Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show September 23 2010

At the entrance to today’s Rotary Club meeting stood VAL CARPENTER, DAVE SNOW AND PAUL SCHUTZ, glad-handing every Rotarian before they gave their food order to PP WYATT ALLEN.  Good job greeters.

President DENNIS YOUNG started the meeting at 12:15 and the day’s Rotary proceedings began. JERRY TOMANEK led us by saluting the flag and RICK GLAZE recited one of Robert Frost’s many poems that make sense for the thought for the day.    

With the San Francisco Giants in a close fight to win the National League West pennant, JOHN SYLVESTER encouraged us all to sing “Take Me Out to The Ballgame.”

President Elect MONA ARMISTEAD introduced visiting Rotarian guests: Steve Inger from San Mateo Rotary, Alicia Crank from Mountain View Rotary and George Tyson from Cupertino Rotary.

Los Altos Rotarians with guests were, STEVE SHEPHERD, JULIE ROSE, KAREN FOX and JEANNE MacVICAR
President DENNIS announced next week’s Rotary will feature Gloria Hom discussing the different propositions on the November ballot, and candidates running for Los Altos City Council and Los Altos Hills City Council offering their reasoning for running.

Dennis also announced different amounts of checks arriving for the San Bruno explosion. All the checks made out to LAREF will be totaled and the money sent to the San Bruno Rotary.

New Rotarian Inducted: KEN SCHWEIFLER became a new Red Badger. His classification is Dental Practice. KEN was eagerly sponsored by PP MARGE BRUNO and STEVE SHEPHERD, and introduced to the club by CLYDE NOEL. He is a dentist on Alta Oaks Avenue in Los Altos.  After graduating from dental school in 2002 he took over his father’s practice and has solo-practiced since. Dr. SCHWEIFLER is a strong believer in lasting and meaningful relationships with his patients.  Be sure to take the time to introduce yourself and welcome him into our club.

Announcements:

• PP CINDY LUEDTKE was first in line to make announcement and she stated she has a new classification: “Banking-Retired.” Although her information is now considered passé, CINDY said they were having a planting party at the new Day Worker Center site that afternoon and 150 holes were being dug as she was speaking. As a fund-raiser for the Day Worker Center Capital Campaign, CINDY said the holes would cost anywhere from $11.50 to $150.00 depending on the plant that you want to bury in the hole.
  
  
• CINDY also mentioned a gigantic yard sale will be held Saturday Sept. 25, with proceeds to benefit the Capital Campaign for the permanent Day Worker Center.
  
  
• JOHN SYLVESTER applauded last Friday’s wine and cheese party at PP SAM PESNER’S back yard with an opera singer singing an aria from Carmen. On October 15, this monthly party will be held at the home of CLARI NOLET. More information to follow by JOHN, although he doubts there will be an opera singer there.
  
  
• It was suggested we send a get-well card or e-mail to MARV PATTERSON who is at home recuperating from a recent episode from a blood clot and awaiting an additional operation for a tumor.
  
  
• In other unhappy news, PP SETH MANNING reported Red Badger, TOM POTTERFIELD passed onto a more secure world several weeks ago.    We will miss him.
  
  




• DAN HOLDEN is requesting Rotarians to become tutors and mentors for middle school students. Contact DAN or contact Partners for New Generations.
  
  
• MATT CABOT is redesigning the website and is looking for individual pictures to be placed on the new website's Banner. The person’s picture selected as best will have their picture on the website for one year, and receive $50 towards the President's Club, LAREF, RAP, or PNG in their name.  See last week's Rotator for details.  Contest ends Oct 15th.
  
  
• DAVID SMITH spoke about “Art in the Park” in South Africa, an opportunity to travel with Rotarians to this very special host club in May, 2011.
• JOHN MORDO encouraged Rotarians to attend the “Follies” at the Bus Barn the evenings of Oct 8 and 9.

Ten Minute Blue Badger talk: MARY MARLEY laid out her life’s history to the audience starting from her native New York City. Expressing her ego, “She felt that her parents always wanted a little girl like me.” She matriculated at St. John’s University majoring in mathematics.

