CLUB MEETING - October 3, 2024
Everyone assembled in the meeting room of the Half Moon Bay Library. It began when everyone moved outside the room into the sunshine, to pose for a photo for Mitone Griffiths’ District Governor Intro for and with her club, one that would show our meeting place. So everyone piled outside, smiled and posed.
Pledge of Allegiance - The pledge of Allegiance was led by Nancy Wolfberg.
Inspirational Thought - Kevin said that since it was a beautiful day, everyone should “channel your inner Ray Charles” to join in for “America the Beautiful.” Everyone did.
Visitors and Guests -Visiting Rotarian Kayla and Marla Wong.
Lobster Fest - Presentation to the Boys and Girls Club - Liz Schuck and Nancy Wolfeberg invited Jill Jacobson Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club up front “for a very important presentation.” She reminded those present that during the Lobsterfest we raised funds to help the Boys and Girls Club sponsor 80 students to one-day camps during the off-school times “so they don’t have to stay home and be latchkey kids” or endlessly be on their phones. Our Club had raised the $4,000 for which Jill and the Boys and Girls Club team had written the proposal, and so she was presented with a gigantic facsimile cardboard check plus the real one on behalf of the Half Moon Bay Rotary Club Foundation. Enthusiastic applause followed that presentation.
Jill said that the first half of the camp is scheduled for before Thanksgiving at Cunha, and all are invited to stop in to see it. There will be another camp over the Presidents Day and Spring break respectively. We were very excited at all that they are doing, said Liz, who added encouragement that members stop in and see the kids.
Barb Nielsen added that the club name is also listed on the nonprofit wall on Main Street at the vault, and any money raised through it goes to the Boys and Girls Club. The vault is an idea from David Oliphant, and it showcases local artists and the display changes every three months. If you put in tokens there, and also at New Leaf, you will further support the club.
The second check from the Rotary benefit goes to Maya Luna for Sea Hugger, but the representative was not there today.
Pres. Irwin's Quiz
Club president Irwin Cohen led a quiz, with a prize of a little box of cannoli: How many bones are there in one foot? Several guesses were made (163, 75, 52, 18), with the winner being 26 – 27. Irwin tells us that a quarter of all the bones in the body are in your feet. He knows, right?
TRF Update from Club TRF Chair Warren Barmore - Invited up as the club’s TRF chair, Warren Barmore spoke for the importance of EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) which shows our support the Rotary Foundation. Not to be confused with the Rotary Foundation of Half Moon Bay, this is Rotary International’s foundation, which we commit to giving at least $25 every year through the Annual Share fund. Warren pointed out that the donation bucket is going around, and he described the advantages of being on Rotary Direct, for giving every month or one-time-a-year in July (the beginning of the Rotary year.) Currently our club has 17 members on Rotary Direct. He pointed out that Oct. 12 is “All Hands on Deck,” headed with the Rotary Foundation visit to the USS Hornet. That’s a great opportunity to see the Hornet and to view the potential impact of the collected funds. Today’s meeting attendees were able to fill out names and contact information on the 10 forms for raffle tickets) to get to the Foundation. We’re looking for $250 from our club. Susan Kealey filled out one such form last year and from a related drawing won $700. The top prize is $2,000. More information followed about the Rotary Foundation raffle and about Rotary Direct. Warren noted that he is on Rotary Direct for the minimum amount of $17 per month; and we can fill out more raffle ticket forms today, even if you don’t want to participate more. If we’re not signed up for EREY we can still go online to give to Rotary. It was noted that it is important to each give $25. Warren passed out pens to help. We can drop the filled-out forms to his office by tomorrow.
