Rotary Club of SF Chinatown

Newsletter

February 2021 vol #8

Welcome members and friends to our Club’s February Newsletter.

RCSFC Fundraising

Our Club Fundraiser (Fun-Raiser) deadline is in 10 days.

This will be a raffle with the drawing scheduled for Feb 17th!

The official date for the CNY is (February 12th 2021)

This is the Year of the Ox.

The raffle tickets have all been sent out!!

(Thank you Rose Chew)

Please make your checks out to

RCSFC Foundation

Mail your stubs and check to:

Susan Tom

12590 Brookpark Road

Oakland, CA 94619

As always, we are so very grateful for all your generosity toward this Fundraising Event.

(Our first fundraiser in nearly 3 years)

We are asking each member to purchase tickets that they can then either resell, gift to others

(as a red envelope) or keep for themselves or their families.

We are inviting our members to purchase booklets of tickets totaling $500.

All proceeds of this raffle will go to our Club’s Foundation to support our projects and provide both goods and services to those less fortunate in our community and abroad.

Thank you to the RCSFC Fundraising Committee:

Paul Chin Liz Mark Celine Wong Rose Chew Vanita Louie Richard Swart Ron Gin Reagan Lee

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Summary of Past January Events:

December 30th Foundation Committee Meeting

Summary: Gift of $100 to new eClub Rotary Club for Global Action.

We also allowed them to use our 501c3 for donations to their club

Pending their club’s acquiring their own 501c3. All of our remaining DDF was allotted to a H2Open Doors Grant and will be matched by Rotary. Total $7,642.56.

January 1st 2021 Bringing in the New Year

An effort by multiple Rotary Clubs to help clean the environment. Rotary clubs in our District met at Ocean Beach for New Years Day Clean-up. Included were RCSF Chinatown, RC Castro, & Harry Eng (Cassie’s father) from Peninsula Starlight. Our club members: Ron, Liz, Rich, Miyoko, Tom Moran, Rhonda and her grandson Mac all chipped in.

January 16th “Rotary 101 Class” (Ron Gin) 1pm – 2:30pm

January 20th Club Meeting Guest: Denise Lee Yohn “Leadership& Branding”

February 3rd Club Meeting & Memorial for Edward Pierce who passed Jan 30th.

1941 – 2021

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Christmas 2020 Ed, Rhonda, Ashlee & Adam Perry, Mac, & Jones Edward Pierce passed peacefully at home on Jan 30th @ 07:20 under the care of Hospice by the Bay. He left behind his loving wife, Rhonda Pierce (married 48 yrs) and two adult children, Adam & Ashlee and her husband Doug and grandchildren Mac, Perry and Jones. However, he left behind much more. His legacy of friendships and loved ones and his generous philanthropy has touched deeply the lives of so very many. And many more that one may never meet. Ed was a man that walked his talk. Soft-spoken, he was a man of focus, motivation and action. His compassion for those less fortunate was boundless. He attended and supported so very many of Rotary’s International Excursions to India, Africa, Guatemala, and Europe while also generously supporting our Clubs’ Community Projects.

Ed, We all miss you! We thank you so much for your friendship and love. We thank you for showing us what it is to be grateful and selfless and how we too can make a difference in this world. God Bless Ed, Rhonda and family.

Upcoming Events

See Our Club Website:

https://www.sfchinatownrotary.org/weekly-program-speakers

February 10th Board Meeting 12 – 1:30pm

February 17th Club Meeting Guest : Jon Kaufman –

12 – 1:30pm

Building Self Reliance through H2Open Doors

Updated Results of Club Elections for 2021-22

(Effective July 1st 2021)

RCSFC Operational Board

President: Richard Swart

Past President: Paul Chin (PP)

President Elect: Rhonda Pierce (PE)

Secretary: Liz Mark

Treasurer: Reagan Lee

(July 1st , we want to thank Clifford Cheung for his prior services as Treasurer)

4 Directors: Jennifer Cheung, Gary Watts, Celine Wong, Tami Aviles

(July 1st we also want to thank Judy Judkins and Vanita Louie for their prior services as Board Directors.)

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RCSFC Foundation Board

(We will have all the same presidential line as above)

Secretary: Junko Low

Treasurer: Cathy Cheung

2 Directors: Stu Williams, Richard Swart*

(Feb 10th 2021 Richard Swart will leave as Director and the Operational Board will choose a replacement.)

Club Service Showcase

((Service above Self. Doing what we can, when we can, where we can, while remaining safe.))

Our club continues to remain active providing food items once a week @ the Cameron House Food Pantry. Each Thursday 9:30am – 11:30 bags of fruits, vegetables, meat and canned goods are package ready for distribution to over 250 pre-screened SRO seniors. The actual distribution of the bags occur after lunch from 12:30 - 1:30pm. If you wish to volunteer, please contact Liz Mark @ 510-301-5855.