During the 1972 depression she became a part time computer programmer as her career started in high tech. In short time she became a salesperson for Burroughs and did well and with a productive time period the company transferred her to California in 1986.

In 1987, she met her husband Arley Marley and recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. In 1996, she left the high tech computer field and joined Alain Pinel Realtors and has become one of the highest real estate producers in Santa Clara County achieving the lifetime achievement award.

MARY’S introduction to Rotary started when PP MARGE BRUNO sponsored her. Soon thereafter, PP BOB ADAMS recruited her to volunteer with Partners for New Generations (PNG), which she chaired for several years. She has taken on numerous activities with Los Altos Rotary including Red Badge Coordinator. Her best honor was “The Rotarian of the Year” when PP CINDY LUEDTKE bestowed the title on her while president.

“My life is so much more meaningful since I have been a Rotarian.  And my inspiration is to focus on the goal and don’t stop till you are over the finish line.”

Email from KAILAS CHIDAMBARAM

  To: Pres. Dennis & Fellow Rotarians.   I am very happy to announce that Los Altos Rotary Club Rotarians have donated $1,970.00 towards the care of children undergoing burn treatment in Chile. Special thanks goes to Von & Ann Packard for their generous gift of $500.00 which greatly helped us meet and exceed our target. We should all be proud that we have raised this amount without tapping into club funds.

This has been a tough year, with Rotarians having to support several man-made & natural disasters. Members of LARC have been generous beyond expectation and I am both grateful and humbled by their actions. We really have a very caring membership.   I shall be attending the Coaniquem BCF Fund-Raiser lunch Sunday September 26 and will present our Donation from LARC to PDG Carolyn Scheutz & PP George Rojas at the event. Once again, a big Thank You to all our member donors.   

Respecfully, Kailas Chidambaram Los Altos Rotary Club (408) 358-4272

Fleecing the Pocketbook:  
JACK KELLY became fine master for the day and resorted to hearsay conversations heard by Rotarians.  Using that base, the following Rotarians are lighter in the pocketbook with meager results because of unproven scuttlebutt.

PP ROY LAVE - $20	KEN SCHWEIFLER - $20	JERRY MOISON - $20
PP WYATT ALLEN - $20	GREG DABB - $60	PP MEL KAHN - $20

Guest Speaker:
PP DICK HENNING introduced guest speaker, Paul Draper, as a distinguished California winemaker who lives in the hills above Los Altos.

 
Mr. Draper has been the chief winemaker at Ridge Vineyards since 1969 and is known as the winemaker that has 50 years of non-industrial wine making under his belt.
“I’m not used to speaking to a group like this with people who are not drinking wine with me,” Paul said. “I am used to wine as a culture of everyday living.”

Draper came out of Stanford University without a course in wine making because he majored in philosophy. After Stanford he spent time in the Army and time at the Sorbonne studying French cuisine and nutrition.

After a few years in other countries studying wine making, Draper arrived at Ridge Vineyards at the request of Stanford University. His mission was to make Ridge a “respectable” winery.  He focused on Cabernet and became an advocate of cool climate wine making.

In 1971 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon was selected to take part in a blind test with French wines and it ended fifth best overall. In a 2006 rematch, the 1971 Ridge was the highest ranked red wine beating out the 1973 Stag’s winery and other French entries.

Draper is an advocate of natural winemaking. His view stems from his desire to let the vineyards express themselves instead of industrial winemaking with numerous additives. “We at Ridge make wine like the top wineries in Europe,” said Draper. “We don’t use outside ingredients. We look at the traditional techniques and not industrial techniques.”
Draper finished his comments with a caution to look ahead at the grape production because of our cold summer. “There has been nothing like this in 42 years and we don’t expect as many good grapes.”

Draper finished with his comment on Zinfandel, his favorite Red wine. “We just released a 2008 Geyserville Zinfandel this month and it is a good one. It’s probably at Draeger’s Market now.

Being an advocate of good Zinfandel, especially the Ridge label, I am finishing this Rotator at the same time I drained the last drop in the glass of Ridge East Bench Zinfandel 2007. I think I’ll fill the glass again.