FogHorn July 27, 2017  -  SHOP TALKS, Mary Corcoran and Mitone Griffiths

 

Her library science degree got her involved in computer science as early as 1974. She worked in information, industrial marketing, sales and analysis from 1982 to 2012. She wrote one of the first books on intranets. In those years her biggest client was the Library of Congress. In the context of her employment she traveled all over the world.

 

In 1982 she met Bill Clear. They were married in Hawaii and have been living in Moss beach ever since. They have 3 children, Daniel who is married and has given her a grandchild, Amy who's engaged to get married and Michael who has a girlfriend in Argentina. She loves wine, travel and song. Together with Ginger they founded Half Moon Bay Coastside Tours in 2012, a business which is really taking off. She's gotten involved doing marketing and now as a travel agent with Bay World Travel. She also is an investor and does marketing for Barterra Winery and she performs with a small chamber group called Serenade.

 

Half Moon Bay Coastside Tours has taken off in the corporate world. They have done local events that include the Sommelier Wine Challenge, Scavenger Hunts, Catapult Building, Sailing Regatta, hiking, biking and kayaking.

 

Mary's presentation also included a delightful series of family photographs spanning the past 6 decades.  Below is a picture of her parents at their wedding.

 

                                     

 

 

Mitone has gone from being our youngest Rotarian to being club president and now Assistant District Governor.

 

She came into the club under the sponsorship of Ralph in 2005. It's been 10 years since her last shoptalk. In the intervening years Rotary has become family and friends. After that first shoptalk, Val Fernelius approached her and told her that he was starting a firm and and that they should work together. Within a couple of months she had met the other 2 partners, Brandy and Chris and 2007 and she started working with them and they are all still together. With this gang, Mitone says you need an unlimited text plan. Initially her job was to help them create a brand and put in systems and processes. She's now the general manager and chief compliance officer. She has obtained all of the requisite licenses.

 

Mitone also wanted to talk to us about her work with Shelter Box. It started when she and her family went to the Philippines to assist with disaster recovery in the wake of the tsunami. She was amazed to find that when they arrived at a remote island Shelter Box tents were already erected. She started volunteering for them with marketing help. She has spoken to a number of Rotary clubs on the subject. She told us that Shelter Box is in Syria, Aleppo and Nepal. In some cases, because of the unavailability of facilities, the tents are being used for schools or as triage centers. It was her involvement in Shelter Box that led her to begin working with the district. She sees her involvement at the district as helping to replicate club successes on the district level. She is now assigned as liaison to the Half Moon Bay,, Pacifica, San Carlos, Millbrae and Peninsula Sunrise clubs.

 

There was a brief hiatus as a succession of technically talented Rotarians attempted to help resuscitate the computer slideshow. During the break the club was treated to a series of jokes which featured the following punchlines: "but arthritis!", "Where's my pickle?!" And "what did you shoot?".

 

We were treated to a series of photographs and the tale of the Griffin family wedding trip to the French Alps. The beginning of the story was more akin to the Griswold European vacation than the Griffin vacation. The flight to Zürich took 30 hours due to delays. Bags were missing. The children got sent on the last leg on a separate flight from the parents. The 7 passenger van that had been reserved, had been rented out because they were late and there were no other cars available. It turned into a train trip. The destination, Annecy is an idyllic venue in the French Alps which is regarded locally as a French tourist destination, not to be confused with those tourist destinations that cater to Americans. The wedding of Mitone's brother to his French/Vietnamese fiancé was in a spectacular Château and of the hundred guests, 60 of them had traveled from the Philippines, the United States and elsewhere in the world as members of the groom's family. There was a side trip taken by 29 family members to Venice.

 

President Warren was forced by time constraints to cut Mitone off in the middle of a sentence. She wrapped it up by telling us that Rotary is her "chosen family".