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The
La Kawañian
Guest
Editors, Melinda Thompson
July
16, 2004
melinda@ctssolutions.com
PRE-OPENING:
When we picked up our badges today,
we couldn’t help but notice the quiet atmosphere and the long
table on our right. Curiosity
led us over to investigate the table where we found three very, very
big “We’re Thinking of You – We Miss You” cards.
They were for Dick DeGrey, Shirley DeGrey, and Mary
Gant. We took turns
adding personal notes and signing each one of cards.
Why? You ask? You’ll
need to find out later, just like we did.
But here’s a clue . . .
SLA
Committee!
OPENING:
The meeting started with Ed
Moulton at the piano and Frosty Boyd directing us in America
the Beautiful. The
flag salute was led by Bob Wallace and was followed by an
invocation given by Bachy Buchmayer.
Pres Jim Ackland didn’t waste a minute and – almost
before we sat down – he was off the podium and hunting for guests.
GUESTS
& MEMBERS WE HAVE MISSED: Daryal
Gant happily introduced Steve Hagerty again;
Steve is our newest member and will be inducted next week.
Welcome back to Joel Smith who just returned from
Italy
; he and Nana were there for their son’s wedding.
Bob Wallace just returned from
Duluth
. Pres Jim
welcomed Carl Gieseke, but there seemed to be some discussion
whether it was a “welcome” or a “welcome back.”
We sang Hi Neighbor just to stay in
practice – or should I say – in order for Ed and
Frosty to practice as a dynamic musical leadership team.
CONFESSIONS,
FINES, ETC: Pres Jim thought
Tom Stafford had a birthday in July, but Tom thought
his birthday was in June (or was he pulling Jim’s leg?).
Joel Smith donated $100 for his July 12th
birthday while Mel Wilson forked over $55 for his 55th
wedding anniversary and Al Restivo gave $41 for his 41st
anniversary. Giving the
dynamic duo some more practice, we did a terrible job trying to sing
Happy Birthday/Anniversary to five people at once.
Then George Lutes announced Pres Jim had
overlooked his 26th wedding anniversary; George celebrated
by adding $100 and telling us a story about a faucet handle on his
honeymoon. (You’ll
have to ask him.)
HAPPY/SAD
BUCKS: Paul
Westmoreland had Happy Bucks for the great
trip to
Arizona
where he attended a Swing Dance Convention and also visited Sedona.
Paul had additional Happy Bucks because Burt Ratan
is from Dinuba. So
– who is Burt Ratan? He
is the head of Scaled Composites, the company that recently launched
the private spaceship. (Paul
and Daryal grew up in Dinuba and love to brag about their
small hometown in
Central California
.) Mary Gant had
$2.50 for the good sound we were getting from the sound system (Clyde
Hemphill deserves our thanks for this!), and then Mary made
a $2.50 threat to break the fingers of anyone who touches the sound
system controls. Anthony
Portantino’s house is in the middle of a big remodel; he gave
Happy Bucks because his wife went out of town, and he won’t be
getting her frequent calls regarding remodeling problems for a few
days. Al
Restivo added $50 to the collection bucket because he enjoyed
his 50th high school reunion recently.
Violet Ragazzi ‘s problem knee kept her here while Frank
went back to
Colorado
for his granddaughter’s wedding.
Violet gave Happy Bucks because Frank was in
the midst of a bevy of beautiful women at the wedding and still came
home. Frank
gallantly responded with a compliment for Vi.
Then Pres Jim announced that Violet and Frank
offered to co-chair the Travelogue Series this year.
Thank you, Vi and Frank!!!
Howard Backer gave $2.50 for his weekend trip and
$2.50 because he knows where Dinuba is.
A while ago Joel’s son finally removed his old
jalopy from Joel’s garage, and Joel was really
enjoying the extra space. His
son restored the car and wants to store it in Joel’s garage
again. Joel wasn’t
sure if he was donating Happy or Sad Bucks; if he can rent space in
someone else’s garage for his son’s car, he’ll consider them
Happy Bucks. If anyone
has a lead, Joel would appreciate a call.
GENERAL
ANNOUNCEMENTS: We
are indeed fortunate to have a speaker from the State Government at
our July 21st meeting.
Anthony Portantino made
contact with our California State Attorney General,
Bill Lockyer, who has
agreed to be our program speaker.
To the best of our knowledge, we have never had a program
from the State Government before.
THANKS, ANTHONY!
Pres Jim
would like the hall to be filled and has a great idea!
This is a perfect opportunity to invite guests, particularly
your spouse and anyone with a special interest in the legal, law
enforcement, or political arenas.
We already have several high profile guests who will be
attending. It should be
a very interesting day and provide good conversation around the
dinner table. Since we
expect to have a full house, please contact Howard
Backer if you will be
bringing guests. In the
middle of the announcements, Pres Jim selected
the ticket and Chuck Gulick won
the drawing. Diane
DellaValle reminded us
to sign up for the Summer Social (August 22).
Ed Moulton is
trying to organize a group of our club members to attend the
production of Kiss Me Kate (see today’s program notes) and
had flyers on every table. If
you are interested, call Ed.
Bachy reminded us
to leave a gift in the Children’s Hospital collection tubs. Pres
Jim invited us to the
Kiwanis monthly DCM meeting next Monday.