FOCUS ON PUMPKIN FESTIVAL LOBSTER AND CORN CHOWDER BOOTH - Kevin O’Brien (after playfully thanking Warren for giving us all something to do) talked about Pumpkin Festival, a vital and visual local means for us to raise money, show ourselves, enjoy fellowship and make a difference. It’s a chore but also fun, he said. He noted that last year it was difficult to get the booth staffed, and there were club members volunteering all day last year – he speculated that our club has 34 members and with roughly 15 people doing all the work, which that really wasn’t fair. We had good participation in a lot of areas for the Lobsterfest, and so it is important for members to understand where they fit in with the club and how our members contribute to the festival. He mentioned that he was talking with his non-Rotarian son Michael about how the Beautification Committee has raised its cut this year to 18 percent; the Beautification Committee does have festival expenses including security and insurance; should we do the festival any more if we don’t make that much money and it's hard to get everyone involved? His son said, Don’t you think it’s important that you show the community who you are? So, he’s not willing to just bag it as some community groups have done, but since it gives money for our causes, we should do it. He divided the room into small breakout groups to discuss how we should staff the Pumpkin Festival, and what to communicate to members who don’t support it? He gave us all five minutes and off we went. Suggestions included:
One breakout group suggested pricing the lobster chowder bowls at a nice even number to help credit card sales, hiring people to replace Rotarians who couldn’t be there Festival weekend, making donations instead (perhaps $25), Rotarians volunteering during Festival weekend so we don’t have to hire bodies to help, inviting Interactors to volunteer, asking high school teachers to spread the word, ask local nonprofits like Sea Huggers to volunteer unless they are overcommitted, round-number pricing, $2 or $3 for sodas, encourage customers to use plastic (i.e. credit cards) versus cash.
Kevin had been in touch with the high school person in charge of community service hours for the students. The nonprofits are difficult because they’re committed. He did get one of the Boys and Girls Club board members and his wife to volunteer to help us out.
Another breakout group noted that it’s a volunteer organization so participation is up to you, but there’s also the death penalty (which brought laughs.) Many have legitimate reasons for not showing up; if you can’t be there, call in a substitute such as your child. To Rotarians: Invite your friends or siblings to help.
Speaking for her group, Larkin Evans suggested letting volunteers know just what their job would be in advance; charging a fee to those club members who couldn’t be there (she suggested $50), and that initially, the main purpose of having a booth is fellowship; so contributing ahead of time if you can’t attend.
Ralph Ely suggested disregarding the fine, but added for those who can’t be there, that it’s their responsibility to find a replacement, barring illness. That’s a requirement of being a member of our club, he said.
John Evans noted that there are difficulties in getting to Pumpkin Festival, and added that he (at home) has parking paces that could be used. You can park and leave and so leave the parking place open for someone else; or have someone drop you off.
Steve Wilson was saluted for all he does for our club at the Pumpkin Festival every year.
Notes were made of all that prepare the soup every year: the preppers, the cookers, the transporters, the scoop-person and the sellers. Irwin recalled last year when he had a disaster with the double-boiler came apart and dumped scalding water on him. What he learned from that: try to scoop as much as you can from the bottom, instead of trying to spill it.
Irwin added that he thought, if someone doesn’t show, pay it forward later on. It won’t help during the festival, but here will be something later on that the person can do. That comment met with approval.
One thing about asking someone to pay a fee if they don’t participate, said Kevin: we’re coming close to being one of those club that doesn’t do anything but write checks. And if we net, say, $3,000 from the festival after we pay off everyone, that equals $100 per member, so we can write a check for $100 and go on our merry way, but … That’s not our club. We don’t get exposure in the community, we don’t get the fellowship. We’ve always said we’re not going to do that.
Other ideas were explored, specifically about getting other people from our community involved with us in the Pumpkin Festival: we thought it was a great idea to go to the high school and talk to the community-hours person; seek volunteers from the senior center to help us during the festival; go to other clubs and invite fellow Rotarians; that’s “a nice cross-pollination,” said a Rotarian. It’s happened in past events, depending on who has got and used contacts. Pacifica Rotarians Steve and Colleen Wright would probably come for sure, Kevin noted.
Mitone noted that the Roary Club of Peninsula Starlight charter says that it’s important to be the manpower that helps other clubs. She indicated that she would look onto that. Kevin enthusiastically said he loved all these ideas.
