This Thursday's Program: 
Deena O'Shea, Stanford Cancer Center -- Sun Smart Living: Prevention and Detection of Skin Cancer

Also this Thursday: 5:15 PM LAREF Board of Directors  RSM McGladrey - Mountain View

Upcoming Events:
Friday, June 8th:  LARC Golf Tournament - Shoreline
Dinner at Kahn's

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President SAM PESNER chimed the bell and started the meeting at 12:18 p.m.  All of the arriving Rotarians had been greeted by MIKE STADLEN and BARRY GROVES.  President SAM asked PAUL NYBERG to lead the Club in the Pledge of Allegiance.  CRES McFALL came up to lead us in song, and challenged the club with a couple of verses of “April Showers” despite the lovely day.

  BELLA BERLLY stepped up for the Thought for the Day.  BELLA noted that despite anyone’s views on the war, everyone should think of the brave men and women in harm’s way fighting for their country.  BELLA lead a minute of silence for all  to honor the individuals in our armed services, particularly those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

The warm weather seemed to be keeping attendance a bit lower than usual.  President-elect JOHN MOSS introduced Rotarians with guests, including JOANNA MEDIN, SAM HARDING and BOB ADAMS.

JOHN then announced that the District Assembly was coming up, and that this offered a good chance for new Rotarians to take an evening to learn a great deal about the workings of Rotary.

JOHN MOSS announced that we were once again featuring a program of thee 10-minute talks from club members

PAUL NYBERG then led a special presentation.  The Rotary Club was founded as a means of getting to know other business people in your town.  Earlier, our club had presented “the accountants” in the club, and today we presented “the lawyers.”  Eight of our members are currently involved in the practice of law (three lawyers-members are retired). 

Paul handed out a flyer with a short description of the practices of KATHRYN BERRY, STEVE GRUBER, MARLIS McALLISTER, JOHN McDONNELL, JOANNA MEDIN, SHIV SHASTRI, JOHN SINES, and STEVE YARBROUGH.  KATHRYN, JOANNA, JOHN and MARLIS were on hand to give a brief summary of their history in the club and their particular specialty in law.  All the club members are encouraged to get to know the services provided by their fellow Rotarians in town.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
SANDY BOZICH announced that the Relay for Life fundraiser to fight cancer is coming up on June 23 and 24.  On May 3, the Relay team will be having a wine tasting fundraiser.

MARY MARLEY announced that the Red Badgers will be meeting next week, May 3rd after the regular meeting, and that all current Red Badgers should check in to begin the planning for the annual fundraiser.

CINDY WEMYSS announced that on Sunday June 3, there will be a “Disaster Preparedness Seminar” at the Garden House for those interested in being ready for a disaster.  Please invite your family and neighbors to attend this important event.   It could make a real difference in your household and neighborhood should a real disaster occur.

For those who want to be ready willing and able to assist others in the event of a local disaster, JERRY TOMANEK announced that the CERT classes (Community Emergency Response Training) were beginning on Wednesday, May 23 and will continue for four consecutive Wednesday nights.  Join several fellow Rotarians as CERT team members.

MICHAEL STADLEN stepped up to remind us that the Art Show was fast-approaching, and that there were still plenty of jobs requiring volunteers.  Only about 57% of the club has signed up to this point, which, by my math, suggests that over 40% of the club members are not yet signed up for a slot.  Everyone needs to pitch in on our major fundraiser for the year (yes, the spot of “pet parade liaison” is still open).  There are many ways to sign up, including going on our web site at: http://www.losaltosrotary.org/ArtShow2007/volunteer.html.  You can then pick your date and time and job.  Or you can go analog and look at the sheets posted at the meeting and sign up with one of those old-fashioned items we call “pens.”  If you are in a hurry to get your regular slot, call MICHAEL STADLEN or KATIE NUTTER.  Also, we have some volunteers to drive shuttles but need a couple of large vans for them to drive, so if you have a van available, call MICHAEL.

KATIE’S ART SHOW UPDATE
We’re less than three weeks away!  Here’s what you need to know.

• Staffing continues.  You can go online to the club’s website to see what slots are available and sign up.  EVERYONE needs to commit to six hours to make this show work.  We need shuttle drivers and people to help set up on Friday and take down on Sunday evening, plus some traffic folks.  Questions?  Contact Michael STADLEN at mstadlen@usa.net.
• The next art show meeting is Thursday, May 10 at Katie Nutter’s house, 901 Los Altos Avenue.  This is a combination working meeting and pre-victory celebration.  Beer, wine and food will be offered, starting at 5 p.m.  The business portion of the meeting will be from 5:30 to 6:00 p.m.  If you have a major role to play during the weekend, by all means show up.  Bring spouses and/or friends, if you like, and stay as late as you want.
• A quick review of our financials would seem to indicate that we’re ahead of last year.  Sponsorships are up.  Food vendor receipts are up.  Advertising expenses are down.  So all the vectors are moving in the right direction.  Hooray!

JOAN ROSSELLE and JOHN HAMBLIN announced that we had achieved over $11,000 in sponsorships for the Art Show, but we still need another $1,500 in sponsorships to reach the goal of $14,000.

