Mr. Cornelius came to Las Vegas from Southern Colorado to attend UNLV in 1988. One day, freshman year, a stranger told Rob he looked like a football player and asked if he wanted to play rugby. Having no idea what he was getting into, he attended a practice and ultimately became a rugby fan for life.

After graduating with his hospitality degree, he joined the staff at the Hard Rock when it opened in 1995. For fun Rob would attend the USA Sevens Rugby Tournament in San Diego. Seeing the potential of the sport and the Tournament, Rob and a strategic group of people from LVCVA and other area businesses successfully persuaded the International Rugby Board to move the tournament to Sam
Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas in 2010.

Later that year, Rob joined the staff of USA Sevens as the Las Vegas Director of Business Development and has been instrumental in growing the rugby tournament into a full-fl edged international event. Rob oversees hospitality, sponsorships, and local operations and outreach. Since Rob joined the company, attendance has increased four-fold and local participation and outreach have grown exponentially.

Dear Rotarians,

There is a tradition in Japan of celebrating Setsubun on February 3rd each year which represents the day before the beginning of the
lunar Spring. An associated ritual called Mamemaki involves throwing roasted soybeans out the door of your house and/or throwing them at a person wearing an Oni (demon) mask to cleanse away all the evil from the former year and welcome in good luck for the coming year. While performing this ritual, the person throwing the beans will say:

“Oni wa Soto!” (Demons Out!)
“Fuku wa Uchi!” (Luck In!)

We have done this at our house on several occasions and not being a native Japanese speaker, my fumbles have led to some good
humor. For example, the word for “woman” is “Ona” and the word for “sea urchin” is “Uni”. So intermittently I have performed this festival essentially saying “Woman Out!” and/or “Sea Urchins Out!”.

Fortunately, my wife has elected to stay, but I have been blissfully free of sea urchin infestations.

All this is just a light-hearted example of how important it is to take the time to understand what people mean, regardless of what words they actually use. In my opinion the Four Way Test is one of the simplest, and best, methods ever developed as a framework for human interaction.

Thank you Rotary!

David Thorson
President 2016 -2017
Las Vegas Rotary

• President David Thorson called the meeting to order.
• Joe Lee gave the invocation. Sidra Kain led the club in singing the “National Anthem.” The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and the Sergeant-at-Arms was Past President Russ Swain.
• There were (1) International Rotarians, (1) Visiting Rotarian and (23) Guests of Rotarians were introduced.
• The drawing began at $4,097.00 plus this week’s donations. The winner gets half the pot and half goes to the Las Vegas Rotary Foundation. Ticket Winner: Stu Lipoff who won $10! Lawry Bucks Winner: Howie Hopkins.
• President David Thorson advised the club of the passing of Bob Patten and Bob McBrian and a moment of silence was observed.
• President David Thorson announced that District Conference is May 19-21, 2017 in Palm Springs and there is a board meeting on February 16, 2017.
• Erik Astramecki announced that the Superbowl squares raised $2,500 toward the LV Rotary Foundation’s $2.0 million goal and announced the club winners for each quarter.
• Jim Kohl presented Sunrise Children’s Foundation with a grant of $5,000.
• Marie Walsh announced that the next breakfast with books is on February 14, 2017 at 7:45am. She also announced that the Beckley Reading Week is February 27-March 3, 2017.
• Jackie Thornhill announced that the next Wetzel Awards is at 3pm on March 23, 2017 at Nellis.
• Kirk Alexander reminded us of the Four Way Speech Contest (2/23), the Dan Stover Music contest (3/9) and the next Super Build (5/6).
• Stu Lipoff announced that the next Wine to Water event will be held at Dr. Kaz Fathie’s home on February 22, 2017 at 6pm. Please bring an appetizer and a bottle of wine to share. Please sign up on the Rotary Event Virtual Clipboard.
• Joe Lee announced a 25 Club Social on 2/16.
• Past President Tom Thomas introduced the speaker, Roger Thomas. Roger is the designer and architect for Steve Wynn. He is currently working on a Wynn property in China. Roger travels the world researching and buying art that inspires his creative designs. A lot of thought and time goes into every detail. Roger shared many beautiful pictures of his work and detailed how designs are created and decided upon for actual use in the hotels.
• President David Thorson presented the speaker with a “Sole Power Award” and adjourned the meeting