OTHER HAPPENINGS

Lad Lynch held the winning raffle ticket, but he couldnt locate the lucky marble, and thus missed out on $67.

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FEBRUARY 19, 2013

NEXT MEETING: February 26, 2013 Noon at Soda Center, SMC PROGRAM: RotaCare, with Steve Polcyn and Helene Glaser Greeter & Invocation Kevin Reneau ~~ COMING UP ~~
*March 5 -- Stewart McCullough: Foster Childrens needs **March 12 Bo Morse: Disaster Aid in the Philippines *March 19 Mike Rosa: Staying Behind the Handlebars *March 26 Chief Bob Priebe: Effects on Service Levels *Regular weekly luncheon in Soda Center **Monthly evening meeting at Soda Center

Our speaker today was Chris Lardge, a local resident who has made a hobby of preparing presentations about English historical figures (even if they are never identified with certainty). His topic today was about Thomas Edward Lawrence, a scholar, historian, soldier, and author, who was more popularly known as Lawrence of Arabia. The movie of that name was released in 1962, a bit more than 50 years ago, and won 7 Oscars that year including Best Picture. The movie took about two years to make, and was unusual in that there were no women in the cast. The first choices for the lead role were Marlon Brando and Albert Finney, but the eventual choice was Peter OToole who had only been cast in one movie before. OToole at 62 was much taller than Lawrence at 55; Lawrence was a teetotaler, where OToole was the opposite. OTooles fathers occupation in Ireland was charitably described as bookie, where Lawrences father was a landed gentleman. Actually, Lawrences father had two families, but wasnt married to his mother, Sarah Chapman. The fact of Lawrences illegitimacy wasnt well known until he was much older. Lawrence was the 2 son of five; the oldest became a medical missionary in India for a career, two others were killed in WWII, and the other brother attended Cambridge and became an architect. The family traveled around and they lived at various times in Scotland, the Channel Islands, and France, and eventually settled in the city of Oxford. Lawrence was a bicyclist who in 1908 traveled about 2000 miles in France to tour crusader castles, and walked about 1100 miles in two months in the Syrian desert. While working on a degree in Modern History at Magdalene College at Oxford, he participated in several archeological digs for about 8 months of the year. He was quick to pick up languages and became fluent in French, Arabic and Aramaic, which became militarily useful when Great Britain found it essential to defend the Suez Canal, their lifeline to their colony in India, against the Turks. Lawrences most famous deed was in WWII when he persuaded desert tribes to invade the Red Sea port of Aqaba, without orders and on his own authority. Aqaba had good defenses from seaborn invasion, but had no defense from inland. After the war, Lawrence and his war exploits got lots of publicity from Lowell Thomas, he was able to appear in
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THIS WEEK
President Frank May rang the bell to bring the meeting to order, noting we have served the community and the world for 32 weeks over 45 years. Grant Shoaf gave the thought for the day regarding Presidents Day, and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Our one guest was Chris Lardge, our speaker. Announcements: President Frank implored Club members to bring in auction items, buy horse sponsorships, and be available to sign up for jobs at Nite at the Races, just 3 weeks from the meeting date. Send in your reservations and checks, too. Most importantly, invite your friends to join us. Tony Schoemehl announced that Rotary Field Day is scheduled for the afternoon of Wednesday, May 15 at JMI. Well need every member possible to work this popular community service project. Recognitions: President Frank noted that no Rotarians showed up on his birthday list, but acknowledged that Peg Render, Leslie Lynch, and Carol Irwin all had birthdays in the last week. Lad made a comment that fortunately was inaudible to the newsletter editor. George Renworth and Dick Vance have their bags packed for Giants spring training in AZ. They announced the Giants were a lock to win the World Series again next year, but didnt put up any Happy Bucks for it just yet.

travelogues about many parts of the world. His language skills made him valuable to the Colonial Office of the British government, and he attended the 1919 peace conference in Paris and the 1921 conference in Cairo. Later, he joined the Army again, and later the Royal Air force, under an assumed name. During his enlistment he self-published the book Seven Pillars of Wisdom, and later sold many copies of the shortened version of it. Also, he attended many parties and events of the local celebrity class, including Noel Coward and George Bernard Shaw. During his military service he enjoyed motorcycling, and owned several custom motorcycles from the Brough company. While riding one day, he swerved to avoid a bicyclist, lost control, and was killed. His funeral drew a large crowd, including Winston Churchill and Lady Astor, both members of Parliament. A bust of Lawrence was placed in St Pauls Cathedral in London. Chris was honored for his program though a $25 gift in his honor for a microloan through Kiva to a group of 18 women in Senegal.

CALENDAR OF FUTURE EVENTS Mar. 16 A Nite At The Races Fundraiser April 20 E-Waste Collection Center April 27 Rotary at Work Day May 4 District Assembly Solano College, Vallejo May 11 Moraga Community Faire May 15 Moraga Rotary Field Day June 25 Demotion Dinner July 13 District Awards Dinner Woodland Community Center

MORAGA ROTARY BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2012-13 President....Frank May President-elect ..Nora Avelar Secretary.........Kevin Reneau Treasurer..Louise Schopke Community Service Chair.Barbara Bruner New Generations...Rich Render International Service ChairTony Schoemehl Rotary Foundation...... Lad Lynch Public Relations Gary Irwin Membership.Nora Avelar Director at LargeDebbie Roessler Director at Large..Mary Elena Dochterman Director at Large...Cliff Dochterman President, Rotary InternationalSakuji Tanaka District Governor, 5160..Laura Day Assistant District Governor.Jose Avelar
Newsletter Editor for February Gary Irwin

Rotary International Theme for 2012-13 PEACE THROUGH SERVICE