MEETING OF JUNE 10, 2004
By Matt Cabot
Editor Dick Blanding
SPRING IS HERE: Another wonderful Spring day made complete by good fellowship, good food, and a sense of pride in belonging to such a dynamic club as ours.
The meeting started off with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Rob Eberheart. SETH MANNING lead us in the song “This land is your land…”
WE DID IT: The thought for the day came from SAM PESNER. When Reagan left office in 1988, he thanked each and every member of the “Reagan Revolution” with these words: “We’ve done our part. And as I walk into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan Revolution, the men and women across America who for eight years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren’t just marking time. We made a difference.” Sam then turned the comment back into us, reflecting on our club (and I suppose Rotary in general). He spoke about how we (you and me) have made a difference, in our club, in our community and in the world, with our money, but most importantly, with our actions. In fact the program today was in recognition of our actions, and the difference our participation in club activities has made to the community. Read on.
We had one Visiting Rotarian today, all the way from Tel Aviv. He gave a short glimpse of the growth of Rotary in Tel Aviv.
We also had 6 visitors, some of which were here to accept our appreciation for their work on the Rotary Fine Art Show.
FROM THE BENCH: President Al gave SHELLY POTVIN a well deserved “Service Above Self” plaque for her behind-the-scenes work in our behalf.
President Al also recognized Sandy Whipple (Treasurer) and John Cardoza (Secretary) for their work .
DISBAR HIM: In case you have been fasting with the monks in Tibet for the past few months, President AL reminded us all that he has only 2 weeks left of his tenure, and there will be a celebration of that fact (not exactly how he put it) on Friday night June 25th at the Los Altos Country Club. Attendance (at least your money) is mandatory.
Mark Thursday July 8th 5:30 to 9 PM for another kickout. They actually call it a “Roast and Toast.” This time, it is for our District Governor, Don Allen, and introducing the new DG Ron Sekkel. Remember a few weeks ago I mentioned Ron’s adventure on the tramp steamer (I think they call them cargo ships now, but ‘tramp steamer’ is so much more adventuresome sounding.)
Each year more than 250 people attend this relaxing fellowship event. Be one of them. See President Al for the details. Just so you know, there will be no speeches. Just fun and Rotary fellowship.
President Al also mentioned that next week we will vote on the bylaw changes. You should go to www.losaltosrotary.org/bylaws.html to review the proposed changes. Rather than obfuscating the changes, Lawyer President Al said that the changes fall into three categories, correcting inconsistencies, recognizing current operating practices, and removing gender specific references.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS Cindy Whipple mentioned that all receipts for expenses that belong in President Al’s tenure need to be submitted ASAP, or (although unsaid) you may have to deal with a banking President, instead of a lawyer President.
She also mentioned that the Post Art Show sale of wine and wine glasses went as expected. All of the wine was sold, but there are lots of [cases] of wine and beer glasses still available. I noticed during the Art show that there were a lot of people walking around with plastic cups of wine and beer. If you only sold wine and beer in the commemorative glasses, you will have less glasses at the end, but of course you may have more beer and wine to sell after the Art show. At least it is easier to get rid of than empty glasses.
MARY MARLEY was also recognized again for her tenure as President of Partners for a New Generation.
I GET NO RESPECT Fine Master JOHN SINES revealed today that the appreciative recognition and warmth he gets at the club steels him for a whole week of negative vibes he gets at work. He and LARRY MADSEN got into a 10 (or was it 20) year old reminiscent story about a peanut butter sandwich that lost most of us. I still don’t know if we served Mountain View Rotary Club peanut butter sandwiches or just thought about it. I have heard the story, or was I there? Oh, well, who cares. Larry did pay $50 for a new car (a bargain) and a 74th birthday (a surprise) and a 50th anniversary (a major accomplishment).
MONA ARMISTEAD paid for the privilege of having her oldest son get married. I am not going to touch that line. JEAN NEWTON (FRAGUGLIA) or is it JEAN (NEWTON) FRAGUGLIA was fined for graduating from a high school Senior Class that had the motto “We drink whiskey. We drink wine. We are the class of ’69.”
PAUL CONRAD also joined the President’s club because he graduated from St Norbert’s college De Pere WI. The school population was 1000 students at the time of his graduation. Today, many many years later, it has doubled to 2000.
BOB CATHCART was fined for leading a privileged life and living in Hillsborough when he was younger.
