The Beacon
The official weekly publication of The Rotary Club of Bakersfield Breakfast
July 13th, 2022
Hail to the
new Breakfast Rotary President Karen Bonanno. The patient President Karen has softly and quietly been awaiting her morning in the limelight to begin her presidency. She comes on the heels of both Past President Dave Spalinger and Jeff Haynes, who both kept us Breakfast Rotarians busy and entertained over the last two years. Always my concern about a police raid with these two past presidents, I anticipate President Karen will usher in peace and calm… Well, that lasted about 15 minutes before she introduced her son’s rock band to perform the first of three music jams. Oh well, so much for President Karen being the contained, calm, and collective president I thought she may be. Seems like she has some surprises up her sleeves.
new Breakfast Rotary President Karen Bonanno. The patient President Karen has softly and quietly been awaiting her morning in the limelight to begin her presidency. She comes on the heels of both Past President Dave Spalinger and Jeff Haynes, who both kept us Breakfast Rotarians busy and entertained over the last two years. Always my concern about a police raid with these two past presidents, I anticipate President Karen will usher in peace and calm… Well, that lasted about 15 minutes before she introduced her son’s rock band to perform the first of three music jams. Oh well, so much for President Karen being the contained, calm, and collective president I thought she may be. Seems like she has some surprises up her sleeves.Invocation by Charter member Jerry Starr ushered in blessings for all the new Rotary presidents as they begin the major tasks and challenges of leading us through 2023. Sean Kelly opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and Songbird Carol Smith set the tone with “God Bless America”.
The Beacon
The official weekly publication of The Rotary Club of Bakersfield Breakfast
July 13th, 2022
Hail to the new Breakfast Rotary President Karen Bonanno. The patient President Karen has softly and quietly been awaiting her morning in the limelight to begin her presidency. She comes on the heels of both Past President Dave Spalinger and Jeff Haynes, who both kept us Breakfast Rotarians busy and entertained over the last two years. Always my concern about a police raid with these two past presidents, I anticipate President Karen will usher in peace and calm… Well, that lasted about 15 minutes before she introduced her son’s rock band to perform the first of three music jams. Oh well, so much for President 
Karen being the contained, calm, and collective president I thought she may be. Seems like she has some surprises up her sleeves.
Karen being the contained, calm, and collective president I thought she may be. Seems like she has some surprises up her sleeves.Invocation by Charter member Jerry Starr ushered in blessings for all the new Rotary presidents as they begin the major tasks and challenges of leading us through 2023. Sean Kelly opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and Songbird Carol Smith set the tone with “God Bless America”.
The new president got
a chance to check out her new wings by acknowledging Breakfast Rotary charter members Jerry Starr and Dennis Scott. The Prez’s family was then introduced. Her ever-present supportive husband Tony Bonanno along with their beautiful and talented children joined us to mark the special occasion of “Mom’s First Meeting”. I suppose that they all needed to show up just to make sure that their mom really is in charge of something in addition to the family.
a chance to check out her new wings by acknowledging Breakfast Rotary charter members Jerry Starr and Dennis Scott. The Prez’s family was then introduced. Her ever-present supportive husband Tony Bonanno along with their beautiful and talented children joined us to mark the special occasion of “Mom’s First Meeting”. I suppose that they all needed to show up just to make sure that their mom really is in charge of something in addition to the family.We had the pleasure of welcoming some of our local Rotary Club’s new presidents who joined us to help usher in President Karen. Welcome one and all! A special note that on August 3rd we will have as our guest 5240 District Governor Scott Phillips. His selected theme for our district is “LET’S GET LOUD”.
With the dawn of this new Rotary year, we are in store for some real thrills…I can just sense it. The Prez, pointed out that Rotary International has its very first female president in Jennifer Jones. Featured in your recently received RI monthly magazine, ROTARIAN, Jones is featured. The new RI president shares a very interesting story of her energy and passion for Rotary, so if you have not read the story in the magazine, I suggest you do. President Jones’s selected theme is IMAGINE ROTARY.
President Karen has set the high bar for BBRCers as her chosen theme in 2023 will be ROTARY IS FELLOWSHIP. Our goal will be to embrace the objectives of Rotary while unifying together in fellowship. The Prez challenges us to reach for opportunities to really get to know our fellow members. Take time to visit other clubs to see what creative things they are doing to make their communities Rotary Strong. On that note, The Prez introduced her son’s band called The Habit to perform John Lennon’s song, IMAGINE, in commemoration of RI President Jones desire for us to think along these lines.
