From out of the west with the speed of light and a hearty “Hi-yo Silver” the Arcadia Rotary Club meeting was called to order.

Mike Hoey led us in singing our perennial favorite song: R-O-T-A-R-Y. Under Mike’s guidance, the song was accomplished with only a few spelling errors. David Muse led us in the Pledge, followed by a prayer offered by Dave Totten. Tony Parrille introduced guests and your president thanked Jackie So for being our greeter today. Jackie So is so, so good at that.

There were no birthdays celebrated this week, but Gina Post-Franco was celebrating a wedding anniversary. As for Rotary anniversaries, two of our members were celebrating long-term memberships. Brian Hall and Bob Hoffman both joined our club on the same day, 23 years ago! Both continue to be very active in our club and are valuable members.

Lots going on with Arcadia Rotary! There were a number of announcements of note:

• The board had approved using funds earmarked for Fort Rotary at the Boy Scout camp to make the repairs of the damage caused by the flooding up there. Bowden Construction – who had done the original remodel for us last year – stepped up and completed the repairs quickly so the Fort would be ready for the kids and the busy summer season.
• Rosie Mares announced the “Tacos & Tequila” fundraiser that will take place on Saturday, May 4 at the spacious and gracious home of Mike & Paula Real. $150 a person or $250 a couple. All proceeds are going for the purchase of wheelchairs for Mexico, so dig deep! We have been buying wheelchairs to distribute in cooperation with the Tijuana Rotary Club for at least 15 years now. Many of the wheelchair recipients are experiencing mobility for the first time in their lives. This is truly a life-changing project.
• Pat Dolphin is supplying the shot glasses for the tequila tasting. There was a spirited discussion of whether they were to be one ounce or 1-1/2 ounce glasses. Since there are going to be several tequilas to taste, it was decided that moderation is the best policy and one ounce glasses would be appropriate. Ernie Aragon said he had never heard of a one ounce glass where tequila is concerned. Despite his obvious expertise in this area, the party hosts overruled him.
• Our Board of directors had authorized matching funds up to $3,000 toward the purchase of new trucks for the Thailand water projects. When YP put out a call for pledges recently, our members enthusiastically responded with a total of $5,100. The board, recognizing that there was a great deal of support for this project among our members, upped the match to $5,100. As a result, our club will be chipping in $10,200 for these critically-needed trucks.
• Arcadia Field of Honor is right around the corner. Let me tell you that Mike Real has been doing a yeoman’s job getting ready for Field. From dealing with the County over issues related to using the park, to ordering additional flags to flesh out the Field to 1,000 flags, Mike has been on top of it. Mike announced that there will be a flag assembly workshop at his house on Saturday, April 27, 8:00 a.m., at Mike’s house. C’mon down. A dozen or so of us should make short work of the assembly.
• Planning for the Teri Muse Memorial Walk is moving ahead at a fast pace. Rosie Mares & David Muse are heading up the committee planning this event. Proceeds will be going to the mental health office at the Arcadia School District, since mental health was a particular interest of Teri’s. Signups begin soon. Watch for a notice in the High Gear.
• The winners of the teacher and student mini-grants have been determined. This year Arcadia Rotary is awarding $3,225 in grants. YP has arranged to appear at the School Board meeting to announce the winners and make the board members aware of this and other things we do for the schools. David Muse will appear with YP to fill the board in on the Teri Muse Memorial Walk and the intended use of funds.

Some of our newer members thought there was a guest at our meeting in the form of Ernie Jensen. But, our past-president and past district governor was simply gracing our meeting after a long absence. Your president asked Ernie to stand and explain his “long-time-no-see.” Seems Ernie & Gail had gone off to Hawaii last fall and somehow got stuck there. Ernie rattled on about detaching his bicep on the golf course (but he did par the hole, or so he says), deciding to recover from surgery in Hawaii instead of Arcadia (tough decision!), and so on. Somehow a cruise from Australia got factored into this odyssey. And then, just when they were about to return home, they heard from our Rotary exchange student from Japan, who had stayed in their home over 20 years ago, who wanted to come to Hawaii and visit. Change those air tickets once again! There was more, each event a finable offense, but YP had forgotten to bring a calculator and rounded it all off to an even $100. Welcome home Ernie!
YP noted that there were a number of significant events that have taken place in April. He got Pat Dolphin up and asked what new mail delivery service debuted April 3, 1860. Pat, after deciding it wasn’t email, correctly guessed The Pony Express. The Pony Express carried mail from St. Joseph, Missouri to California in the amazingly fast time of 10 days! They hired as small men as possible so as not to tire the horses. Each rider rode 75 to 100 miles before handing the mail off to the next rider. As YP asked Pat more questions about The Pony Express, Pat seemed to know a great deal about it. YP, duly impressed, told Pat there would be no fine. Pat gave him a quizzical look, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But Pat was able to take his seat unscathed, demonstrating the innate fairness of YP. Upon reflection, YP realized that sitting next to Pat Dolphin was Pat Barnes, who may have been one of the original Pony Express riders and may have surreptitiously passed on some information.
Dave Totten was called to his feet and asked what event in space travel had taken place on April 12, 1961. Dave made a good – but wrong – guess of Sputnik. When YP asked if any club members could help Dave out, Dick Martinez shouted, “First man in space.” He was, of course, correct. YP asked for his name and Dick said “Yuri something.” At this point YP declared Dick a “walking encyclopedia,” thanked him for his help and assessed Dave Totten a mere $25.
Great program today. Mirjam Swanson spoke on “Living the dream as a sports reporter.” Mirjam told us how she got into sports reporting, some of the challenges of a woman in what was once an all-male field, and shared some interesting stories.
Next week our program is going to be Marjorie Lee, who will be speaking on the Chinese Exclusion Act. This is a shameful part of our history, but will be an interesting history lesson. See ya there.

Bob Harbicht, President