This Thursday's Program: 

Martin Eichner on Meditation
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ROTACARE FREE CLINIC

The following restaurants continually donate food for the staff at our RotaCare Free Clinic.

Please thank them by frequenting their restaurants

BEGINNINGS
New (relatively) member BONNIE BURDETT led us off with the Pledge of Allegiance followed by (seasoned) member CRES MCFALL leading those assembled in the song made infamous by SAMMY KAHN, “Smile.” I noted some of our new members were “lyrics challenged” with “Smile” so we may need to revert to song sheets to bring them up to speed.

JERRY TOMANEK shared the thought for the day, waiting for new Pres. JOHN to “Shhh” the boisterous crowd. JERRY encouraged creativity in finding solutions so that we all don’t wind up with end points described by H C Macon, “There are well known solutions to every human problem that are neat, plausible and WRONG!” Boy howdy!

ANNOUNCEMENTS and PRONOUNCEMENTS
Pres. JOHN acknowledged our greeters for the day, SANDY BOZICH, BONNIE BURDETT, and JERRY TOMANEK who wore their best smiles and shook every hand that entered the room to share lunch today. SETH MANNING, our president in waiting, offered the opportunity for members KAHN, KAVALARIS, KELLY, NUTTER and PESNER to introduce their respective guests to our club.

DAN O’DONNELL has switched from Sunshine Chair to Red Badge Member Chair and declared a meeting for an important upcoming project that our newer members will be responsible for later this year. The nature of this project is evidently cloaked in secrecy, but I am certain it will have benefit to our club as previous Red Badger efforts have accomplished.

JACK HIGGINS, Chair of our Health Committee, announced a meeting of interested members right after the club meeting on July 20th.

KAREN OWEN announced the next event for Rotary Singles. It will be held on July 19th from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Los Gatos Lodge. Interested in learning more about Rotary Singles? Contact Karen Owen or Marlene Cowan and get involved.

JACK KELLY requested additional volunteers for the Rotary booth at the annual Arts and Wine Festival July 14th and 15th. The function is to raise funds for our club through the sale of Chef Chu’s Chinese Chicken Salad. Since the product will practically sell itself, it’s easy work representing Rotary in our community.

Pres JOHN called on DUDE ANGUIS to give us a report on the Rotary AIDS Project Booth at the Rotary International Convention in Salt Lake City. Unlike last year, the booth wasn’t placed in “Outer Mongolia” and was visited by some 1,500 convention goers.

DUDE gave special thanks to LEE LYNCH who even traveled early to assist in setting up the booth in addition to helping answer questions and provide information throughout the convention. Volunteers will be sought for assistance with the booth at next year’s convention in Los Angeles, so think about attending.

Our club by-laws call for a Club Assembly every six months in July and January. Since Pres-Elect SETH is so efficient, there isn’t an available date for some time now. In order to stay in compliance with our by-laws, Pres JOHN as instituted a “Serial” Club Assembly over the next three weeks, each week highlighting two of our six directors.

Today we heard form JOHN HAMBLIN (Membership) and MARLIS MCALLISTER (Youth an Vocational Service).

MEMBERSHIP update from JOHN HAMBLIN
We begin the year with 157 members with an anticipated loss of approximately ten percent over the next year (relocations, health, job or responsibility changes). It is important to recruit potential new members to keep the club from shrinking and for new knowledge and talent to draw from in our active club. JOHN reminded us the steps of proposing a new member to the club:
1. The prospect is to be invited to at least three club meetings
2. The proposed member and the sponsor complete an application (found online)
3. The Director of Membership checks the prospective member’s references
4. The prospect’s name is brought before the Board for consideration
5. The prospect, sponsor and other Rotary members are invited to an orientation
6. The prospect’s name is published to the entire club and if there are no objections,
7. The Red Badge presentation is scheduled at a club meeting. If there is an objection, the issue is brought before the Board for resolution.

