Next Week's Program: 
Mar. 17 - Marlene Cowan - St. Paddy's Day Program
 

Next Week's Rotator Writer:
Jack Kelly

Upcoming Events:
Mar. 18 - Friday Night Fellowship at Dick and Linda Blanding's wine cellar

Mar. 31 - RED BADGE AUCTION
 

See Programs for all of the important dates.

RED BADGERS, NOTE THIS:

To see Neighboring Club meetings go to Clubs

To our Website

Be sure you fill out an Art show volunteer form. See here for a copy.  Complete it and bring it to our meeting this Thursday. 

PAUL SCHOTZ provided us with a thought for the day so elegant that it's included here:

 "If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of what can be; for the eye, which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible.  Pleasure disappoints, possibility never.  And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating as possibility?"

Thanks to Paul for such an inspiring and graceful quote from Soren Kierkegaard, vintage 1843.

President-elect MARLENE announced an all-Irish program for next week's meeting, on St. Patrick's Day. 

MIKE CABOT, in his five minute talk, listed eight or nine cars he's owned in the past 13 years, and then a couple of dozen jobs he's held, before becoming a realtor.  Lest we think otherwise, he pointed out that he is a committed family man to his 19-member intimate family, and especially to his lovely wife Emily, and parents Matt and Christine, all of whom were present today.   Mike has worked in the local youth theatre in the '89 to '93 time frame, and in the cable access TV program as well.  He has done television commercials, including one pizza commercial which won the award for the funniest commercial in the world.  Mike is a product of our local schools right through Egan and LAHS.  He graduated in 1999 from UOP in business, with emphasis on real estate.

SETH MANNING came to fine us, but began with an announcement that the Red Badge auction is coming soon, so start thinking of things to donate and things to bid on.  He then went on to nick many folks' wallets, even enticing several to become members of the President's Club.  Avoiding a fine altogether, was Dick Duhring, who was acknowledged to be a charter member in the President's Club.

Julie Rose, as Chair of LAREF, presented a $3000 check to RAP.  It was accepted by MARY P., who told about the group's current activities, including a translation of the CD into the Nepalese language recently.  She requested members donate to Friends of RAP to continue their many projects.   Julie also put out the call for members who would like to be considered for election to the LAREF Board.  Contact her at  julie@losaltoschamber.org  before April 7th.

 Past President WYATT ALLEN provided the Rotary Moment, citing the origins of our Art Show fundraiser thirty years ago.  Led by JOE RENATI, and with BILL POWELL as the first art show director, it has gone from producing a few thousand dollars, (causing LAREF to be founded in 1978), to such profits in recent years that we have now accumulated a corpus of $378,000.  

Directors ELLEN YAMANE FLANAGAN and TRACIE MURRAY thanked all of their many volunteers in the fellowship and community service areas.  Tracie quoted a preacher in saying we all eventually were "but dust", and went on to call our attention to page 20 of the current Rotarian magazine.  It contains a request from the RI President, that each of us find a way to give ten hours of volunteer service during the month of April.  If you don't have an idea in mind, give Tracie a call for a suggestion.

Speaking of volunteering, Bob Adams was recognized with applause for his outstanding work in coaching Alta Vista High's basketball team.  Here's a quote from a recent article in the Merc:  "Adams congratulated his team as it came off the court. His players say Adams is a friend as well as an inspiration.   'We had a game coming up and I didn't have any basketball shoes,' sophomore Evan Luedtke said. 'And Coach Adams came to practice with a pair of Nikes for me. This is the first team I've ever played for. Hopefully I can improve and play in college."  The Aztecs won their Final Four game today, advancing to the championship game on Monday against 10-0 Brenkowitz HS of Hayward.  Good luck, Aztecs!

BELLA BERLLY announced the upcoming wine tasting social gathering, next Friday the 18th at Dick and Linda Blanding's wine cellar.  Party starts at 5:30, but come whenever you can.  Bring some finger food to share and a bottle of your favorite red wine.  This is a great opportunity to get to know your fellow Rotarians in a relaxed setting, just for the fun of it.

VAL CARPENTER is still looking for the last of the signup sheets for the Art Show.  Is yours still missing?

JOHN MOSS reminded us that our club has a team in the Relay for Life event on June 25th and 26th.  You can run, walk, or hire a kid to run for you while you sip mai tais on the beach on Maui.

President-elect MARLENE introduced our distinguished speaker, Don Wolfe, President of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA), which represents more than 30,000 citizens in California.  CALA spokespersons have been featured on national TV and in print media from ABC's 20/20 to Fox Television News to the Wall Street Journal.  Prior to CALA, Don served for fourteen years as a Regional Director for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, President of the Board of Trustees for West Valley College, and as Mayor of Saratoga in 1998.  He currently serves on a variety of boards, from Goodwill and the Better Business Bureau to the county Transportation Authority, co-hosts an American Heritage television program, and is a guest lecturer at colleges and universities in the Bay Area.

Polls show 87% of Americans want to see civil justice reform.  Mr. Wolfe stressed at the outset that we are a nation of laws, and we need lawyers, so CALA is focused only on abuses of the legal system.  He cited the jury award of $4 million for a spilled cup of hot coffee at McDonalds as one case, and said our country has become an international embarrassment for our 70,000 product liability lawsuits a year, compared to England's 200, for example. 

Our local Representative Eshoo says "Litigation is crippling our bio-medical research."  The Girl Scouts say they have to sell an extra 20,000 boxes of cookies each year, for insurance to protect the Scouts from lawsuits.  Wolfe reported each American pays an estimated $800 per year in increased cost of goods purchased, owing to frivolous lawsuits.   Raising a Yellow Pages phone book, he counted 4 pages of accountants, 8 pages of engineers, 45 pages of physicians, and 126 pages of attorneys. 

Don stated that the problem is that we have redefined the term "grievances" much too broadly.   The test of whether or not a suit is frivolous is (1) do the lawyers get more money than the plaintiffs, and (2) is there an attempt being made to transfer responsibility for one's own actions onto someone else.

Mr. Wolfe told of his recent meeting with two others, in the Oval Office with the President.  He felt warmly welcomed, and deeply honored by the experience.  

His fascinating talk kept the audience's attention for several minutes after our 1:30 closing time clicked by, a testimony to the members' level of interest. 

EDITOR'S NOTE:  SORRY for the delay in the Rotator.  Dick Blanding gave it to me last Friday.  I have been having a devil of a time getting the pictures to come out on all web browsers.  So I have put the Cioppino Night and the Centennial Celebration on separate sheets, and put them on the website. 

Check this out for pictures of the 100 Centennial celebration on February 23rd at Ricky's Hyatt. 

Also, check this for the pictures of last Friday's wildly successful Cioppino Social event.