Deborah Wetter's Induction

My name is Debbie Driver and I’m your bus driver today.  We’re here to travel all over the club to celebrate the induction of Deborah Wetter.  Because she’s the new president she’ll be the first passenger on the Rotary Transit Express.  But before we get going, we’re going to have some traveling music as we make our stops.  For those of you who don’t know Deb, she’s the top man, er, woman at Valley Transit.  Deb, get on the bust and let’s not be late for our first stop…but remember: you cant’ get on the bus without sharing a story about Deborah.  Robb: You can call her Deb, but never Debbie—she prefers Deborah.  This Wausau native hasn’t stayed too long in one place.  She was one of the long line of family members who are actually all Ivy League.  Deb has a degree in business from Radcliffe—the all girl companion to Harvard.  So you can call her a “Cliffe.”  But don’t call her Debbie.  Caroline: Transportation is a big theme in Deb’s life.  Her working life included jobs in Mississippi, San Diego (where she met her hubby Jerry), New Orleans, San Jose, Batavia and now the Fox Valley.  When she was in the Bay area she worked for the Bay Area Rapid Transit or BART as it is called where she managed buses, trains, trolleys...Deb, is there any truth to the rumor that light rail and space shuttles are next for the Valley???  Rich:  Deb LOVES music and regularly attends symphonies here in the Valley and in Stevens Point, NewVoices concerts, and she’s a cellist—all of this love for music and she married a guy who was told to go outside and play rather than participating in music class!  Ruthann:  Life is all about anything that sparkles.  Deb LOVES shiny, glittery, bling—from the baubles she wears to the ones she puts on for Rotary Shines announcements.  She also loves anything with Meryl Streep in it including, “The Devil Wears Prada.”  This all seems to work because her favorite song ever is Dancing Queen.  Who doesn’t love a little ABBA now and then—but we hear Deb has it on a RING TONE? Really Deb? Peter:  Hey…I got a free pass last year so I can get on the bus without a story…Mary: Right you are, but please do us a favor and don’t sing! Trey:  According to co-workers, Deb is a leader who always sees the big picture, she’s collaborative and thoughtful.  But there must be something about this Rotary office because she can always remember faces, but has a little problem remembering names.  She’s traveled around the country and has picked up a few words that retain the accents from the places she’s lived.  In New Orleans, the word “ask” and “axe” come out as “axe” in her accent.  One time she was telling her assistant here in Appleton that she had to “axe” a co-worker something…and the poor woman thought someone was getting fired.  Chad:  Well Deb, we thought you didn’t have any secrets…but we understand you are addicted to Starbucks.  So addicted that you have an app on your phone set for automatic re-load every time your Starbucks card gets below $25.  And we know you enjoy the best things about Wisconsin: a happy hour now and then, cheese…but HOLD THE FISH FRY.  Jerry had to pick you up from a company luncheon years ago because fish was on the menu—after a trip to the doctor he confirmed that if it has fins, you’re allergic to it.  Tom:  As you know, Deb was just in Australia for the Rotary International conference and she stayed for a vacation to New Zeeland.  While there she fell in love with the honey.  She tried to bring honey from New Zeeland to Australia and it got confiscated.  So…she decided to ship some home to herself back here in Wisconsin.  Her son confirmed it arrived at home, but it had a sticker on it that said “DHS.”  She asked if it stood for Department of Human Services, but her son said no, it was Department of Homeland Security.  She immediately freaked out thinking she had violated international customs law—her son let her freak out.  Until he told her he was only kidding.