Week #2 of

Cliff’s Riffs!

July 10, 2009

The Rotary Club of The Rotary Club of CColumbia/Patuxentolumbia/Patuxent

Fridays, 7:30 a.m. Vantage House, 5400 Vantage Point Rd.

MEN IN BLACK - Alan, Cliff, Charlie McCabe and JimLee were sited for wearing black golf shirts with khaki pants at the meeting today. When Fashionista Roy’s newsletter didn’t make it out to all the guys, Roy decided to stay home instead. He just couldn’t bear the thought of not selling raffle tickets for the first time in 53 weeks. Sometimes the transition between Rotary years and assignments is surprisingly hard to adjust to. The Men in Black gig was his way of foreshadowing his melancholy facing a year without a Group Fine. In fact if he did attend today’s meeting, it is almost certain his Word of the Day would have been: melancholy!

WOMAN IN BLACK - Rookie Secretary Katie Essing’s first day on the job dispelled any thoughts of us getting away with anything. She was on top of her game, updating the member roster, passing around a packet for corrections, and generally making us all look bad! Much to be said about that Missourah upbringing!

ROTARIANS IN THE BACK - Monday night, 6/29, Caroline, Pam, Dave Lerer, Renee, Annie and Dawn served dinner for the folks at Grassroots. Although, it was a relatively slow night (which, in this case is a good thing!), the people there seemed to really appreciate our efforts and the food. Doug, who runs the kitchen, was especially thankful for our presence! Special thanks go to Ron Young, Chuck Sherman, Megan Lerer and Auggie Geiermann for all the extra help they gave us! They were greatly appreciated! Visiting Rotarians:Visiting Rotarians: none

Guests: Guests: Karen Hussey, guest and neighbor of Mary Cain, works at St. Joseph’s Medical Center. She lives on Paul Harris Way in the Grey Rock neighborhood of Ellicott City. Ain’t that something! Auggie Geiermann, Annie’s boy, proclaimed he is 10 and seven twelfths. “I don’t know why I count my age that way, but I do.” And then he told us a joke. Auggie is famous for his joke telling skills. “What’s black and white and red all over?” Three naïve middle aged Rotarians fell for it hook line and sinker. “A newspaper!” they shouted. Ummm, ladies and gentlemen, newspapers get delivered in plastic bags now, not with rubber bands. Duh! Answer: A baby zebra with diaper rash! Ba dum bum! Monica Kenny, guest of Sherri, General Manager of Office Shredding operations for the Kane Companies.

Theo Bell, former member, returned for a visit. Didn’t catch what he is doing these days, but it is always an interesting reinvention story! And slipping in the back door just before the meeting ended was former member Doug Dribben, who will be rejoining the club next week. He was on campus for a Fireside Chat with the Membership Committee. Doug is a JAG officer for the U.S. Army.

MakeMake-- ups:ups: Darrell at DG Paul Frey’s Induction in Frederick June 29 and the Charter Night for the new Rotary Club of Southern Frederick County (Urbana) on July 6. They chartered with 41 new members, a District record in recent memory!

Foundation Moment: Tom Allen reminded everyone that responsible Rotarians contribute $100 per year to the Rotary Foundation to continue their good works around the world. To cover for those who don’t, our club raised the ask to $200 per year several years ago. We have consistently ranked in the top 5 clubs in the District in per capita giving to the Foundation. A percentage of that money lands back in the District’s lap to be spent on local projects at the discretion of the District Governor. Take note! Vocational Moment: no line up in motion yet. Membership Moment: Sherri promises she will ramp this up next week. Stay tuned! Announcements: AJ has Grand Prix raffle tix available. Even if you don’t win any of the fabulous prizes including 2 possible Benz’s, your ticket gets you $10 off at 11 area restaurants that can be used continuously thru the end of the year! A good deal indeed! And there will be drawings in July an August so you don’t have to wait til the event to start enjoying the discounts. Lon had sad news about the death of Carolina Hinestrosa, who was instrumental in making the Sister Club connection to Ibague, Colombia thru her parents. Lon read a very nice letter he wrote to them offering condolences from our club. Carolina fought a brave battle against cancer for many years. Mary Cain has the club Crab Feast planned for Saturday, August 22 at PeteWalt’s house, 2 p.m. til … Rain date is Sunday. Mark your calendars now as this is always a fun event. Program: Healthy Howard Access Plan is a new program designed to connect Howard County residents to affordable health care services and help our community overcome barriers to healthy living. 20-25,000 residents are without basic health insurance, even higher if you count the underinsured. The Plan is not insurance, but offers basic medical and preventive care to eligible residents who would otherwise not be able to afford or obtain health insurance. The Howard County General Hospital spent $10.5 million on uncompensated care last year. The Plan was created to address the Howard County administration’s goal of creating a model public health community. Even though the Health Department has been involved since its inception, the Plan will be administered through Healthy Howard, Inc., a non-profit organization. Ron Carlson of the Ellicott City Sunrise club sits on the Board of Directors. He noted that one result of the marketing of this program uncovered many who were eligible for other programs like Medicaid, Medicare and MCHIP (the Maryland program for children). Chase Brexton handles much of that population at their One Knoll North location in Columbia. Chase Brexton took over the Health Alliance for Patients in Need program that our club did major fundraising for in 2003 and 2004. Ron showed a video the was produced to promote the program. Andy Barth, a long time Howard County resident and former reporter for WMAR TV is now head of marketing for the program. (He is a high school chum of Pete Walt’s!) He handed out brochures explaining details about eligibility and hopes that the business community will direct people they know who need basic insurance to the program. It costs only $50 per