A question: is a food-handler certificate required for this operation? It does not seem so.
It was noted that there are new ideas in this discussion that we can take advantage of.
Kevin mentioned that we did have a problem last year getting enough people to do everything. How have we mitigated that situation, this year – to make it less onerous to participate? Well, first off, we did away with bread bowls, so no Friday night bread-bowl cutting. The only Friday night work we have to do is get what e need from the shed, take those to the I.D.E.S. site and set up for Saturday, requiring only a few of us. And instead of two long shifts we have broken the days into three shifts which are easier. The first shift if 7 to 11, because we need to heat the soup and get it ready for serving; we don’t need a full staff at 7 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, jus a few people to get the soup going. The other two shifts are 11-2:30 (3.5 hours; when most of the sales will take place, and that’s the shift to signup for if you like the action) and 2:30-6.
Those who have done this in the past know how it works: we make a pot of soup in the kitchen, but we’re not making any; it’s all being delivered, made. All we do is put the soup in the double-boilers and warm it up. When it’s warm, we take the lighter pots out to the booth and pour it into the pots that are out there.
We have an oval-shaped, 8-ounce ladle that’s perfect for filling the cups, which is all we have to do; hand the cups to the next person who puts on the lid and places it near a napkin and oyster crackers and a spoon, and hands it to the customer. So no plates with bowls on them, you don’t have to have gloves on, we’re not making it, we’re just heating it up and selling it. So, it’s simpler than before. Hand them the cup, crackers, spoon and napkin. Only thing they might be grabbing is the little packets of tabasco sauce. The only people who need gloves are those who will be handling the soup.
A question was raised about multiple orders. We could have trays to handle extra cups and drinks wanted. Kevin will look into that.
The soup is coming from New England Lobster; to be delivered on Friday morning by Mark along with cups, spoons, and oyster crackers. On Saturday morning he will deliver 31 buckets of soup. He will leave us a refrigerated truck. So Kevin will need someone in the kitchen who is strong enough to bring the buckets from the truck to the kitchen, and pour them.
Some have said they cannot stand for long, and want a job that begins early and does not involve standing. We don’t have many jobs, Kevin said; what’s needed is someone to stir the pots as they warm up. In the past we have had someone to tear up the bread and feed it into a Cusinart; now, it’s different, easier, smoother. Most of the sales will be with plastic; we are charging $11 to cover sales tax as well as $10 for the soup (lobster corn chowder) and the Beautification Committee. It will be automatic via a charge card. But we will need a lot of $1s.
A new banner will be made that will be bright yellow with a big lobster on it, so it will stand out.
Questions were asked about the exchange students from Santa Cruz, working a 1-3 p.m. shift.
Kevin had an idea: getting a couple of bar stools for those people who can’t stand, but sit and make sales.
A question arose about getting a dolly to help with the soup buckets from the truck to the kitchen? Yes, said Kevin, but the buckets won’t be that heavy.
Will we have an ingredients sign up? Kevin said he could do that.
If someone hands you a $20 for a cup of chowder, it was suggested to ask if they have a $1 on them, so that we’ll be handing back $5s or $10s, which would be easier.
Drinks will be Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and water.
John Evans apologized in advance that he and Larkin won’t be at the Pumpkin Fest to answer questions from the high school kids; that’s me, said Kevin. He’ll be there all the time.
Kevin called Marla's ticket number, so she got a cookie.
The second question went to Rosie Fontana, who sang “You Are My Sunshine.” Several people were called by numbers on their tickets, to tell a joke, sing a song, recite a poem, or dance, which all did, to great applause. Fun seemed to possess the entire club. It was capped off with an affirmation: “Today is a day of happiness and peace. I am grateful for my beautiful life, that is filled with many blessings. I move through my day with conscientiousness, grace and love.”
We check in 10 minutes prior to our shift.
Visiting Rotarian Kayla says Larkin Evans changed her life.