History
prepared by George Kinney, January 2002
presented by Bruce Stewart to the membership on February 4, 2002
The Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary is nearly 22 years old now. There are many new members, and many of the charter members have left, so this history will serve as a record for all present and those to come.
So ---let's start at the beginning - February 26, 1980. That is the night that three new Rotary clubs were chartered at the Bahia Motor Hotel Dining Room in San Diego: Carlsbad Hi-Noon, Escondido West and Mira Mesa.
Let's digress for a moment and talk about how new Rotary Clubs get chartered into Rotary International. In order for Carlsbad Hi-Noon to become a Club, the area had to be released by the Carlsbad Rotary Club, and partially by the El Camino Rotary Club, either willingly or by pressure from the District. George was told that this was done willingly in our case.. A member of the Carlsbad Rotary Club by the name of Manuel Castorena was also on the Rotary International Extension Committee and had so far been responsible for chartering 22 different Rotary Clubs. At the risk of distracting you, I have left a chart on each table showing just how Rotary clubs proliferate. In the center you will see the San Diego Rotary Club, known as number 33, as it was the 33rd Rotary club chartered in the world. It is shown as a black wheel near the center. If you look almost directly to the right you will see Carlsbad Hi-Noon. Originally #33 included all of San Diego and Imperial counties and much of the San Gabriel valley and this one club has been responsible for dividing the area up into 77 different clubs.
When we talk about the history of a Club, it seems to me that we talk about special people who have had a particular impact upon the club, we talk about major events that have occurred in the past 22 years and we talk about activities, both great and small, that have happened, and we talk about some of the light-hearted events that have occurred.
Let's start with the people and first on this list would be Manuel Castorena, our Padrone. Manuel was a first generation American, coming across from Mexico at Juarez, George believed. He settled in Carlsbad, and in 1942 became a member of the Carlsbad Rotary Club, became President of that Club, and served as District Governor in 1952. He was heavily involved in Carlsbad, becoming a member of the City Council and then Mayor from 1952-1958. A special meeting of the City Council was scheduled for May of 1990 to showcase Manuel's many contributions to the City, but it became a memorial instead as Manuel passed away on April 27th. Jim Smith, a member of our club then and now, gave a very appropriate eulogy at the service, and provided a great deal of help in making arrangements for Manuel's family. Manuel was a Rotarian for 48 years, with perfect attendance for 42 of those. He was a sponsor of our club and joined Hi-Noon shortly after it was chartered.
Chick Mensching is another important person in our history. Chick personally met with each of the 27 original, or charter, members, and persuaded them to join the Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary club. Chick was our first President, serving from February 1980 until June when he was elected President for the year 1980-1981. Chick is still around, not in good health, but is seen from time to time by some members.
One charter member who holds a very special place in the heart of all old-timers is Glenn McComas. Glenn was a retired Marine officer, a City Councilman and a much involved person in most all Club activities. In 1984 while doing some work around the outside of his home, he slipped off a step-ladder and ended up with a spinal injury that made him a quadriplegic. Members of our club, plus some from the Carlsbad Rotary Club, pitched in to build a special room in the McComas home for Glenn's special needs. The funds for the materials came from our first try at an Octoberfest. Following his accident, Glenn attended special meetings when he could, and he served on the Club's Foundation Board of Directors. He passed away in 1996. Glenn's daughter, Susie Sherry, was inducted into our club last week.
Another member worthy of special note is Ed Boersma. Ed was a member in the early 80's, and it was Ed who convinced our Board and that of the Carlsbad Rotary club to have an Octoberfest. The first event benefited Glenn McComas, the subsequent Octoberfests have selected two organizations, most recently the Boys/Girls Club of Carlsbad and the Women's Resource Center to share equally in the work load and in the proceeds.
George also wanted to mention Chuck Floyd, our 4th President. Chuck gets credit for coining the term "roto-rooter" and elevating it to its high standards now maintained by Ed Ryan. Records show that Ed Boersma was the first roto-rooter.
An major activity of the club was the sponsorship of the Founders Plaza at California State University - San Marcos with its dedication in 1992. One hundred organizations, firms and people were honored by having their names emblazoned in the pavement at Founder's Plaza. One of our members, Dorrie Ritchie was honored and the Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary Club was the only service club recognized.
