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THE GOLDEN GATE BREAKFAST CLUB
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
AUG 17, 2011 (VOLUME 9, NUMBER 33)
GGBC CLUB OFFICERS
BERT HILL
President
HUGH TUCK
First Vice President
HARVEY ELAM
Second Vice President
JILL HOFFMAN
Secretary
RAY SIOTTO
Treasurer
MARTY MIJALSKI.
Administrative Secretary
JOEL PANZER
Board Member
ANTONIO WHITE
Board Member/ Guest Editor
WAYNE VEATCH
Board Member
MIKE HANLON
Birthdays
JOEL PANZER
Sunshine
HEDY KAVEH
Attendance
HARVEY ELAM
Legal Counsel
JILL HOFFMAN
Membership
PETE RATTO
Ex-Officio Board Member
HEDY KAVEH
Ex-Officio Board Member
STEVE SHAIN
Ex-Officio Board Member
CATHY SCHARETG
Ex-Officio Board Member
Published by
THE GOLDEN GATE
BREAKFAST CLUB
609 Sutter Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
www.ggbconline.com
GGBC’S Upcomming Speakers FOR AUG/SEP
AUG 31ST
JIM WHITE
Vice President
Mercy Corps
SEP 7TH
RICHARD HATCH
U.S. Monuments
NYC WTC News
SEP 14TH
MAYOR ED LEE
Challenges for
San Francisco
LIBRARIES FOR PEACE
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1
THE GOLDEN GATE BREAKFAST CLUB OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
Welcome Back J.J.! Our friend J.J. Panzer has returned from an awe inspiring honeymoon in picturesque Santorini with his
lovely bride, Michelle. Congratulaions! On J.J.’s left is past president Pete Ratto and GGBC “photog” Betty Taisch on the right.
MEMBER NEWS
By Pete Ratto
President Bert Hill has returned
from visiting his Mom in preparation for moving her to San Francisco, so First Vice President Hugh
Tuck could eat his breakfast in a
more leisurely manner this morning. Looked like we had a very
good crowd. Just a bit over 50.
Same as last week. Except, this
week we cut the number of seats at
five of the tables to only seven. So,
with 59 seats total, attendance of
53 makes for a full room.
Also, our crowd of 53 included the
speaker and eight guests. Chairman of the Day, Antonio White,
hosted six guests this morning.
Here goes: Bruce Fodiman, Harry
and Lorraine Emery, Rick Heizman, Kyi Twe and Aye Aye. Kyi
and Aye came all the way from
Burma. That’s a long way to go for
some scrambled eggs and bacon!
Of course, Kyi and Aye were hosted
by Antonio, who has been known
to travel long distances for bacon
himself. The one guest not hosted
by Antonio was Doug Wilkins from
Occidental Power, hosted by Joel
Panzer.
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2
First order of business regarding
excuses. Last week I reported that
John Cribbs excused Roy Wonder,
as Roy was in San Jose. Actually,
John let me know that Roy was in
Santa Fe, not San Jose. Waddya
expect. Too many years on the back
of those noisy garbage trucks. I
use this very same excuse with my
wife all the time. It doesn’t work
with her either. This week’s excuses: Stan Ellexson for Russ Gorman,
[Antonio White for Paula Herrel,
what about Paul?] Frank Reed
for both Jackson Talbot and Eric
McGarty, both out protecting stuff,
and Frank asked to be excused for
the next two weeks, as he is return-
THE GOLDEN GATE BREAKFAST CLUB OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
Artist Aung Aung Taik shared his story of
opening an arts library in Burma
Every Wednesday, members of GGBC discuss topics both international and local.
Each member get’s a moment on the mic to share a bit of personal news or a joke.
ing to New York City. Or maybe
that was New Jack City? Bryan
Remer asked to excuse Bob Pave,
since Bob is back in the hospital
after suffering a relapse of that
nasty infection. Finally, Wayne
Veatch asked to be excused for the
next six weeks, as Wayne and wife
Janet are heading to France, Italy,
Germany and the Netherlands.
J.J. Panzer mentioned that even
though he’s back from his honeymoon, he’s still thrilled. The question back to J.J. from the membership; how’s about Michelle? Also,
still thrilled, Jack Shea and wife
Kathy, who are celebrating their
forty-fifth anniversary. I think it
was Frank Reed that said, “you
don’t get forty-five years for a
double homicide!”
Since Mike Hanlon was here,
Mike Mustacchi was here as well.
