeps until dawn,
whereas when Fred gets back to his place, he opens a bag of Doritos, turns on the TV, and immediately
becomes deeply involved in a rerun of a college basketball game between two South Dakota junior
colleges that he has never heard of. A tiny voice in the far recesses of his mind tells him that something
major was going on back there in the car, but he is pretty sure there is no way he would ever understand
what, and so he figures it's better if he doesn't think about it.
The next day Martha will call her closest friend, or perhaps two of them, and they will talk about this
situation for six straight hours. In painstaking detail, they will analyze everything she said and everything
he said, going over it time and time again, exploring every word, expression, and gesture for nuances of
meaning, considering every possible ramification.
They will continue to discuss this subject, off and on, for weeks, maybe months, never reaching any
definite conclusions, but never getting bored with it either.
Meanwhile, Fred, while playing racquetball one day with a mutual friend of his and Martha's, will pause
just before serving, frown, and say: "Norm, did Martha ever own a horse?"
And that's the difference between men and women.
5
MARBLE DRAW
And the winning ticket # 570 which belonged to
Steve Weir (AGAIN). But feeling very guilty, he
settled for a bottle of wine.
SPEAKER
Tevis Taylor Thompson was introduced by Julia
Aguilar. Tevis’ speech was about playing the
Senior Extreme Games. What this was is Tevis providing details of three of his exciting events in life
which were a quadruple bypass, diverticulitis and experiencing a stroke. He encourages everyone to
move, move, move and become more physically active. He also encourages you to question your medical
provider if things about your body do not seem “right.”
_____________CLUB STUFF_____________
Since the badges arrived a bit late due to the sergeant-at-arms arriving a bit late, Prez Bill decided to do a
badge check. No one was fined and you could definitely tell those people who carry their badge with
them since they were the only ones in the room with badges. Nothing like being a “badge carrying
Rotarian.”
WALKIN’ THE PLANK
1. What past president started the Mystery Greeter? Answer: Troy Petty (we think).
2. Name one charter member. Answer: Bill Selb
3. Who has the most years of perfect attendance? Answer: Ken Nishimori
4. Who has the most years in Rotary? Answer: Ken Nishimori (again)
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BUSINESS CARD
After several tries in the fishbowl, Don Ouimet
finally came up with a business card of someone
present. And that someone was Mureleen Benton.
Mureleen told about the types of investments and
other products she offers to complete a person’s
financial picture. Those include 529 Plans (college
plans for children or grandchildren), life, auto,
extended health insurance (commonly referred to as
long term care insurance), life insurance, mutual
funds, stocks, bonds, annuities, managed and wrap accounts.
MORE CLUB STUFF
Mark your calendars now for:
May 3 is the District Assembly
April 11 (Julia’s birthday) is the golf tournament for Agua Nicaragua at Boundary Oaks. $85 gets you a
round of golf and lunch AND dinner. What a deal!
April 9 is the next Board meeting at Country Waffles at 0700.
April 8 at Trinity Lutheran Church we will have the 5 year visioning plan. 23 are presently signed up.
This begins at 5 and will include a dinner (that you pay for).
There is an upcoming Friday Night Live but the date is being discussed. It will be at Torsten’s house.
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Miles Bell did a show and tell of the golf balls that the
Charitable Fund provided to CVCHS for their golf
team. It had the Ugly Eagle and was very cool. Great
job, Miles.
Richard Lueck said the Relay
for Life venue has been
changed to CVCHS around
the track for this August.
Bob Huck reminded us that April 12 will be the next
Adopt a Street. April 26 is the Rotarian At Work Day
and this will be at the Bay Area Crisis Nursery. We
will be staining a fence.
Clayton gave an update on the Home Team that did
their thing this past Saturday. They had 8 homes.
One lady referred to them as her angels. Nice work
Rotarians.
Then Prez Bill gave a report on the Ron Burton dinner
in Sacramento this past Sunday evening. Our club
had 13 people attend. He told Ron Burton’s story
about his joining Rotary and dropping out after a year because he wasn’t asked
to do anything in the club. If you feel that way in our club, please let someone
know and we will put you to work in the area that you express interest.
And speaking of work, if you are interested in handling money, just see Don
Ouimet who will train you in becoming the cashier ONE THURSDAY a month.
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HAPPY BUCKS________________________
John Wolfe started the HBs with a thank you to Bill Selb and Julia for
arranging speakers. He also reminded us of the spaghetti feel sponsored by
the AAUW on April 30 for only $10 at Endeavor Hall in Clayton.
Monica Fraga was VERY happy that she read one
particular email. Seems shewon a trip to Australia
May 20-25 for helping Rotarians who are going to
the Int’l Convention.
Mureleen Benton was thankful to Paul McQuade
for doing some “framing” for her and she put an
extra $25 in his Paul Harris.
Steve Weir was mighty happy that Monica put trip
insurance on a recent trip he and John should be
on right now but due to John’s fall, the trip had to
be cancelled but they are not out 2 airline tickets.
On his 65th birthday this past week he rode to the
top of Mt. Diablo once again. He’s also had a very
fun time working with some buddies on his 1950
Packard. Even though he’s a very dedicated
customer of Dave Kemnitz’s, it’s sometimes fun to
get together with “the guys” and get greasy on a very old engine.
Eric Rehn just completed a broker forum in the Napa Solano county area.
And this past Saturday he spent with some fraternity brothers in San Jose but
found unlike college days, 9 p.m. was probably
plenty late for some “old” guys.
Torsten Jacobsen is happy that the goat and
sheep are down to only two bottle feedings a day
now from the previous 4.
Miles Bell was thankful for the charitable fund’s
donation of the golf balls to CVCHS and noticed
the team is all decked out in new shirts, bags,
etc. that Miles himself donated.
Tommy Wolf if beginning 2 seminars on
diabetes. If you know anyone suffering from
diabetes, be sure to tell them about Tommy’s
seminars.
Maryann Moser is happy that this afternoon she
is heading to Napa and the Sterling Vineyard.
She also asked Julia to watch the puppy and mentioned something about extra
pills if Steve needed them for someone.
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MYSTERY GREETER
Will the Mystery Greeter please stand up. And the really funny part of this was it was Steve Weir and the
only one who did not greet him was the one who asked him to be the MG! Thanks Miles for the buck.
BIRTHDAYS
Julia Aguilar is so excited to turn a year older she announced her upcoming
birthday April 11 at today’s meeting. She gave a VERY appropriate amount to
honor this day.
GUESTS
And our two guests today were our speaker, Tevis
Thompson and Julia’s husband Joe Aguilar.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
And the Thought was “The Haves and the Have Nots can often be traced to
the Dids and the Did Nots” by Mureleen.
And with that we did the Pledge and Prez Bill
rang the bell and said Good Morning Mates.
That’s all folks!
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FOOD BANK VOLUNTEERS
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