Posted by Editor: FDBobko
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The FOGHORN 
ROTARY CLUB OF HALF MOON BAY
March 25, 2021
     
Shop Talks - New Members 
Michelle Carey and Sean Engmann
 
Articles by Steve Wilson and Susan Kealey
Photos by Dianne Bobko
(Editor's Note:  We had two of our writers send me notes this week so they are printed separately for each section - Speaker and Meeting.)
 
Steve's Article
 
After President Mary called the meeting to order, Michelle Carey offered a thought from Audrey Hepburn around the theme of "nothing is impossible."  This led into Michelle's shop talk, the first of two today.  Michelle has a four-generation family heritage  in Peninsula real estate, starting with a great-grandfather who was originally a hog farmer in Colma and would up as a successful accumulator of land parcels and President of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors.  Her family has built over 50 homes here on the Coast and continues to be active.  Michelle is currently a Realtor with Sereno and is planning a July wedding (congratulations, Michelle !!), navigating the perils of Covid to plan the ceremony.  Michelle's undergraduate degree is from Santa Clara, with a graduate degree in Special Ed. from NDNU.   She taught special needs students for seven years, also supervising paraprofessionals in the field.  She then felt the pull of real estate, the family's heritage, and switched tracks.  She and her husband will continue to live on the other side of the hill, but her primary professional focus will be here on the Coast.
 
Sean Engmann is affiliated with Compass Realty  in Half Moon Bay. A San Francisco native, Sean started college at U.C. Davis and finished at USF.   He is now completing an MBA.  Sean and his family live here in Montara.  Sean's career for the better part of two decades has mainly been in start-up tech companies, basically in the role of COO.  One of his companies made the Red Herring Top 100 list in 2010.  His most recent corporate assignment, again with COO responsibilities, was for the San Francisco Chocolate Factory. Having had enough of corporate travel, Sean opted to stay home and obtained a real estate license.  An extremely interesting part of Sean's presentation was his explanation of how one becomes a basketball referee at the high school and college level (and beyond).  Sean already had a background in coaching youth sports, and he spent a number of years as a referee in his spare time.  Truly, he showed the amount of commitment it takes to travel around the state for very little pay to take abuse as a ref.
 
       
 
 
 
Susan's Article
 
A perfect way to get know our two newest members. 

Michelle Carey has been a realtor with Serena Realty since June 30. She is a Santa Clara University graduate. She also earned her Master’s in special education from Notre Dame de Namur University. She taught individuals with Fragile X Syndrome and developmental problems for seven years.  Michelle’s family has a long history in Bay Area real estate, four generations. Her grandfather was a hog farmer and president of the San Mateo Board of Supervisors. Her Dad, Tom Carey, also was a teacher. He then went on to become a builder and developer. He built 50 homes on the Coastside. She has sold homes for her Dad. She is currently planning a wedding during a pandemic, the big day is July 24, 2021 (Mary’s 40th anniversary).  She likes to cook and to stay active. 

Q and A

Do you miss teaching?  She misses her students a lot and also misses the other teachers. 

Mitone wanted to know if she intends to continue to live over the hill. The answer was yes. She likes San Carlos, her Dad lives in Half Moon Bay. half Moon Bay is part of her life. Her fiancé is a tech guy in Santa Clara and she works in Burlingame. 

What sort of projects are you interested in?  Working with Second Harvest and providing families with food. She is also interested in scholarships for vocational and life skills studies. 

Sean Engmann is with Compass Realty. He is recently married with a baby on the way. He is from San Francisco with a degree from USF. He worked with start-ups after college. He is currently working on his MBA. Shaun got his start in tech companies like Sharetronix and Sage Data Service. He also worked with the SF Chocolate Factory overhauling their operations area. He joined Compass in 2020. He loves helping people and growing his real estate business. 

Sean is a basketball referee—with the NCBLA which serves HMB HS. He talked about how one becomes an official or referee. Every year they must pass a rules test and receive 18 hours of training to be certified high school games. They make $55-90 per game. There is training available to advance to college games through summer training camps. Refs are tested and evaluated regularly. The NCBOA coordinates assignments. NBA REFS MAKE $250,000-750,000 per season. 

Q and A

Charise asked if he was enjoying the current madness?  He watched a little, but doesn’t have a lot of time for it. 

