The meeting convened on Zoom with John Brantingham introducing Ed Harris's 13th meeting. There were three guests, Jim Lewis, District 5240 Polio Plus Chairman, Brett Morey from La Jolla Golden Triangle club and Rose Parade Float Director, Mike Laughlin from Palm Pines Rotary Club and Katherine Hudson from the Cayucos club. Ken Shadle provided the invocation and Ron Willis led the Pledge of Allegiance. Bill Pucciarelli and Bob Sanders had BIG Birthday brags ( Bob - Sept. 9 and Bill - Sept. 27). Odell Lee bragged on his 51st wedding anniversary. Congratulations (or maybe condolences) to Nora!
A moment of silence was held for former member and the second president of the Rotary Club of Nipomo, Phil Henry, Jr. His obituary noted memorials may be sent to the Rotary International Foundation in his memory. Rotary was important in Phil's life.
Jim Lewis provided the club with a brief update on the eradication of Polio. He said there are still cases in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He told us Africa is polio free which is a significant accomplishment because the continent has to report no cases for three years to be certified polio free. Jim Lewis will be back as our speaker to present the entire Polio eradication story after the first of the year. Jim also mentioned how many Rotarians are participating the District Challenge - StepupforRotary.com, which raises money for Polio Plus. Jim thanked the club for it's past contribution to a clinic in India which helps kids with Cerebral Palsy.
Announcements - There will be no meeting Sept. 30. Members wishing to do so can go to Rooster Creek Tavern for dinner on Sept. 30. There is no group room reserved. People will be seated and served at individual tables as they arrive. We need volunteers to staff the Voter Center at the Edwards Barn 10/31 thru 11/3. Contact Bill Pucciarelli at pucciarelli49@gmail.com. The updated club ByLaws have been sent to all the members by secretary, George Dubois. The club will vote to approve the ByLaws after three weeks.
The speaker was Gordon Lu, former owner of the CoffePot restaurant in Morro Bay. Gordon Lu ( Lu Chi Fa ) was born in 1942 in Jiangsu Province of China. He grew up there and in Shanghai HongKong and Taiwan. As an orphan, he was shuffled from one house to another; he often was hungry, beaten and forced to beg to survive. In 1969, he immigrated to the United States, and through hard work and perseverance realized the American dream of success.
Gordon told the club that he came to the United States at age 26, landed in Honolulu and realized his visa was only good for 38 days. He quickly tried to enroll in college with little prior education. Somehow he obtained a student visa to stay for four years. He moved to Denver where he applied for permanent residency. He became a US citizen in 1983. He purchased a fast food restaurant in LA near the airport and owned that for less than 10 years. He then moved to Morro Bay and started the CoffeePot restaurant, coffeepotmorrobay.com. He owned the restaurant for 30 years and closed it this March at the start of the pandemic.
Gordon told us how lucky he is. His book 'Double Luck' tells of his life story of struggling as an orphan in China to immigrating to the United States. He said it was required reading by many schools in California and by Cal Poly in the past. He has spoken to many school groups about the tremendous opportunities there are in the United States.
He believes and appreciates that the United States is the land of opportunity, but it takes hard work also. He said at one time he was financially well off, on top of the mountain as he called it, but the past recession and now the pandemic have set him back. He now lives in a 1200 square foot mobile home and is happy and grateful. He gives the profits from his book 'Double Luck' to the Morro Bay Library. He said the community has been good to him while he operated the Coffee Pot Restaurant and he wanted to give back to the community. His donations to the Morro Bay Library total $35,000. The book can be purchased from the coffeepotmorrobay.com website or Amazon. He lived the American Dream and is grateful for all the American has provided for him.
