Los Altos Rotary Club eNewsletter "Rotator"

Los Altos Rotary Club

Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show

September 2nd 2010

Writer: Steve Yarbrough - Photographer: Chuck Lindauer - Editor: Cindy Luedtke

This Thursday's Program: Sep 9 2010
Bill Somerville - Grassroots Philanthropy

After President Dennis Young rang the Rotary bell at 12:15, the pledge was led, the song was sung and the thought was thought. Greeters Steve Wu, Gary Waldeck and Abby Ahrens made arriving to the meeting a very welcoming experience. The sun was shining and the temperature was in the low 90s. It was, all things considered, a prime Los Altos Thursday afternoon.

Kathy Berry read us a brief, heart-warming letter from a student scholarship applicant. Rotary works.

ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE
District Rep. Bert Rafael spoke briefly about having our club host incoming Rotary Youth Exchange Students. After having hosted kids from Japan, Sweden and France, this writer can attest to the fun of having a Rotary youth at your home for a couple of months. Best if you have teens in your home now, so if you are interested in hosting, please contact President Dennis Young. He will help set this up for you.

Also, there are needs for new grant writers for international Rotary projects. If you want to attend a workshop in Cupertino, let President Dennis know so you can get in on the ground floor of Rotary grant requests.

ROTARIAN OF THE MONTH
What a difference a month makes. Clyde Noel was honored as the Rotarian of the Month due to his extraordinary work as membership director and the “Meet a Los Altos Rotarian” news feature appearing in the Town Crier. Who will challenge Clyde for next month’s honors? Stay tuned!

ANNOUNCEMENTS
President Dennis Young reminded everyone that the Avenues of Service event in San Jose is ahead. He demands excellent turnout from us. Be there or be square. Our LARC World Community Service Committee will be out in force, manning three different booths.

Dan O’Donnell picked up another volunteer for food delivery to the Rotacare Clinic at El Camino Hospital.

John Sylvester waved to us that Sam Pesner will welcome all comers if they bring wine or cheese or both to their house. Sign the clip board and show up to his home on the 17th.

Treasurer Sandy Whipple wants money. Doesn’t she always? 2010-2011 dues are due; Past due actually, and 47 of you know who you are, and so does Sandy. So better pay up. Or else.

COANIQUEM BURN CENTER
Kailas Chidambaram, originally from Singapore but now out of the Los Altos Rotary Club and into heavy equipment, asked us to contribute to the Coaniquem Burn Center. For numerous years now, our club has supported through individual member donations, at least two severely burned children to be treated at one of several burn clinics in South America. We have improved the lives of several beautiful children in their survival and recovery from burns which have caused horrible disfigurement. We have a lot to be proud of, but this year we have only raised $500 of the $1,800 needed. Can you chip in? If so, please give your check to Kailas. It’s time to break out the photos of the kids. That will turn your heart to mush.

Beverly Tucker urged everyone not signed up for Ennovations $10k energy challenge must do so now. At last reckoning we were close to winning the money for the club.

KAREN GREGURAS 10-MINUTE TALK
Karen is a teacher. You could tell because she communicates well. And quickly. She is experienced in all levels from kindergarten to college where she is currently ensconced teaching English to the language needy. She went to college in Nebraska and is a permanently a Cornhusker.

She also has her real estate license for both California and Colorado and is among the first ever eco-brokers. She is interested in sustainable building. Volunteerism is a big part of her life. Her husband, Fred, is an attorney. Both daughters are Colorado grads.

Already Karen is active with the Rotary as Tutor Coordinator for Partners for New Generations and has participated on the Scholarship Committee. It’s nice to know Karen has joined the Rotary team.

NEW ROTARIANS - Red and Blue

Rae Holt, sponsored by freshly blue-badged Abby Ahrens, was introduced as the newest Los Altos Rotaian to a standing ovation.

Minutes before, Abby, along with her red badge comrades Karen Greguras, Anne Arjani and Steve Bianchi cast aside their red badges in favor of the sleeker blue models.

Val Carpenter, Karen Greguras and Abby Aherns

Rae is a USC math major turned pastor.

He now is the executive director of Pilgrim Haven, soon be to called The Terraces at Los Altos.
Be sure to welcome Rae to Los Altos Rotary when you see him next Thursday!

FINEMASTER: “THE OTHER” MOISON BROTHER WHO LOOKS YOUNGER AND SMARTER
It’s the dog days of baseball, so Bill Moison made the theme for fining famous dogs. He quickly pocketed a few hundred dollars by picking on Dave Beronio, John Sylvester, Gary Waldeck, Barbara Small, Anne Arjani and Steve Wu. All in all, it all went to the dogs. Thanks Bill!

NASA – SPACE, THE FINAL FRONTIER
Our speaker was brought to us courtesy of Carolina Blake, acting director of the Office of Equal Opportunity at NASA Ames. Carolina formed and managed the “commercial reusable suborbital research project” and has been associated with NASA Ames since the mid 1990s. She asked John W. Boyd, whose tenure at NASA Ames reaches back to 1947. No one has more institutional knowledge of the aeronautical research center than Jack Boyd.

Jack is a Virginian and it shows. He’s all gentleman. Casual and competent, Jack showed slides of the range of human flight which developed in the span of one lifetime. Humans went from being unable to fly, to going to the moon and beyond in 65 years. Remarkable! And NASA Ames was at the forefront of this development.

The center was started after aviator Charles Lindbergh returned from Germany in 1939 and advised the U.S. president to build an aeronautics center as far from Germany as possible. Ames was the result. What came out of the center include such fundamental technologies such as the swept-back wing, the blunt body concept for re-entry capsules, Apollo guidance systems, Pioneer spacecraft, Viking, Galileo, and Jupiter. The center hosts the world’s largest wind tunnel, sufficient to house full scale aircraft and supersonic tunnels for up to mach 3.5. The supersonic ranges allow the firing of objects at speeds in excess of 20,000 miles per hour to test atmospheric effects.

Jack explained the newest flying telescope aircraft – a remodeled 747 with a huge door and a vibration-free telescope to measure infrared wave lengths in the universe.

NASA Ames was also responsible for development of the vertical takeoff rotor. Now employing 3,170 staff and students, NASA Ames has an annual budget of about $824 million. Looking forward, NASA Ames will be working toward goals of returning to the moon in 2020, ear earth objects in 2025 and will explore Mars in 2030-2035.

Just launched, was the Kepler probe, to ascertain where there are other earth-like planets in our neighborhood. So far, Kepler has discovered seven planets. So far, all but one are too hot to be user friendly. Last week, however, Kepler discovered a planet one and one-half times larger than Earth which may be habitable. Exciting stuff.

Thanks again to Carolina Blake for bringing Jack Boyd to us.

THIS COMING THURSDAYS PROGRAM

Sep 9 2010 Bill Somerville Grassroots Philanthropy