Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show October 15th 2009

The meeting began right on time this week with a resounding “Good Afternoon” from President TRACIE. Members were greeted by PP DICK DUHRING, AILEEN LOW, and LEN MCBIRNEY. ALLAN VARNI lead the Pledge, MIKE ABRAMS did the thought for the day, and MIKE STADLEN lead the group in a resounding version of “ Anything Goes” by the great Cole Porter.

 
With one or two weak claps from the crowd PE DENNIS YOUNG then called for visitors and guests. Carolyn Schuetz, a past District Governor and Chair of the Coaniquem Burn Center Project, joined us from the Alameda Rotary Club.   Rabbi Jay Miller, our speaker for the day, joined us from the Burlingame Rotary Club. Rotarian MARLIS MCALLISTER introduced KENDRA GJERSETH’S guest Steve Bianchi, GARY MAGGARD introduced his wife Sandy Mangia, and KAILAS CHIDAMBARAM introduced his guest Bob Johnson from Oregon.

  COANIQUEM BURN CENTER UPDATE: KAILAS CHIDAMBARAM invited Carolyn Schuetz up the microphone to present her with a check for $2365.00. This is enough to support two children for an entire year. Carolyn then gave us an update on Manuel and Daniela. Manuel is about 17 years old and doing very well. His treatment is going well and he is attending school regularly. Daniela was burned severely on her face but she is working with therapists and has been given snail cream to put on her scars. She is about 16 years old and adjusting well.

ROTARY AIDS PROJECT 20th ANNIVERSARY UPDATE:
RICH CASEY thanked everyone for the success of the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Rotary AIDS Project. It was an excellent event with attendance between 110-120 people. The group had a great time recognizing PP DUDE ANGUS for his hard work over the years. Special thanks was given to the RAP Committee, Robin Young (who produced the Los Altos Story), JEAN NEWTON FRAGUGLIA, and Ginny Lear for all their hard work.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: President TRACIE MURRAY was first up informing the crowd that the Rotacare Clinic will not be giving flu shots this year due to a shortage of doses. Please see your regular physician instead.

• On October 29th there will be a Rotacare Fundraiser and on November 14th the Rotary Club of Cupertino will also be hosting a Rotacare fundraiser. More information will follow on both events.
• JOHN SYLVESTER announced the wine and cheese party at PP AL TRAFICANTI’S house on Friday, October 30th. The event is full so if you are not planning on attending and had signed up please let JOHN know so he can open up the spots.
• JERRY MOISON, not wanting to upstage MIKE ABRAMS, offered his own thought for the day: “If elk can have sex 10-15 times a night, then why are we Rotarians?” Now segueing into Youth and Vocation, JERRY is looking for a new trainer for the Child Abuse Prevention course and a liaison for the new Interact Club at Pinewood. Please contact him if you are interested in either position.
• KAREN FOX informed the club the Community Service Agency’s list of needs for donations this Holiday Seasons. Items include foods, gifts, and clothing. Please see KAREN for a complete list of items.
• DON WITT official started the Holiday Season with a Festival of Lights Parade announcement. The parade will take place on November 29th with Rotarians meeting at Main Street Café. We will be sponsoring the Gingerbread House Float this year!
• DAVID SMITH informed the club about a forum for non-profits which will cover the topic of Collaboration to take place on November 10th from 2:30pm – 5:00pm. The club will cover the participation fee. Please see DAVID for more information if you are interested in attending.

NEW MEMBER INITIATION: JOHN CARDOZA informed the club that we are up to 162 members and by the end of December we will have 164. This is the most we have had since 2005. New member SEAN KELLY and his sponsor JEAN MORDO made their way up front. SEAN is originally from Buffalo, New York and spent 7 years in the army. He then finished his Masters degree in management and is now managing Charles Schwab in Los Altos. He was married 3 months ago. JEAN then presented SEAN with his Red Badge. JEAN then informed the club as the why he invited SEAN to become a member: “He keeps my money so I want to keep and eye on him”.
 

LOS ALTOS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION UPDATE: JEAN NEWTON FRAGUGLIA played a video showcasing the Los Altos Community Foundation and the impact that they have had on the community. Founded in the early 1990s the video showcased the depth of the group and the various action items they focus on such as preserving the history of Los Altos and hosting events that bring the community together. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved. On October 25th the Foundation will be hosting their annual brunch. Please visit their website, http://www.losaltoscf.org/, for more information.

GEORGE ZETINA 10 MINUTE TALK: GEORGE gave an interesting and informative 10-minute talk starting with the history of his family. GEORGE’S grandparents were originally from Spain, but moved to Mexico in the late 1890s. They opened a business in Tabasco harvesting tree sap to make chewing gum. His parents were born in the late 1920s and currently live in Mexico.

George came along in 1960 and he has 3 brothers and 1 sister. He is currently the only member of his family that resides in the United States. His family loved the outdoors and he spent his childhood hiking and camping. From 1976-!979 he attended University in Mexico working towards an accounting degree. During this time he was a local tax collector. He quickly decided that he did not like muddling in people’s lives like this.

In 1979, when is finished university, he moved to Los Angeles with his father and one brother. His family eventually relocated back to Mexico, but in 1981 GEORGE decided to move to San Francisco and attend nursing school.  After caring for a friend in Portland for a few years, he moved back to San Francisco and began working at a clinic that cared for AIDS patients. After many powerful experiences with death and suffering he decided it was time to move on.

He then switched to management for the Postal Service and was in this career for 10 years. 2 years ago he gave the insurance business a shot, decided it wasn’t for him and switched to residential real estate which he has been doing for a year now. GEORGE has been married for 8 years and finished his talk with a big announcement: his wife is pregnant and due in March, so he decided to join the President’s Club!

SPEAKER: Our speaker this week is Rabbi Jay Miller who is a founding member of the Peninsula Clergy Network (PCN). The PCN is an interactive network of all clergy in San Mateo and Northern Santa Clara Counties which builds knowledge, understanding, and working relationships. They promote the increased interaction between clergy and civic leaders within the communities they jointly serve. They have created a database of 440 clergy members and 310 congregations on the Peninsula. They help to initiate clergy with clergy and clergy with civic leader dialogues. The topics of these dialogues cover a broad spectrum and a few examples are education, juvenile justice, increasing graduation rates, building homeless shelters, and implanting community organizations. Through this open communication they are hoping enhance tones of religious tolerance, capacity and impact of inter-faith collaborative, engagement of clergy and congregations in the community, and the access of the faith sector by the community. They are trying to achieve a community where all branches function together while still respecting the separation of church and state. More information can be found on their website: www.peninsulaclergynetwork.org.
 
 

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