Mustacchi reports that J.J. posted
the pictures of his honeymoon on
Facebook. The first picture was
of the bedroom. Ricky Wilson say
he’s getting excited just thinking
about it. Plus, I think Mustacchi
spends more time on Facebook
than your average teenager, since
he also noted that Cathy Scharetg
posted on Facebook that she was
teaching her daughter how to drive
at Cathy’s old high school parking lot in Santa Rosa. Since Cathy
wasn’t here this morning, Mike
wanted to know if she was still in
Santa Rosa. Excuse confirmed by
Betty Taisch, Cathy is still in Santa
Rosa.
Last week new member Fred Johnson told us about an open water
adventure. This week Bill Buchanan told us about an open water
adventure. Seems Bill and three
of his friends (two Marines and an
Army Captain) had the bright idea
(Bill’s words, not mine) to go ocean
kayaking. But, conditions were a
bit dicey and the Army Captain’s
kayak capsized. Fortunately, the
group was able to right the kayak,
nobody drowned and the Coast
Guard wasn’t called. Chuck Mills
says that’s what happens when you
take an Army Captain sailing in the
ocean.
Janet VonDoepp got an interesting call over the weekend from the
Chico Police Department. Seems
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Capturing Moments That Matter
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THE GOLDEN GATE BREAKFAST CLUB OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
Past GGBC pres. Judge Roy Wonder
(Ret.) is quite an avid photographer.
GGBC Senior Photographer Michael Mustacchi (L) with new member
Col. Rodger Dong (Ret.) and Sonoma-Marin carpooler, Rick Wilson
Janet’s sister, who lives in Chico,
was reported missing by a houseguest. When the Chico PD went to
check on Janet’s sister, there was
no answer to their repeated knocks
on the door. So, the officers called
Janet, who in turn called her sister,
and told her to open the door!
Janet’s sister doesn’t open her door
to strangers, but Janet assured
her sister if there are two police
cruisers sitting outside your house
emblazed with “Chico Police Department” on the sides, you can be
pretty sure it’s actually the Chico
PD. So, open the door!
Ricky Wilson spoke with Glenn
Godbold and reports Glenn had
his surgery. In at 6:00AM and out
by 11:00AM and Glenn was in his
backyard digging holes this past
weekend.
Keeping the GGBC’s contact with
the Zen Center alive, Stan Ellexson
paid a visit. Stan asked if they remembered that nice Navy Captain
who always stopped by and since
Stan was a Navy Captain too, could
they offer him a moment of Zen.
So, here it is: “always remember
rule number six.” Stan asked what
is rule number six? “Don’t take
yourself too seriously”. Stan then
asked, “what are rules one through
five?” The answer: “there are no
rules one through five”.
4
Do you remember our old member
Lou Birolo from Albion Mountain
Springs Water? Reg Young spoke
to Lou over the weekend. Lou is
doing well and living in Petaluma.
Ducking out early, Sidney Mobell.
Sidney had to head home as the
contractors are coming to rip out
his patio and replace it with a putting green. Sidney says the putting green is this year’s around the
world cruise.
New member Roger Dong reports
the American Legion opened a new
Veteran’s Resource Center at the
Veteran’s War Memorial Building
at 401 Van Ness Avenue. Roger
says Mike Myatt commented that
it’s the best thing the American
Legion ever did here in San Francisco.
Bernie Blutman was back this
week, which means we were
treated to a couple of good jokes.
Bernie likes to mix it up a bit, so we
got a new joke (to me anyway) and
an old joke. The old one was about
the wife following six steps behind
the husband and a year later walking twenty steps ahead of the husband. The punch line; land mines.
The new one was about the Italian
team racing in the Indy 500. The
Italians would have won, except
they made six pit stops. Three for
gas and three for directions.
Steve Shain asked for a show of
hands this morning. He’s having
a golf tournament for the GGBC,
but didn’t have the date or the cost.
Steve just wanted to gauge the
interest.
With all the turmoil in Washington
DC, Terry Cowhey suggests the
GGBC set up a shadow government. Terry, you do realize that
means Bert will be President and
we’ll all be riding bikes?
Speaking of President Bert, while
cleaning out his Mom’s house
prepping for her October move, he
THE GOLDEN GATE BREAKFAST CLUB OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
Old friends Chuck Mills and Aung
Scouts J.J. Panzer and Wayne Veatch
are always prepared with a smile.
Past president Steve Shain makes
note of a GGBC outing at the golf club.
found his Mom’s old WWII uniform.
afternoon. Leo was the second
garbageman in the GGBC, joining after the retirement of Gene
DeMartini from Golden Gate. For
many years Leo and Bruce Christensen were the greeting committee and you would first hear Leo’s
booming voice from about half a
block down Sutter Street.