Through the efforts primarily of Eric Lodge the Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary Club Foundation was designed in late 1988, and formally adopted in February 1989 with Ed Boersma as President and Glenn McComas as vice-president. Early meetings were held at Glenn's home.
The club approved the formation of an Interact Club at the high school in the Spring of 1989 and it was organized in the Fall of that year with 16 members assisting in Octoberfest. By December there were 35 active members and the Interact Club has continued to prosper. In 1994 our club gave our assigned booth space at the Carlsbad Village Faire to the Interact Club for use as a fund-raiser.
In 1987, at the urging of the Supreme Court, our Club, along with quite a few others, started to accept women for membership. Three women joined our club that year: Sandra Schmitt, Julie Walker, and Judy Jones. Julie recently completed her year as President of the Ramona Rotary Club.
There have been a number of what are commonly referred to as "sweat equity" projects where members do more than just pull out the checkbook. One of the major projects involved three dentists in the club at the time - Mark Packard, George Soohoo, and Bruce Jordan. This trio and a few others made a trip to Mazatlan in 1986-1987, to Puerto Vallarta in 1988 and to Tijuana for several years to work with children in orphanages. Members of the club traveled to Chula Vista to help construct trail paths for a nature preserve. We have provided a refreshment stand at the marathon. We have helped park cars for Labor Day symphony concerts sponsored by the Carlsbad Arts Commission. We have painted two buildings at the Rancho Carrillo Park, provided paving for the gazebo at Holiday Park, set up playground at Buena Vista School and provided telephone support for a KPBS membership drive which happened on the first of the Three Tenors Concerts. Under President Marshall Lubin, the club developed a relationship with our sister club in Tijuana, and began our support for the El Faro orphanage in Tijuana. This has been an ongoing international project and through a web site produced much more support from individuals and groups as far away as Canada and South Dakota.
There have been quite a few 'off-beat' occurrences over the past 22 years. When the club was younger we challenged other clubs to softball games. George participated in a few such games until one night when playing second base, a new position for him, our third baseman, Jack Jimmink, also our second club President, and sometimes third baseman for the Pacific Coast League Los Angeles team, caught George offguard on the cheekbone with an unexpected toss. George passed out and was taken to Emergency. Fortunately no bones were broken and next week the club awarded him the Order of the Purple Softball. Sometime later Bruce Jordan was either playing a basketball game or warming up for the game when he ruptured his Achilles tendon. Some Rotary clubs are tough!
We've had many good golfers in the club, too. Some seem to come out of City Hall - do they have more time to practice? Bob Vales, recently retired Police Chief was one, now we have recently retired Fire Chief, Dennis van der Maaten.
Rotary clubs and other service clubs often have difficulty finding satisfactory meeting places. In our early days we moved around a bit, too. We met at the old Wayside Inn, at Esponda's Basque Restaurant (across from the Post Office), at the Amber Glow Banquet Room, for a short time meals were catered in to the clubhouse at Magee Park then at the Costa Real Water District office on El Camino Real. We had some stability from 1985-1988 when we met at Pea Soup Andersons, and from 1989 we have met here at the Olympic Resorts.
Then there's our welcome song. For the first year or so we sang "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" to our visitors. A charter member, Rex Wilson, and a new member Wayne Wilson deemed that somewhat inappropriate and wrote the lyrics for our present welcome song. Both Wilsons were musicians and realized that most of the club members were musically challenged, so they chose notes from a popular tune. By the way, there is a second verse to that song.
At the end of each Rotary year we hold a change of command affair. It started out as a "demotion party." In the days when charter member Rich Ledford took charge it consisted of a singing telegram delivery to the outgoing President. This presentation was usually delivered by an attractive young lady who could have easily caught a cold. It 1992 a 6-foot pine box was delivered and President Lloyd Rochambeau was unceremoniously deposited within. After that the event became more sedately known as the "Recognition and Installation Dinner" and those of us who became President heaved a sigh of relief.
Our third, fourth and fifth Presidents were lawyers, and the membership slowly detected a trend there. It wasn't until 1996 that another lawyer was elected to the leadership position.
Of the 27 charter members, five still remain with the club. The membership shot up to over 90 one year, but has remained around 70 for much of 22 years.
We have a wonderful past and look forward to the future with new projects, activities and the enthusiasm needed to keep Rotary an international presence for peace and mankind.
