Escondido Sunrise Rotary; Meeting to Serve our Community in Person and “Who Am I Breakfast Fellowship”
September 7, 2023
As we all try to conduct our professional pursuits in new ways, it’s appropriate to remind ourselves of who we are as a Serving Organization… Our accomplishments, our fellowship and the reminder of our many successes is valuable as we seek new opportunities to serve…
We met again in person at the Chamber of Commerce… Great to enjoy the fellowship again and see all your smiling faces…
As a Club, Past President Chris Miller led us as we honored our nation with a salute to our Flag and, an invocation was offered by Judy Fitzgerald.….
Guests & Visitors:
Mike Delaney w/the Historical Preservation Commission & the Building & Advisory Appeals Court invited by Judy Fitzgerald
Celebrations to Remember:
Birthdays:
Mike Muehl – 9/8
Spouses Birthdays:
Glynna Hoekstra – 9/7
Kathy Herbert – 9/7
Lorraine Page – 9/8
High 5 and Announcements:
Kim Henson reminded everyone about the annual Bunko party which will be held at Mike & Julie Muehl’s home on 10/6 starting at 6pm. Mike and Julie generously offered to provide dinner, please just bring any special beverages you would love.
Judy Fitzgerald announced that she met with Steph Holder to talk about how the Escondido Sunrise Rotary can participate in the annual Veterans Day parade that will be in November, more details to follow….
Past President Rich Aeling announced that Gerry Fay unfortunately will not be at the 5K due to his daughter’s wedding at the Fay home. Congratulations to the Fay family!!!
Rich also announced that Cathy O’Malley’s mom passed away, ESR will be sending flowers. Condolences to the whole family
See flyer for Jiu Jitsu Fight that is coming up with Mayor Dane White sparring with our City Treasurer Doug Schultz. This event raises funds Goldstar Families and Bikes for Kids. The event is taking place on Thursday 10/12 at North County MMA, doors open at 5:30pm and it will start at 6pm
Rotarian’s Having Fun!!! A picture is worth a thousand words!!
President Mark’s baseball team won their tournament, good job Mark!!
5K Update:
We can almost see the finish line, only 2 days to go!! We are now over $132k with over 1170 registered for the race and we are expected there will be many more to that will register and we will exceed our goal amount of $150k, awesome work everyone!!
We also have virtual swag bags for all participants from various Escondido businesses
Mark Your Calendar:
Program:
Who Am I? With Past Presidents Chris Miller & George Beitner
Chris Miller:
Past President Chris Miller is a native Escondido resident, he was born on 11/28/61 at the original Palomar Hospital and because it was during the holidays his mom thought it would be good to put him the newspaper as the most beautiful baby.
Chris’s dad moved from Seattle and his mom from Pasadena, they met and married and have been here ever since. Chris also mentioned that 3 out of his 4 grandparents came over from Ellis Island.
Chris’s dad was an electrician and owned Miller Electric and he was going to school and soon found out how hard it was to work full time and attend school so he left Miller Electric and moved to Boise to finish his education but quickly grew homesick for California and came back and finished up at Cal State San Marcos and S.D. Christian College.
Chris said his strong faith has gotten him through some difficult times so he knew church was very important. He is a member of the Community Lutheran Church here in Escondido and tries to get there every chance he gets.
Chris’s very 1st job was at Chez Orleans as a busboy and bar back and he met Susie at the original Baskin Robbins. Susie happened to be a friend of his sister and he officially starting getting to know her at a mutual friend’s house, their first date was at Fillippi’s Pizza here in Escondido and that went so well they continued dating. After breaking up a couple of times they realized that they were meant to be and decided to tie the knot in 1990. A little fun fact: Susie’s sister is married to past president Jeff Johnson. He went to work for his father-in-law at Berg Electric and was there till they sold. He then applied at Palomar College and got the job as a construction supervisor in 2002 and he is currently a facilitators director, he over sees the maintenance operations and also risk management.
The greatest joy in his life is his family, Susie and Chris are blessed to have adopted a beautiful little girl named Samantha who is now all grown and attends college.
Chris joined ESR in 1990 and he said that this rotary group is very special and has the finest people he has ever met. He said it took him along time to say to being president and when he finally did it was during the very difficult time of Covid but he survived and did and amazing job. Chris also encouraged those of us who haven’t been president yet to not miss this great opportunity.
Thank you, Chris, for sharing your life with us, it was very special to learn so much about you!!
George Beitner:
George was born and raised in Bridgeport, Conn. He was 1 of 3 siblings when his mom sat them down and said she was pregnant with twins and then at her six-week checkup after the twins were born, there were now going to be six kids! George’s dad was a mechanical engineer and every 4 years he was working in a new project so they moved a lot.
After high school, George started college and decided it wasn’t for him so he went to work for the Burroughs Corp. printing bank checks. Fun fact: George printed Jackie O’s checks, pretty cool!! At night he was bartending and doing very well.
In 1976 George and a high school friend decided to drive to California because he had never been there and had only dreamed about how amazing it would be to visit. After he went to California, he decided he wanted to stay, all he had with him was a tent, sleeping bag and a pillow, after staying at a friend’s for a bit he went to Camp land and lived there and went to work. George said thinking back on those days it was a simple time and pretty awesome.
He then met a man was starting a business and needed some help, with George’s background in running machines they were able to grow the business together for 20 years, they had 250 employees and moved from National City to San Marcos. It was there on a loading dock that he met his beautiful wife Erin who was a UPS driver. They fell in love immediately and never looked back, they have been together for 41 years and have 2 kids.
The business was being sold and moved to Ohio and George said no to moving there and during the sale his employment ended. He was at that time in his early 40’s and needed a job and thought it would be a great idea to start a sign business. The man he bought the business from suggested he get involved in community organizations so she joined the Breakfast Business Club and met Jim West and he suggested that George join rotary. George told Jim that he tried to join the main club but they wouldn’t have him so he came over to Escondido Sunrise Rotary and kept winning the money pool. John Masson who was the president at the time told him to go over to the main club one day and buy tickets for the pool because it was up to $7k and of course, you guessed it, he won!!
George has experienced some crazy things in his lifetime that could have taken him from this world but God obviously had plans for him. George ended today by emotionally saying how much he loves ESR and how great everyone is!!
Thank you, Chris & George, for spending time this morning sharing your lives with us!!
Next Week’s Meeting:
Closing: President Mark Maus announced that we will be meeting in person at the Chamber of Commerce at 7:30 AM on September 14th… with our very own Chris Lesso sharing about the Police Cadet Academy
Thanks for Attending Today’s Meeting….
Support for our Escondido Community …
Our great community and the success of its businesses is all of our responsibilities… Support the businesses that are doing all they can to survive this trying economy…….
The ‘Giving Arch’ on Grand Avenue and Centre City Parkway reminds us that Escondido is a caring, giving community…
To all; be safe and be well…. God Bless those men and women that carry the load at our medical facilities, and God Bless our first responders… May our governmental leaders be wise, thoughtful and smart as they navigate these times that have been difficult…..
The meetings will be technically managed by Past President Richard Agnew… Thanks for that Richard… And, Richard is prepared to support all of our attempts at joining the on-line meetings if needed….
SEE YOU SOON…… In Person … Next meeting; September 14th, 7:30 AM at the Chamber of Commerce…
Check President Mark’s email for the reminder…
