After an unprecedented second full term as president of the Rotary Club of La Jolla, Russell King got a fond farewell from the post during his “demotion party” June 23 at La Jolla’s La Valencia Hotel.
Part Rotary meeting, part dinner party and part roast, the event featured speakers who reflected on King’s life and his time in Rotary. Playing off his name, King wore a crown, and several jokes described him as “power-hungry” and kiddingly said he stepped down as president to pursue a quest to be “Rotary International king” (it’s actually because his term was up).
Other Rotary Club of La Jolla presidents have served one full-year term and a partial second term, but no one besides King has served two full terms in the club’s nearly 80-year history.
King’s first term was more than a decade ago, “and I assume amnesia must be playing a role in him taking it on again,” joked Rotarian Davis Cracroft. “It is beyond exceptional that Russell served another year as our club president.”
As part of the retrospective on King — including a series of photos from his youth through the present day — Cracroft joked about how King “announced to the world that he was going to be the next Rotary International king.”
“There was opposition to this across the United States,” Cracroft said, showing doctored images of “No Kings” protests with King’s face added to the protesters’ signs. There also were posters depicting King on a throne, complete with a crown, robe and scepter.
Adding to the joke, Rotary members who are from other countries or speak other languages spoke in their native languages to share their concerns with the notion of King becoming the Rotary International monarch. English translations for the speeches were not provided.
King was presented with gifts from the club and a proclamation from San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava, whose District 1 includes La Jolla, declaring June 23 as Russell King Day in San Diego.
Taking to the podium, King thanked the club’s “fantastic” members and board. Though he is leaving the board, he said he probably would continue to help informally.
“This club turns the extraordinary into the ordinary,” King said. “It’s extraordinary to have 100 kids in our Interact Club. It’s extraordinary for us to give $15,000 to the students at Garfield High School … and $260,000 in scholarships to local schools. We have built houses for people that didn’t have a house. … It’s extraordinary to have the partnerships we have. … But that is ordinary with this club. It is truly awesome.”
To conclude the ceremony, King was “de-crowned” and the crown was given to Denise McGuire, who will be the Rotary Club of La Jolla president for the next year. ♦