Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show October 7 2010

President DENNIS YOUNG called the meeting to order with a welcome to the “best Rotary Club in the world.” And MARY MARLEY led the pledge of allegiance.
 
Dennis thanked Greeters BARBARA SMALL, KAREN GREGURAS, and JOHN HAMMERSCHMIDT (also today’s photographer) and acknowledged the hard work of Sergeant at Arms LEW FRASER, MIKE ABRAMS and FRANK VERLOT.  Cashier was WYATT ALLEN.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
STEVE YARBROUGH noted that the recent speaker at the Celebrity Forum, Captain “Sully” Sullenberg, was indeed a true hero. He also shared the joke Dick Henning told his audience about being treated to retirement lunches and admitting he is not retiring but just likes the lunches. When asked whether he tells that same joke every night at Celebrity Forum, Dick said,” the joke stays the same; it’s the audience that changes.”  So, then, the thought for the day is something like, “we are what we repeatedly do” and “excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”  

 
SONG FOR THE DAY
JERRY MOISON led us in the Louis Armstrong favorite, “What a Wonderful World,” which always reminds me of the Angius family and DUDE’S courage in speaking out about AIDS that ultimately led to the Los Altos Rotary AIDS Project.
 

VISITING ROTARIANS
President Dennis filled in for traveling President Elect MONA ARMISTEAD and asked visiting Rotarians to stand for introductions. We were pleased to welcome Debby Rice, president of Saratoga Rotary, who brought several other members of her club along for an impromptu interclub visit.  Nice to see you all!
 
AND GUESTS
JULIE ROSE introduced Brian Schmidt, an environmental attorney and SC Water District candidate and DICK DUHRING introduced Bob Simon, fondly known as the Poet Laureate of Los Altos.

ROTARIAN OF THE MONTH
For his work on the lunch survey and for tallying all the results, which will be available soon, Dennis presented the September Rotarian of the Month to JOHN CARDOZA.  John, who was not at the meeting, should not to be mixed up with, JOHN SYLVESTER, who was making his way up to the podium for an announcement.
 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
While JOHN SYLVESTER waited somewhat patiently, President Dennis said two clipboards were going around for sign ups.  One clipboard was for the upcoming Avenue of Services on October 21 and the other was for the Youth Protection screening on October 18, sponsored by the Scotts Valley Rotary Club.
 
END POLIO NOW EVENT ON OCT 24
He also reminded the club that the big End Polio Now event would be held in San Francisco on October 24.  While the walk across the Golden Gate Bridge won’t be possible due to permit issues, there will still be a huge celebration with a walk on the Embarcadero to the Ferry Building with a special lighting ceremony and the President of Rotary International will be in attendance. 
 
MEETING VENUE CHANGE NOV 11
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for a meeting change of venue for November 11, which will also be a special day to commemorate Veterans Day.  That is, the November 11, 2010 meeting will be held at the Los Altos Country Club.
 

SAD NEWS
Two longtime LARC members recently passed away:  Joe O’Toole, who lived at The Forum Retirement Community for some time and visited the club now and then, and Ed Sox who had been a member for 18 years before moving to Oceanside to be near family.  They will be missed.
 
MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS
The paraphernalia from Rotary will show up next week, since Charlie Wasser was recovering from Rotarian duties this week. So, if you want the Rotary-logoed shirt, hat, pin, etc. be ready to buy next week.
 
Since the playoffs started and both SAM HARDING and BOB ADAMS were going to the game, Dennis gave them Giants scarves for good luck.  There was also mention of some kind of red thong good luck charm thing, but this reporter is not sure she heard that correctly.
 
AND MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Yes, JOHN SYLVESTER was still patiently waiting for his turn all this time to tell us that the next Wine & Cheese Social would be on October 15 at CLARI NOLET’s home. Bring something to sip and something to snack on and don’t forget to sign up.
 
John also mentioned that he was appearing in the BUS BARN FOLLIES and tickets were still available.
 
RICH CASEY announced that he just returned from the San Jose Sunrise Club with a commitment of DDF funds for $1,200 and a check for $150 towards the $75,000 Global Grant Application the Los Altos Rotary AIDS Project is trying to obtain for its Child AIDS Prevention program. Rich is hoping to meet with the President of the host Rotary Club in Liberia while she is in the area in preparation for a trip in February to kick off the project.
 
