Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show May 21 2009

Even before we got to the name badges, things seemed a bit different.  A table full of pre-printed guest name stickers!  Something must be going on!  Those of you who didn’t read the Rotator last week didn’t know this was the annual Partners for New Generations Volunteer Recognition Luncheon, did you?

Greeter Captain KENDRA GJERSETH and HINDA WEBER shown here with PNG member Linda Waud and PP John welcomed us to the day’s festivities.  President SETH rang the high-energy crowd to order at precisely 12:15 and called upon Mountain View Rotarian Judy Hanneman to lead the pledge.

Soon-to-be Board Member BONNIE BURDETT shared her Thought for the Day, and a good one it was from Harold Whitman:  “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive.  And then go and do that.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Songmeister MICHAEL STADLEN shared a bit about what Memorial Day meant to him in his youth and then led the glee club in a rousing rendition of “It’s a Grand Old Flag.”

After the crowd settled back into their seats, President-Elect TRACIE mastered the “screeching microphone” and called upon visiting Rotarians to stand and make themselves known.  There were a few and the most notable to this scribe was the aforementioned Judy Hanneman.  Club members VAL CARPENTER, STEVE YARBROUGH, JULIE ROSE, ALLART LIGTENBERG, CAREW MCFALL, PAUL NYBERG and BOB ADAMS introduced their respective guests of the club.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

PE TRACIE then slipped in an announcement about next week’s program: Speakers Austin Keeley and Dave Evans will talk about “Ride Against AIDS & Face AIDS.”

President SETH then called for more announcements.  You can tell it’s spring when all STEVE SHEPHERD talks about is golf and the upcoming Rotary Golf Tournament, dinner and Texas Hold’em Poker tournament.  You’ll make STEVE very happy if you sign up, bring a guest, play golf, have dinner, play poker, and for heaven’s sake, let STEVE win the @#$% tournament.  If we let him win, we’ll never have to listen to another of his speeches like we did today.  (FYI: odds of him winning the Rotary Golf Tournament are about the same as him winning the California Lottery)  Please note;  The Barbeque Dinner following the tournament will take place at the Lakeside Café at Shoreline, not Michael’s at Shoreline.

Past-President JOHN MOSS kindly and gently reminds us that President SETH’s Kickout Lunch is June 25th and the Kickout Dinner is the following day, Friday, June 26th, at Los Altos Country Club.  Note to self: as a member, your Kickout Dinner Fee is already a given; your guest, however, is not.

RICK GLAZE, current President of LAREF,announced that there are two candidates for the LAREF Board; JEAN NEWTON FRAGUGLIA  and  PHIL ROSE.  The election for the two open seats will be held during our June 4th meeting.

KENDRA GJERSETH, Relay for Life Co-chair is promoting an event entitled “Fellowship & Bubbles” at VINO 100 on May 31st.  This is the kick-off for the upcoming Relay for Life event and with KENDRA running the show you just know it’s worth attending.

Relay for Life co-chair KATHY BERRY is looking for cancer survivors to participate in the opening ceremonies on Saturday, June 20th.  If you, or if you know anyone who would like to participate in the event, wearing the official tee-shirt, contact KATHY.

Past-President & Art Show Director SAM PESNER said he could see that art show income was down this year and the initial estimate is about $65,000 to $70,000 for the club.  He has a long list of members to thank, which he will do at the “art show update” meeting in June.

THE PROGRAM

President SETH introduced Master of Ceremonies and Mountain View Rotarian Judy Hanneman, who made it clear that she is not the President of PG&E, she’s with PNG.

Judy introduced Pam Lehner who is mentoring Olivia Olmos, a student at Alta Vista High School.  Olivia confessed to being terrified of public speaking but sounded like a veteran at the microphone in sharing her story.

We then heard from Mentor Lyle Bickley and his student, Brandon Fernando, another student from Alta Vista.

Hearing the personal, heartfelt and emotional stories told by the students themselves is the most convincing testimonial to the fact that a volunteer can truly make a difference in someone’s life.

Judy then introduced Nancy Traficanti, PNG Elementary School Coordinator and also a tutor at Theuerkauf Elementary School.  Nancy shared one of her own very “powerful” experiences with her student (see Nancy for the full story, in her own words).  Nancy says that to reap the rewards of tutoring, “all you have to do is look in the eyes of the kids.”

BILL MOISON shared his personal experience with his student and when BILL speaks, people listen.  Thanks for that, BILL.

Ineke Ligtenberg shared her experience as a child advocate.  If you ever want to learn about the side of life experienced by neglected and abused children, talk to a child advocate.  If you ever want to do something about this situation, become a child advocate.

Next speaker was Linda Waud, Mentor Coordinator.  Linda honored Mr. Bill Crawford for his long time commitment and dedication to mentoring at Alta Vista High School.  As a conclusion to Linda’s presentation to Mr. Crawford, Los Altos Rotary Club honored him with a standing ovation.

Judy then called upon our very own BOB ADAMS for a few closing remarks.  BOB’s first order of business was to present outgoing PNG president, Judy Hanneman, with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  Next topic, BOB introduced incoming president BONNIE BURDETT.  Next on the agenda was a pop quiz directed at JOE RENATI, who knew that PNG had been around for fourteen years (yes, JOE’s been a tutor that long).  After all these years of hard work and dedication, BOB tells us that PNG is “financially sustainable.”  Congratulations to the PNG Board, all the mentors and tutors, and everyone else connected to the program.  GOOD JOB!

President SETH very wisely exercised presidential privilege in adjourning the meeting eight minutes early to avoid being fined for being the very first Rotary President, ever, to have his car towed from the Art Show.  Note to Finemaster: Remember this!

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