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Rotator for December 1st, 2005 |
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Writer: Wyatt Allen Photographer: Jerry Tomanek Editor: Cindy Luedtke Next Week's Program: Bring a gift!
Upcoming Events: 12/19: Holiday Party
See our Calendar for other important dates.
To see Neighboring Club meetings go to Clubs
To our Website
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BEGINNINGS:
Pres. MARLENE asked DUDE ANGIUS
to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance to
begin our meeting on what has become World AIDS Day. Immediate Past Pres. CINDY LUEDTKE shared the thought for the day which was derived from words associated with the work of Mother Teresa called “Anyway.” Here it is in its entirety since any abbreviation would likely lose the message:
People are unreasonable,
illogical, and self-centered,
If you do good, people
will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives
If you are successful,
you win false friends and true enemies,
The good you do will be
forgotten tomorrow,
Honesty and frankness
make you vulnerable,
What you spent years
building may be destroyed overnight,
People really need help
but may attack you if you help them,
Give the world the best
you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth, (I know this will make the Rotator even longer, but I did it - ANYWAY! ) JOHN MCDONNELL brought us into the beginning of the holiday spirit by leading us in a chorus of “Jingle Bells” complete with the jingling of car keys at the appropriate pauses. By the sound of our assembled group, most of us and recovered from our “Turkey Day” overeating hangovers (that’s referring to hanging over our belt, that is) and were capable of reasonable volume (No doubt The Madrigal Singers will put is to shame in a few weeks, however). Pres.-Elect SAM PESNER introduced three visiting Rotarians (DAVID HAMMER from Weaverville, HASSAN ZOROVFY from Madison, WI. and our own District Governor, ARLENE GREENBERG). Among our guests, DUDE ANGIUS introduced two of the founders of “Face AIDS,” LAUREN YOUNG and JONNY DORSEY, students at Stanford taking a year off to fight AIDS. Face AIDS is an organization formed to among other things fight the AIDS pandemic on the continent of Africa. BOB ADAMS encouraged all Cal graduates and supporters in the “Cal” yell in recognition of Bear’s win in the “Big Game” that occurred since our last meeting. (Believe or not, I saw BOB wearing a red sweater vest the next day. Nice of him to show off the opponent’s colors after leading a “Cal” cheer the day before!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
ROTARY FOUNDATION
HOLIDAY
PARTY
DISTRICT CABINET MEETING
TOYS, TOYS, TOYS (AND
MORE)
MEMBER RECOGNITION:
RECOGNITION TIME MIKE HARRIGAN, using the international flags that we all look at each meeting on the table in front of the podium, managed to both educate as well as extract hard-earned dollars from our members. Members caught up in this internationally themed quiz included JOE CORRAL, JACK HIGGINS, AMELIA HO, MARLIS MCALLISTER, STEVE ANDERSON, AL LIGHTENBERG, ROY JONES, HERB MARSHALL, DICK HASENPFLUG and MEL KAHN. Background noise in the crowd identified the Swiss flag as a “backwards” Red Cross standard and the Lebanese flag as that of the City of Palo Alto (well, it did have an evergreen tree in the background, didn’t it?). As an aside, BRIAN WARD commented that by using flags of other counties as the prop for fining, we were more likely exploiting other cultures rather than exploring them.
ULTIMATE RECOGNITION
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
(Webmaster note:
All reference to the named individual in this program have been deleted on
11/8/10.) Now let’s fast forward to the {name delted} of today. She has managed to graduate with a bachelor’s degree from a small liberal arts college in {name delted}. Following her graduation, she was awarded a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship and studied at {name delted} in England for a year. She is now in her final year in law school at {name delted}. You don’t expect someone with all the challenges of her youth and formative years to have the drive, determination, ability and will power to pull herself up, meet the horrendous challenges head on, and accomplish what she has while maintaining a positive outlook on life. Rather than drop into despair upon learning of her HIV affliction, not to mention keeping a positive outlook despite the terrible travails of her youth, {name delted} has become an inspiration to any and all who have faced seemingly insurmountable challenges in life. After learning she was infected with HIV, {name delted} turned to organizations in service to others. She began to speak in schools to educate students about how AIDS is transmitted and how it can be prevented. She helped them understand that AIDS is not discriminatory and doesn’t only infect those with dangerous life styles. In her words, she turned her mistake into a message for others in hopes of preventing others from being infected with HIV. Imagine the courage and self confidence she had to muster in order to face strangers and share her tragic story with them. She became connected with local Rotary clubs. She has experienced everything from indifference to avoidance to denial to support. Gradually, support grew and she helped initiate a Georgia Rotary AIDS Awareness Program. Statistics {name delted} relayed to us all are very scary. Over 14,000 people are infected with HIV every day worldwide. That’s ten every minute! Another 8,000 die from AIDS daily around the world. That’s almost four every minute! 40 million people suffer from HIV / AIDS around the world today. Another 25 million have died from this dreaded disease. Despite her academic and life accomplishments, {name delted} still experiences shame and guilt and the hurt never goes away completely. She has learned that despite the hurt and shame, she can help others avoid going through what she is going through. {name delted} mentors youth and young adults to help them cope with the challenges they are facing in their lives. She helps educate students and adults of how the spread of HIV/AIDS can be avoided. But even {name delted} can’t do it alone. After honoring us for the accomplishments made in the fight against AIDS, she encouraged Los Altos Rotarians to do even more. Support the efforts and projects of RAP and RFFA. Mentor young people and become their role model toward forming healthy morals, habits and a strong character. She even gave a plug for contributions to the Rotary Foundation due to her experiences as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. She began the meeting by honoring our club for our efforts against HIV / AIDS. From my view, {name delted} is the one who should be honored for what she has made of herself against virtually all odds and for what she is doing to help others to avoid the disease she was diagnosed with nine years ago. We can only wish that the drugs she takes to combat the HIV infection (at a cost of over $3,000/month!) will allow her to live a long and fruitful life and provide her the opportunities to continue helping others despite having grown up with little or no help from others. I can’t think of a more courageous person to have as our World AIDS Day speaker. Yes, {name delted}, you are indeed an inspiration for all of us. More power to you, {name delted}, and we wish you every possible success in life. If anyone deserves it, you do! |
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