Past President Chuck Pattishall presided over member recognition: Not here to acknowledge their birthdays were: Brandon Malloy and Jeff Long. Eric Hanson, Tom Tankersley and Randy McCreith were off celebrating their anniversaries.

Kelly Odegaard and his wife are planning to celebrate their 30^th anniversary with a bike ride down the coast.

Elva Salinas-Garcia’s granddaughter will be celebrating her 15^th birthday with a quincenera this weekend.

Guy Everingham’s daughter is graduating from Pacific University with a master’s degree this weekend. She was a Rotary Interact member and the recipient of a Rotary scholarship. Now that she’s graduating, she’s accepted a position with the Virginia Garcia Medical Clinic.

Lynda Wiegan announced that Henderson House has tickets for a benefit performance of Oliver! at the Gallery theater on Sunday September 13^th. If you can’t go, please consider purchasing a ticket so one of the Henderson House clients and/or their children may attend.

TAMARA BORGES invited the club to her going-away party at Richard Weed’s home this Sunday at 2:00 pm. It’s our chance to wish her well as she returns home to family and friends in Brazil.

Norm Goss pointed out that Bruce Huffman’s recent photo in the newspaper had a discrepancy and asked us to find it. Turns out the photo was reversed. Bruce said it was because he was drunk at the time the photo was taken and had put his uniform on inside out…

Past president Chuck Pattishall encouraged the club members to sign up for the newsletter he and District Governor Art Bradley have created to publicize Rotary’s efforts at polio eradication. Chuck ended with “They walk amongst us”, little stories about the dumb things people do and say.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION

 

President Jan and 2009 Uncorked Chair Lee Vazquez presented checks to the two beneficiaries of the Uncorked Auction. It was a record-breaking year. KELLY MCGRAW of the Willamette Valley Cancer Foundation accepted a check for $65,000. Elva Salinas-Garcia accepted a check for $65,000 on behalf of the Virginia Garcia Memorial Foundation. Both ladies thanked the club and everyone who helped to make the auction a success.

 

MAIN EVENT

Marcia Baragary, City of McMinnville Finance Director, gave her Rotary Vocation presentation. She is a former President of the Rotary Club in Dallas, Oregon. She said she’d employ a trick she learned as President and distribute chocolate throughout her presentation. Marcia grew up on a century farm in Iowa. Her grandfather bought the land from the railroad. The family grew corn and soybeans on 640 acres. Marcia had a typical farm girl childhood, which included traipsing out to wait for the bus during the snowy Iowa winters. Temps can reach -25 degrees. (That’s cold.) Her father loved baseball. One of the high points of Marcia’s childhood was going up to Bloomington, Minnesota to see the Twins play. One memorable day, the twins played the Yankees and Marcia got to see Mickey Mantle.  (Question #1: What was the last year that Mickey Mantle played professional baseball? Walt Haight leapt to his feet with the answer: 1968! Give that man a chocolate bar!) Marcia grew up, married, and was young mom with two children when her husband passed away unexpectedly, leaving her widowed at 25. She knew she needed more education in order to support her family, so she left the farm and enrolled at the University of Iowa. Following the advice of a friend, she decided to major in Accounting, partly because she knew she’d be able to get a job immediately after graduation. She worked hard, both at her studies and raising her children. She eventually became a CPA. (Question #2: What is the name of University of Iowa’s team? Bruce Wyatt, as the only other University of Iowa alum in the club, knew they are called the Hawkeyes. He won a chocolate bar!) Marcia has a bit of the wanderlust and periodically she’s ready for a new adventure. After graduation, she packed up the kids, left Iowa and the family behind, and headed west to the great state of Oregon to take a job in a CPA firm in Salem. When she was ready for the next big thing, she moved to a bank in Beaverton. Eventually she accepted a position with the City of Dallas, Oregon and stayed eleven years as Director of Finance. When the position in McMinnville opened up, Marcia knew it was time to stretch again. He kids are grown and she was ready for another change. She’s been with the city for ten months now, and thinks it’s a very good fit. She sold her five acres in Dallas and purchased a home in here in town.  (Question #3: What is the total dollar amount of all the funds in McMinnville’s 2009-2010 budget? Give or take a few… Sharon Larsen guessed $79 million and was close enough to win herself a bar of chocolate!) Marcia’s daughter, Sarah, lives in Gaston with Marcia’s two grandchildren. Her son, Josh, lives in Waco, Texas. She’s happy that she’s close enough to see her grandkids often. Marcia loves to camp and hike and is working her way through the “100 best Hikes in Oregon.” She’s finished #39. Marcia likes finance because each set of financial documents tells a story about the business it represents. She is confident that the City of McMinnville is in sound financial shape, thanks to careful planning and budgeting for contingencies. Marcia feels that she is a good place in life and is grateful for the opportunities she’s had and the people who’ve supported her along the way. Now it’s time for travel and some fun. (Question #4: who will stand up and tell us about their ideal vacation? LV Van Blaricom opts for the sandy beaches of Hawaii with her handsome husband and the moon above. LV got the chocolate!) As for Marcia, her dream vacation is a trip to the Midwest. She’ll start with a Bear’s game at Soldier Field (the Bears dominate), then she‘ll take in a 3 game series at Wrigley Field (the Cubbies sweep) then on to a rousing game at the University of Iowa where the Hawkeyes push past their challengers to win convincingly in Kinnick Stadium. That’s a lot of hot dogs!