Placer County native Gary Davis, a graduate of Del Oro High School and Arizona State University, and a high school chum of retired Placer County Sheriff Ed Bonner, intrigued the membership with recollections of his ongoing adventures in the field of stunt work in movies, on TV and in promotions beyond Hollywood.
Gary lamented that he earned a degree in Electrical Engineering but never pursued a related occupation. Instead, he has utilized his knowledge of physics, a part of the EE curriculum, to develop the methodology to calculate precision speed and ramp angles to effectively do things like successfully jump as many as 21 cars, a feat never attained by the well-known Evel Knievel, whose record was 20 cars.
Gary has been a stunt driver on motorcycles and in cars, has been a stunt coordinator and a director in dozens of venues dating to the early 1970s. He took his first stunt coordinator job in 1976, but is semi-retired today. He selectively takes on stunt coordinator jobs but admitted that he keeps an eye on his earnings so that he does not negatively affect his Social Security benefits.
Addressing a display of photos, Gary shared that he has made 312 public jumps around the world. Since 1976 he has doubled as Evel Knieval in every jump that Evel was the supposed stunt man.
When Gary began his engagement in stunt work, only 350 stunt men were found in the industry. Today, some 15,000 are engaged in the stunt industry. Wages today for Hollywood stunt men are $970 per day plus a stunt adjustment, which might be $10,000.
Gary will be inducted into the American Motorcycle Association’s Motorcycle Hall of Fame on Dec. 7, 2018. Over the years, Gary has credits in 280 films, 250 TV episodes and 190 commercials. He was a stunt driver in 2012’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” and has been stunt coordinator for such films as Terminator 2, The Artist, Against All Odds, and has coordinated or acted in hundreds of other TV and Hollywood films.
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Meeting Announcements
Betty Bennett introduced Chloe Godfrind, our Rotary Youth Exchange student from Belgium, who is currently staying with Phil and Susie Booker. Chloe shared PowerPoint photos of the locale of her home, and her family and spoke briefly about the geography of her country. Belgium shares boundaries with the Netherlands on the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast and France to the south. It also borders on the North Sea. It is a small country of 11,787 square miles within which the populace of roughly 11.5 million people speaks one or more of three languages – Flemish (similar to Dutch) in the north, French in the south and German in a niche locale in the east. Roughly half the population speaks Flemish, though in the northerly Capitol of Brussels, French is predominantly spoken.
Chloe related that she is having fun at Placer High School, and Betty urged Rotarians to invite Chloe to join them on excursions or adventures they might plan so that Chloe can experience a broad range of cultural enlightenments.
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Visiting E. Ken Tokutomi, candidate for reelection to the Placer County Board of Education – Area 4, made a pitch for Measure G, a Placer High School Bond that would cost the average high school district taxpayer something in the order of $8 per month based on a tax rate of $27 per $100,000 assessed value.
Jeff Ambrosia announced that Monti Reynolds is assuming our local Rotary Foundation chairmanship, a position presidential nominee Cindy Eklund has filled for a number of years. Monti will work with Ron Martinez in tracking all local and international Foundation activity. Jeff encouraged the membership to check our Rotary website, https://auburncarotary.com , or the Rotary Foundation at https://www.rotary.org/en/about-rotary/rotary-foundation for Foundation related information. To view the online Rotary Foundation Contribution Form, see https://my.rotary.org/en/document/contribution-form-rotary-foundation Rotarians can contribute as little as $10 per month by automatic debit, and the funds donated will accrue Paul Harris points. Our Jansen Society opportunity that could be of interest when doing estate planning was also mentioned, as was our Rotary Club of Auburn Endowment Fund, which is building toward $200,000. See inset in the bulletin, or speak directly with Monti, Ron or Jeff for enlightenment.
President Kahl encouraged the membership to wear baseball garb – hats, jerseys, etc., when District Governor Tina Spencer-Mulhern visits on October 23, 2018.
To celebrate World Polio Day, there will be a group photo of Rotarians on the steps of the courthouse at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 24, 2018.
If you want to travel to Tanzania with Peter Konrad on November 6, 2018 to check in on the Kilimanjaro reforestation project, be very prompt in contacting Peter to discuss details. Peter needs to hear from you within a week.
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Black Marble-
The tidy sum of $265 was at stake but no winner.
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Did you Know-
Kristen Alexander's favorite musical artist is Garth Brooks
Bob Santin's favorite actor is Chuck Norris
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Bulletin Note:
Appreciation to Bob Dunstan for pictures and Bart Ruud for notes.
d the membership with recollections of his ongoing adventures in the field of stunt work in movies, on TV and in promotions beyond Hollywood.
Addressing a display of photos, Gary shared that he has made 312 public jumps around the world. Since 1976 he has doubled as Evel Knieval in every jump that Evel was the supposed stunt man.
Exchange student from Belgium, who is currently staying with Phil and Susie Booker. Chloe shared PowerPoint photos of the locale of her home, and her family and spoke briefly about the geography of her country. Belgium shares boundaries with the Netherlands on the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast and France to the south. It also borders on the North Sea. It is a small country of 11,787 square miles within which the populace of roughly 11.5 million people speaks one or more of three languages – Flemish (similar to Dutch) in the north, French in the south and German in a niche locale in the east. Roughly half the population speaks Flemish, though in the northerly Capitol of Brussels, French is predominantly spoken.
County Board of Education – Area 4, made a pitch for Measure G, a Placer High School Bond that would cost the average high school district taxpayer something in the order of $8 per month based on a tax rate of $27 per $100,000 assessed value.