Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show October 23rd, 2008

Writer: Steve Yarbrough - Photographer: Jerry Tomanek - Editor:  Cindy Luedtke

This Thursday's Program:  Oct 30 2008 Senator Joe Simitian The Latest in Laws: Who Thinks This Stuff Up?"

Rev-1: 10/29/08

Even when the speaker fails to show up, Rotarians know how to have a fine time.  As if in a premonition of things to come, President Seth Manning rang the Rotary bell promptly at 12:15 p.m. and announced that JEANNE MacVICAR would lead us in the pledge.  But Jeanne was otherwise engaged, so TOM POTTERFIELD stepped in to help out.
 
KURT HUEG presented his own thought for the day by commenting on the fact that people often talk about how it might be nice to bring back to the “good old days of civility and respect.”  But he pointed out that the good old days also included no right to vote for women until 1920, no right to vote for blacks until 1890 and segregation in the 1960s.  We’ve come a long way, Kurt said.  “It might not be so good to go back.”
           
Since the songmeister President Seth had in mind was not present, Seth made an impromptu call on JOHN SYLVESTER who quickly led us through a rousing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” in honor of the World Series.
 
Greeters today were ROY LAVE, DAVE SMITH and Red Badger, KAREN GESSERT.  They did a great job of welcoming everyone to Rotary!
 
TRACIE MURRAY introduced visiting Rotarians and Rotarians with guests, of which there were several.

New Members:  Membership committee chair JOHN CARDOZA welcomed three new members into the club today!  JOHN HAMMERSCHMIDT,

JOHN HAMMERSCHMIDT	BEVERLY TUCKER	RANDY GARD

sponsored by TOM LISTON, BEVERLY TUCKER, sponsored by JOHN CARDOZA, and RANDY GARD, sponsored by STEVE SHEPHERD and STEVE ANDERSON.  Each new member was presented with a copy of the Rotary Club’s 50th anniversary book and a CD of the Los Altos Story.  The club welcomed them all with a standing ovation!
                                                           
Announcements:  The next Red Badger event, “Putt Putt for Books” to raise funds for books for the new Gardner-Bullis Library, will be held Saturday, November 22, 2008 from 10 AM  to 1 PM at Golfland USA, 855 El Camino Real, at Wolfe in Sunnyvale.  Contact STUART BOWEN at (650) 949-8506 to assist and participate.          
 
Play soft ball with LARRY CHU and the Rotary Team!  There will be a game on the next two Monday evenings at 7 p.m. at Columbia Park on Taylor Street in San Jose.  Last week our team scored 19 runs!  The other team scored a couple more, but they all had a lot of fun.  Join Larry and your fellow Rotarians for evening softball under the lights.
 
Flu Shots will be $25 here at the meeting on November 6th.   Arrive early at 11:30 to get safe for the season and bring a friend.
 
The Road Runners van project is moving along said Partners for Elder Generations (PEG) committee member DAVE SMITH who is heading up the project for the club.  The vehicle will be a four-cylinder Ford Fusion and will have the LARC emblem and Community Foundation emblem emblazoned on the side.
 
More PEG news:  The news: news: Rotary Speakers Bureau is growing.  There are more than 25 Rotarians who have volunteered to serve as guest speakers at local nursing homes and elder care facilities on topics of their choice.  When the list is complete it will be circulated to all elder care and senior facilities in the area so that the facilities can contact speakers directly to arrange for times.  If you have not been approached to speak, see or call STEVE YARBROUGH (650) 864-9330.
 
Don’t forget A Sante’ on Wednesday, Nov. 5th!  Your assistance and attendance is needed. {THIS IS A CORRECTED DATE}
           
Want to go to France? The second edition of the Peninsula French Fair, A Day in France, will take place on Saturday, November 8th, in downtown Los Altos at the Hillview Community Center, 97 Hillview Avenue, Los Altos, CA 94022 from 10 AM to 6 PM.
This is a great opportunity to find a wide variety of original French products in a single location. Start your Holiday shopping, then take a break and enjoy an authentic savory or sweet crêpe.  You will discover a whole range of products that capture the essence of France; from home decoration and paintings to jewelry, handmade clothes, children's toys, gourmet food and a fine selection of items from Provence,. 
Would you like to go to France? Come to the fair and talk with our travel consultant who will be happy to personalize your itinerary.  Need real estate advice?  Meet our realtor and find answers to all of your questions. 
Admission is free and 10% of all the sales from the Peninsula French Faire, A Day in France, will benefit Partners for New Generations.  Go to http://frenchfair2008.blogspot.com  for more information.
 
A Fine Time:  Finemaster DENNIS YOUNG entertained everyone with his usual wit and panache while raising money for the club.  Those who donated generously were:

MARY MARLEY, GARY MAGGARD, KAILAS CHIDAMBARAM, new members,  BEV TUCKER, JOHN HAMMERSCHMIDT and RANDY GARD, MARLIS McALLISTER, DAVE SMITH, FRANK VERLOT, KURT HUEG, DAN O’DONNELL, ROY LAVE, LARRY CHU, JACK KELLY, ROY JONES, JULIE ROSE, JOAN ROSSELLE, TIM BYRD, SANDY WHIPPLE, STUART BOWEN, JEAN HOLLANDS, STEVE ANDERSON, SAM HARDING, CLARI NOLET, STEVE SHEPHERD, and  JOHN CARDOZA.

Pat Hyland’s 10-Minute Adventure
Fining took much longer than usual due to the fact the speaker didn’t appear.  (The scheduled photographer didn't either, but that is another story.)Then, PAT HYLAND stepped forward to present her impromptu 10-minute talk.  Pat is a Red Badger who leads an interesting life.  Born in East Palo Alto to a spy father and mother security officer, Pat became a high school teacher after working with her father in the insurance business for many years.  But after teaching business law, math, and other subjects for many years, Pat became Assistant Principal at Mountain View High, then later, was promoted to Principal.  After retiring from that position, she took on the challenge of becoming Dean of Faculty and Staff at Foothill Community College.
 
Pat has been married for 32 years to a husband who is retired and loves toys – including Harley’s.  Of course you have to have a toy hauler to carry around your toys so he bought a 40-foot trailer and a huge pickup to pull it.  Off they went to the big motorcycle gathering at Sturgis!
 
On the way, stuff happened.  The trailer jumped off the truck and plowed into the median. After seven hours to get the trailer unstuck from the road, and $16,000 in repairs in Billings, Montana, they are back on the road to Sturgis for a fun time.
 
Immediately upon their return home, the trailer was sold on Craig’s list, the truck sits in the driveway with a “For Sale” sign in the window, and hubby wants a new Harley.
 
Welcome to Rotary!

{Copyright � 2008 Los Altos Rotary Club. All rights reserved}

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