month, residents must be served in Howard County only, and not earn over $66,000 annually for a family of 4. They get 6 doctor visits per year and basic pharmaceuticals as well. Bill Harrison asked if he could put a sign up in his liquor store to poromote the program, to which Alan Jefferson noted, “That would be the one that says DRINKING IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH!” Happy Dollars: Annie G. had 5 big ones for Augie’s visit, the program and her VA

vacation. DocWalt had 50 cents for the program and 50 cents for seeing Theo Bell. Theo was happy to be seen! Dave B. took son Scott to Broadway and said it is nice to not be President anymore. Kari had a buck for her family vacation back to MN. Blaine was

happy to be living in Howard County. PeteWalt had one for his classmate! Dan announced that his 4th child is on the way and wanted to know if anyone could recommend a good urologist! Caroline was glad the RotoChicks Poker Night #1 for the guys was finally set for August 27th. JimLee had $3 for his visiting grandchildren. San was glad to see Theo, and was “Pleased that I looked really good” after attending her 50th high school reunion with Sonny. Pam liked the program. Sherri was glad to have a guest attend her first meeting as Membership Chair! Mary was pleased about her vacation to the Grand Canyon and that Karen Hussey attended the meeting, but was miffed that she invited her 5 times to no avail, but Darrell asked her once last night and she agreed! Tom had a dollar for No More Dave. Sandy had a buck for the program and for Theo. Darrell had a great vacation cruise on the Mediterranean. Cliff was happy to have skilled surgeons replace his hip. And really liked having the Rotary invasion at his home last Wednesday. Fines: Newly minted Sgt. Ken Solow fined Bill Harrison for unkind thoughts (suggesting that Healthy Howard posters be put up in his liquor store!). Charlie Montague got a random Too Damn Nice fine. (Sgt. Ken promises to pick on one quiet Rotarian each week in the coming year.) The Men in Black got fined for dress code violations. An Insensitive Fine went out to Membership Chair Sherri Brogan for making the past club Membership Chair (Ken) look bad by having so many guests at the first meeting of the new Rotary year! Darrell was fined for showing Ken too many photos of his Italy cruise far beyond Ken’s extra short attention span. Group Fine: All the RotoChicks had to stand and be subjected to a cruel sports minutia quiz. Who was the highest earning sports figure in 2007 and what did he earn? No one got it right and all the RotoChicks were fined $1.00! Late: Renee, Pam, Theo, Doug Dribben 50/50 Raffle: #463 went to Dave Bittner to no avail. Upcoming Programs: (now available on our website at www.columbiarotary.com)

July 17 Official District Governor’s visit – Paul Frey, Carroll Creek Rotary July 24 TBA July 31 TBA

Upcoming Events: July 20 Extreme Makeover Seminar–Small club edition

August 22 Crab Feast at PeteWalt house August 31 Grassroots - Volunteer to serve Dinner Sept. 12 District Membership Seminar

Sept. 19 “Grandeur of the Seas” Club Cruise to Bermuda November 30 Grassroots - Volunteer to serve Dinner

Greeter/Gracer Foundationeer Vocationator July 17 Jim Lee Kim Andreone

July 24 Dave Lerer Joan Athen July 31 Renee Madden Dawn Audia Aug 7 Walt Mazzella Dave Bittner Aug 14 Charlie McCabe Sherri Brogan

July Rotarian Anniversaries: July Rotarian Birthdays: Sam Krupsaw 1 year Cliff Feldwick July 06 Renee Madden 1 year Tom Sabia July 10 Mary Cain 1 year Katie Essing July 11 Kim Andreone 6 years Mary Cain July 22 Walter Mazzella 8 years Dave Lerer July 22 Pam Young 10 years Dave Bittner July 28 Blaine Milner 12 years

Howard County Rotary Clubs …. make a make-up today! � Clarksville Rotary Club, Maple Lawn, Tuesdays @ 7:45 a.m. � Columbia Rotary Club, Eggspectations, Tuesdays @ 6:30 p.m. � Columbia Town Center Rotary Club , Sheraton Inn, Wednesdays @ 12:15 p.m. � Elkridge Rotary Club, Furnace Inn, Wednesdays @ 6:30 p.m. � Ellicott City Sunrise Club, Tersiguel’s, Thursdays @ 7:15 a.m. � Ellicott City Rotary Club, Tersiguel’s Thursdays @ noon

Next Meeting: July 17, 2009

Cliff Feldwick preparing for his year as Club President.

Now you know why he needed a hip replacement!

Where the RotoChicks went after their June 19 dance gig