BOB ADAMS made a special announcement about the Golf Tournament (and dinner and poker, etc.) on behalf of tourney head STEVE SHEPHERD, who was diligently researching proper golf ball flight trajectories at a course in Monterey.  The tournament is Friday, June 8 at Shoreline.  The dinner this year is at MEL KAHN’s, but despite your nostalgia for the 50’s, you will not be allowed to actually drive-in at MEL’s.  And this year, we are avoiding all that expensive catered food in favor of some home-cooking and BBQ.  BOB stressed that you do not have to golf to go to the dinner (but you do have to sign-up and pay).

ROTARIAN OF THE MONTH
President SAM took time to honor one special Rotarian, who this month, particularly exemplified the theme of “Service above Self.”  This month, SAM honored DENNIS YOUNG, who not only serves as LAREF President, he is also spearheading the drive to increase the LAREF endowment to $1,000,000, and has already received major commitments from club members to make special extra donations to LAREF, or to add LAREF to their wills.

FINES- (A note from the editor; This portion was edited for grammar and spelling only)
JOHN McALISTER stepped up as this week’s fine meister.  JOHN was going to zing folks huge amounts if they did not know the answers to the extremely difficult questions JOHN had come up with.  But JOHN was stunned at the depth and range of knowledge of members and he had to settle for reduced fines, because: DOUG FRANCO knew that the “100 years war” actually lasted 116 years; ROLAND PAYNE knew that Panama Hats were actually made in Ecuador; MARLIS McALLISTER knew that the Russians celebrate “the November Revolution” in October, BELLA BERLLY knew that a camel’s hair brush is made from squirrel’s fur; BOB RAYL knew that the animal that the Canary Islands were named after was the dog, JOE CORRAL knew that King George VI’s first name was “Al” (actually Albert), MATT CABOT knew that Purple Finch is crimson; DICK BLANDING knew that Chinese Gooseberries are from New Zealand, and ROY LAVE knew that the “black box” on passenger jets is orange.

JOHN was so flustered at the many correct answers that he forgot to fine anyone for having a cell phone go off.  And all this occurred on a day when a record number of cell phones went off.  Come on folks.  Leave ‘em home or turn ‘em off.  Please.

THE WEEKLY PROGRAM: STRENGTH TRAINING FOR THE “CHRONOLOGICALLY GIFTED” (aka, us old geezers) was introduced by JEAN NEWTON FRAGUGLUIA.

Fitness expert, Dr. Karl Knopf gave a scintillating presentation on the importance of exercise for those over 50.  His primary point was to emphasize that strength training, not just cardio exercise, needs to be part of the exercise program for all persons getting up in years.  In fact, the research over the last decade had shown that strength training can slow down, and even reverse the aging process.

Dr. Knopf pointed out the wisdom of Mickey Mantle, who looking back on his dilapidated body said, “If I’d known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.”   But it’s never too late, says Kr. Knopf.  All exercise can help, and starting today will make you feel better (and have a stronger body) next month.  The word of the day was the dreaded “sarcopenia,” which no one had ever heard, but which we all knew.  It is the age-related decline in our muscles due to disuse (atrophy).  Ironically, all the “labor saving devices” we use are helping us to fall apart as we age.  Simple examples are using the remote to open the garage door instead of getting out and lifting it, and of course the TV remote.  Dr. Knopf cited studies showing a person could lose 10 pounds just by losing the remote and having to get up and down each time to change the channel.

But the real message is to exercise and add strength training to your routine.  Dr. Knopf is the author of “Strength Training for over 50” and “Stretch Training for over 50.”  Exercise using strength training leads to substantial health benefits, but most significantly, allows us to keep our strength and power as we age.  In our thirties, if we tripped on a curb, our legs had the strength to keep our balance and move our feet to keep from falling.  We should strive to keep the same strength in our 70’s, since falling is one of the major causes of large injuries in the elderly (such as hip fractures).   Dr. Knopf emphasized that “exercise” does not need to be hours each day in the gym.  In fact, what is most important is to find a level of exercise that is comfortable for you.  He suggested 2-3 times a week (20-30 min) at a moderate level.   Dr. Knopf referred us not only to his books, but also to www.realage.com for information on how exercise and strength training can actually reverse the aging process.

Miscellaneous pictures of our Greeter, MICHAEL STADLEN, greeting guest Mountain View Rotarian Judy Hanneman, pictures of the jurors of the LARC sponsored Young At Art. 

AND THE LAST WORD
Much to the surprise of everyone, President SAM came up with a joke to end the meeting.

Seems there was a painter named Jimmy who was very interested in making a penny where he could, so he often thinned down his paint to make it go a wee bit further.  As it happened, he got away with this for some time, but eventually the local Church decided to do a big restoration job on one of their biggest buildings.  Jimmy put in a bid, and, because his price was so low, he got the job. So he set about erecting the scaffolding and setting up the planks, and buying the paint and, yes, I am sorry to say, thinning it down with turpentine. Well, Jimmy was up on the scaffolding, painting away, the job nearly completed, when suddenly there was a horrendous clap of thunder, the sky opened, and the rain poured down washing the thinned paint from all over the church and knocking Jimmy clear off the scaffold to land on the lawn among the gravestones, surrounded by telltale puddles of the thinned and useless paint. Jimmy was no fool. He knew this was a judgment from the Almighty, so he got down on his knees and cried:  "Oh, God, forgive me; what should I do?" And from the thunder, a mighty voice spoke -  "Repaint! Repaint! And thin no more!"