BRIARCLIFF MANOR ROTARY CLUB MEETING
January 16, 2009
TODAY IN HISTORY
On January 16th, 1981, boxer Leon Spinks was mugged. His assailants even took his gold teeth. (“Oh, dear!”)
On January 16th, 1991, “Days of Our Lives” won the 7th Annual Soap Opera Digest Awards. (“Oh, my!”)
On January 16th 2005, Adriana Iliescu became the oldest woman in recorded history to give birth. She was 61. (OH, SWEET JESUS!!)
SOMETHING TO PONDER
If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.
--A very wise person .
OPENING CEREMONY: Our weekly meeting was officially opened at 12:21 PM. to a chorus of cheers and enthusiastic foot stomping. Zen Eidel led attending Rotarians in a stirring Salute to Our Flag, the golden-throated Sy Yuter mesmerized us with an unusual version of “My Country, ‘Tis Of Thee”, and the most-reverend Paul Rosen rounded things off in fine fashion by appealing to The Man Upstairs for a morsel of mercy and hints as to the winning New York state lottery number.
OUR CLUB PRESIDENT’S REMARKS: President Fulfree described the recent fire at the Guadalhara Restaurant on Rt. 9, suggesting that if we had reservations there, we might think about canceling them. He then called for Community News. Mark Seiden, who heads up the Exploratory Commitee, explained that a revision of the terms of membership in our Club was long overdue, if we are to serve our community adequately.
To remain vital and relevant, we must bring in new members who are willing to work and to serve on appropriate Club committees. Mr. Seiden pointed out that, if we are serious about turning Briarcliff Rotary around, we need “do-ers” and not people who only come to weekly meetings to have lunch and a friendly chat. He will be reporting on this matter in full, at a later date.
Bravo, Mark!
ANNOUNCEMENTS, OBSERVATIONS AND HAPPY THOUGHTS: Responding to the Club president’s call for announcements, Frances Chu declared enthusiastic support for Mark Seiden’s plan for attracting more-involved, active Club members, Fran Wills
made a school announcement, and President Fulfree issued an appeal for additional trucks for our Club’s upcoming “Truck Festival.”
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NEXT WEEK’S SPEAKER: Our speaker next week will be Don Wilde, who will address us on the subject of “The Sex Lives Of Garter Snakes”—or something along those lines.
TODAY’S SPEAKER: Our speaker today was Dr. Sy Yuter. His topic: The Israelie-
Palestinian Never-Ending War. He broke the subject down into three parts: (1) The geography of the conflict; (2) The history of the conflict, and (3) The present conflict itself.
It is all a terrible jumble, but Mr.Yuter explained the ins-and-outs of it masterfully, while weaving in personal memories of his and wife Eleanor’s visit to Israel. The upshot of is talk was that the Arabs and the Israelies dislike one other intensely and seemingly will
continue fighting each other until the end of time. The Arabs lob missiles into Israel over and over again, and the Israelis retaliate—over and over again. Women, children, and innocent individual are being slaughtered daily. And there is no end in sight.
One can only weep.
.THE DRAWING: The winner of the first drawing was Don Wilde (“At last!); the winner of the second was Marie Fuesy (”Thank God, I really need the money!”)
(NOTE: If Bishop John fails to win one of the two drawings next week, he has vowed to “go postal” and send the Recreation Center sky-high. Briarcliff Police have been notified and are standing at the ready.
CLOSING CEREMONY: Our weekly meeting drew to a close at 1:26 pm. Celebrating the occasion, Ernie Pacchiana distributed grapefruit left over from our recent Rotary Club fund-raising effort, grinning all the while like a Cheshire cat.
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