The Stars Shine at the RB Sunrise Rotary Club

Today's press release - anything to find an angle, eh?

The Stars Shine at the RB Sunrise Rotary Club

First it was Michael Rennie, a 16-year-veteran of the not-for-profit arts world and Associate Director of the Poway Center for Performing Arts Foundation, who joined the Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary Club.

Then it was James Stewart, 28 years at Hewlett Packard and networking in search of his next success, who started attending the Tuesday morning breakfasts.

Suddenly, there were famous names in the room. Who’s next? Gary Cooper of the Cyclery of Rancho Bernardo?

“That’s the nice thing about the RB Sunrise Rotary Club – it doesn’t matter how much fame (or lack of it) you have – we happily accept you into our midst and treat you like family from the very beginning.” says membership chair Debbie Abel.

Rennie, who is frequently mistaken for his namesake from the movie The Day The Earth Stood Still joined the RB Sunrise Rotary for the networking, the camaraderie, and the opportunity to give back to the community. “This” he says “is the nicest bunch of people you’d EVER want to meet in your life!”

Stewart echoes the sentiment. “Okay” he admits “I didn’t star in Philadelphia Story. I was nowhere near the set of It’s A Wonderful Life.” But he confesses “I have been making some wonderful friends in that room, and believe becoming a Rotarian was one of the smartest moves I’ve made in the past few years. These people make it a wonderful life!”

Ironically, Mr. Rennie’s connections could probably open an acting career for Mr. Stewart. His response: “I’m kind of like the way they described Fred Astaire when he first tried out for a part – ‘Can’t sing, can’t act, can dance a little’.”

“Only in my case it’s true” he laughs. “I won’t even sing in the shower.” Stewart then turns serious to announce for the record, “I would take an acting job as Sean Connery if one came along, provided I didn’t have to do his stunts or otherwise get beaten up.”

None of this seems to matter much, though, to the members of the Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary. Says club president Steve Sayler, “Whatever your name is, and whatever your skills, we’ll find a place for you at our table.”

Rotarians James Stewart (left) and Michael Rennie

Recruiting Younger Rotarians

We had Liz Raines, Britt Catton, and Bob James, Jr. of the New Generations Club in La Jolla, CA speak to our club this past Tuesday. Liz is the incoming president, Bob the current president, and Britt the PR director.

They spoke about how to get younger members into your club - a critical issue for any Rotary, and a message I'm trying to help them get out into the Rotarian magazine. The way I see it, if this organization doesn't recruit more young members, it'll be dead in 30 years.

Interestingly, Liz was cited at the PETS session last week, joining President Lee as an example of young Rotarians coming up through the ranks. By the time the conversation was over, it turned out there were seven incoming presidents all under the age of 30 - good stuff.

Here was Liz (left of president D. K. Lee) and the other six at Saturday night's dinner event.