It’s that time of year again when TRACIE MURRAY reminds us the popular Asante event that benefits Rotacare will be held on November 11 at the Historic Del Monte Building in Sunnyvale.  Mark your calendars and plan to attend or donate something for the silent auction, like Dennis Young, who donated four Giants tickets right on the spot.
 
KAREN FOX thanked LARC members again for their participation in the CSA Home Town Heroes Breakfast, honoring ROY LAVE and PAUL and Liz NYBERG, and announced that the event raised $58,000.
 
JEAN MORDO announced the meeting of LAREF at 5:15 October 7 at the offices of DENNIS YOUNG.
 

A FINE TIME
There was only one solitary, lonely clap before KENDRA GJERSETH could tell the group to hold their applause and SCOTT FLEMING was already standing, making this the easiest and most prolific fining session ever.  ESTHER NG was kept busy with the duck bucket.
 
SCOTT announced a missed anniversary, that his birthday was the next day, and that he had a new job, after wheezing and dying a slow death in real estate.  His new job is in business banking with Wells Fargo.  All this for a total of $39.
 
STEVE GRUBER joined the President’s Club in honor of the Giants making the playoffs while CHUCK LINDAUER wanted a president club hat in honor of his four-year-old grand-daughter’s birthday as well as his birthday the following week.  SETH MANNING also joined the club for a new hat on behalf of his five-year-old grandson’s birthday on November 1.
 
MARLENE COWAN had lots of fun hiking in Austria and Switzerland, but her big news was a new job as a “Granny Nanny” and the fact that she’s been in Rotary for 18 years for $36.
 
JOHN MOSS has been carrying a check around for weeks and finally was able to pay up for two items of news:  he’s learning how not to limp on his new hip and his youngest daughter, Rhoda, just got engaged.
 
Visiting Saratoga Rotarian, Debby Rice introduced two more Saratoga members in attendance and gave $5 in honor of the “duck” bucket, Go Ducks!  (That would be for the U of Oregon Ducks.)
 
Kendra wondered if anyone had seen the big article in the Mercury News on DICK HENNING, but Dick said he should stay sitting so as not to embarrass her as he had already paid that fine.
 
SAM PESNER decided it was time to “Fine a Friend” and that friend was dear president DENNIS who hadn’t gotten to giving SAM the presidential hat yet.  After some shenanigans, more fines were levied and hopefully Sam got his hat.
 
Back to Kendra, who singled out STEVE SHEPHERD, as her favorite guy in the club for introducing her to the love of her life (well it was Bev, actually).  Steve said he thinks he’s a good matchmaker because he was born on Valentine’s Day, but that didn’t help as the discussion turned to whether or not the Northern Trust ad that saluted ROY LAVE had paid Roy for the use of his image.  After some poker references and a conversation about sharing the wealth with STEVE FICK of Borel Bank who also place a simillar ad, a $20 fine was split in two.
 
KAREN FOX added $20 to the bucket as a thank you to DICK HENNING for the remarkable Sully Sullenberg experience at Celebrity Forum. PAT FARRELL also thanked Dick Henning for inviting him to meet Sullenberger with $20.
 
Kendra acknowledged MARGE BRUNO as the first female LARC president and Marge pointed out that Roy Lave received another prestigious award, this time from Pathways and contributed $20.
 
October is a good month for LARC with 30% of the club, some 52 members, recorded as joining the club during October including:  LEN McBIRNEY who joined in October 1961, 50 years ago.  In 1968 LARRY MADSEN, DAN DUTTON and DICK HENNING joined so Larry took the $10 fine for the team. In 1969, DICK DUHRING and STEVE ANDERSON joined, though there was some confusion about the induction, rain and sponsors. JOE RENATI also joined in there somewhere.  CINDY LUEDTKE joined in 1988 as one of the very first women in the club, though it took months of attending meetings to become a member.  (But that wasn’t why she joined the president’s club. She paid $100 to get the hat because it goes with her new golf outfit -- which is very cute, by the way.) MARLENE COWAN joined in 1992, KENDRA in 2004.  Though maybe not having joined in the month of October, MARY PROCHNOW is the longest standing woman Rotarian in the club having joined in 1987.
 
