The members struggled into the dining room this hottest day of the year with not many neckties in evidence.  Dr. Colby, one the few who looked fresh, led us in the flag salute.  John O’Keefe, sitting at the head table, stepped up to read us every wise and true word of the Desiderata, but was interrupted halfway through by HIS OWN CELLPHONE!  Shaken, he completed his rendition, assuring us that the Universe was unfolding as it should.  Agreeing, Pres Dwight fined him $25 as he should and we moved on.  Paul Aslan was our special guest, as was Diane Good, director of the Salvation Army Transitional Center who was attending her first official meeting as a member, and Alice Yip of Synergy Home Care, a member of Pasadena Rotary Club. 

Pres Dwight announced that Reading to Kids wanted to honor Ernie Wolfe with a special dedication of one of their reading programs.  John O’Keefe volunteered to arrange our participation, to everyone’s satisfaction.

Next to the podium was PP Steve Day who tried to sell tickets to a Dodger Game with little success.  He was more successful in honoring Bill Edwards and Sean McMillan for attaining even higher levels of Paul Harris giving and presenting them with more sapphire stars than Hollywood Boulevard has.

Speaking of Hollywood, our guest speaker, Manny Pacheco, author of “Forgotten Hollywood” and “Son of Forgotten Hollywood,” was next to be introduced.  Slipping into his (Demotion Party) Joe McCarthy role, Pres Dwight denounced Manny as shameless in his exploitation of myriad media: award-winning books, a TV show, acting roles, a radio show, and now a blog.  Uncowed, Manny displayed his Bruin enthusiasm and proceeded into tales of Hollywoods lesser (yet famous) stars and character actors.

Manny pulled out a bagful of stories (mostly true, I believe) about Hollywood in its Golden Age—from 1930 to 1960—the big names and the character actors and the studio heads—and how they played a part in our broader American culture.  The intersection of the two, he calls “the Hollywood moment.”

His story about the naming of “Fat Man” and “Little Boy” (atomic bombs dropped on Japan) after Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet struck an incongruous note.  He knew the inside of the Harold Russell double award win in 1946 for The Best Years of Our Lives.  The Academy prepared a special award in advance for Russell, a double amputee, for inspiring disabled army veterans with his performance.  They had no idea he would also win Best Supporting Actor for the same role—a neat trick for a non-actor.

A number of Rotarians showed off their movie trivia expertise (as well as their ages) with their questions and Manny had something to add to each of their stories.  We were all shocked to hear that Frank Morgan (the title role in The Wizard of Oz) did the film as a favor to the studio head in order to play another coveted role that nearly everyone has forgotten).  But the Whiz goes on!

Inspired and entertained, we headed for the exits.  Next week’s speaker will be John Maceri, Executive Director of Ocean Park Community Center, bringing us “inside homelessness.”  A final thought: I cried that I had no shoes until I met the man with no feet.”   Three cheers for Hollywood! 

—YOE Dwight Heikkila