Weekly Cameron House Food Pantry

Reading with Moo Moo Cleaning the Neighborhood Blood Donation

February Birthdays

PAUL CHIN FAYE TAAM TED ABE

Happy February Birthdays to You All!!

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February is:

Peace & Conflict Resolution Black History Month

Chinese Lunar New Year Valentine’s Day

And

President’s Day

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February 12th Begins the Celebration of Chinese Lunar New Year

The Year of the Ox

It is also appropriate as it is the “Year of Vaccinations”!!! The term Vaccination comes from Vaca (Cow or Ox) as the first vaccination was using “cow pox” inoculations to successfully prevent “small pox” in humans.

February 12th 2021 marks the beginning of the Year of the Ox, specifically the Metal Ox, coming after the Year of the Metal Rat (2020) and before the Year of the Water Tiger (2022).

The Ox is the second animal of the 12 Chinese Zodiac signs: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. The Ox year denotes the hard work, positivity and honesty that will be manifested in all of us in the coming 12 months. According to Chinese astrologers, the Ox is very hardworking and methodical. 2021 will be the year when work will be rewarded and the Yin Energy, specific to the sign of the Ox, will be quite poignant as it will be a year when we will fully feel the weight of our responsibilities, a year when it will be necessary to double our efforts to accomplish what we wish. Since this is a Metal year, for the second successive year, the color of 2021 is going to be “white”. Besides white, we have the lucky colors of the Ox (yellow & green), colors that, in Feng Shui, attract prosperity. To increase your luck, wear metal accessories or the colors yellow or green.

This year is Good News: “No explosive or catastrophic events will occur, so it is a favorable year for economic recovery or consolidation, a year of long-term investments…to create a reserve in preparation for leaner times.”

People born in the year of the Ox are strong, reliable, fair and conscientious, inspiring confidence in others. They are calm, patient, methodical and can be trusted. Although they say little, they can be very opinionated and somewhat stubborn.

“Getting to Know You”

January we were taking a look back July – Dec 2020

As part of the “Getting to Know You” series we have showcased one club member in each Newsletter.

With the Stay in Place (SIP) and Work from Home (WFH) policies being promoted we all suffer from some degree of social isolation. Many of us, though we have met socially for some time, have not had the opportunity to get to know one another better. I initially asked Paul Chin to step up and send me his brief bio with some pictures. Thank you, Paul, for stepping up to get the ball rolling and sharing with our club.

Our July Newsletter showcased Paul Chin his life as a firefighter and his love of family and how he found Rotary

Our August Newsletter we have had the pleasure to get to know our fellow member Celine Wong.

September’s Newsletter shared a brief history of Susan Tom, her growing up in Chinatown,

her teaching career, her family and how they have always supported the Chinatown community.

October we were thankful to have the opportunity to get to know Gayle & Bill Chan, and

learn of their children, their travels and how they found Rotary.

November we followed Eileen O’Riordan’s life journey from her home in Cork, Ireland to

her new adopted home here in San Francisco.

December we all had the privilege to get to know more about our fellow club member, Past President,

And our current Assistant Governor and Club Secretary, Liz Mark.

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February we are “Getting to Know” fellow club member and PP Lily Chan

I was born Lily Lum & raised in Sacramento, California, by two wonderful people William Chew Lum and Anna Doo Lum. My father was an only child and came over as a Paper Son, in l939. He lived in San Francisco for a short time with my Great Grand Aunt & her family. In 1944 he joined the US Army, returned to China, met my mother and after marching through Burma returned to China and married her. Once married, they returned to the States and moved to Sacramento, where they lived & worked with his Uncle at The Golden Gate Laundry & Cleaning on 6th between “J” & “K” Streets, half way between Chinatown and Downtown.

One of my earliest memories was working at the Laundry, beginning with sorting & labelling customers laundry for my parents with a “fountain pen”. I quickly began learning how to iron shirts, how to use the steam- pressing machine without burning myself, and even folding laundry, so that all the seams lined up (it’s an art).

Our family consisted of ten (10) which included my grandmother, parents, and 7 children. As the middle child, I learned how to cook for our family, while my older siblings helped out at the front of the Laundry. Mother started teaching me early by washing the rice with a whisk, cooking and keeping my eyes on the rice so that it didn’t burn (yes, I burned many pots through the years). I remember we had only two cleavers & a small paring knife which was used for slicing, chopping & cutting. By age 12, I was cooking for the whole family. The art of wok cooking while cleaning pots at the same time became an easy task for me due to our limited kitchen space.

