Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show July 16th 2009

      
 
President TRACIE MURRAY called the meeting to order and MARLENE COWAN led the pledge of allegiance.
 
Tracie thanked our friendly greeters of the day:  VAL CARPENTER, MONA ARMISTEAD and STEVE POMEROY. She also acknowledged photographer RANDY GARD, Rotator writer JEAN NEWTON FRAGUGLIA as well as STEVE POMEROY and MIKE ABRAMS for shared duties as Sergeant at Arms. WYATT ALLEN served as cashier.
 
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
RICH CASEY, who was inspired by the Tour de France and Bastille Day, thinks we owe a debt of gratitude to the French people for all the ways in which they have touched and/or affected our country.  In addition to the Statue of Liberty that serves as an icon of freedom, the French also provided words that shaped our constitution like “égalité” and “liberté”.  Viva la France--and America.  (Freedom fries, anyone?)
 
SONG FOR THE DAY
In honor of July birthdays, song leader JEANNE MACVICAR led the group in a spirited rendition of “Happy Birthday Dear Friends”.

 
VISITING ROTARIANS AND GUESTS
Since there were no visiting Rotarians, President-elect DENNIS YOUNG welcomed all Rotarians with guests. KENDRA GJERSETH, STEVE GRUBER, BOB ADAMS, STEVE ANDERSON, ALLART LIGTENBERG, and MIKE ABRAMS all introduced their guests.   
 
PROGRAMS
DENNIS YOUNG said last week’s speaker, the new San Francisco Giants CEO Bill Neukom, generated some press and more dates are being scheduled for area sports teams like the 49ers and the Oakland A’s.  Next week’s speaker will be Skip Vaccarello who will give us his “Perspective on the Maritime Industry.”
 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Tracie announced that STEVE GRUBER had accepted the position of Future Vision Chair for the Foundation and thanked the members of that committee for their efforts.
 
NEW MEMBERS

Two new members were introduced to the club by Membership Chair JOHN CARDOZA.  RON PACKARD, a lawyer who also currently serves on the Los Altos City Council, received his pin from sponsor DICK BLANDING and ABIGAIL AHRENS, a residential home developer, was “pinned” by her sponsor, VAL CARPENTER.  After promising to follow the ideals of Rotary exemplified by “Service above Self”, the two received a standing ovation from the club.
 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
It looked like it was going to be a first-time occurrence when no one stepped forward to make an announcement until FRANK VERLOT made his way to the podium to let people know that the Senior Games being held at Stanford from August 1-15 needed volunteers.
 
WELCOME BACK
Tracie welcomed DON HULL back and then asked DENNIS YOUNG to give his five minute talk as a kick-off to a new feature this year where “older” members would give a shorter version of the new member 10-minute talk.
 

DENNIS YOUNG: FIVE MINUTES OF FAME
Dennis quickly brought us up to date with his history:  Born and raised in San Diego area in La Jolla, attended USF, moved to Los Altos in 1971, worked for Roy Lave, and started his accounting firm in 1977.  He is now a partner in charge of Northern California for RSM McGladrey.  He has been married to his lovely wife, Barbara (Bobbie), for 43 years, 189 days, 43 minutes and 51 seconds.  He has two grown sons who are attorneys like their mom who live in San Diego and four grandchildren who are the “most intelligent, wonderful, best in the whole world.”
 
But what he really wanted to do with his five minute talk was to philosophize about what brought him to this point in time. He summed it up with one word -- participate.  That’s what Dennis has done his entire life.  He has a strong belief in relationships and believes in staying involved, so he still keeps in touch with high school and college friends.  His participation started early. He was an Eagle Scout and took a leadership role in his High School.  One of his claims to fame was as the first freshman varsity cheerleader USF ever had, or probably has ever had. 
 
In his career as a CPA, Dennis enjoys participating with clients and with his staff to make things better.  With staff he becomes a career counselor and in his profession he has participated by serving as the Chair of the State CPA society and serving in many other roles including chair of the state ethics committee and finance committee.  Along with Jim Reynolds, he helped incorporate the Village Association.  He has served as past president of the Chamber of Commerce and is involved with the Festival of Lights where he loves to put on that Santa suit each year for the parade.  He also is active with the Housing Industry Foundation, Los Altos Community Foundation, and Silicon Valley Association of Realtors Charitable Foundation Trust. 
 
