A MESSAGE FROM
PRESIDENT CAROLANN BIEDERMAN
Aloha mai kākou,
Guest speaker Sandy Tsukiyama brought a distinct Brazilian flair to The Pacific Club last Tuesday. In her honor, Bub Wo picked “The Girl from Ipanema” as our song, and yes, everyone sighed “ahhhhhh.” The joyful energy continued with Linda Coble’s eloquent introduction of Drake Beil, who was inducted as our Club’s first new member of this Rotary year. Mahalo to Drake and his wife Linda Gee Beil for sharing a romantic story – their first date took place at a Rotary Club meeting!
Rotary also played a pivotal role in Sandy’s personal and professional life. Thanks to the Rotary Club of Waikīkī, she received a Rotary International Post Graduate Fellowship for International Understanding to study Brazilian music in Rio de Janeiro for one year. That year turned into a career as a vocalist, a marriage, a son, fluency in the language, and her presentation to our Club, “The Influence of the Portuguese Language on Hawai‘i Creole Pidgin.” Sandy’s PowerPoint slides are available, if you want to know more.
Our Club members demonstrated exactly what it means to be "People of Action" last Saturday when 10 dedicated Rotarians turned out on short notice to assist with Assets School’s Playground Build project. David Britten, Tom Coyne, Gigi Davidson, Brian Dunkel, Nancy Grekin, Jack Kunkel, Tammy Lee LaBrash, Reese Liggett, Kent Reinker, and Alissa Pranica (RC of East Honolulu) answered Bub Wo’s call to kōkua. It’s gratifying to know that this playground will be enjoyed by Assets students for generations to come. Click for Assets appreciation. Click for photos.
Do you have ideas about future Community Service projects? Please click here to share your thoughts. Click here to participate in the new Membership survey.
Join Rick Tabor tomorrow 9/5 for the Annual Out of the Darkness Walk at Magic Island. District 5000 clubs support this effort to increase suicide prevention awareness and provide mental health resources to community residents. Check-in starts at 7:45, the walk begins at 9:00 a.m.
Next week’s Paul Harris events on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday take the place of our regular lunch meeting at The Pacific Club. Sign up online for one or more of these unique small group experiences. Thank you to Vocational Service Director Michelle Dolan for planning, and to Ananda Ferreira, Bridget Townsend, and Leslie Allen for hosting.
I hope you will enjoy the Labor Day weekend!
Mahalo nui loa,
Carolann Biederman
President
The Rotary Club of Honolulu
The Pacific Club