Have you refereed women’s games?  Yes, but does more boys than girls. Girls games are harder to referee, it’s more complicated—it gets easier with experience. 

Michelle wanted to know how he is liking real estate?  He enjoyed working with newer buyers and clients in general. Not being able to hold open houses makes it tough. He is doing more internet ads, etc. 

Mary commented it made her feel nostalgic for Mark Foyer after seeing him on one of Sean’s pictures. According to Charise, Mark is slowly getting better. 

What type of projects are you looking forward to?  Abundant Grace projects, the beach clean ups (although that is hard on weekends). He would like to work with youth and is looking forward to getting to know other Rotarians and the community. 

Ginger— Sean would be a good Interact coordinator.

 
 
 
Club Meeting - March 25, 2021 
 
(Steve's Notes)
 
President Mary called the meeting to order and we all joined in the Pledge of Allegiance 

Inspiration ThoughtMichelle Carey offered a thought from Audrey Hepburn around the theme of "nothing is impossible."

New Member Installation

   

After our shop talks, Ginger reminded us of the importance of new member recruitment and turned it over to Joe Brennan. Joe, then driving somewhere north of the Grapevine, remotely officiated the installation of Zoe Kersteen-Tucker as a new member.  Zoe has been a prolific participant in the life of the coastside for 30 years, and her public responsibilities have included, among other things, leadership in the campaign for the construction of the Tom Lantos Tunnels, time as Executive Director of Coastside Land Trust, work for Committee for Green Foothills and Directorships of SAMTRANS and Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.  The club warmly welcomes Zoe.

                      

Happy/Crappy News yescrying

In personal sharing, Ginger was able to organize a suitable online memorial and remembrance for her Sister, who passed in February.  EJ observed that quite a few organizations appear to be scheduling in-person events later this year.

Announcements

                     

Charise led a discussion on Coastside Gives happening on May 6.  Rotary is participating this year, and our part of the raise (target $12K) is earmarked for scholarships, abundant Grace lunch program, Senior fixup days and supplies for a number of families through Coastside Hope.  the Club has been posting on Facebook and members are asked to submit five to ten names each for outreach for this drive.  Larger donors should contact the Club for coordination through a matching grant program.  Lawn sign volunteers are also needed.

Marble Draw  sad surprise  Postponed to next week

Mary thanked our shop talk people Michelle and Sean, congratulated Zoe on her membership and we adjourned.

(Susan's Notes)

Warren shared with us thoughts on inclusiveness,  fun and Rotary. Michelle shared that impossible equals I’m possible. 

Two cents from Ginger on membership—invite someone to a meeting or as a speaker, keep in touch with former members and have a conscious process to find new members. 

Joe, teleporting in from the north end of the Grapevine, asked us to welcome Zoe Kersteen-Tucker as our newest member. Zoe has been on the Coastside for 30 years, her daughter grew up here. She was involved in the effort to build the Devils Slide Tunnel, was Executive Director of the Coastside Land Trust and served on the SamTrans Board—to name a few of her activities. Zoe received a warm welcome. 

Charise and Liz reported on our efforts toward our first Coastside Gives. Our goal is $12,000 to be used for vocational scholarships, Abundant Grace lunches, helping seniors, supplies for Coastside Hope families. Mary, Teresa, Michelle, Diane, Liz, Charise are on the committee. PR efforts include Facebook and Instagram—please share our posts to your friends. Warren was pressured to join this elite committee. Michelle will be posting every week to get the word out—share those posts!  EJ can help if you want a Rotary logo. There will also be a telephone tree, Teresa will coordinate it. A script will be available. Please submit a list of 5-10 names. An email will also be provided for us to forward. We can donate online or in person at Alafano Tech. Contact Charise if you need brochures for your business. Lawn signs are also available. Anyone wishing to make a large donation, $500+, please talk with Charise first so we can maximize it for matching or a power hour. Stacy volunteered to do a press release. 

Abundant Grace thanked us for our past help. They have received a $100,000 grant. They are installing pavers, a floor in the garage, work in the kitchen and another fence. They are looking for volunteers to help do the fence—it would be April or May for one day. Watch for an email from Rose to sign up. 

Last year Coastside Gives raised one million dollars for 50+ non-profits. 

Ginger appreciated the online memorial for her sister, Mitone helped with the technology. 

EJ’s band is getting more bookings. 

 

PHOTO GALLERY