KIWANIS CLUB u A Service Club on the Move u BERKELEY, CA
Where WAS everyone today? The President, Immediate Past President, Treasurer, LtGuv, and Director Leonard were nowhere to be seen. We had a great speaker, but very few folks to hear him. I suspect we had to pay for 5 meals more than we sold. At least Bill Fay brought a guest, as did Bob Skrak.
Phuoc took over very nicely for the absent Retread, but forgot to name a Secret Greeter. There were so few in attendance he wouldn't have made any money anyway. He did announce that all who were absent should be prepared with a good story and a lot of money in the coming weeks.
George was at the door, complaining about the duty, but doing a good job anyway. He should do it more often. He was heard to complain about other things, but I won't blow his cover. Next year, when he's VP, he can go after all of us. And two years later – well, we will see about that!
Don Melandry wandered in (possibly a bit late) with a beautiful bunch of sunflowers and a vase which he placed on the front desk, but with no water. We all thought he was trying to butter up the Acting President, but no – the flowers were for his exhibition opening tonight at the Claremont. He explained that he didn't want to leave them
in his hot car. I don't believe that cost him a fine.
Bob Rice was recruited to lead us in GBA, and with Ed and George not participating, we did a great job. Perhaps not all in tune, but close and with "vigor". Evie asked for blessings, and there we went.
The previously mentioned guests were Jan Robitcher (and her dog Lorrel) and Joyce Skrak. Lorrel couldn't be a Kiwanian – too well behaved!
Bob Skrak was on the fine box. Now, this is Denise's Month and she had the whole month scheduled as to speakers and members with responsibilities, but one wonders if any of us remember that. Not to worry, Denise brings along a copy to make sure we do our assignment.
Speaking of Denise, she announced that we have been asked to provide some "bodies" for blood drives at UCB on the 9th and 16th. Those are both Mondays. The work list was passed around and is pretty full, but there will be another chance next week. We need to staff the sign-in desk as well as the snack table: no requirement to give blood but that's acceptable, too.
Circle K is in a quiet mode (for them) due to the fact that most undergraduates seem to be taking summer vacation. President Cheriz had a pretty extensive report, though. They had helped with photography at the graduations and "earned" $800. The Relay for Life (District Activity) is 24 hours over July 14 & 15, and of course they are in the "collecting" mode for stuff to be sold at their parking lot sale at the end of summer. I won't mention which Ace Hardware parking lot is the location. So that Cheriz wouldn't have to brave our group alone, Jenny Su was in the back to support her President.
There followed a disjointed period of H/S $. It started off pretty slow, but gained quite a bit of momentum when Phuoc got into a discussion with Bob Rice about age and years of marriage and then noted that he had a birthday this month. That ended the H/S$ with a spontaneous version of Happy Birthday Phuoc, led by no other than Don Melandry.
Denise was called upon to introduce our speaker, Scot Field. His subject was "Challenges & Opportunities in the Middle East". We knew right from the start that Scot hails from Australia (accent), and he freely admitted that. It develops, though, that he has been pretty thoroughly educated in the USA. I have written down that he has a PhD in Ecology (Biology-based) and is now pursuing a double Master's at UCB in International Security and the Middle East.
There's no way I could take notes – I was too involved in the talk. Scot pointed out that there is a proxy struggle going on between Fatah (with US support) and Hamas (with Iranian support) and Israel is right in the middle. The simultaneous "rise" of a political Islam and a local rogue power (Iran) promises a continued "mess" in the
area and the US will continue to hemorrhage it's reputation and good will in the area due to it's inability to diplomatically face the fact that there's no way raw power can win in such a situation.
Scot's message was thought provoking and not too encouraging. It didn't sound like he had much faith in this Country's ability to face the challenges and take advantage of opportunities since our government seems "Hell-bent" to try and use power (force) rather than diplomacy and the Arab League, the UN and other multi-national groups are not stepping up to the plate.
Phuoc suggested that Scot come back and have lunch with us again, and maybe continue his talk. Jenny Su was tabbed to lead us in the Pledge, and that was it.
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