Our meeting opened with a rousing song (by default, one that we all know), “You Are My Sunshine”, led by KENDRA GJERSETH, who rushed in from her duties as Cashier today.
 
BELLA BERLLY’s Thought for the Day teased our minds as we guessed who is the person that convinced the Canadian government to give over US$180 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, traveled to India to help eliminate measles, asked President Musharraf of Pakistan not to be the last country to eradicate polio, and whose motto is “World peace is Possible.” The answer was immediate for those who read their Rotarian. He is our current RI President Wilf Wilkinson. Those who attended the Presidential Membership Conference last week had the opportunity to meet him.
 
DAVID BERGMAN assisted as Sergeant-at-Arms and Steve Yarbrough served as photographer today.
 
Lon Saavedra from the RC San Jose joined us as a visiting Rotarian. This must be a popular club, as numerous guests were introduced by CINDY LUEDTKE, GARY ROSS, MARGE BRUNO and DUDE ANGIUS.
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS focused on the plethora of clipboards circulating around the room with table numbers aiding to trace their paths. KATIE NUTTER reminded us to sign up by Aug. 24 for the Aug. 31 Wine Tasting Fellowship party at JEAN MORDO’s home.

STEVE FICK announced the Red Badge Fundraiser to benefit CHASE (Community Hope and Sober Events) which will take place on Sept. 23, and begins with a pre-party at Borel Private Bank followed by Bus Barn Theatre performance and a raffle with wonderful prizes.

BAIDRA PROCHNOW MURPHY seeks volunteers to wo/man the LARC table at the Los Altos Community Picnic Sept.  8.

ROLAND PAYNE invites all, especially Red Badgers, to attend the World Community Service meeting at 8 am Aug. 28 at Northern Trust to develop an urgent campaign to aid victims of the Aug. 15 earthquake in Peru. A representative from the Peruvian Consulate General in San Francisco will be present at this WCS meeting.
 
TEN MINUTES WITH ALLART
ALLART LIGTENBERG, the “solar nut” amazed us with his very active life story squeezed into just ten minutes.  Born 1941 in Indonesia, he lived in Japanese concentration camps in Java for the first part of his life and finally located his father in a hospital in Singapore.  Returning to live in the Netherlands, playing soccer was one of his life’s passions, and in the US he later spent 12 years coaching AYSO soccer for his son’s and daughter’s teams. He also loved camping as a Boy Scout and later was nearly selected for the Olympic competitive crew in race rowing.   If anybody wants to play a game of tennis, Allart still says, “I’m your man.”
 
Building crystal radios and a spare-parts TV that didn’t work led him to eventually earn a Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering. Career advancement took him from Westinghouse in Pittsburgh to HP in California where he designed test systems and headed a site taskforce that saved $1 million annually on the Cupertino site’s $3 million PGE bill.  On sabbatical with a United Nations consulting group in India, he visited Nepal and fell in love with the country and started a solar cooking program there in 1992.  Since his retirement at age 50, he has initiated solar cooking projects in Nepal, Mongolia, South America, and Mexico.
 
Allart’s wife, Ineke, is “the best thing that has happened to me”, which not all husbands would admit!  He is proud that Ineke is also an active community volunteer for CSA and a Child Advocate for two foster children.
 
Who brought Allart into LARC?  It was BOB ADAMS who phoned him and arrived at his house 10 minutes later, smelled the delicious chicken cooking in a solar oven and immediately invited him to WCS the next morning. “Solar cooking and water purification solve the biggest problems in developing countries,” says Allart.  After visiting over 50 Rotary clubs, Allart gushes that “LARC is the best club on the planet.” He now chairs Water, Health, Hunger and Solar for WCS in District 5170.   As chairperson, he shows Interactors how to build solar cookers for Congo and teaches fourth graders in San Jose how the rest of the world lives, to “put things in perspective”.   DUDE ANGIUS inspired him to join RAP’s efforts in developing countries.   Aren’t we lucky that Allart has brought his energy and motivation to LARC!
 
