Member spotlight: Pam Gonzalez
January 18, 2021
Rotarian’s career brings her into contact with some major celebrities
Pam Gonzalez
has been on a fascinating ride since her childhood days in Maryland near Washington, D.C. She has crossed paths with Dan Marino, Herschel Walker, Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton, Frankie Valli, Merv Griffin
and other celebrities as she helped her husband install sound systems at concert venues and Hard Rock Cafes.
“It was fun and interesting. We were at a frat party where Aerosmith was playing at the University of Maryland,” Gonzalez said of one installation job. “We didn’t know who they were at the time. Eric Clapton was in a small club playing guitar by himself for 200 people.”
Before long, they were doing work for the Grand Ole Opry, Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos, and a number of other high-profile venues.
It was a distinct change of pace for someone who started her career as an early childhood educator. “I did that for several years until we began our own family and I decided, ‘OK, that's enough,’” she said.
In 1982, Gonzalez and her family moved to Merritt Island
to escape the chill of the northern winters and the dense traffic around the nation’s capital. Other relatives followed soon after.
“My parents and my in-laws also moved here shortly after we did, so we still had a family with us,” she said. “The kids got to grow up close to their grandparents, which was very important. I didn't like being so far away from them.”
Once in Florida, they set up an audio/video company that sold equipment to churches, hotels and nightclubs. Their contact with celebrities continued. “I did not meet them, but my husband met Michael Jackson and Bob Hope,” Gonzalez said. “They both had suites at a hotel over by Disney. We used to do a lot of work at that hotel.”
Later on, Gonzalez took a job as an administrative assistant at Slug-A-Bug. The company’s president, Steve Lum, is an avid Rotarian and invited her to come to the Rockledge Rotary meetings.
“When he first took me to the Rotary meetings, he was secretary, and he asked me to go with him to learn the secretarial duties,” she said. “That way, if he was not around or had to travel out of town or whatever, I could fill in for him.”
That was in 2017 and Gonzalez, now retired, still attends the meetings. She said she’s struck by the level of camaraderie among the members and their community service.
“I just thought it was kind of neat that everybody was so close and you could tell that everybody generally cared about everybody else,” she said. “It's important to me, too, all the work that Rotary does and all the different things they volunteer to do.”
Discover the world through Rotary's Friendship Exchange
Peace professionals become effective catalysts for change
Rotarian sails the lagoon, once bagged an ample alligator
Rotarian is all about books, baseball and working smarter
‘Service Above Self’ motto strikes chord with longtime Rotarian
'It's hard to remember when I ever did anything else.'
Helping others succeed, from Japan to the Space Coast
Careers take Rockledge Rotary’s president-elect to the Pacific Northwest, the Middle East and the Space Coast
Local Rotarian returns to Florida after insurance business keeps him on the move for 23 years
Rotarian Duane Daski is a member of the Rockledge City Council and has extended his service to countless people through volunteer work over many years. “I've always been involved in giving back and helping out,” Daski said. “I’m a big-time believer in giving back to your community whenever you can and helping out in any way you can.”