Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show October 28 2010

Today we had four greeters waiting to squeeze our hand.   Last week, only three greeters did and maybe next week five. Today VAL CARPENTER stood duty along with JOANNE KAVALARIS, BIADRA MURPHY, and GARY WALDECK.

PP CINDY LUEDTKE collected the entrance fee today and returned two dollars in change to most people as our President DENNIS YOUNG rang the bell and said,  “This is the best Rotary Club in the World.”

LOU WELLMEIER helped us salute the flag,  MATT CABOT provided  the thought of the day and PP SETH MANNING kept the ball rolling for another World Series victory for the Giants by singing that old favorite “Take Me Out To The Ball Game.”

MATT CABOT recalled the critical need for mentors and tutors again and recited a short poem concerning children and their expectations.

President Elect MONA ARMISTEAD assumed introductions for the day and the only visiting Rotarian was a guest from the Rotary Club of Cupertino.

The following Rotarians had guests: RAE HOLT, JOHN CARDOZA, BONNIE BURDETT, and GUY FARTHING.

We welcome Marv Patterson back after a not-so-brief illness.

President DENNIS started the announcement segment of the program and reminded us all to take notes on our possible future lunch providers.  Not only the quality of the food but the location where we meet.  Keep your notes ready for the survey.

This week and next week are provided by Café Primavera Catering and on November 11 and 18 we will ‘dine’ at the Los Altos Country Club.

In December we will be served by Alotta’s Dell and then Four Season’s Catering will return once before the holiday period when we will be dark.  See last week's Rotator for details. 

Dennis mentioned this coming Monday, there will be a special  Sunset  Rotary Club meeting at the Forum.
A reminder that the November meeting will be held at the Los Altos Country Club and there will  no “non-eating privileges" at the meeting. Everybody pays and eats at the Country Club on November 11 and 18.

PP SAM PESNER reminded us of how vulnerable we are with the online scams. Many of us received an e-mail of PP MARGE BRUNO and husband Mike being robbed in London and left penniless. The e-mail asked for a quick loan of money. Presuming everybody assumed the request as a scam, it is all forgotten, but beware: you may be next on the list to be swindled.

This coming Thursday, flu shots will be available - $25 donation made payable to Rotacare. 

VAL CARPENTER proudly announced Megan Satterlee gave birth at 8 pm October 24 to 9lbs 8 oz and 22 inches long Wardin Tobias Schluchter. Congratulations Megan.

KAREN OWEN reminded us about A Sante on November 11, from 5 to 8.  Lots of wine and food available but bring the checkbook because there are lots of things to bid on.

When it comes to the recognition period, STEVE FICK assumed his first opportunity to get back at the tormentors of his past.  With a half hour to kill to get big money, STEVE did fine.

PESNER gave $3 to amend a mistake in the past;  SCOTT RICHES joined the President’s Club,  ABBY AHRENS offered a hotel room to the speaker of the day and paid $100 to join the President’s Club. TIM BYRD paid $50 for the improvements at the YMCA.   JOHN HAMMERSCHMIDT paid $20 because there were 13 letters in his name while ESTER NG only paid $2 because of two letters in her name.

VON PACKARD paid $40,  PP BOO BUE was nicked for $10 because his name is appropriate for Halloween, along with ROLAND PAYNE (pain) who contributed $30. JEANNE MACVICAR was nicked for $15 and the fine master sat down and said, “GO GIANTS.”

Ten-Minute Talk
BILL MOISON provided his 10-minute talk by commenting he is 64 years of age but only has 15 minutes to talk about it.  Jokester RICK GLAZE said he only needed five.

BILL is a couple of seconds older than his twin brother, JERRY MOISON.  When he was seven years old he had testicular cancer and he is fine today, only sterile. “The cancer had an effect on me and that is why my brother is bigger than me.”

When he first came to California he worked for the U.S. Forest Service but later worked for Coldwell Banker in San Jose.  He worked in the investment service department and in ten years he became the number one salesman in the country.

His brother came with him when they formed The Moison Investment and Guardian Equity Growth Corp.  In three years, they raised $300 million and today all he does is put out investment fires.

Bill ended with “My brother JERRY introduced me to my wife Tracey. We have been married for 32 years and with no children of our own we adopted and now I am a grandfather”.

Guest Speaker
BONNIE BURDETT introduced the speaker Tamara K. Lopez from the Office of the County Counsel, Santa Clara County. The County Counsel is the legal advisor to the County of Santa Clara and Tamara is assigned to the Health and Human Services Division. She is one of 60 attorneys the County Counsel uses.

Attorney Tamara practices in the Department of Aging and Adult Services where the mission is to promote a safe, dignified and independent lifestyle for seniors and dependent adults and people with disabilities. 

With a predominately highly-aged  Rotarian Club, Tamara’s long stories about elder citizens being ripped-off from  their money, aging and living in poverty, Tamara received an anxious ear for aging problems.

Santa Clara County has 1.78 million residents and over 10 percent are over the age 65. This age demographic will increase and it brings more problems with financial and health abuse.

Tamara mentioned a lot of elderly people come here and live alone. They need help because their children live miles away so her agency tries to protect the elderly population in abuse cases.

“Seniors comment they are fine and when we ask how much money they have and what bank they have their money they have no idea,” Tamara said. “We are a public agency that takes care of the elderly when no one else can”.
“We are mandated, by law, to keep a person in their home and living as long as possible. Financial elderly abuse cases are difficult, so you need a local government to take care of the elderly problems.

 In the question and answer period, Rotarians brought many of the elderly problems out in the open with examples of relatives close to their heart.

DENNIS closed the meeting on time with all the orange and  black clothed Rotarians thinking about tonight’s second game with the Rangers.  

THIS THURSDAY'S PROGRAM: Dr. Michael T. MurrayThe Esteem, Totally Implantable Hearing System

Dr. Michael Murray graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in New York City. He attended the University of Minnesota Medical School where he graduated with honors and was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor society.

Dr. Murray went on to an internship and residency at the top-ranked otolaryngology program at the University of Oklahoma. After residency, he completed a two-year fellowship in Neurotology and Skull-Base Surgery at the California Ear Institute at Stanford. Although Dr. Murray sees and treats all ear, nose and throat related conditions, he specializes in ear and Skull-Based surgeries and is the Director of the Cochlear Implant Program at Children's Hospital and Research Center of Oakland.

He also works closely with new and established companies to find innovative solutions to difficult issues related to hearing. In addition, Dr. Murray serves on the Neurosciences Advisory Board at El Camino Hospital. In his spare time, he likes to fish and play with his kids.

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