SHAWN KELLEY paid $25 for his birthday, though he is slightly over that in age.  JASON SANBORN paid $38 because he is celebrating birthday number 38. 
 
MIKE ABRAMS was glad for the reminder of his anniversary and it was worth $100 to get a new hat.  MARY MARLEY said there would be no “R” talk (that would be Real estate and Rotary) during she and husband Marley’s anniversary celebration.  However, “Romance” would be good for their 21st and gave $21.
 
BOO BUE’s anniversary was October 6 when he married his dear wife Gretchen after a quick four-month courtship.  That was 59 years ago for $59.
 
LARRY CHU was somewhat contrite about not paying a fine for the birth of Larry Chu, Jr., III, but was only a little apologetic about the crack he made regarding MEL’S height as he realized that it might have been a disservice to his son after he did the math.  (Something about the baby already being one quarter the size of Mel.)  Larry ended up not having to pay a fine because Kendra said Mel interrupted too much.
 

THE ROTARY PROGRAM
MARLENE COWAN introduced the speaker of the day by saying that Kendra’s fining stint was a great warm up for humorist and author Betty Auchard. Betty, who lost her husband after 49 years together, began writing about the experience of navigating alone and found humor in it.  In the process, she discovered a new talent of storytelling and has been published in the series Chocolate for A Woman’s Soul and in the San Jose Mercury News.  She has written two books, “Dancing in My Nightgown: The Rhythms of Widowhood” and a new book “The Home of the Friendless”, which will be featured at a book launch party on November 7 at Keplers Books.
 
Asking LONNIE to hold he glasses and her book, Betty Auchard told the group she still thinks of herself as an art teacher and as a new writer she feels she is still learning about writing.  She began writing after the death of her husband and thought that her grieving would end after six months.  But it took her two to three years and she shared some of her experiences in the hopes of helping others through the process.  She remembers going to the grocery store and starting to cry when she saw something her husband used to buy, so she started carrying eye drops she could pretend to put in so no one would know she had tears in her eyes.  But, she admits that crying was an absolutely necessary part of the process.  She started writing about her experiences that were a shock to the system:  learning to pay bills and the taxes, taking the garbage out, and putting gas in the car.
 
Putting gas in the car was a turning point and something she was very proud of doing.  The first time she accomplished this on her own, she couldn’t stop smiling.  In fact, she was so happy that when a man pulled up next to her and rolled down the window, she greeted him with the biggest smile ever.  When he told her the gas cap was hanging out, she felt someone had dropped her from the sky.  But, in spite of that small set back, putting gas in the car was a big step that enabled her to move forward.
 
Betty shared her story with poignant humor and said she wanted to make a vital connection to others who were alone. Now that her second book is out, she said she might consider calling herself an author.  She ended with a free verse poem to applause.
 
Dennis auctioned off an autographed copy of her new book to MARLENE COWAN.
 
Dennis ended the meeting by congratulating ROY LAVE for his newest honor, telling Kendra she did a great job as recognition chair, said “Go Giants” and told the Rotary friends from Saratoga how much he appreciated their visit.
 
The meeting was adjourned.

THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM:                  RETURN TO TOP

Sheldon Breiner is considered the world's foremost finder of lost, hidden, or buried things by means of magnetics, a method he has honed and put to imaginative use.

He is a technical authority on geophysical exploration for oil and minerals, earthquake research, and searching for buried or sunken objects. He has been a consultant on the detection of submarines, munitions, sunken ships and, in the exploration of archaeological sites. He is known for his use of magnetometers to discover 3,000 year old colossal Olmec sculptured heads in the jungles of Southern Mexico and as the ancient Greek city of Sybaris in Italy. He is currently a co-leader of a team exploring for a 500-year-old shipwreck in Mexico.

He was the founder and president for 15 years of GeoMetrics, Inc., manufacturer of land, marine and airborne geophysical instruments and world-wide airborne geophysical survey contractor for oil and mineral exploration sold. In the '60s, he developed the first gun detector at the request of the White House, now a standard for security systems at airports.

Breiner is the president of Solis Therapeutics, Inc., co-founded with Stanford University principals to cure infectious diseases and cancer with patented recombinant techniques.

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