Dennis originally joined the San Carlos Rotary Club, but joined LARC in 1983 where he has served in a number of roles including LAREF president.  He is now honored to serve as president-elect.
 
According to Dennis, “Life is richer and fuller when giving back, whether it’s your church, community, or family.  Let’s all go out and participate.”
 
A FINE TIME FOR RECOGNITION
It was MARY PROCHNOW’S turn to recognize her fellow Rotarians and she managed to acknowledge quite a few including DENNIS YOUNG for attending USF at the same time as she did.  Those paying for July birthdays included JEANNE MAC VICAR and DICK BLANDING.  Somehow Mary skipped her own daughter, but then made up for it later on when BAIDRA MURPHY blurted out an answer to a fine question just to help out her fellow Rotarian.  Rich Casey paid $63 for his birthday.
KAILAS CHIDAMBARAM paid $50 for his anniversary though he has not been married that long. MARY wished a Happy Birthday to LOUIS BOREL who was not on hand to celebrate it with us. 
 
SCOTT FLEMING and STEVE YARBROUGH both contributed for Scott and Steve’s daughter’s anniversary.  BILL PALMER anted up for his 50-year anniversary and CINDY LUEDTKE was recognized for her BIG birthday at the end of June.  BUD OLIVER, heading off to bugs and humidity for eight weeks in Michigan, was a volunteer contributor for his birthday.
 
RON PACKARD gave up his first fine as a Rotarian and Don Hull reimbursed two friends for a fine.  MONA ARMISTEAD wanted to contribute $2 for her local grandchild’s second birthday but Mary said $20 please. JOANNE KAVALARIS paid for sharing a story about her favorite customer Willie Mays who went to the All Star game to see Obama throw out the first pitch.  DICK BLANDING paid $42 in honor of his anniversary. ABBIE AHRENS one-upped her co-inductee by contributing $40.  JEAN HOLLANDS, who missed her birthday and anniversary paid $25 for her two granddaughters who recently were married.  STEVE FICK, ALAN LAMBERT KENDRA GJERSETH, JOHN HAMMERSCHMIDT, JERRY MOISON, ROY JONES and STEVE KATZ were all fined for the knowledge (or lack of) our National Parks. 
 
Mary also reported that JOANNE BYRNE was doing well with some good reports from the doctor.
 
SPEAKER FOR THE DAY
Dave Brees, special projects manager for the City of Los Altos, gave us an update on plans for streetscape projects on the First Street corridor in downtown Los Altos and for Loyola Corners.  These improvements are important for many reasons including public safety for pedestrians, cyclists and cars as well as providing opportunities for planting more trees.  In addition, the goal is to increase the ability for people to come to the business districts to enjoy shopping and eating at restaurants in a safe and fun manner.
 
As part of the First Street corridor, the goal is to establish a sense of place and character with three different zones including a retail/restaurant zone, an office/retail zone and an office/residential zone. Plans include widening sidewalks to accommodate outdoor seating for restaurants but still enough room for pedestrians; making intersection areas larger and creating more spaces for people to hang out; and putting in a median to help with the flow of traffic in certain areas. Dave is currently in the process of gathering community input and will soon go back to the council with his results.
 
The Loyola Corners streetscape is in an earlier stage, still in the concept stage, but Dave will soon be going out to gather input from the community on ways to incorporate pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles.  The goal for the Loyola Corners triangle is to reestablish the feeling of the history when there was a train station there.  They are looking at a special event plaza, planting more trees and making a one-way street on A Street to help with the flow of traffic. 
 
Dave told the group that the City Council welcomes comment and input and this is the opportunity and time to give an opinion on these projects.
 
Questions from the floor included: 
What are the plans for the Echo property in Loyola Corners?
Dave replied that the downtown post office is scheduled to close January of 2010 and move to the Miramonte site so that the old Echo property would likely become a parking area.
 
What about bicycles?  Demographics of Los Altos?  Fed Funding?
Impact of bicyclists a key factor so trying to slow down traffic. These projects will compete with other funds.  Demographics were taken into consideration, but Los Altos does have a significant senior population.
 
What are the plans for returning a post office to downtown?
Not sure of plans at this time.
 
Dave encouraged business owners who will be impacted by the streetscape project to talk with him and announced that he would be happy to meet with them.
 
Tracie thanked Dave for his informative talk and told him a book would be donated in his honor.
 
The meeting was adjourned.  

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