At 6 p.m. the night of Friday, June 26, 09, Arcadia Rotarians congregated at the Doubletree Hotel on Huntington Drive in Monrovia for the 83rd Installation of Officers and Directors. The evening started with photos being taken by Frank Perini. After hors d’oeuvres were served in the courtyard, Rotarians and guests found their tables in the dining room. There they dined on “surf and turf” (i.e. roast beef and shrimp) and an ice cream dessert.

After the meal, John Murphy called the meeting to order and noted the presence of such guests as, inter alia, the Honorable Floretta Lauber, Arcadia’s first woman mayor and Dorothy Cunningham, noted columnist for the Pasadena Star News whose late husband J. Lyle Cunningham served as Arcadia Rotary’s president from 1967 – 1968. Bob Daggett directed the assemblage in singing “America the Beautiful.” Dick Martinez led the pledge of allegiance and the Reverend Phil Wood gave the invocation.

Then it was time for awards. Sheila Reed presented the Ernest E Jensen Service to Youth Award to Randie Fowler who served on the Arcadia Recreation and Parks Commission, was Upper Division Coordinator of the AYSO, and who coached soccer, girl’s softball and tetherball. Eric Barter presented the John Fee New Member Award to Jack Pan, Senior District Executive of the Boy Scouts of America. Jim Kuhn presented the Alton E. Scott Community Service Award to Sho Tay, an Arcadia business owner who found time to also serve with the Red Cross and the Boy Scouts, on the Board of the Los Angeles County Arboretum Foundation, as President of the Arcadia Chinese Association, President-Elect of the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce, and as past Master of the Masonic Lodge of Arcadia . Bob Novell (filling in for Peggy Allison who was recovering from a traffic accident) presented the H. T. Michler Rotarian Award to Mike Real, a past President of Arcadia Rotary from 1996 – 1997 who, besides being in the food business, involved himself in education and youth programs such as soccer.

Next Frank Perini handed our immediate past President Bruce McCallum a very large and thick photographic album of the past year’s Rotary events and activities. Our past president found himself straining under the album’s weight but managed to hold it up for photos to be taken.

Bob Daggett took the stage to honor Frank Perini’s 50 years of continuous membership (with perfect attendance), extending from June 8, 1959 through June 7, 2009. Frank followed this up with a joke about “memories.”

Past President Bruce McCallum then recognized Arcadia Rotary’s Officers and Directors for the past year: Imy Dulake (President-Elect), Matt Weaver (Vice-President), Richard Hutton (Past President), Jack Lamb (Secretary), Gerard Tamporang (Treasurer), Barbara Barnes (Executive Secretary), Brad Miller (Membership Development), Eric Barter (Community Service), Al Laghab (International Service), John Davis (Youth Service), Nancy Nien (Vocational Service), and Tony Parille (Environmental Service).

It devolved upon Laura Freedman, Rotary’s first woman President (1995-1996), to install the incoming Officers and Directors: Imy Dulake (President), Matt Weaver (President-Elect), Brad Miller (Vice President, Club Service), Tony Parille (Community Service), Al Laghab (Youth Service), Sho Tay (Membership Development), Mimi Hennessy (Vocational Service), Frank Hall (International Service), and Bruce McCallum (Past President). All were duly sworn in. Laura Freedman noted that incoming President Imy Dulake would now be Arcadia Rotary’s second woman president, after over a decade had passed since Laura’s pioneering presidency. This was truly an historic occasion.

Bruce McCallum again took the podium. First, as past President, he turned over the president’s pen and gavel to incoming President Imy Dulake, remarking on the significance of each. He then presented Past Director pins to Nancy Nien, Eric Barter, and Brad Miller.

John Murphy introduced our new President (2009-2010) Imy Dulake, recommending that we all read her biography as given on the installation program. That biography recounts Imy’s birth in a remote Korean village, her father’s death while she was only six years old leaving the family penniless, the family’s emigration to the United States, her attending school at night while working to support the family as its bread winner, her rise in the field of banking, her marriage to Richard (who immigrated from England), her role as Korean/English interpreter for the Arcadia School District, her involvement in Rotary, and her leadership in the real estate profession.

President Imy Dulake gave the President’s Address, ushering in the 2009-2010 session. Our new president had just returned from a Rotary International Convention in Birmingham, England. She commenced her remarks with a quotation from Prince Philip: “Change does not change tradition. It strengthens it. Change is a challenge and an opportunity; not a threat.” Thus, under Imy’s leadership Arcadia Rotary’s service to humanity would continue. She pointed out that the effectiveness of Rotary’s president in pursuing that purpose is only as good as the resolve of the membership. Imy then asked the audience, “You will not let the club fail. Am I right?” She recognized Arcadia Rotary’s tradition of strong leadership in fulfilling that mission. In so doing, Rotarians would realize what Imy called “the three Fs: Fun; Fellowship; and Friendship.” The emphasis under Imy’s leadership will include (1) the international clean water project in Thailand; (2) the membership drive (to retain and increase members); (3) polio eradication (noting the donations to that effort from Mia Farrow and Bill Gates); and (4) locally, the support of Arcadia’s teachers. Imy encouraged Rotarians to be part of these great tasks and to say “yes” when asked to help. She noted that the new President of Rotary International was from Scotland. Imy concluded by thanking all of Arcadia Rotary’s officers, directors, and chairpersons.

And thus commences the historic term of Arcadia Rotary’s second woman President.