Greeters today were Jeanne MacVICAR and NANCY DUNAWAY 

New members, exhortations to exercise, and LOTS of announcements created the pre-Thanksgiving flavor of our November 15 meeting.  (DON”T show up on the 22nd; the club is “going dark” for Thanksgiving.)
 
Former president SAM PESNER stood in for JOHN MOSS, who is in Australia, marrying off a daughter. 
CRES MCFALL led us in song, “Smiles.”

PP BOB ADAMS gave the thought for the day.  It had something to do with an 87-year-old woman and her advice for us to laugh a lot, look for our dreams and find an appetite for new things.  “It’s not the breaths you take in your life,” quoted Bob, “but the moments that take your breath away.”
 
There was one visiting Rotarian, whose name this reporter did not catch.  “Speak into the microphone,” we’ve all been taught.  He wasn’t here for that lesson.
 
But the Rotarians with guests made themselves heard.  IRENE PRESTON introduced her son, Ben.  “He does something in microbiology,” she said, “but I don’t understand what it is.”  STEVE YARBROUGH’s guest was his “senior partner,” Jann Besson.  DUDE ANGUIS hosted Louis Wellmeier, SAM PESNER introduced the lovely Lou Pesner, SAM HARDING introduced John Day (he of the city pool effort) and CHUCK LINDAUER’S wife Ilona (Chuck was late), and PAUL NYBERG hosted Mike Abrams. 
 
Whew!  This reporter is already out of breath.  Have I fulfilled my name quota yet?  Never fear, there’s more.
 
The club gave a standing ovation to three new members presented by membership director, LARRY CHU:

JOANNE ZIMMERMAN (sponsor, BELLA BERLLY)	LOUIS WELLMEIER (sponsor, DUDE ANGIUS)	MIKE ABRAMS (sponsor, PAUL NYBERG)

What a delightful crop of Red Badgers we have! 
The meeting moved on to three short reports.  DICK HASENPFLUG described the new software system the club is moving to.  It’s called Club Runner, and it’s an application that’s specifically designed for Rotary clubs.  
 
PP STEVE ANDERSON gave a plug for the environmental measure that’s currently circulating in Los Altos.  If you’re interested in it, go to www.coollostaltos.org. You can even sign a petition online nowadays. 
  HERB MARSHALL gave a brief report on LAREF giving details of its most recent round of funding. 
 

Now for the announcements.  There were so many of them that SAM PESNER decided we didn’t have room for fining.  That decision left PP DICK HENNING adrift, as he’d been planning to dun lots of money from lots of people.  It is assumed that he will exact some revenge.
 
CINDY WEMYSS, our Director of Community Service, announced that Red Badger CLARI NICOLET will serve as the club’s lead for Public Relations.  Also, Cindy is looking for someone to volunteer to head up the club’s community health and safety initiatives.
 
PAUL SCHUTZ urged folks to sign up to be greeters at Rotary meetings – a great way for Red Badgers to get to know folks, he added.
 
NANCY SIMON announced herself as “the chair AND the committee” for the holiday toy, food and cash drive.  There will be boxes at the entry ways to meetings where folks can put toys, and boxes on the tables where folks can put.  If you miss those opportunities, bring something to the Rotary holiday party on December 20. Also, if you would like to help Nancy in this effort, give her a call.
 
MARLIS MCALLISTER, Director of Youth and Vocational Service, announced that our holiday party will be on December 20 at the Jesuit Retreat House in Los Altos.  The cost is $50 per person, which includes quite a spread of food, beverages, and music from none other than our very own JOHN SYLVESTER.
 
NANCY DUNAWAY invited everyone to attend the fourth annual Holiday Stroll hosted by the Los Altos Village Association on November 16.  There will be (or, since this is probably after the day, “there will have been”) some 40 stores and restaurants participating, open from 4 to 9 p.m. In addition to food and wine and previews of what the shops have to offer, there will be (“there will have been”) musicians and choral groups.
 
PP SAM HARDING was talking about money.  Again.  He reminded us of the fact we’d been asked to contribute to the Rotary Foundation.  “If you haven’t yet sent in a check,” he said, “you WILL be called.”  Quiver in fear, Rotarians.
 

Today many of us participated in the annual ROTACARE Flu Shot program and we got stuck for our efforts.  RotaCare Director Cheryl Canning expressed her appreciation for the support given by Los Altos Rotary in helping their effort to bring low or no-cost medical services to those who need it.  Not only do our funds provide financial support, our Food Delivery Service chaired by IRENE PRESTON to the the staff is well appreciated as well as the technical and managerial skills provided by such people as JOHN CARDOZA and PP MEL KAHN. 

DON WITT invited everyone to the Festival of Lights Parade on November 25.  Rotarians are meeting at Main Street Café at 5:30 p.m.  The Snow Goose is back for one more year.
 
PP JACK HEIDMILLER said he was excited about a non-profit that provides low-cost computers to kids in Third World countries.  If you have computer equipment to donate or  if you would like  more information, contact Jack.
 
JOANNE ZIMMERMAN invited everyone to the Turkey Trot at the intersection on Guadalupe Parkway, San Jose at 9 AM. on Thanksgiving Day.  Proceeds to Second Harvest.
 
KIM COPHER asked folks to save their “gifts with purchase” that come with many cosmetics people buy.  Give them to Kim, and she’ll save them as Valentine’s Day gifts for women in shelters.
 

Our main program was introduced by President-elect SETH MANNING.  The speaker was Kevin Usleldinger, a very fit man of fifty years, of Healthy Us.  Exercise – moderate, frequent exercise – is Kevin’s recipe for health.  We need three kinds of exercise, said Kevin – aerobic, strength and stretching.  While aerobic exercise is good for relieving stress, strength training is important because it builds muscles.  Muscles burn more calories and are the body’s great fat burner.  Pay no attention to those height/weight charts, he said, because muscle weighs more than fat.  Pay attention to body fat.  For men, an acceptable body-fat ratio is 15-17 percent; for women it’s 23-25 percent.  Past President SAM PESNER volunteered to be tested.  Enough said.
 
Speaking of enough said, this reporter shall eschew PP SAM PESNER’s closing joke.  It was a doozie, though.