TRACIE MURRAY wanted to contribute to the BRIAN WARD Foot-In-Mouth (now referred to as the “BW FIM Award” Fund as she changes jobs. She will be working at the Cedar Crest Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Sunnyvale, but fully intends on keeping her Los Altos Rotary membership, maybe just to keep Brian under control. Good luck to your new endeavor, Tracy – either one.
Help If You Can MATT CABOT is asking for additional help in getting fellow Rotarian FRANZ ANDERSON to the various medical appointments he has as he goes through treatment for cancer. So far, we have Matt, BEN MCGANN, and JOE RENATI helping, but it would be good to get a couple of more people involved who have a car, and can take an hour or so of their time once in a while to shepherd Franz around. Please email Matt at Matt.Cabot@allincal.com with your offer of help. He is coordinating the effort.
TODAYS PROGRAM(S) The first program was a very slick PowerPoint presentation presented by Past President STEVE ANDERSON, and current President of the Los Altos
Rotary Endowment Fund. And I might add, aided so aptly by his business partner SAM PESNER at the controls of the computer.
Steve’s presentation brought to light the work of the LAREF’s work on the financial side of our organization. Taking in money from various sources: Art Show, Contributions, Investment Income, and Gain (or loss) of sale of securities. Then he detailed the distribution of funds to various grants: Area Grants, Community Grants, Health Grants, International Grants, Youth Grants, Scholarship Grants and Pass-through Grants. If you would like a copy of the PowerPoint presentation, with the detail, see Steve. The bottom line is that we as a club distributed over $94,000 to the community, and the world.
PROGRAM #2 The Los Altos Fine Arts Show. GINNY LEAR and BILL MOISON handed out accolades for the exceptional work of many many people. While most members of Los Altos Rotary worked diligently on the Art Show, there were a few standout individuals:
WYATT ALLEN, JANE REED, LARRY MADSEN, King Lear, GUY FARTHING, ROY LAVE, JOANNE BYRNE, KAREN OWEN, TRACIE MURRAY, JEAN NEWTON FRAGUGLIA, MARY MARLEY, PHIL ROSE, and of course, HERB MARSHAL.
Sales of the art show, was up from last year, to over half a million dollars. Our share of
this, less expenses for the show, of course is where we get the bulk of the monies distributed to the community and the world mentioned above in Steve Anderson’s LAREF presentation.
Ginny also reminds us to keep May 14th and 15th 2005 free for next year’s fabulous Fine Arts Show.
Programs and Events
June
June 9: Board of Directors, 7:30 a.m., Bank of Los Altos, 369 San Antonio Road
June 10th - LAREF Annual Meeting/ Art Show Recognition
June 17th - Rotary Aids Project- Update
June 24th - End of Rotary Year Celebration
June 25: Kickout Dinner
July
July 1 - President Cindy, Club Assembly
July 8 - Gloria Duffy, Update on Iraq
July 15 - Don McDonald, History of Los Altos
July 22 - Sam Bishop, Rotary Flying Fellowship
July 29 - Rick Salazar, Therapy Pets
August
August 5 - Bernadine Fong, New Developments at Foothill College
August 12 -
August 19 - Steve Gruber, Rotary on the Web, at Foothill College’s Krause Center for Innovation (not at Garden House)
August 26 - Ron Sekkel, District Governor’s Visit
September
Sept. 2 - Richard Walker, Expanding Market in China
Sept. 9 -
Sept. 16 - Mary Alice Rathbun, RotaPlast
Sept. 23 - David Sloss, West Bay Opera in our Community
Sept. 30 - Larry Rinsky, Operation Rainbow in Nicaragua
OTHER ROTARY CLUB MEETING PLACES
On-line Meeting: www.rotaryeclubone.org
MONDAY
Palo Alto: Rickey's Hyatt House, 12:15 p.m.
TUESDAY
Sunnyvale: Ramada Inn, 12:15 p.m.
Mountain View: Adobe House, Moffett & Central, Mountain View, 12:15 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Menlo Park: Menlo Park Recreation Center, Menlo Park, noon.
Woodside/Portola: Woodside Village Church, Woodside, 7:30 a.m.
Sunnyvale Sunrise: Wild Woodys Grill, Sunken Gardens Golf Course, 7 a.m.
Cupertino: Quinlan Community Center, 12:15 p.m.
East Palo Alto Bayshore: Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula, 2031 Pulgas Avenue, East Palo Alto, 12:15 p.m.
FRIDAY
Palo Alto University: Sheraton, El Camino, Palo Alto, 7:30 a.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 2004 The Los Altos Rotary Club