MEETING OF NOVEMBER 8, 2001 By Cindy Luedtke
Editor - Dick Blanding
Webmaster - Steve GruberOnce the traditional start to the meeting with flag salute, song, and the welcoming of guests was over, President Firooz handed control of the meeting over to the capable hands of auctioneer extraordinaire, Dick Henning. The Red Badge Auction was underway.
The time flew by and money flowed from the pockets of Rotarians and guests alike. At the end of the meeting, a total in excess of $12,000 had been willfully extracted for the benefit of two noble causes. One hundred per cent of the proceeds will be equally divided between the Wheelchair Foundation and the RotaCare Free Clinic of Mountain View. Congratulations, Red Badgers, on a job well-done! A special thanks goes to Ellen Yamane who did a super job of organizing the group this year.
SAVE THE DATE! Wednesday, December 19 - Holiday Party at the Jesuit Retreat House, 6:00-10:00 PM. $35 per person. Watch for your invitation and a sign-up sheet at future meetings.
President's Message
Wow! $12,671 is the amount that the Red Badgers raised in their auction! It took months of planning and tremendous amount of work on behalf of all the Red Badgers for this auction to take place. This was a great success and a record for our club, despite the concern about the economy. We want to thank the Red Badgers for all their hard work and dedication to this great cause. We applaud Ellen Yamane Flanagan, who led the effort with her "I Know We Can" attitude to this unprecedented achievement. We are most grateful to the multi-talented Dick Henning for so skillfully acting as the auctioneer. And we most certainly acknowledge and express our gratitude to all the folks who donated items, and all who participated in the buying.
On a different subject, during the next meeting we are going to have the Deputy Consul General of Germany as our guest. His name is Walter Leuchs. Please remember these folks can be viewed as representatives of their countries. If possible take a minute of your time to say hello to them. While you are greeting a whole nation, you will make these representatives feel more appreciated.
-Firooz
P.S. Here is a report from Mary Marley, on our club's Youth and Vocational Services Projects:
Youth and Vocational Services
Report By
Mary Marley, Director
November 8, 2001For many years, our Rotary Club has focused on serving the Youth of our community. I think that the motto of Partners for a New Generation sums it up best: "You are only young once, but you can make a difference forever."
Some of the exciting Youth activities that we are in include:
Partners for a New Generation, Ed Sox, Chair. PNG has grown and evolved over the last several years. Initially we focused on Club members tutoring to children grades 1-12. Today we continue to do that but we have expanded in several directions: Our range of programs now includes working with schools in Los Altos and Mountain View, working with at-risk students from Alta Vista High School, reading to children in the schools, recruiting Child Advocates and we are now expanding the 'Out to Lunch' mentoring program. The Los Altos Community Foundation recently granted PNG a grant to fund a Mentor Coordinator for OTL. She is responsible for matching mentors with students and helping and guiding the Mentors in their work with the students. OTL is now available at Alta Vista and MVHS and will soon be available at MVHS. PNG continues to encourage Today there are 35 students who would like to have mentors. We have now expanded the pool of volunteers for PNG. We are aggressively recruiting volunteers from all service organizations, churches and companies throughout the Los Altos and Mountain View area.
Interact: LARC sponsors 3 High School Interact Clubs. Ed Sox, Ginny Lear and I are the Liaisons to Alta Vista, Mountain View and Los Altos HS, respectively. The Interact Club does volunteer work in all of the Avenues of Service that Rotary focuses on: Raising money for Honduras, Tutoring to children, playing Bingo at Pilgrim Haven, building homes with Habitat for Humanity and much more.
LARC Scholarships: Marlene Cowan, Chair. Each spring the committee solicits, screens and selects recipients for Club scholarship awards at the middle and high school levels. These scholarships are funded by LAREF. This is an exciting project in which the committee members have the opportunity to meet the prospective recipients and choose the most deserving winners. Service to the community is one of our key criteria for selection.
Camp RYLA: Marge Gratiot, Chair. Each year, we select approximately 6 high school students to attend a 5-day leadership training camp. The goal is to develop and encourage fellowship and leadership skills in the future leaders of our community. This effort is funded by LAREF.
Troop 37 Liaison: Dick Blanding, Chair. For over 50 years LARC has sponsored Boy Scout Troop 37. The Boy Scouts have worked with our Club on joint projects including the Fine Art Show each year.
As you can see, there are many opportunities to work with the youth of our community. Whether it is mentoring a teen once or twice per month, or working on the scholarship committee for several days in the spring, there is an opportunity to make a real difference in the life of a young person, regardless of your schedule. If you would like to learn more, or become involved in one of these areas, please contact me or any of the committee chairs. You will enjoy it!
Programs
November
November 15 - Deputy Consul General Walter Leuchs of Germany, " The Forthcoming European Transition"
November 18 - Wine Tasting
November 22 - Thanksgiving - no meeting
November 29 - To be announcedDecember
December 6 - Consul General Popov of Russia "Russia Today"
December 13 - Mary Hiland, CEO of Alliance for Community Care, "Combatting stigma in mental illness."
December 19 - Rotary Holiday Party at the Jesuit Retreat House
December 20 - Main Street Singers
December 27 - No Meeting
"Information in this newsletter is intended for the exclusive use of the members of the Rotary Club of Los Altos to facilitate the work of the club and to promote club fellowship. It is not to be used for any commercial or outside, unrelated, non-profit purposes. No publication of material in this newsletter should occur without the express permission of the club President or the Editor of the Rotator."
Copyright 2001 The Los Altos Rotary Club
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