Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show July 14 2011

President and Southern Belle MONA ARMISTEAD called the meeting to order and asked STEPHEN WHEELER to lead the pledge of allegiance.
 
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
BEV TUCKER appropriately announced that it was Parks and Recreation Month to appreciative applause and shared a quote from Benjamin Franklin and/or George Bernard Shaw: “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing!”  

And, from Edward Bellamy, “If bread is the first necessity of life, recreation is a close second.”  Then, from Thomas Jefferson:  “Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading.  I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning.”
 
PAUL SCHUTZ led a round of Frère Jacques in both French and English for the song of the day in honor of Bastille Day.
 
Mona thanked Greeters: ABBY AHRENS, ROY LAVE, and ALLART LIGTENBERG; photographer CHUCK LINDAUER; Sergeant at Arms LEW FRASER, MIKE ABRAMS and FRANK VERLOT; and cashier LARRY CHU.
 

VISITING ROTARIANS
President Elect JOHN SYLVESTER (gesturing John) said “Hi Jim” to former LARC member Jim Conway visiting from the dessert.
 
AND GUESTS
Rotarians with guests included BARBARA SMALL and daughter Audrey; GARY WALDECK and guest Jim Basiji, MARLIS MCALLISTER and guest Alison Salisbury. 
 
 

SHARING FROM THE PRESIDENT
Mona shared some interesting news about the club from a variety of meetings.

The LAREF board met and elected new officers:  President, JEAN NEWTON; Vice President, PHIL ROSE; Treasurer, JEAN MORDO; and Secretary, DAVID SMITH.  Jean Mordo will also serve as chair of the Contributions Committee along with vice chair JERRY MOISON.  MIKE ABRAMS will chair the Investment Committee. 

A committee has also been appointed to develop criteria to present to the LAREF board for discussion on how to distribute the funds that BRUCE CANN so generously donated as part of a legacy to the club.
 
President Mona recently met with all the presidents in the area and saw former club member Ginny Lear who is now Assistant District Governor. 
 
Batter Up for Saturday, August 13 and the District 5170 Rotary at the A’s Game.  This is a benefit for Camp RYLA and if we can’t get a tailgate group together to attend, Mona would like to consider some other means of support, as this is also Governor Arley Marley’s summer party.
 
The Board of Directors established honorary members for the year.  They are LOIS ADAMS, NANCY TRAFICANTI, DAN DUTTON, and JOHN MOSS, who is retiring and moving from the area.  MICHAEL STADLIN was also granted honorary status and we all wish him well as he continues the battle.  A card is going out to him to tell him how much we care.
 
August 18 is membership day for new members of Rotary. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
PP SAM PESNER, who stood by patiently while Mona shared her news, said he almost forgot what he was going to say but quickly remembered that he was Chair of the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce and wanted to make sure everyone knew about the August 1 Golf Tournament at the Los Altos Golf & Country Club.  There’s still room for golfers and dinner attendees and he encouraged those who are interested to talk to Julie or Gail.
 
JUDY OTT handled a delicate subject with humor by announcing that PAT MILLAR is just fine and has sent a message to the club, “the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated” and “the best time to celebrate death is before it happens.”  We are all relieved to know that Pat is great!
 
Our new social chair KAREN GESSERT announced the next Wine and Cheese Social will be held at President Mona’s house on Friday, July 29th at 5:30 p.m.  Please come and bring either a beverage or appetizer to share.
 
The Chef Chu’s Chinese Chicken Salad at the Los Altos Art & Wine Festival was a huge success and netted $7,700 for the club.  Chair PP JACK HEIDMILLER was very thankful to all who helped.  President Mona extended a big thank you to the Chu family for such a popular salad that contributed to such a successful result.
 
BAIDRA PROCHNOW, along with vice-chair Marlis McAllister announced the next red badge meeting held last week on Thursday.
 
