Greeters LOU WELLMEIER, Operations Director JACK KELLY greeting DICK HASENPFLUG

Love was certainly in the air on Valentine’s Day at Los Altos Rotary. KURT HUEG led the club in song with “That’s Amore.” BRIAN WARD shared thoughts on the subject of love, and pointed out that “Love, true love, meets the Four Way Test.”
 
Announcements were made, and highlights included:
District 5170 Conference is scheduled for April 11-13. During this year’s Conference, there will be a luncheon on Saturday honoring the 20th year of women in Rotary. Let’s hear it for us, ladies!
 
Save the Date! March 15th will be the bi-annual cioppino dinner at the Garden House. Chefs RENATI and LUEDTKE are preparing for the big night, and they are looking for volunteers – please sign up to help.

JERRY MOISON, Art Show Chair, announced the first meeting to be held this coming Wednesday at 8 am at his office. He urges all art show committee chairs and RED BADGERS to attend and start preparing for the BEST SHOW EVER! JERRY, we applaud you for stepping up to the plate!
 
PP STEVE ANDERSON, aka club Secretary, reminded us that the Poker Tournament with the Mt. View Club will be on Friday, February 29th at 6:30pm at the Garden House.  A $50 entrance fee includes drinks and dinner from CHEF CHU’s.  Join the fun and win back the trophy for LARC.

WEBMASTER'S NOTE:  You can sign up on line at our new website.  This might be a good opportunity to try out the on-line signup before the big Art Show Sign up, coming soon.  Go to http://www.clubrunner.ca/CPrg/home/homeD.asp?cid=4000 or just clink on this link.  Then log on using your logon name and password.  If you have forgotten your password, click the "Forgot your password" and you will be asked for your last name and email address.  Your logon name (which is not the same as your last name)  and password will be sent to you.  Remember the system requires the email address that is used for the Rotator.  If you don't know that either, contact either STEVE ANDERSON or MATT CABOT and they will help you.  It is important that everyone know how to get into the new website as more and more events will have on-line sign-ups as we move away from the age of the clipboards being passed around. 

PP SAM PESNER announced that our very own PP MARGE BRUNO is this year’s nominee for the John Gardner Award.  The John W. Gardner Awards are a program of the Los Altos Community Foundation.  The Gardner Awards dinner was established in 2004 to honor community-building volunteerism.  Each year a specific list of non-profit organizations are invited to nominate an honoree.

Approximately ten community members receive the Gardner Award each year at a dinner held in a local hotel.  Each nominating organization introduces their honoree to the assembled guests during the dinner program.  Rotary is able to award a recipient every other year.   Past awardees sponsored by the Rotary Club of Los Altos were President Elect Nominee, TRACIE MURRAY in 2004 and PP DICK DUHRING in 2006.  

In 2008, the club has selected PP MARGE BRUNO as our Gardner Award honoree.  As LARC president, MARGE began the tutoring program and has been active  as a tutor with Partners for New Generations every year since 1995.  She has an extensive community resume.  She is a Past President of CSA, an organization to which LAREF/LARC gives financial and other support annually. MARGE was one of the people in charge of the LEADership program that brought together more than 150 community members during her six or more years with that program. The 5th Annual Gardner Awards Dinner will be held on Thursday, April 3, 2008 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel beginning at 6:00 pm.  We will have sign-ups for club members to attend the dinner.
 
The District’s annual Media/Communication workshop is Thursday, February 21, 1:30 to 3:30 at the Santa Clara County office of Education, 1290 Knight Ridder Drive, San Jose. Attend this workshop to improve your club’s community outreach, media coverage and intra-club communication.  It’s FREE- reserve a place now by calling 408-265-0934 or email denniswilcox@msn.com.
 
RICH CASEY – newly appointed BLUE badger – presented at $4,500 donation on behalf of the Rotary AIDS Project, to Dr. Art Ammann in support of his foundation, Global Strategies for HIV Development.  Club members donated this money in December with a matching gift from Rich. 
 
Dr Ammann’s organization conducts programs in Liberia, the Congo, and Uganda to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT).   Dr. Ammann is an emeritus professor of pediatrics at UCSF and was the first physician in the United States to diagnose AIDS in a child back in the mid-80s. The money is specifically directed toward the initiation of a PMTCT project in upcountry Liberia.  This donation will pay the salary for an entire year to five healthcare workers in Liberia.  RICH, your sponsor, JERRY TOMANEK must be very proud!
 

Our 10-minute talk this week was by Red Badger, STEVE POMEROY.   STEVE, a Bay Area native, attended undergrad at UCSD. During his time there, he went to Italy to search for Da Vinci’s lost fresco. He later attended The Wharton Business School, where he met his wife. They now have two daughters. Steve’s career included working at three powerhouse companies in Silicon Valley- HP, 3Com, (where he was employee #34) and Cisco Systems. He now is officially retired, but enjoys consulting and taking time to smell the roses.
 
PP SAM approached the mic again!  This time, he was speaking as the Finemaster of the day.  Among those that ponied-up money  in the name of LOVE were KATIE NUTTER, JACK HIGGINS, BO KEARNS, CHUCK HESS, CLYDE NOEL, JACK KELLY, JOHN CARDOZA, ROLAND PAYNE, PP MEL KAHN, PP PAUL NYBERG AND MARY MARLEY.
 

This week’s program by Nancy Bugwadia from the Regional Medical Center of San Jose, was a great refresher course on how to maintain good health.  By not smoking, eating healthy and exercising daily, you improve your heart health. It’s recommended that we exercise 30 minutes each day, or if you cannot find 30 minutes, two 15-minute sessions will meet the goal.  Exercise should be a part of our daily routine and something that we enjoy. It’s important to not get discouraged – if you should miss a day or two, it’s okay to pick up where you left off and get back to activity again.
 
Eating healthy is essential for good health, low cholesterol and a healthy heart.  Try to eat foods from each food group, lots of fruits and vegetables – something from every the color of the rainbow.  Fish is a good part of your diet too – try to eat two servings of fatty fish (salmon or albacore tuna) each week.  Whole grains, lean meats and portion control are other ways to keep a healthy course in your diet.  One tip – cut back on the big lattes and mochas – a simple cup of coffee has 300 calories less than the grande, frothy drinks we order day after day!