JOHN encouraged all of us to be part of membership development by introducing people we know might become good, active Rotarians to our club. Something JOHN didn’t mention that I’d like to remind us all about. When you introduce a prospect, please introduce them as a “guest of the club” and nothing else. Please refrain from referring to them as a prospect or someone hoping to join Rotary.
That can be assumed, but could become embarrassing for the club and the prospect if for some reason they are withdraw or are not accepted into the club.

ROY JONES is the Classification Chair, LEE LYNCH is the Chair of 5-minute talks, MARY MARLEY is the Mentorship Chair, and JOHN acts as the application expeditor. There is a need for an Orientation Chair, so an opportunity is there to be involved.

YOUTH AND VOCATION update from MARLIS MCALLISTER
She reported on the status of youth and vocational services. Our ongoing activity that involves our community in the biggest way is Partners for a New Generation headed this year and for the second year in a row, by MONA ARMISTEAD where adults mentor and tutor students in our local schools. It certainly is gratifying to hear that students who these valuable volunteers work with benefit from higher test scores and higher grade point averages. If you haven’t volunteered for this program, you are definitely missing out.
Two Interact Clubs are thriving and another is in the works. DOUG FRANCO leads the group at Mountain View High and MEG SOLERA has been leading the group at Los Altos High (though a replacement will now be needed as MEG heads to North Carolina). Alta Vista High needs a leader as well.

KIM COPHER heads up Camp RYLA, a weeklong camp in June for high school juniors to help them develop skills and confidence as peer leaders. Look for Rotary Day at the A’s that is the fund-raiser for this very effective camp. Even if you can’t attend the game yourself, how about buying a few tickets for youth who couldn’t otherwise see a baseball game (and help a great cause in the process)?

KATHY BERRY will repeat as our Scholarship Chair where we award students from our local high schools, middle schools and occasionally Foothill College for their academic achievements.

DICK BLANDING will continue for the umpteenth year as liaison with Boy Scout Troop #37. Can you believe that our club has sponsored Troop #37 for some 50 years! Quite remarkable!
SAM PESNER continues as the liaison for Cub Scout Pack #76 for the “junior circuit.”
JACK KELLY is looking for someone to head up the Speech Contest (volunteers?).
BARBARA DUNCAN heads up our Abuse and Harassment Committee. She must be doing a great job since I haven’t felt either abused or harassed at a Rotary meeting or event for ages!

KURT HUEG will be heading up Vocational Service where Rotarians are encouraged to share their experience, knowledge and skills at such events a career and mentoring days for youth, business assistance and public speaking.

Now we have experienced their first one-third of Pres. JOHN’S serial Club Assembly. Stay tuned for Installment #2 next week.

MEMBER NEWS
GINNY LEAR, our new Sunshine Chair is reported on three members of our Rotarian family. LARRY MADSEN is recuperating from colon cancer surgery and is resting (hopefully) comfortably at home. MARY MARLEY is had surgery for vaginal cancer and (thankfully!) has a very good prognosis. We wish both LARRY and MARY a quick recovery. Also, COETA CHAMBER’S mother passed away and we send our collective thoughts and prayers to her in her time of loss.

MEG SOLERA confirmed that she and Jose would be relocating quite soon for Durham, North Carolina. Their home is already sold; they purchased a new home, and will be leaving with the moving van August 8th. They are familiar with the area since their son, Josh, graduated from Duke University and their daughter, Katlin, was accepted as one of twenty accepted as a junior transfer out of over 600 applicants. They have already checked out the “Monday lunch” Rotary Club where MEG will be sought to help start an Interact Club and Jose will be welcomed for his knowledge of the Latin culture and Spanish language. MEG described the Durham club much like Los Altos, though smaller and with a distinct Southern accent. MEG hopes to use her human relations skills at Duke and Jose will remain employed with Symantec. They are planning to have a guest room always available for visiting Rotarians so if you plan on being anywhere nearby, give them a holler. MEG did mention money goes a bit further there – a country club membership was only $2,500 and the area is green and gorgeous. We wish MEG and JOSE the very best of happiness and success in their new setting and thank them for all that they did for our Rotary Club and our community while in Los Altos. God Speed!

