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Jack Kelly - Speech Contest

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TODAY'S GREETERS:  KENDRA GJERSETH, PP MARY PROCHNOW and DENNIS YOUNG

PEACE AND GUY SHOUP FELLOWS
MARY PROCHNOW recited quotes for peace from ages past, including one from John Lennon, and then DENNIS YOUNG anointed three new Guy Shoup Fellows, KAREN FOX, PREZTOBEINEVERPASSEDUPASHOTSETHMANNING, and DICK HENNING.

FINES AND GIFTS
The obstreperous MEL KAHN fined PREZSAMICOULDHAVEPRESIDEDALLNIGHT $20 for outrageous behavior at some Frisco watering hole, maybe Beach Blanket Babylon, for dressing up as a banana.  MEL was dressed up as a respectable member of the community.  MONA (“Annika”) ARMISTEAD announced that the Town Crier’s Holiday Fund just presented $15,000 to Partners for New Generations.

AND THE ENVELOPE PLEASE: BARBARA DUNCAN was selected as ROTARIAN OF THE MONTH for her fine work in helping develop today's program. 

TODAY’S PROGRAM BARBARA DUNCAN and GINNY LEAR arranged for LARC’s One Hour Rotary Youth Protection Awareness Training, led by past President of Sunnyvale Rotary Club, Linda Price.  Linda began a brisk interactive tour through the 23-page Rotary District 5170 Youth Protection Awareness Handbook.  An early derailment occurred when a gaggle of obstreperous Los Altos Rotarians questioned this statement, which appears on page 10 of the HANDBOOK:

Requirements for Your Club to Participate in Youth Service Programs -

-  Avoid one-on-one situations

A further derailment occurred when members of the same gaggle, upon turning the page, pointed out this statement, which appears on page 11 of the HANDBOOK:

Screening Process (for those to be certified or have 1:1 contact)

There was much discussion about these statements, which unfortunately disrupted the orderly progression of the tour through the Handbook.  In addition, apparently neither Rotary International nor District 5170 had provided Linda with any definitive explanation about how to reconcile the two statements.

Other members of the gaggle posed the following questions or made the following statements, among others:

1. Precisely what is the message of the Handbook?

2. Who or what dreamed up the message – RI, 5170 or who - ?

3. Is the message, whatever it may be, binding on LARC?

4. Whatever the message may be, it appears to be alarmist and demeaning to members of LARC.

5. Are individual members opening themselves up to lawsuits if they continue to meet with minors in youth-related programs outside the presence of other adults?

6. The message, whatever it may be, will result in the reduction of beneficial services provided to minors by members of LARC.

7. Count me out of youth services.

The meeting ended with profuse apologies to Linda for the spirited level of our interaction. 

This Reporter planned to provide the captive audience of this Rotoblog with his answers and responses to the seven questions and concerns set out above.  Fortunately, we, including this Reporter, are saved from such a fate because there are rumblings that the subject matter of this program may soon be revisited at one of our regularly-scheduled luncheon meetings.

ART SHOW UPDATE
The beat goes on.  The next art show chairpersons meeting will be Tuesday, March 6 at 8 a.m. at the Moison brothers’ establishment 350 Second Street, Suite 7, Los Altos.  We’ll have round-the-table progress reports, plus review the staffing plans before we start our recruitment process.  We’ll aim to be finished by 9:00 a.m.

PARTY TIME! Having kicked off the art-show season with a party at KATIE NUTTER’s house, it’s time to put an end-of-season celebration on your calendar.  Yes, your art-show director knows that if Rotarians are offered hors d’oeuvres and wine (beer, too), they’ll show up.  WHAT:  It’s a Home Stretch Party!  WHEN:  Thursday, May 10, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.  WHO:  All chairs, plus any Rotarian that wants to come.  WHERE:  901 Los Altos Avenue, Los Altos.  WHY:  Because we need to check in with each other about last-minute, breaking-news kind of art show stuff – plus we need a chance to congratulate ourselves on how far we’ve come.  Be there or be square.

PRESIDENT SAM'S CONTRIBUTION: A couple had two little boys, ages 8 and 10, who were very mischievous. They were always getting into trouble and their parents knew that, if any mischief happened in town, their sons were probably involved.

The boys’ mother heard that a clergyman in town had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys. The clergyman agreed, but asked to see them individually. So the mother sent her eight year old first, in the morning, with the older boy scheduled for the afternoon.

The clergyman, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, “Where is God?”. The boy’s mouth dropped open, but he made no response, sitting there, mouth agape, wide-eyed. So the clergyman repeated the question in an even sterner tone, “Where is God?”.  Again the boy made no attempt to answer. So the clergyman raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy’s face and bellowed, “WHERE IS GOD!?”. The boy screamed and bolted from the room, ran directly home and dove into his closet, slamming the door behind him.

When his older brother found him in the closet he asked, “What happened?”. The younger brother, gasping for breath, replied, “We are in BIG trouble this time, dude. God’s gone missing – and they think WE did it!”

Webmaster's note:  I am examining the idea of putting a photo gallery on our website.  I want to password protect that portion.  I have devised a test.  If you are interested in trying to break the code, try to find the magic word in the following webpage:  http://www.losaltosrotary.org/Development/testpasswordobject.html

Email me the answer.  If you get it right I will donate $10 to LARC.  Matt