Our senior craft talk was given by our beloved club historian Bob Daggett, who grew up in very humble beginnings, in what was known until recently as “south central”.  Raised near 109th and Avalon, he attended local city schools until the family moved to Downey.  Bob then attended and graduated from Fullerton Junior College where he studied drawing and graphic arts.   He received his degree from San Jose State and found a job in San Francisco at an architectural firm.  After leaving that firm, he became a partner at another firm but eventually walked away to form two of his own architectural firms, one specializing in more global rather than domestic projects.  Currently Bob has projects at The University of Iowa and at University of North Carolina.  Bob has been a member of Arcadia Rotary Club since 1992 and resides in San Dimas with his wife Linda.  He served as our club President in 2000-2001. When asked what his “Rotary moment” was, he explained that he has made a habit visiting other clubs for make up over the years, then realizing ours truly is the greatest Rotary Club in the world.   Many thanks, Bob, for sharing your successes with us! 

 Our featured speaker was Jim Cogan, Storyteller.  As the middle kid of three boys and three girls, Jim was fascinated by storytelling early on.  Jim’s father, an FBI agent, moved the family to South Pasadena from NYC in 1962.  Jim graduated from UCLA, worked as a fire fighter and received his Masters degree from Cal State.  He became a teacher of both history and drama and learned to combine the two for greater effect.  After attending a workshop of the National Storytelling Association, Jim began to use the technique to cut across all learning styles, which accelerated learning in his students.  Story telling has been used in all cultures, from ancient Greece, Rome, the Chinese, and among Native Americans. 

 Jim dramatically told the story of a blinding snowstorm, fog and the extraordinary efforts of ordinary people saving lives after a 1982 Air Florida plane crashed into the Potomac after the plane clipped the 14th Street Bridge.  A federal employee on his way home from work, Lennie Skutnik, took the lead by diving into the icy water and pulling survivors out.  One of the passengers, Arland D. Williams, was helping others in the water with life preservers while Lennie continued to rescue many in danger.  Lennie dove in the 32-degree water many times to help save passengers.  Don Usher, a Park Police pilot in a Bell Eagle One helicopter through life preservers to several victims and pulled four to safety.  Passenger Arland D. Williams made the ultimate sacrifice after passing lifelines to many victims then suddenly disappeared under the surface.  The plane crash killed 74 passengers and four people on the bridge that day.  Lennie and Arland and others were recognized for their heroism by then President Reagan in his State of the Union address.  This was a good example of story-telling being used to make a point about the spirit within us, which we can call on to accomplish great things.

 Pat Dolphin