I fondly remember my parents having many visitors. We lived in a 4 bedroom/2 bath unit (of a 3 unit apartment building) that my parents built. Our home became a hangout for many Chinese Suk Suk, (Uncles) & Bok Boks, (Grand Uncles) as the Taishanese called them. The Suk Suk & Bok Boks families were distant relatives from my Father’s Village and, to this day, remain very prevalent and established back in China and Hong Kong. They enjoyed bringing sweets to share and even taking my siblings out to movies or ice cream. Some even took us all out to for the day and entertained us, while my parents worked.

I attended Sacramento High School and then graduated from City College with an AA and also earned an additional degree in Retail Floristry. I was a runner-up for Miss Chinatown Sacramento and crowned Miss Congeniality that same year. Growing up in Downtown Sacramento was memorable and exciting, especially, seeing John F. Kennedy as he stopped off at the Sacramento Train Station, while campaigning to be our 35th President. I even saw Robert Kennedy at the Capitol steps speaking to a huge crowd when he was the Attorney General. Remember back in ‘75 when President Gerald Ford experienced an attempted assassination on his life by “Squeaky Fromme” in Sacramento? Well, that occurred when I was working at the State Capitol.

Yes, I worked in the State Capitol from l971-l978 in the State Assembly.

And it’s true, Governor Jerry Brown drove an old Plymouth and brought in his own clothes to have Dry Cleaned & laundered at our business. I also remember Senator Leo Ryan…he was a nice man and frequent customer at our family’s laundromat. Sadly, he was the senator that was shot and killed in 1978 visiting “The People’s Temple” in Jonestown, Guyana.

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I have so many stories. I worked as the Assistant to the Fiscal Officer of the State Assembly Rules Committee. My job was remembering all 80 of our State District’s Budgets. This was at a time with no computers, just a ledger, pen & an adding machine.

I was married to Donald Chan in l978 …we have 3 beautiful daughters, Jasmine (Hair & Makeup Artist), Camille (Nurse) and Kristin (Single & a Property Manager). In 1978 we moved and raised our daughters in SF at 700 Hayes Street, and lived there for many years.

During those years, I was a woman of many hats…

1978-1981: District Office Secretary for Assemblyman Art Agnos for 3 years.

1981 - 1984: Worked for Pearl Cruises, an affiliate of Royal Caribbean Cruises for several years.

1986 to Present: - Became a Floral Designer with awards and designations from many Floral Organizations Worldwide. I created the Flowers for the Grand Opening of Chase Stadium…

From 1988 - Present: Got my SAG/AFTRA Card in l990 working on Film Productions, in front of the camera & behind the scenes. Casting many folks on “Memoirs of Geisha”, “Jade” & “Bandits”…when films were shot here in the Bay Area. I met many actors on set (Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Kate Blanchet, etc.). I no longer do casting.

Currently, I have my license hanging at Coldwell Banker Realty. I enjoy working with clients in helping them with their Real Estate Investments. I continue seeing new inventory, often updating clients of what’s going on in the San Francisco Market.

I still enjoy creating floral designs for my clients or working on any event that comes my way…I still continue teaching classes to both inspire others and be inspired.

In 2011, Janet Chen invited me to lunch one day, to meet her at Tommy Toy’s Restaurant. Little did I know this will become one of the best things that I’d ever done for myself. I didn’t know anything about Rotary at that time.

Ed, Rhonda, Rich Honey and me in Korea I fondly remember Gayle Chan had brought in a box of her famous Chocolate Cookies for dessert & it went fast. Also, Rhonda had an update on the Cookbook she was working on and Jim Allen was helping to launch the Cubbyhole Project at Jean Parker School. I eagerly volunteered to work on that project and the subsequent tree planting even before becoming a member. Arlee Kwan & her late husband (Philip) gave me a ride to meet up with everyone that day. Yes, I couldn’t wait to be a member and be sworn in. I love the camaraderie. I know that this is best volunteer organization out there. Diversity is the most important…for it’s the people that surround you with diverse ideas all with a like-minded goal of doing for others, that helps to give me meaning and purpose! I became our Club’s President 2013-2014 and traveled extensively around the world with my fellow Club members. Traveling with my Rotary Family and my sister Honey has opened my eyes to all the good that Rotary does in the world.

Life is wonderful, one must do whatever it takes to experience it all…this is my journey…what’s your purpose? 9

In Rotary…Lily Chan

Be well. Be safe. And may gratitude fill your life.

May the joyful spirit of hope and kindness always dwell deep inside.

May your heart remain full of the love you have for yourself and others. May this time be a time of reflection, gratitude and hope for a brighter day. And may you always be reminded that you are a gift to this world.

Some Current COVID Humor……

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