Now that J.J. is back home, dad
Joel is back to being retired. Joel
also announced that the memorial
for Al Baron will be held on September 25th at the Baron’s home.
Patricia Fripp will be officiating
and more details are to follow.
I’m also sad to announce that another one of our long time members has passed. Leo Conte, the
former President of Norcal Waste
Systems, aka Golden Gate Disposal
Company, and a member beginning in 1986, died this past Sunday
Mike Hanlon had a single birthday this week. Russ Gorman, who
wasn’t here to wear the hat and be
properly serenaded.
Last week I mentioned that Bob
Prosek announced that long time
member Duke DeLuca turned
Our warm friend Hugh Tuck and Grant
Hundley with more for your door.
Past pres Mike Hanlon Sings in honor
of Adm.(Ret.) Russ Gormans’ birthday
ninety-nine. And that Duke is one
of the few GGBC members that
can actually say; “reports of my
demise are greatly exaggerated”.
I’d promised to tell the story when
I had a little more room, so here it
is: Duke had a relative that passed,
so Duke went over to Halsted’s
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5
THE GOLDEN GATE BREAKFAST CLUB OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
Roger Dong, reminds members of available tix to see “Heart of a Soldier” 9/7/11
The nicest people in the world...GGBCrs
Joel “Pappy” Panzer and Harvey Elam
Security specialist Frank Reed and
Insurance Pro Jack Shea keep us safe.
funeral parlor to make the arrangements. Duke asked the gentleman
that took care of him to say hello to
Bob Moore, the President of Halstead’s and a member of the GGBC.
Well, somehow the message didn’t
get relayed correctly and Bob had
understood that Duke had passed.
This sad news was transmitted
to the GGBC and President Reg
Young dutifully announced Duke’s
passing and called for a moment
of silence in Duke’s memory. Next
Wednesday, Duke walked through
the door to the complete astonishment of the membership.
Vice President Hugh Tuck filled in
to give the minutes of last week’s
meeting. Hugh delivered a completely serious set of minutes about
a completely serious subject, as
he read speaker Jafar Yaghoobi’s
book. Well worth reading, and
Jafar’s story is one of unbelievable
courage and determination.
nicating. This has caused a tremendous worldwide uproar with
many comparing BART’s management to the despotic regimes of
the Middle East. Ms. Sweet, after
realizing that public opinion had
turned against BART management,
quickly jumped on the bandwagon
to condemn their actions. But, Ms.
Sweet and the entire BART Board,
were informed of this potential
action a full three hours before the
demonstration. If Ms. Sweet was
so concerned about the violation of
our First Amendment rights, why
didn’t she speak up then?
Since Secretary Jill Hoffman is still
defending freedom in Hawaii, First
This week’s Knucklehead of the
Week: BART Board member
Lynette Sweet. I’m sure you all
know by now that during a potential demonstration last week,
BART management shut off cell
phone service in their downtown
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Pete
THE GOLDEN GATE BREAKFAST CLUB OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
Sports Medicine pioneer, Jim Simpson (L), keeps us moving and lively. Past
Presidents Steve Shain (C) and Alex King (R) keep fit thanks to Jim.
Pres. Bert Hill enjoys a moment with
the enchanting Janet VonDoepp
Navy boys, Stan Ellexson, Sid Mobell
Part Time Cabbie/Real Estate Pro
Patrick Conely with John Cribbs
Red Starr and the man with the Midas
touch, our very own Bob Prosek
Treasurer Ray Siotto delivers our new
roster to Life Member, Bernie Bluttman
Guest Doug Wilkins(C) via Occidental
Power, hosted by Joel Panzer.
Life Member and GGBC printer Bernie
Bluttman with our Songbird, Harry Kim
Wherever past presidents, Bill Buchanan (L) and Reg “Orca” Young travel within
the club, you know there’ll be some great and often very funny stories to hear.
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THE GOLDEN GATE BREAKFAST CLUB OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
Speaker Perspective
By Aung Aung Taik
Speaker for August 17, 2011
[Chair of the Day Note] A special
thank you to our president, Bert
Hill for allowing me to follow up
with some added context from
our speaker’s presentation. While
some folks expected to hear discussion about the Burmese military
regime, that’s not how the presentation was promoted nor is it the
expertise of the speaker. Aung’s
ongoing work in Burma is similar
to what Nina D’Amato is conducting in Afghanistan, except that
Aung doesn’t have the 1st Marine
Division to back him up if things
go sideways, hence his approach.
