Wendell Laidley and Stevenson Atherton
Craft Talks

Today, two of our own members presented their "craft talks."  Donn Black first introduced Past President Wendell Laidley, who described his personal history and career success starting with his family living in Montreal, Canada.  Some of his early jobs included acting as an assistant golf pro and a summer job in Powell River, B.C.  where Wendell met his wife, Inger, during his time at the Powell River facility. Wendell worked for a while at IBM, then moved to St. Helena in 1970, and once again moved to Edmonton to work with a firm run by a former IBM colleague. Wendell’s intuition eventually told him it was time to get out and start his own firm, which he started and which was profitable until the Canadian government changed the tax laws.  Another career change then occurred.  From 1993 to 1996, Wendell was working with a firm providing computer-based training.  Wendell then sold his shares of the company and is now classified as “Retired” by the Rotary Club. Wendell describes himself as “lucky” but it appears his business acumen and good natured personality are most likely the reasons for his success over the years.

Donn then introduced Stevenson Atherton, who described his upbringing starting with his father’s military aviation career as a flight captain providing support to the Pacific theater of WWII and later working for Pan American airlines pioneering pacific routes for commercial aircraft.  Stevenson was born in Palo Alto but later the family moved to San Antonio, Texas, where he experienced not culture shock, but weather shock! Stevenson attended a military academy in San Antonio and a co-ed preparatory school in Aspen, Colorado.  Stevenson then attended Stanford and made occasional evening visits to Mills College to socialize.  His post-grad career included working for Wells Fargo Bank, a mobile home manufacturing company, and in corporate banking.  Stevenson moved back to San Antonio to care for his ailing father in the late 1990s and also worked for a large corporate outfit in Holt, Texas, where every day was like the TV show “Dallas” and where Stevenson wore a cowboy hat and could play J.R. Ewing.  He now works at Napa Valley Wealth Management with Past President Kelly Crane.  Stevenson has a big heart and paid tribute to the mother of his children, Casey, who recented passed away. 

Visiting Rotarians
Richard Hyde - E-Blub One
Al Bahn - Napa Sunrise

Guests
Wendell Laidley’s wife, Inger Laidley
Stevenson Atherton’s son, Andrew Atherton

Birthdays
None, although Belated Birthday Greetings to Carol Sobczak (July 25) and Warren Warner (July 30) whom Carol herself failed to attribute in last week's report. 

Anniversaries
Stevenson Atherton has a wedding anniversary this week according to our Rotary website, but he asserts this is incorrect.  A reminder to members to review and update your web profile or be fined by President Margo! 
Andy Bartlett has a wedding anniversary this week. 
Jeff Epps has a Rotary Club Anniversary.

Announcements 
Next week there will be a new member induction ceremony for Rod Ellison, our new dentist in town. 

The annual Teacher’s BBQ will be on August 14 at 12 noon at Crane Park.  President Margo has sent an e-mail to all members with the details. Please wear Rotary apparel so that we have a visible presence at this event.

Sergeant-at-Arms Joice Beatty needs help with the Teacher’s BBQ.  She needs five (5) people at 10:00 am at the park to unload and help set up tables.  She needs another six (6) people to help set the tables at 10:30, and then of course folks to clean up.  Let’s all pitch in and help Joice make this a success!

Carol Sobczak reminded us that the Rotary polo shirts we ordered (a long time ago) have arrived, and those unclaimed are in the back storage room with your names on them.

District Governor Michael Juric will be with us on September 11 to attend the Rotary board meeting and for our weekly luncheon.  There will also be an evening reception at the Rianda House at 5:30 pm.

April Duge will be setting up a table in front of the Bison storefront for the Rotary Blub at Cheers! this Friday, August 3rd at 5:30 pm.  There will be free wine and information for prospective new members.  It would be great if more members would stop by and help April with recruiting efforts.

Suzane Sculatti would like everyone to read the article “New Traditions Bring In Younger Rotarians” on page 13 of the August issue of The Rotarian magazine.  It describes the success of 29-year-old Katie Ehlis to recruit younger members to the various Rotary clubs she has been involved with.

Bell Ringers
Past President Kelly Crane and his firm, Napa Valley Wealth Management, was a sponsor for the event Wine, Women and Shoes on July 28th benefitting Napa Emergency Women’s Services (NEWS). 

Natalie Klug recently returned from an eight-day Alaskan cruise with 14 family members.  All returned unscathed.

Raffle Winners
Jim Smith, Orville Hammer, and John Sales

Finemaster
Michael Layne posed questions to selected members regarding advertising slogans and Olympic trivia.  Ted Bystrowski and Dewitt Garlock proved successful, but the others did not advance to the qualifying round.