Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show March 27th, 2008

JUST THE FACTS:  Pledge: PP MARLENE COWAN, Thought for the day was MARGE SENTOUS.  Song Master was JOHN SYLVESTER hoping that singing  about sunshine would bring it.
Seth Manning introduced our only visiting Rotarian, our speaker Chenda Smead from Saratoga Rotary we had several guests of JOHN MCDONNELL, PAT GRAY, JERRY MOISON and CINDY LUEDTKE.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  Pres JOHN MOSS about the District Conference April 11 – 13^th.  Go to the District Website for further information and on line signup. 

He also mentioned the Los Altos Sunset Rotary Club’s fundraiser: A Crab Feed at St Simons on Grant road this coming Friday, April 4^th at 5:30 PM.

The City of Los Altos is hosting regarding projects on First Street. It’s scheduled for Tuesday, April 1st from 8:00 – 9:00 AM at Northern Trust.  It’s primarily for First Street businesses as well as some merchants along Main and State that have either expressed interest in the projects or are in close proximity to First Street.  You are welcome to attend.

BUD OLIVER gave us an update on his wife, Ann’s condition.  The physical therapist says she no longer needs a cane, so she is progressing.He also thanked his “Rotary Family” for all the support, meals, and concerns that helped make a very bad situation at least tolerable.

PE SETH announced that at 4 pm First Republic Bank on April 2, we are meeting to discuss the results of the Community Needs Assessment.  We hope to be able to come up with some  projects we and the other co-sponsors can work on.

JERRY MOISON: Please add a “thank you” for the additional generosity of our Rotarians.  We raised $1,750 today, making the total number  $11,250.  More people assured of going to Heaven! (See, Jerry said that there was some relationship to the amount you donated and how long you stayed in Purgatory.)

DAVID BERGMAN: posted the Art Show Volunteers assignments on the wall today.  He asked everyone to check the wall, and to make modifications as necessary. He also asked that everyone look at the (about) 50 jobs that need filling and sign up.  This can also be done directly on our new website.  Go to our website, sign in and click on ART SHOW VOLUNTEERS middle right of the webpage. You might have to scroll down to find it.  When you click on that, you will see a window that looks like this

You will then be presented with a list of jobs. Find one (two or three) that you want and sign up. It is that simple.

BAIDRA MURPHY suggests that everyone who publishes a periodic newsletter, put a blurb in it about the Art Show. Also put a link to our Art Show website: http://www.rotaryartshow.com/ which will give everyone everything they need to enjoy our Art Show. 

JULIE ROSE pointed out that the History House will enhance the David and Lucile Packard exhibition by presenting a panel discussion focusing on David Packard an Hewlett Packard company on April 9^th at Los Altos High School’s Eagle Auditorium. 

PP SAM PESNER again reminded us about the John Gardner Community Building Awards at the Cabana in Palo Alto on the evening of April 3, where MARGE BRUNO will be one of ten honorees.  This is a fundraiser for the Los Altos Community Foundation.  Get your $75 in by March 28.  Contact SAM for the handout or fax LACF at 949-0807. Marge was recognized by a very meaningful round of applause. 

PP MARLENE COWAN presented the club with a banner from her trip to Cambodia.  Details missed.

PP LARRY MADSEN and today’s photographer got up and again extended is prideful explanation of his granddaughter Liv Jensen’s swimming exploits.  You can read all about it here. She also won the Outstanding Performer Award at the meet.  In addition, the senior swimmer set a school record in the 50 free (22.78), won the 100 free in another CCS best (50.75) and anchored two winning relay teams to victory while helping the Vikings win their own Spring Invitational.

10 Minute Talk was given by long long time Rotarian, GEORGE ESTILL.  George is a native of Colorado Springs, and a descendent of the first Sheriff of Aspen CO.He and his family moved around a lot because of his dad’s employment with United Airlines.  In fact his dad was one of the shaping forces in Los Altos.  Among other things, he was responsible for Foothill Expressway (then a railroad right-away) NOT becoming 280.  Instead 280 was moved a couple of miles west, thus saving Los Altos from splitting up.    He went to Mountain View High (the REAL Mountain View Hi) and eventually played sports under the watchful eye of PP DUDE ANGIUS.  He married his high school sweetheart, when he was captain of the football team and she was a (the head?) cheerleader.  (Actually I think they got married after high school.)  I see a story line here.

He graduated from Stanford and has worked for Lockheed, NASA, Hughes and Bechtel.  Today, he and his child bride run Estill Travel which his father started many years ago. He has been a member of Los Altos Rotary for the past 30 years.

IT’S A FINE LIFE: PP STEVE ANDERSON under the guise of Fine Master, really cleaned up.  He got JERRY MOISON, JEAN (John) MORDO, and VICTORIA EMMONS in a bidding war. I counted about $500 in fines from about 15 different people. 

PROGRAM FOR TODAY: Where were you in 1978? How old were you? What where you doing that was so important? Those where the thoughts I had during the presentation made by Chenda Smead, a member of Saratoga Rotary and a native of Cambodia when she talked about the genocide that took place in Cambodia during the mid to late 1970’s. 

I had lived in Los Altos for the past 8 years, was 40 years old, and raising my children.  My life was consumed with soccer, high school football games, band practice, tennis lessons, and children’s theatre.  No time for international concerns.  The Vietnam War was ‘over’ and everything was ‘back to normal.’

Right?  No more protests in the streets, Carter was half way through his presidency. Gas was outrageously high at 63 cents a gallon.  Average home price in US was $54,000.  Egypt and Israel made peace with each other at Camp David.  Oh, and something new called cell phones, was introduced.  While there was a sort of internet, the BBS was all the rage to techies.  So what could be all that bad?

In 1975 Pol Pot rose to power in what is called Postcolonial Cambodia.  Nepotism and corruption was a way of political life he initially sought to eliminate.  Pol Pot’s charismatic rise was fueled in the elimination of corruption and graft.  However, in retrospect his utter love for authority, lead his name to be called “worse than Hitler.”

Think about the numbers: There are what, 25,000 residents of Los Altos. Now imagine every man, woman, and child in Los Altos, Mountain View, Sunnyvale murdered directly or killed thru disease, forced labor and neglect.  I can’t imagine it. Chenda Smead brought to our conscious the terrible personal tragedy that she, her family and her country faced at the hands of this despot.  If you would like to help in the rebuilding of Cambodia, the Harpswell Foundation is one of the places to go for that opportunity.  Our own WCS is looking at a project there as well. 

I wonder if sometime in the future a similar story about Darfur will bring us up short as this story did today.

errata:  There were several errors in last week's Rotator.  They are as corrected: We welcome new (Red, not Blue) Badger, KEVIN PHILLIPS, whose stand-in Sponsor (for JERRY MOISON) is the (fairly) well-preserved STEVE ANDERSON (SAM PESNER is sponsor -- Secretary Steve just provided the red badge and Rotary pin).  Sorry for the confusion.

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