--Antonio White, GGBC
In recent times, it is quite inescapable, to have a decent conversation
without mentioning the politics or
the unhappy situation, generated
by the repressive government of
Burma. Reading or hearing news
about Burma through all sorts of
media is always discouraging. This
has been going on for years. It is
like talking about your turbulent
child again and again in public.
I am an artist and I do not thrive
on regurgitating on this matter
since it lacks creativity. I prefer to
look at the good eye of a beautiful
face rather than the other that is
impaired. The beauty in Burma
is bountiful. Not just the dancing girls, teak pulling elephants,
far away pagodas, ethnic women
smoking cheroots and the ubiquitous paddy fields… just to name
a few. I am very proud of my
country for providing me with the
language of the soul and the priceless ethereal vision. At the event
I was quite exhilarated for having
the privilege of sharing my contribution and achievements to the
art community there, though small
they may be. It was a different view
of Burma for a change.
I showed slides of two small libraries, an art space and a gallery,
some art workshops I conducted
and art exhibitions of my work.
Basically, I was showing how one
could provide the rudimentary
food of the mind, that is education…if one can realize this and
have the will to materialize this
necessity it can be obtained.
When I returned to my native
land in 2001 for the first time in
30 years. I found some progress
in the art world, much more than
when I was last there in 1972. More
galleries had sprung up and young
people showed much enthusiasm
in art, especially modern art. Then
again much more advancement
is needed to stand shoulder to
shoulder with the international
art standard because of the lack
of access to the outside world. I
felt that evolvement could happen
through opening up the eyes of the
people by providing them with art
books and videos of art and artists.
I send those provisions through
people going to Burma or by post.
During my visits to Burma, I buy
books and art supplies that are sold
through the black market.
There was Rangoon University
Library and the main library in
downtown Rangoon. The downtown main library was later turned
into the national museum and I
do not know the fate of it since I
left Burma. The libraries I helped
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THE GOLDEN GATE BREAKFAST CLUB OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
establish are very small compared
to western standards. There are
many small bookstores that act as
libraries by renting out books for a
small sum.
I live thousands of miles away from
Burma. My duty is to find money
for them to build the libraries.
They have to over come the government’s bureaucracy with their
own means there in Burma.
My trips to Burma are mainly
based as an artist. I travel, meet
people and meet artists, young,
old, known and unknown ones. I
have shows and conduct workshops and seminars. Of course
going to Burma is a big risk for
an artist who knows many artists
who have been blacklisted by the
government.
“As far as I can
recollect, before and
soon after the military
coup in 1962 by General
Ne Win, there were
only a few libraries in
Burma. You could count
them with the fingers
on one hand.”
There are many friends who are
artists, poets and writers on those
unwanted lists. Some were arrested for quite a few years and
have just recently been released.
What I learned is that you can do
whatever you wish in art as long as
you do not blatantly criticize the
government or oppose them with
representational objective images.
I was never interested in such an
approach. My main objective in
visiting Burma is expansion of the
© AUNG AUNG TAIK
FOMA’s delivers supplies to nurture the development of artists young and old alike.
Children like these will have more opportunity to learn and grow as a result.
mind through art education. I
am quite cautious and mindful in
my movements to avoid impeding
what I plan to achieve.
I am not oblivious to what is going
on in Burma. But I have my goals
and priorities Politics in Burmese
is called Naing Gan Ye, meaning
for the good of the state. Doing
good for one’s own country, civic
obligations. Regretfully it has been
easily regarded as party politics or
power struggle. Looking at history; the political manifestos are
by and large unsuccessful. Doing
good is my main cause. I overcame
the danger that may face me in
Burma by simply being mindful.
My father was the most honest
government servant in the Burmese government. He never joined
the Burmese Socialist Program
Party. General Ne Win wanted to
appoint him the Health Minister
of Burma. He was not appointed
because he refused to become a
member of the BSPP. He passed
away two years ago almost penniless. That was because he was
an honest man. He was the chief
medical examiner of Burma. This
could have made him a wealthy
man through bribery and corrup-
tion. I was trusted because I was
a son of my father. My father’s
greatest legacy to me was honesty.
These small accomplishment
were achieved by founding FOMA
(Friends of Myanmar Arts), an
affiliate group of the Golda Foundation. I wrote personal letters to
friends and conducted three photo
exhibitions called “Burma Now”
in San Francisco to raise funds for
FOMA. Because of the kindness
of my friends, I was able to yield
some rewarding results though
much more can be delivered
through continuous extensions of
generosity. I had shows in Burma
whose proceeds I entirely endowed
to them. I’m grateful for the opportunity to add some clarification
and thank you again for the opporuntity to present this project with
you. For more information, please
visit www.formarts.org
With Thanks,
Aung Aung Taik
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