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Who are these people?.  You shook their hand as you entered.  There will be test Thursday. Right DAVID SMITH?

President MARLENE COWAN rang the bell at 12:20 p.m. and called the Rotary Club of Los Altos meeting to order.  KAREN FOX  directed us in the Pledge to the Flag, followed by ALLEN LAMBERT   leading us in "Home on the Range" (with harmony).

JOANNA MEDIN  provided the thought for the day, from “Tuesdays with Maury” that it is important to distinguish in life between what you need and what you merely want.  Ultimately, you should devote yourself to something that gives you purpose and meaning (like Partners for a New Generations).

There were few visiting Rotarians, but we were honored by a visit from Assistant District Governor, Don MacKenzie.

SAM HARDING, LARRY CHU, SANDY BOZICH AND MIKE HARRIGAN, all introduced guests.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  It was a banner day for ANNOUNCEMENT

ROLAND PAYNE announced that the Castro School needs tutors (preferably with some bi-lingual talents) to help students prepare for the STAR exam.  Contact ROLAND PAYNE or JOHN CARDOZA and get involved.

CRES MCFALL reminded us that part of the Art Show is the annual “YOUNG AT ART’” competition at the local high schools.  Cres is looking for folks who would enjoy helping with this show.  He promises to give you only a “bite size” assignment, and you will enjoy meeting the many young, enthusiastic, and surprisingly talented students who join the competition.  Contact Cres via e-mail at mcfall@sbcglobal.net.

CHUCK LINDAUER announced that our Sister City bash was coming up this very evening, with food, drinks, and the Bus Barn Follies in a lively presentation.  ALAN LAMBERT gave a small preview of the show to assuage fears that it would be offensively “political.”  He promised lots of fun and funny gags, with nary a political hair out of place.  He also warned that he would be singing.

IRENE PRESTON announced that she was seeking signups for drivers for food pick up to take to the RotaCare Clinic.  DAN O’DONNELL then buttressed the announcement by pointing out that this is one of the easiest and most rewarding functions in our club, and we should shoot for  100% participation.  It’s a great opportunity to drop by and see the tremendous work we support at the clinic.  He also pointed out that 100% participation would be a great tribute to Rotarian emeritus BEN McGANN, who was a huge part of the development and success of RotaCare.

 Speaking of IRENE PRESTON, here is her new email address.  Please change your Rotary Handbook accordingly: prestonscandy@earthlink.net.

PRESIDENT MARLENE later announced that in light of BEN’s tremendous contributions to the club during his long membership, the Board of Directors had decided to make him an honorary member of LARC.

And, just to put a picture to the plea, here are some pictures from our Christmas Toy Drive that were handed out at RotaCare last month:

And a Thank-You note:  "I am attaching the pictures that were obtained this morning when the toys were distributed to over 15 families. Thank you for all of your efforts and best wishes for this holiday season."
Nidia Farruguia

LARRY CHU announced that we should save the date of June 9th for the annual Golf Tourney.

As a special ROTATOR announcement, SANDY BOZICH wants everyone to know that her e-mail address in the 2005 directory is incorrect.  The correct address is sandrajbozichod@sbcglobal.net

PRESIDENT’S ANNOUNCEMENTS: The podium was then turned back to PRESIDENT MARLENE, who announced that our club, along with Mountain View, is sponsoring the League of Women Voters event on February 26, 2006, when virtually all of our elected officials (Assembly, Senate, County Supervisor, City Councils, School Boards)  will gather informally at the Mountain View City Hall to field questions and discuss issues with interested citizens.  See the flyer left on your table or contact Ginny Lear at vklear@los-altos.org for further information.

MARLENE also announced that the District Mid-year Conference is coming up on January 28^th.  This is a great opportunity for Red Badgers (and all Rotarians) to become more familiar with the operations and the projects of Rotary.

MARLENE also recognized the wonderful turnout and success at our club-sponsored mixer with the Chamber of Commerce over at Rambus Corporation located on El Camino Real in Los Altos.  MARLENE gave special thanks to VICTOR ECHEVARRIA for use of the Rambus facilities.  Additional thanks went to bartenders, DENNIS POTTER, LEE LYNCH, JEAN HOLLANDS, JACK KELLY, and JOHN MOSS.  Thank you to LOUIS BOREL for delivering his usual excellent wines.  The Party Guy, DENNIS POTTER managed soft drinks.  As to door prize donors, thanks goes to JOAN ROSSELLE, CINDY LUEDTKE, WYATT ALLEN, KENDRA GJERSETH, MARY MARLEY, and TRACIE MURRAY.   Very special thanks to Frank Schumann, our caterer from Four Seasons Catering, for donating all the food and service to the Chamber Mixer!  It was outstanding.   Remember Four Seasons Catering when you have a function to cater.

FOUNDATION CAMPAIGN: SAM HARDING (and WYATT ALLEN) then gave a brief update on the campaign for the Rotary Foundation.  SAM announced that we were up to 78% participation, a new high for the club.  SAM attributed this to the hard work (and phone calls) of the many team leaders on the project this year.  He also reminded us that the campaign continues through to the close of the year, and there is still a chance for 100% participation.

It was such a strong year that WYATT ALLEN had many Foundation awards to announce.  The club has several new PAUL HARRIS FELLOWS, including  JEAN HOLLANDS, BRIAN WARD, JOHN McDONNELL, MEG SOLARA and ROY JONES(a huge new class).  We also had a record number of new One Sapphire winners ($2,000 contributors);  MARY MARLEY JOHN SYLVESTER, WILL CORKERN, AND KAREN FOX. (That's PP SAM HARDING holding up the coveted One Sapphire Recognition Pin.)

Wyatt also awarded the Four Sapphire Pin to  Past President CINDY LUEDTKE for reaching the $5,000 level.

FINES: DICK DURHING took the podium as finemaster.  He reminded us that this was not a “punitive” occasion, and proceeded to punish a few “old-timers” including DAN DUTTON, WYATT ALLEN and LARRY MADSEN, for not being able to recall the three wonderful Italian buddies of JOE RENATI who made our early cioppino feasts so delectable.

THE WEEKLY PROGRAM: SAM HARDING introduced Evy Schiffman

of the Community School of Music and the Arts, who gave us a virtual tour of the School and its wonderful new facility, the Finn Center. The CSMA is a major component of the mid-peninsula arts scene.  Since 1968, well over 30,000 people have participated in CSMA education programs.  The school promotes, “Arts for All” as its motto, and really means it.

The Finn Center, opened in January 2004, is a beautiful 25,000 square foot facility, open to all, and offering hundreds of concerts and programs each year.  It is Northern California’s premier center devoted solely to art and music education.

CSMA sponsors many programs for music and art education for the young, including the “Arts in the Schools” project, which reaches 10,000 students each week in area schools.   CSMA participates in many partnerships to expand art and music classes for youth, including partnerships with the Girl’s Club of East Palo Alto, and with the Castro School.  CSMA partners with Stanford University in the Stanford Lively Arts programs.

Evy mentioned the wonderful support that CSMA receives from local corporations, such as Hewlett Packard, Heritage Bank, and Applied Materials.  However, she also reminded us that that the support of individuals is greatly needed.  She had a “goody bag” with many materials from CSMA and its programs, concerts and gallery shows for all of us, with a package to allow any of us to become a premier donor to CSMA, a worthy and needed resource in our community.

At the conclusion of the presentation, the clock was creeping to 1:25, at which time, the meeting was adjourned.