SPECIAL
ANNOUNCEMENT:
Frosty began by pointing out that we really take care
of many other people and groups in the community, but have not been
doing such a good job supporting our own Kiwanis Club members.
So . . . to help us offer support to each other and
strengthen our bonds of friendship, Frosty introduced us to
the new
SLA
Committee. You
can remember the
SLA
acronym by focusing on the
SLA
purpose (Smile, Look Ahead) or the
SLA
beneficiaries (the Sick, Lame, or Ailing).
In any case, please call Frosty if you know of anyone
in our Club who is having any kind of problem and might need some
support. Frosty will
contact the ailing club member and offer our support and help.
Frosty will ask what level of privacy the ailing club
member desires, and he will only pass on news to our Club members if
the
SLA
person agrees. Frosty
will find out if visitors, phone calls, or email would be
appreciated or helpful. He
will also offer our Club’s help with meals, transportation,
caregiver relief, errands, etc. – so think about what you may be
willing to provide. The
SLA Committee will be responsible for delivering cards and/or gifts
and giving the club weekly status reports on the ailing member (but
only as authorized by the
SLA
member). Frosty would
also welcome any suggestions or comments regarding this new SLA
Committee. Here is Frosty’s
first status report:
Dick DeGrey is at
St. Joseph
’s Hospital in
Burbank
and just got out of ICU due to fluid accumulated around his heart.
Cards would be welcome.
Shirely DeGrey couldn’t get
along without Dick and is being evaluated at
Glendale
Adventist
Hospital
. Cards would be
welcome.
Mary Gant has been back to our
Wednesday meetings twice and is well on the mend.
She would probably appreciate your offer to help with the
Wine and Gourmet Food Tasting event in September more than receiving
a belated get-well card, but both would be great.
FROSTY’S
CHALLENGE: According
to Frosty an older millionaire convinced a beautiful young
woman to marry him by lying about his age; he told her he was ninety
years old. George countered
with a story about Ray Charles explaining the punch line of a blond
woman joke to five blond women (you had to be there).
Al Restivo told about a man whose wife stood by him
through thick and thin. Pres
Jim gave George a rainslip for a pack of nuts.
PROGRAM:
We enjoyed a scene and one song
from Kiss Me Kate, which is this year’s production by the
Foothill Summer Theatre. The
music and lyrics for Kiss Me Kate are by Cole Porter.
This year there will be 60 minutes of pre-show entertainment
provided by the Foothill Summer Theatre students including
Shakespeare vignettes and fighting and dancing demonstrations.
There will be six performances (July 23-31) at La Cañada
High School Auditorium. Call
Ed Moulton if you want to attend on our Kiwanis Club night.
For more information: foothillsummertheatre.com
(Editor’s
personal note: If you
haven’t seen De-Lovely, the current movie biography of Cole
Porter, I highly recommend you see it before attending Kiss Me
Kate. Cole Porter
was a very interesting person, the music in the movie is wonderful.,
and you’ll have a whole new perspective on the Kiss Me Kate
lyrics.)
CLOSING:
Following the music from Kiss Me
Kate, our closing rendition of Hail Kiwanis had a lot of
heart but not much talent.
SPOTLIGHT
ON CLUB MEMBER . . . FRANK RAGAZZI
Frank
Ragazzi is one of our new 2004 members,
but he is not new to Kiwanis.
Frank transferred here from the Kiwanis Club in
Parachute,
Colorado
. That must be why he
has jumped right in and “offered” to be co-chair (with his wife,
Violet) of our Travelogue.
Frank spent his early years in
New York
and
New Jersey
. After graduating from
high school in 1938 he worked as an electrician until he joined the
Army Air Corps in 1942. After
the war Frank joined the U.S. Air Force Reserves and served
until 1980; he was a fighter pilot, test pilot, bomber pilot, and
flight instructor. After
the war Frank moved to
Los Angeles
and owned an auto parts store for many years before becoming a real
estate broker. In his
“free” time Frank has served as a District Boy Scout
Chairman, Master of a Masonic Lodge, and President of the Air
Reserves Association. He
has also been very active in the First Christian Church.
On
September 14, 2001
Frank married Violet Rosemary (who is an operatic contralto).
Frank has two sons and one daughter.
If
you have any questions regarding the website or this e-mail
bulletin, please e-mail Jeb Long at
jeblong@earthlink.net.
UPCOMING
WEDNESDAY PROGRAMS:
-
July
21
-
Bill Locklier – State of California Attorney General
-
July
28 -
Paul Wineman – speaking on Iraq-Iran (where he used to
live)
-
August
4 -
Craig Van Sickle – TV Producer (The
Pretender)
-
August
11
- Cole Speer –
Deputy Sheriff
-
August
18 - Excerpts from Annie
Get Your Gun
-
August
25 -
Apple for a Teacher
-
Sept.
1 -
Harry Jacobs –
California
Election Board
OTHER
SPECIAL KIWANIS DATES:
-
Thur-Sun
- August
5-8 Kiwanis
CalNevHa Convention in
Las Vegas
-
Sunday
- August
22
Summer Social
-
Sunday
- Sept.
12
Wine and
Gourmet Food Tasting
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