RECOGNITION (or Monetary Extractions)
The era of JOHN MC ALISTER as Fine Master Coordinator is over and we began the DENNIS YOUNG era who did the duty personally this week. Smart man since at the beginning of the year, everyone is, well, vulnerable and elligible. He did the deed with an assist from BONNIE BURDETT with the fine bucket (did you notice she was also a greeter and led the pledge today; quite a busy new member, I’d say). This year, under the theme declared by JOHN MOSS, you can become a “star” when you achieve $100 or more in fines to our club (and you thought you had to go to Hollywood to become a “star!”). Those recognized included:
• DENNIS embarrassed members ALLEN, LAVE, and SHEPHERD that they had IOU’s left over from last year and that and additional “carrying charge” was being assessed. I suppose if anyone can understand additional charges it would be the bankers. Anyone have money to loan so you could turn the tables so to speak?
• DENNIS also asked volunteers to be fine or recognition masters this year, then after several stood to be included in this “privileged activity,” DENNIS then announced a fee for the privilege as assessed $10 to everyone standing. That can only make them meaner when it comes to their respective turns, so look out!
• JOANNE KAVALARIS paid $40 for the anniversary of her 29th birthday. I didn’t catch the anniversary number, but $40 seemed way too high if one equates a dollar per year.
• BILL PALMER paid $50 for the announcement of his 62nd wedding anniversary. And, to the same woman too! Remarkable BILL and SALLY. Congratulations! May you have many more to come in good health and great happiness.
• CINDY LUEDTKE paid $20 for celebrating her birthday in Rome. I wonder what that would translate too if Italy still dealt in Lira?
• RICH CASEY announced his daughter is getting married next month and paid $30 (better to catch him before he pays all the wedding bills!).
• KAILIS CHIDAMBARAM offered $40 for his 39th wedding anniversary to SANDRA (I guess one extra for good luck?).
• TRACIE MURRAY was recognized as our new Los Altos Rotary Endowment Fund President for 2007-08.
• JEAN MORDO paid $20 after announcing his return from travels in Europe (wouldn’t we would have gained more if he had paid in Euros?).
• LEROB SUIOL announced his 37th birthday (actually, it was LOUIS BOREL and his 73rd birthday on July 16th) and parted with $30.
• MIKE SPENCE paid $20 for having too much fun eating dinner at Sergio’s.

JACK HIGGINS, our Health Committee Chair, introduced our program that came from three of our own members, STEVE ANDERSON, SANDY BOZICH, and SAM PESNER who all have something in common; their vocation in optometry.
DR. PESNER first and foremost provided a disclaimer that there were no gory pictures so that those with weak stomachs didn’t have to leave the room. He provided the anatomy of an eye and described the common eye ailments including far sightedness, nearsightedness, astigmatism (“not round’ cornea) and “Presbyterian” eye (actually, so as not to offend those not of that religious persuasion, SAM really said presbyopia which simply translates to “old eye” when the lens stiffens with age. SAM also described what the optometrist is looking for in a thorough eye examination.
DR. ANDERSON described more complicated eye ailments such as:
• Cataract whereby the lens grows gradually opaque and eventually creates fuzzy or unclear vision. Age and sun exposure are the common causes. This can be corrected with relatively non-invasive surgery where the lens is replaced, providing clear vision once again.
• Macular Degeneration is another condition that gradually deteriorates one’s vision and is permanent. Research is looking for solutions since there is no cure.
• Glaucoma is where the pressure within the eye becomes too great and changes the configuration of the eye, causing vision to diminish. It can sometimes be treated with drops (lifelong application) or surgery.

DR. BOZICH described the effects of vision problems on young kids. There is typically a distinct link between kids with learning problems and poor vision. Unfortunately, school vision tests really only test for far vision and don’t determine whether a child would have trouble focusing on books and other reading material. She recommended having an infants vision examined very early (6 months of age) and demonstrated how kids that age can communicate what they can and cannot see by their reactions to a number of tests.

All in all, it was a very informative presentation, again my members of our own club. There were many helpful tidbits provided, especially for children, as well as a description of eye problems many of us in our club will have to contend with as we grow older. Denial simply won’t help!