In 2002 I was at the Bristol Renaissance faire and wandered across the parking lot to say hi to a friend and there was a redhead with her and that is how I ended up in Wisconsin. Its been 19+ years and life is good. I have been a Rotary Andy all that time, sponging free lunches off of my wife and getting to know most of you and mourning the passing of more than a few. I started my own business, Rent A Preacher, in 1999 and that is why my Rotary designation of ‘Officiant’.
At Nancy’s urging I joined the Freemason Lodge in Port Washington in 2011, There are many parallels between the Masons and Rotary: we are both charity oriented and community minded, the Masons give about $3m a day to charities world-wide. The biggest difference is that the Masons are still strictly a fraternity, allowing only men to join. So why would I join Rotary when I have a ‘club’ already, when I could continue to get a free lunch? Because I want to do more in the community of Mequon/Thiensville than the Masons do. I was going to quote Groucho Marx but I do want to belong to an organization that would have me. Thank you for accepting me as a Rotarian.