MEETING OF MARCH 21, 2002
By: Matt Cabot
Editor - Dick Blanding
Webmaster - Steve GruberJust another typical meeting in the life of Los Altos Rotary? Maybe. But the problem is that what passes as typical to us, is extraordinary to the rest of Rotary. Arrogance? Humm…
Everything starts pretty ordinary. Lunch, typical sound system problems, guests and visiting Rotarians. Then things pick up a bit. Alex Ng shares his thought for the day, about love, kindness and respect, finishing with the observation that "Those who deserve it least, probably need it most." Now, there's a thought we could carry for a long time and be better for it.
Then John Sylvester roused us with a shortened version of "You are My Sunshine", in keeping with the first day of Spring.
RED BADGER Ross Bridges gave his 5-minute talk about his life in "old Los Altos." From what I could tell, a number of unsolved crimes were finally closed after his talk. He spoke of "cubeing" in Los Altos Hills, his personal relationship with Chief Riley and crew, his education at Foothill, Cal State, Stanford and UOP. He mentioned that he taught for a while at Los Altos High, much to the surprise of Tom Burt, and Leo Long who, I guess was still thinking of him as a gridiron challenge. Coach Leo didn't recall him being all that swift (on the track, that is.)
FINEMASTER Ginny Lear, standing in for John McAlister, or Cindy Luedtke or was it the other way around extracted a pretty penny from David Dye, who gave up and became a diplomat, Ross Bridges and Mel Kahn for being over 50, (I'd pay to be recognized as "just over 50"), Mike Snyder (AKA Mike Schneider) for not reading the Rotary International magazine more carefully, and Barbara Duncan for being unemployed - Cold, Ginny, Cold. Lucy Rassmussen brought the Club's attention to a recent article called the "Real Rotarian". Ginny says there will be a test next week. Fair warning!
Because Ginny botched Mike Schneider's name, Mike got a free pass to point out that UCLA was (at the time) still in the tournament, while both Cal and Stanford was home studying. Well, he who laughs…never mind. Timing is everything. BTW, I went to Kansas and as of this writing, they are still in the hunt.
Sam Pesner asked that whoever had not filled out Art Show committee forms, please complete them as soon as possible. Starting next week, the truant list will be published. Not sure where, Town Crier, San Jose Mercury, the Rotator or the website. But "you vill be exposed!" How about putting an asterisk next to member's names who have not volunteered indicating they are willing to do anything?
TODAY'S SPEAKER Susanne Pari, author of The Fortune Catcher, had originally titled her speech, "Ancient Persian Traditions in Modern Life". But since her 15 year old son Darien had to give a presentation about the Persian New Year, she decided to use his PowerPoint presentation.
For a glimpse of who Susanne Pari is, and her bona fides, see http://www.iranian.com/Arts/Jan98/Pari/ for a review of her fictional novel "The Fortune Catcher" and a pretty comprehensive bio worth reading. Susanne's early life was divided between New York and Tehran, and how that experience help form her life.
She described how Zoroastrianism has influenced the celebration of the Persian New year. To quote the Zoroastrianism website: http://www.avesta.org/zfaq.html "Zoroastrianism is a religion founded in ancient times by the prophet Zarathushtra, known to the Greeks as Zoroaster.
"Zoroastrianism was the dominant world religion during the Persian empires (559 BC to 651 AC), and was thus the most powerful world religion at the time of Jesus. It had a major influence on other religions. It is still practiced world-wide, especially in Iran and India. "
Take a look at the following website: http://www.farsinet.com/norooz/ for a greater discussion about the Persian New Year. Many of the traditions associated with the Persian new year (noRuz, or Norooz, Noh Ruz, depending upon who you ask) begins with the Vernal Equinox. Center to the celebration is a feast with an elaborate table set with symbolic items, such as the 7 S's where then name of each item begins with an "s" and represents something meaningful.
According to the following website, http://www.bdancer.com/med-guide/culture/newyear.html The seven S's displayed include seer (garlic), seeb (apple), serkeh (vinegar), samanu (a type of sweet made from wheat shoots), sombol (hyacinth), sekeh (a gold coin) somagh (sumac). The center piece is sabsi, a plate of sprouting green herbs (cress, wheat or lentils can be used). Other items on the table include a Koran, a mirror, a goldfish in a bowl, colored hard-boiled eggs and a candle.
The more I learn about the world's religions, and their differences, I am struck with the similarities. It is too bad that the differences between them have been used to separate us. Maybe the similarities could be used to unite us.
Here's a couple of items that jump out at me:
1. noRuz begins with the Vernal Equinox. Easter begins on the 1st Sunday, following the full moon, following the Vernal Equinox . (Next Sunday for the Christians)
2. Easter eggs. During noRuz, eggs are dyed and exchanged to symbolize life
3. Catholics vs. Protestants and Sunni vs. Shiite Muslims, and for that matter, high caste and low caste Hindu.But, back to the question of arrogance, mentioned at the beginning of this newsletter. Someone asked, what most of us wanted to ask: Why does the Muslim world hate Americans? Mrs. Pari said it was arrogance. Americans believe that their country, their way of life, their beliefs are the only (and therefore by definition) right country, way of life, belief.
I've got to agree. In fact I would say that California is the best state, Los Altos the best town, Orange Ave the best street in Los Altos, my family and Los Altos Rotary are the best of each class. But then of course we have an excuse: we are! Perhaps we could be a little less arrogant. Who was it that said, "It's so hard to be humble when you are so great?" or something like that. Enough. There are lots of examples out there that expose the problem. How about the "Ugly American?" written in 1958. There are 15 thousand references to "Ugly American" on the web. So 50 years later it is still a problem. Let's work on it.
Note from Steve Shepherd:
The Annual Los Altos Rotary Golf/BBQ/Poker will be held on Friday, May 3. Golf begins at 12 noon with the BBQ beginning at 6:30 PM at the home of Bob & Lois Adams. This year's cost for the event is $55 for golf at Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course (includes cart and tee prizes) and $35 for the BBQ dinner at Bob & Lois Adams home. Chairpersons of the event are Larry Madsen and Steve Anderson. Reservations can be made by signing up on the clipboard at each meeting, calling either of the chairpersons to make a reservation, or sending a check to Steve Shepherd. Members and guests of members are invited. Deadline for reservations is April 25, 2002.PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Last Wednesday Boo and I paid a visit to Billy Russell at his home. He is doing very well, and he is anxious to come to Rotary. Of course we are all looking forward for him to show up at our meetings very soon.
Please mark your calendar for a GROUP PHOTO opportunity on April 4th. Clyde Noel has graciously accepted to bring his camera equipment to take this group picture. He will begin to shoot at 12:55PM, right before our speaker starts. This is a rare photo opportunity. So, please do plan to come.
Thank you in advance for your participation to make the group picture complete.
Programs and Events
March
March 28 - Samir Laymoun, "A Muslim speaks on Islam"
April
April 26 -28 - District 5170 Conference, Lake Tahoe
May
May 3 - Golf tournament and barbeque, starts at noon at Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course, followed by the barbeque at the Adams' at 6:30 p.m.
"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 2002 The Los Altos Rotary Club
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