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Get to know your new president Chuck Swan
By Dave Eshleman, Newsletter Editor
Editor’s note: Chuck Swan brings a wealth of experience to his new position as President of the Saratoga Rotary Club, and while he’s been a fixture at Friday meetings and club events for many years, I didn’t know a lot about Chuck. So, I sat down with him recently to learn more.
Chuck was born in Jacksonville, Florida, but he didn’t live there long. As a navy family, the Swans moved often, allowing young Chuck to experience life in such far-flung outposts as Honolulu, Tokyo, Yokohama, Chincoteague, VA, Alameda, CA, Dayton, OH, and Washington D.C.
Some may worry that a nomadic life would make it difficult to make new friends. That wasn’t the case, according to Chuck. “Everybody was in the same boat (no pun intended). All of the kids were living the same life – moving every few years. It wasn’t hard to strike up new friendships. It makes us adaptable. We can be dropped into new situations.”
Following in his father’s wake, Chuck enrolled at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY, but went to sea midway through his studies as an “engine cadet”, stopping at ports all over the world over a ten-year span. He earned his Coast Guard li cense as a Steam Engineer, allowing him to pay for his education by working as a merchant marine.
When dry land beckoned, he enrolled at The University of Miami and earned a degree in accounting, whereupon he secured a position with accounting giant Ernst and Ernst (now Ernst and Young). After receiving his MBA at Florida Atlantic University, he worked first for Florida real estate developers, then entered the world of tech with a Florida-based startup, Milgo Electronics, later acquired by RACAL.
Once bitten by the tech bug, Silicon Valley will eventually call, and so it was for Chuck. He traveled to the valley to help start Forward Technology, a maker of work stations. That started a 20-year career as Chief Financial Officer for a string of tech companies.
Chuck and wife Marianne, who met in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and were married in 1974, moved to Saratoga in 1981, whereupon his peripatetic lifestyle finally ended. They’ve lived in the same La Paloma Street home for 43 years. They have three adult daughters. One resides in Couer d’ Alene, Idaho, one in San Martin, and the other in Santa Cruz.
Chuck has a long history of community service, including stints on the board of directors for the Valley Institute of Theater Arts (VITA), Saratoga Community Gardens, The Los Gatos Veterans Memorial Foundation, WeHeal, and he’s currently treasurer of the Mt. Eden Vaulting Club, where his daughters once competed at an international level.
His membership in the Saratoga Men’s Club introduced him to several Saratoga Rotarians, who sold him on the benefits of Rotary membership. Sponsors Chuck Page and Fran Healy finally signed him up in 2002 during the presidency of the late Ann Marie Burger. His fondest memory of his first year in Rotary was that “everyone was very welcoming.”
Since then, Chuck has held several positions, including Secretary/Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, and all-important Director of Finance for the Art Show. He’s the club’s Youth Protection Officer, and has participated in the Enterprise Leadership Conference (ELC) since 2017.
How will his experiences as a corporate CFO help him lead Saratoga Rotary? “Well, for one thing, I understand finances,” he responded. “I know my way around a balance sheet – inside and out. And I know how to work with people to get them involved and to take responsibility.”
Chuck’s hopes to accomplish several things during his year. “I want to maintain our status as THE premium local service club, so we can continue to call ourselves “the best Rotary Club in the world”. And, I want to build our membership back to pre-pandemic levels – about 120 members, although one hundred is a more reachable goal for this year.”
Chuck believes the pandemic kicked the stuffing out of many clubs and organizations, primarily because of the social factor. “You can’t replace the energy you get from meeting face-to-face,” he said. “ZOOM just isn’t the same. We’re a networking club!”
Chuck plans to lead a concerted effort to “get the word out” in the community about who we are and what we do. His hope is to attract new members “ready and willing to participate. People with a passion for service!” He also would like international service projects to be “a little closer to home, so that we can monitor them a little easier.”
And he’d like to help establish a Rotaract Club at West Valley College, a goal that others have attempted without success. “I’ve heard several reasons why it wouldn’t work at West Valley, but I don’t believe them,” he said.
As most club members know, Chuck is moving a little slowly these days. He had a hip replacement in 2007, but while stretching on May 7, he fell and broke his femur, along with his trochanter, a bony protuberance that anchors several vital muscles. He hopes to be fully ambulatory by the latter part of August, but there are no guarantees.
While he wrestled and played football and lacrosse in his college days, Chuck is content now to do a lot of reading (Adventure, history, travel), cooking, and mentoring youth.
Chuck recently received an important tip from a member of another club in District 5170: “He told me that his club has not a four-way test but a FIVE-way test. The fifth test is “Is it fun?””
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