Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show November 6th, 2008

Greeters today were KAREN GESSERT and MATT CABOT.

The Rotator scribe asked a sampling of optimistic Rotarians as they checked in to finish this sentence:
"The economy –
-will continue to grow since everyone needs work." MATT CABOT
-will change. " LARC visitor, Vickie Reeder
-will take a turn for the better." JULIE ROSE
-will be just fine." CINDY WEMYSS
-will recover." WYATT ALLEN
-will improve." SAM PESNER
-will keep supporting the wine industry." KAREN GESSERT

RotaCare staffers were on hand to give flu shots during the early part of the meeting.
The meeting opened at 12:16 by President SETH MANNING.
JOANNE BYRNE, back for the first time from her bout with cancer,  led the Pledge of Allegiance.
SHIV SHASTRI recited a Thought for the Day from Percy Shelley's poem.

Ozymandias
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast trunk-less legs of stone
Stand in the desert-- Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"I am Ozymandias, King of Kings.
Look on my works ye mighty, and despair."

Nothing besides remains; Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away."

To help get us back to our senses after months of political noise,
JOHN SYLVESTER led out with “God Bless America”.

Special event of the day: New Rotary Handbooks 2008 were available to be distributed.  All up to date with fresh new pictures!

President SETH announced that our speaker of the day, Lloyd Haugen
Ambassadorial Scholar and GSE Member, was in the hospital with an attack of kidney stones. And so we proceeded with extra time for the usual ten minutes of social chitchat.

MARLENE COWAN, subbing for PE TRACIE MURRAY, proceeded with guest intros: Visiting Rotarians came from the Napa Club and Downtown San Jose. 
Rotarians with guests were BOB ADAMS, JOANNE BYRNE, JEAN MORDO, JACK HEIDMILLER, SETH MANNING, and JOAN ROSSELLE.

Recognition master and PP SAM HARDING nailed a goodly group of taxpayers in the under $250,000 income range including SHIV SHASTRI, RICK GLAZE, AL LIGTENBERG, BOB RAYL, PAUL NYBERG, WYATT ALLEN, STEVE ANDERSON, ROLAND PAYNE, ALAN LAMBERT, STEVE SHEPHERD, FRANCIS LAPOLL, JEAN MORDO AND NANCY SIMON.

Announcements:
JOANNE BYRNE got a two minute ovation as she stood at the mic for the first time in months to thank Rotarians for their support and love via meals and visits.

PP SAM PESNER repeated his call for volunteers for the Partners for Elder Generations, (PEG) Speakers Bureau, passed a clip board for more sign ups. Rotarians asked to speak on their favorite subject to seniors at various locations.

DON WITT asked for volunteers to help with the Festival of Lights Float Nov. 30 and reminded members that The Main Street Cafe and Books is reserved for dinner and drinks for Rotarians to watch the parade.

Red Badgers, RANDY GARD and JOHN HAMMERSCHMIDT pitched the Putt-Putt for Books Miniature Golf Tourney for all ages: spouses, kids, grand kids, parents, neighbors on Saturday, Nov. 22, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Golfland USA, 855 El Camino Read (at Wolfe) in Sunnyvale.  The cost is $50 per person.  Proceeds will be used to buy books for the new Gardner Bullis School Library in Los Altos Hills.  Tickets and info: STUART BOWEN 650 949 8506.

PP WYATT ALLEN appealed for a bone marrow transplant from a person of German/American Indian heritage for a teacher who needs it.

One of our guests for the day, Lon Saadra, member of Downtown San Jose Club introduced Alexandra Candia, a young woman who was born in Los Altos. She later moved with her family to Saratoga and after college has spent time working in Ghana with disadvantaged youth.  Her program called Youth Matters continues to promote literacy and personal enrichment in that third world nation.

A full half hour speaker was hardly missed since AL LIGTENBERG, just back from several weeks in Indonesia, presented a fast moving slide show of his time in that nation.  He visited the Bali Rotary Club, helped promote the development of garbage recycling program (sound familiar?) and celebrated his 44th wedding anniversary with his wife at this beautiful resort island.

Reminder: Mark your calendars for the annual LARC Holiday Party on December 16.

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

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