President Chris opened the meeting right on time as we all know what a stickler he is for promptness! First up, Pledge of Allegiance led by PP Dwight Heikkila, followed by PP Nancy McCready stating the Four Way Test, next PP Diane Good being part Indian and in keeping with equality in Rotary, a CherokeeHealing Blessing, with Chris ending this portion of the meetingwith a video of Kate Smith singing “God Bless America”. Guests for the Day included Marcie Rogo (Mark & Lynn’s youngest daughter) and, WVRC’s newest member, Carmella Spears.
President Chris then showed us a picture of how brave he is while attending a sold-out Dodger game and not wearing a mask in the crowd (and he is our leader this year)!! He then showed us a cartoon on “risky loans” and, told a Catholic/Jewish/Jack Nicholas golf joke, the ending of which I think, had something to do with Tiger Woods. I truly believe you needed to understand golf here, but that’s just me.
Announcements:
- It was sadly announced that Nina Jackson, wife of WV Rotarian Ed Jackson recently passed away. More information will follow in the coming days.
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August 14th from 1-3pm at the Proud Bird will be the first District 5280 Brunch of the Year where our very own Carol Rosenstein, Founder & Executive Director of Music Mends Minds will be the Keynote Speaker. You can register TODAY on the District website.
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First Volunteer Opportunity of the Year: August 6th from 9:30-11am at the Westwood Transitional Village 1401 S. Sepulveda in LA. We will be stuffing backpacks for homeless and low income, children. If interested in participating, email Diane Good at: [email protected]
President Chris introduced the speaker for the day, our very own and always lovely in red, Lynn Mirisch Rogo to give her Craft Talk. Born in May of 1953 (and only very, very, very special people are born in May of 1953) to parents Florence and Marvin Mirisch, Lynn had one sister and one brother (who died 8 years ago today from cancer) and, grew up in Beverly Hills in what she feels was a very normal childhood. She attended religious and public schools and went to college at Pitzer in Clairmont, California. Lynn admits to being a person who does not like change so, she returned and stayed close to home after college. One month after returning home from college a friend (who may have been playing a practical joke) introduced her to her husband Mark, who Lynn admits scared her at the time. It appears he did not however, scare her mother who decided Lynn should marry Mark which she did, 11 months after they met. They were married at Hillcrest Country Club in 1976 and took up residency in Westwood Village in 1978.
Lynn worked for a few years for the DWP while also becoming very involved in Hadassah, for which she was recognized by the City of Los Angeles for her dedication and numerouscontributions. Five years after marriage, Lisa was born and Lynn became a stay-at-home-mother and, professional volunteer. Five years after Lisa, Marcie was born (Yes, Mark is a Girl-Dad). During the formative years of the girls lives, Lynn was very involved as a teacher’s aide, scout leader, and fundraiser for the girl’s middle & high school. When Lisa was 11 years of age, she had to have a very serious surgery because her head was not attached correctly to her neck. Happily, the surgery was a success and Lisa proved to be a good trooper as afterwards there were many activities she could not participate in with other children as she healed.
When Marcie entered senior year, Lynn decided to go back to work (I am sure knowing they were about to have two children in college at the same time was an instrumental reason). Lynn had a dear friend who introduced, taught, and encouraged her to get into Real Estate. Twenty years later, Lynn is still in Real Estate having a wonderfully successful career. She even convinced Mark to join her in the business where he has now worked for 18 years and together, they have had at least 550 sales and helped 250 families – some more than once. They get repeat business because they are honest, people trust them and, they are fun to work with.
When Lynn’s parents passed away, Lynn and Mark moved into her parent’s home at the Blair House in Westwood Village where they reside today. They are the proud grandparents to Kira (9) and, Sonia (7), the daughters of Anil (another Girl Dad) and, Dr. Lisa Rogo-Gupta. They are very proud of Marcie’s and herachievements in receiving her MBA in Australia and, who worksas a VP of Marketing in San Francisco. Mark and Lynn are also the grandparents to Marcie’s adorable dog, Ruby. You can Google both daughters to see just how successful they have been in their lives and careers.
Today Mark and Lynn Rogo are happily involved in Temple Isaiah, with their immediate and extended family, with many friends and in Rotary. Lynn feels very blessed at how well everything turned out 46 years after that day in May when she questioned whether walking down the aisle towards Mark was a good idea or not. We are glad you took the leap Lynn!!!
Several questions revolved around Lynn’s Father and Uncle who were Producers on some of the most well know films in History such as, Dracula, Fiddler on the Roof and Pink Panther to name a few. We learned as a child Lynn attended many Academy Award shows, met Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Peter Sellars and, Marilyn Monroe (who she felt was sad and troubled but had great talent); went to Israel for the opening of “Fiddler on the Roof” and met Moshe Dayan and, Golda Meir (who was born in Milwaukee as was Lynn’s Mother); and, was gifted by her Father, her only Christmas Tree from the Dick Van Dyke movie set of “Fitzwilly”. It was a wonderful presentation of a life to-date, very well lived.
PP Diane
