Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show June 17, 2010

Greeters SHAWN KELLEY, CHUCK LINDAUER and STEVE BIANCHI made the day seem like a normal Rotary day.  Things can change suddenly.  There was KAREN OWEN at the money changer’s desk, doing her best impression of WYATT ALLEN.  There were a couple of past-presidents hanging around the lectern, but no President TRACIE.

At precisely 12:15 pm, Past-President SAM PESNER rang the room to order but it lacked that certain something we’ve come to expect and enjoy over the past eleven months and two weeks.  Maybe it was the way PP SAM whispered so softly into the microphone.  Maybe it was… , oh, never mind.  TRACIE and family are vacationing in Cabo San Lucas.

PP SAM elected PE DENNIS YOUNG to lead the Pledge and JERRY TOMANEK to share his thought for the day.  JERRY shared a song from the Electric Light Orchestra entitled “Hold Tight to Your Dream.”  Jerry wants us to remember that when you see your ship go sailing and when you feel your heart is breaking or if you see the shadows falling and hear the cold wind calling, just remember: hold on tight to your dream.  Sounds like a good idea to me.

Next up was our very creative songmeister JEANNE MACVICAR presenting a totally unrehearsed version of that old time favorite “Moonlight Bay.”  It took Jeanne a moment or two to get the room organized to her liking and when she did, WOW, the rendition was breathtaking.  Trust me on that one.

PE DENNIS YOUNG called upon visiting Rotarians to stand and make themselves known.  One did.  From Burlingame Rotary.  BOB ADAMS, JOHN SYLVESTER and DENNIS YOUNG introduced their respective guests of the club.  Welcome one and all.

Fair warning from PE DENNIS YOUNG regarding next week’s program: IT’S KICKOUT!  Tune in next week.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Before letting loose of the microphone, PE DENNIS YOUNG asks all Rotarians to don their Rotary shirts and join the fun at the Fourth of July Picnic right here at Shoup Park (it starts at 10:30 am according to PP ROY LAVE).

JOHN (Gesturing John) SYLVESTER invites you and your guest to the Kickout Dinner next Friday, June 25th, at Fremont Hills Country Club.  Please remember, your dinner is already paid for; your guest’s is not.  You must pay for your guest by June 30th or incur the wrath of Treasurer SANDIE WHIPPLE.

Item two from Gesturing JOHN: Next wine & cheese party is at DICK BLANDING’s house on July 23rd.  Sign up now.

DAN O’DONNELL is looking for two more RotoCare dinner drivers.  Do your good deed and deliver dinner the RotoCare volunteers and make DAN a very happy man.  Contact him via email, snail mail or phone to do your part.

This scribe is still pondering the next announcement.  It was either STEVE POMEROY looking like JACK HEIDMILLER or JACK HEIDMILLER sounding like STEVE POMEROY.  Either way, one or the other has only two opportunities left for you to help sell Chef Chu’s Chinese Chicken Salad at the Los Altos Art & Wine Festival on Saturday, July 10th.  Don’t you dare miss this golden opportunity for fun, fellowship and socializing; sign up on-line now.  To make your life easy, here’s the website: http://www.clubrunner.ca/CPrg/home/homeD.asp?cid=4000. (Publisher’s Note: As of the time of publication, there’s only ONE slot available to engage in this unique opportunity.)

President For the Day SAM PESNER called upon BOB ADAMS’ guest, Mr. Larry Feder, to say a few words about who he is and what he’s doing.  Mr. Feder is the new (one week) President of the El Camino Hospital Foundation.  He introduced himself as a professional fund raiser but bills himself as a “social venture capitalist.”  Apparently this title is much more conducive to attracting people at cocktail parties.  Welcome, Mr. Feder, and best wishes for your new pursuit.

PP SAM asked us to support our local Chamber of Commerce by paying and playing in their Golf Tournament on August 2nd at Los Altos Country Club.  It really is a good time and a great golf course.  Call SAM or JULIE ROSE for sign-up information.

RECOGNITION

PP MARY PROCHNOW managed to extract a few bucks from a few members like COETA CHAMBERS, SAM HARDING (after a few disparaging remarks about past secretary STEVE ANDERSON’s record keeping), ROY LAVE, STEVE YARBROUGH, DON WITT, DWIGHT MATTHEWS (for his great-nephew being drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates), JANE REED, MONA ARMISTEAD, JEAN FRAGUGLIA and JACK KELLY.

FELLOWSHIP

PP SAM called for five minutes of fellowship and actually managed to restore order without any outside intervention.

THE PROGRAM

PE DENNIS YOUNG introduced Elisa Peters, the Director of Government and Community Programs, at Ennovationz, right here in Mountain View.  Ennovationz is a company that helps people make their homes green and energy efficient.  After much experimentation with their business model, they have discovered the proper price point for their service: free.  They do generate income through referral fees.

Their main thrust is performing energy audits for homeowners and guiding them through the myriad of products and home improvement options.  Elisa builds partnerships between Ennovationz and local governments, community groups and employers.  She sprung a pop quiz on us asking questions like what should and shouldn’t be plugged into power strips, does wrapping your water heater do any good and are CFL bulbs worth it?  (Anything that has a “remote” should be plugged into a power strip, as well as a computer and anything connected to it.  Wrapping your new water heater won’t do you any good and using CFL bulbs can save as much a $30 per year.  (How about that?)

I plan on setting up an account with Ennovationz (free) to see if I can lower my PG&E bill.  For a lot more great information, see their website: www.ennovationz.com.

PP SAM thanked Elisa for a most illuminating program and then did what SAM does.

Most of you should stop reading at this point, but if you’re interested in how SAM closed the meeting, continue reading below.

A woman was frustrated because her husband couldn’t perform like he did as a young man. She sends him to a medicine man who is known to be skilled in this area. The man is incredulous but he goes. He describes his problem; the medicine man looks him over, reads some beads and tosses some bones, and announces that he has the answer. He mixes a potion, seals it in a vial and gives it to the man. “When you are ready, drink this potion and count to three. Your youthful vigor will be restored and you will have the stamina of an Olympic athlete - all day, every day!” The man says “That sounds great, but what if I get tired? What if I want to take a break?” The medicine man says “To reverse the potion, count to four. All will be as it was before. But be warned, once reversed, the potion cannot be renewed until the next full moon.” The man, still doubtful, goes home. He finds his wife in the bedroom, takes off his clothes, says “One, two, three” and he is instantly in the full bloom of his youthful manhood. “This is what I’ve been hoping for,” says his wife, stripping off her clothes. “But say, what was the ‘One, two, three’ for?”

I warned you to stop reading!!!