FINE RECOGNITIONS
Our “fine” Recognition Master was PAST PRESIDENT CINDY who barely had time for her prepared questions, since so many people wanted to volunteer contributions  PAUL NYBERG announced that his wife Liz’s broken arm is healing after a huge truck rear-ended them at Tahoe and that she is now helping in Arlington, VA upon the arrival of their 14th grandchild ($14).    
 

PAUL SCHUTZ volunteered $20 to announce that he needs 20 volunteers to help monitor parking lots Sept. 8 and 9 for the CHAC fundraiser.
 
BOO BUE offered $50 to “bore you with the details of my very busy August” including the 64th anniversary reunion of his World War II fighting pilot friends, a full body MRI, and his 85th birthday. Way to go, Boo!
 
BONNIE BURDETT gave $25 to voice her appreciation that PAST PRESIDENT CINDY had offered a job at First Republic Bank to her daughter’s “serious boyfriend.”
 
CRES MCFALL recalled his efforts 41 years ago to date a nice young teacher who was too busy to accept his invitations, but, due to his persistence, within 5 months they were married.
 
SCOTT RICHES totaled his anniversary years plus his and hers birthdays for a total of 81 years (and $81).
 
LEN MCBIRNEY proclaimed that he wanted to rescind his fine of last week, though we don’t know who will be the judge for that case.
 
PAST PRES CINDY presented VICTORIA EMMONS with the LARC Golf Tournament’s trophy for Low Net Score, for which she contributed $86 in honor of her 86 year old aunt.
 
Proud Grandpa LARRY MADSEN told of his 17 year old grand daughter’s 4th place in a 15 meter swim event that qualified her for the Olympic trials.
($20) WILL CORKERN admitted to having a birthday and GARY ROSS in his plaid “retired” Bermuda shorts joined the Stars Club because today’s fining reminded him that his 18th wedding anniversary is coming up next Monday.
 
At last, FINEMASTER CINDY had a chance to ask Red Badgers her questions relating to District knowledge. DAVE BERGMAN knew that our current District Governor is DICK LOUGHMILLER from the Cupertino club.   RICH CASEY knew that our DG Elect is GARY CITTI from the Santa Clara club. What a great class of knowledgeable Red Badgers we have at LARC!
 
CANCER FOUNDATION PROGRAM
The Program was presented by ED MATTSON who is the Rotarian Ambassador at Large for Rotary’s action group Hands Across the Sea and Board Chair of the Linda Mattson Cancer Foundation.  He introduced his bride from Moldovia who assisted with the Power Point presentation.   Your Rotator writer could barely write fast enough to keep up with his well prepared, medically-oriented presentation.   At age 53, his company went public and he retired. However, after losing his wife to a series of devastating cancers, he became a fund-raiser and medical research specialist. He proudly noted that great medical progress has been made recently in America: the number of treatment options for breast cancer,  for example, have expanded from 11 in 1985 to 990 treatments currently.
 
Ed Mattson described the stem cell transplants and cord blood banking procedures that have helped “Rotarian children” to survive in developing countries of Eastern Europe. He reminded us that there are 116 Rotary clubs in Russia and 54 in Romania. Their medical needs are extreme. Unfortunately, the children of Moldova now have a 26,000 % higher rate of thyroid cancer due to the Chernobyl disaster.  In addition, many children do not survive the filthy, non-sterile conditions in pediatric oncology treatment centers.  He mentioned that his foundation now plans to have projects in Nairobi, Kenya; in Giurgia, Romania; and in Mali, Africa.
 
Contributions to the Rotarian Cancer Survivors and Support Group are welcomed by Ed Mattson at $35 annual or $140 lifetime membership.  Donations of expired medications and vitamins were also requested.  Various informational materials and his recent fundraising book @ $49.95 were on display in the Garden House.  A warehouse of medical supplies, National Guard transportation, and shipping company agreements await club contributions to move the medical supplies to hospitals in need.  More information is available at www.ricancersurvivors.org or contact Ed at: emattson0711@yahoo.com.
 
The meeting was adjourned on time, as usual. Good planning, President John.