The Pitch, October 17, 2012

I apologize for not writing a Pitch last week. I’d like to say it was because I won the lottery or attended the playoffs, but the truth is, I just didn’t do it.

Last week we had a very small meeting because of all the people traveling. That meant there was more wine for each of us: a 2010 Rubrato Aglianico Feudi di San Gregorio red blend from Italy and a 2009 Francis Ford Coppola Petite Syrah.

We donated 285 stuffed animals to the Flying Samaraitans, a UCSD student humanitarian organization.

We spent the bulk of the meeting talking about our exciting foundation fund raiser, a “lottery” for a full-ride ticket to next year’s Comicon. This projects has the potential to raise a lot of money for the foundation. We are still working out the details, but we will need the commitment of everyone. We’ll hear much more about this in the future.

This week, we enjoyed a 2011 Sofia Monterey County rose, a 2010 Tapiz Mendoza Torrontes from Argentina, and (believe it or not) a 2008 Robert Goodman Winery Humboldt County Pinot Noir. This is a real winery in Humboldt, California.

Bill Irwin is nearing the end of his east coast bike ride. It’s not too late to view his fascinating blog at http://www.torreypinesrotary.org/bikeblog12.html and contribute athttp://www.torreypinesrotary.org/bikeride.html. All funds go to the club foundation.

Our speaker was Tasha Donahue, a photographer, world traveler, journalist, and author. She recently published Meet Me under the Eiffel Tower on CreateSpace, a subsidiary of Amazon. Tasha entertained us with her presentation and photos on "10 reasons to visit Paris." Curiously, not one of our French members was present. Shame, shame, shame. The presentation was well worth attending.