With as many new members that have joined the club, it has been hard to keep track of all of them. This is a good thing and a trend that under the direction of our new Membership Director William Gordon’s leadership will continue to be commonplace. Thus, new member Isabella Montecito along with her sponsor Carol Smith was invited to the podium by William to accept the nomination for membership. With our director’s signature preamble to new members, our Award-Winning club welcomed Isabella to our club. Married with three sons, Isabella told us as an Orange County State Farm transplant to Bakersfield she is prepared to assume her role in Rotary. She now wears the red badge of official membership.
President Karen acknowledged those that were celebrating more than just Karen’s first meeting. Happy Birthday, greetings went out to Dr. Tom Burke, Donna Schwartz, and Robert Provencio. All of these members, even though celebrating another birthday, are maintaining a youthful vigor by being so active in BBRC. Thank You all!
Wedding anniversaries to Past President Craig Holland (Carol) and Sally Selby (Brett). Congrats to you both! And when it comes to Breakfast Rotary anniversaries, we have a bunch. Let us recognize Javier Reyes, Dr. Bonnie Singh, and Heath Niemeyer.
From the announcement and Happy Spot category, Michele McClure who is the most when it comes to arranging our special events, reports that our first upcoming BBRC Social is slated for Rosemary’s Creamery on F Street on July 28th at 6 pm a perfect time of the year for ice crème.
William Gordon just returned to Bakersfield after spending some time with family and relatives in France. William claims he brought a gift for President Karen which consisted of a slice of beef that was seized at Customs. All I have to say William is, “Where is your beef”?
Can’t hold a good man down…is the mantra for Dan Johnson as his rock and roll band, Blond Faith, performed last weekend in Pismo. Welcome back Dan, and we support you and look forward to more music from you in the coming months.
Jerry Starr reports big changes ahead for this active charter member. Jerry told us after so many years of giving back to Kern County and making his mark in Breakfast Rotary, his family is relocating to Iowa. Jerry’s daughter and grandchildren reside there. We understand, but we don’t know what life will be without our trusted advisor and friend around here. Man are we going to miss this honorable member. Jerry also asked if we could remember in prayer our former BBRC member Gary Fachin, who is now residing at Brookdale Care Facility. May peace and comfort be supplied to dear Gary.
Never had I ever dreamed that I would have a front row seat to a donnybrook between Mary Jo Pasek and Carol Smith. COOL! And over what?…over who brought the best tasting coffee beans to the new president. But believe it or not, it almost happe
ned. Well, it just amounted to bragging rights. MJ brought some coffee beans from Minnesota and Carol from Boston. Regardless, I am sure that the Bonanno home will be well stocked with coffee beans from whatever side of the country they choose. Speaking of different sides of the country, we still have some ZOOMERS, and those ZOOMERS joined us from Alaska all the way to North Carolina!
ned. Well, it just amounted to bragging rights. MJ brought some coffee beans from Minnesota and Carol from Boston. Regardless, I am sure that the Bonanno home will be well stocked with coffee beans from whatever side of the country they choose. Speaking of different sides of the country, we still have some ZOOMERS, and those ZOOMERS joined us from Alaska all the way to North Carolina!Past President Dave Spalinger has proven time and time again that he cannot be trusted with confidential information. Yes, he is the leaker. This time, Dave disclosed that David Lari “failed” to mention that he was recently on an exclusive fishing trip at Bristol Bay catching rainbow trout. Dave volunteered that David pays a fine of $50 bucks. I don’t think we have heard the end of this little fishy tale…
Stephanie Baker does not strike me as one to “rough it”, but maybe I am wrong. Seems that Stephanie and her family took advantage of living in the wilderness by lodging in a real-life log cabin in Oregon recently. Even though Stephanie enjoyed some real downtime, I’ll bet she was happy to spend time with her grandchildren who she enjoyed watching display their athletic talents before the conclusion of the vacation.
Rockin’ Dan Johnson is likely to be seen at more Rotary meetings since his luck has taken a turn for the better. Dan won the Raffle and became $61 bucks richer.
In Rotary,
Frank Wooldridge
Beacon writer