There’s going to be a free concert featuring the Bell Brothers from Los Altos at Grant Park (held last week) featuring adult contemporary music, that’s popular tunes according to Bev Tucker.  Watch out for more concerts this summer sponsored by the Los Altos Recreation Department.
 

SOCIAL TIME
Mona announced time to talk and pres-elect JOHN SYLVESTER introduced another visiting Rotarian, Lon Saavedra, from the San Jose Club.  (On a personal note:  Rotator writers like social time so they can gather correct spellings and notes about quotes and other things.  Plus, keep in mind that when the Rotator writer is writing, it’s probably not the best time to ask them a question!)
 

A FINE TIME
Recognition Master Kurt Hueg approached the podium to one clap and even some boos causing him to thank us for the “outstanding reception.”  BUD OLIVER donated $80 for a very significant Birthday and said he was really surprised by his surprise birthday party.  RANDY GARD is celebrating 25 years of wedded bliss with a renewal of vows in Hawaii with PP Sam Pesner officiating for $25 and an additional $25 for his wife putting up with him.  JUDY OTT is so excited that her son and his partner of 20 years are getting married she donated $20.  They are having a huge party with guests from all over the world and she is so proud of them.  STEVE GRUBER joined the president’s club in honor of Bastille Day and recently completing a trip to France.
 
PP DON HULL, who joined in 1972 because of the Rotary’s basketball and softball team, is sad they don’t play any more.  But, his team just won a gold medal in the Senior Games and it’s his birthday on August 1 so he joined the president’s club. 

LARRY CHU gave $5 because he made a mistake about what transpired during fining last week and then he mentioned something about how some people can’t remember the score and there being only one basketball hoop.
 
JARED FITZPAW introduced his brother Jonathon and payed $20.  KAREN GESSERT is back from her Princess Cruise sommelier duties with exciting news that she is engaged and is expecting a baby on December 16 for $40.  JOANNE KAVALARIS joined the president’s club in honor of her birthday and because her niece placed first in the Rotary Speech Contest in Sacramento.
 
STEVE POMEROY wanted to dispel any potential confusion about the email he sent out about club assembly last week with a $20 contribution to make sure we knew that it was road paving he wanted us to know about.  However, the crisis was averted thanks to intervention from Mona and council members and city officials who belong to the club. 
 
ROY LAVE was first asked to wake up and then asked if he wanted to chair the Bylaws committee.  His response was he’d do anything for Mona and contributed $20 as well. 

THE ROTARY PROGRAM
JEANNE MACVICAR introduced our speaker, Julie King From Bead for Life as a wonderful friend with a passionate desire to leave the world a better place.  A recruiter in the non-profit world, Julie has been involved with Relay for Life and likes to row with a competitive crew team.  She has a BA from Humboldt and an MA from San Jose State, CA.
 
Julie shared the story of how she got involved with Bead for Life after a trip to Africa where she saw some images she couldn’t forget, including children with malnutrition and stunted growth, many without shoes, who had to walk miles and miles to carry water and food.  When she went to Safeway to get groceries after her trip she had an epiphany while looking at the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables so readily available.  She decided she needed to do more and became involved in this program where women are taught to make beads out of paper mache after receiving job skills training.   They are taught to put money in the bank and save enough money to start their own businesses.  Almost 100% of the women in the program report their health has improved.  83% are now operating a successful business two years after participating in the program.  70% own a viable asset and 50% now own their own homes. 
 
With the funds that have been raised, the group has built houses with one latrine per family that includes a garden and kitchen.  Women can apply to buy the houses that are sold for cash and beads for about $1500.  The group has been so successful that they are now also giving grants away to other organizations and have moved into Northern Uganda where they have a factory that produced soap and lip balm made with shea butter. 
 
After viewing a video of some of the women who have participated in the program, Julie said.  “We are trying to cultivate a culture of exchange, helping people to take responsibility.  We will exchange or trade for things but we don’t give things away.”
 
Questions included:
 
Where do women get the paper for the beads?  It comes from big cities were printers have leftover calendars, posters or magazines.
 
Are schools a part of the plan?  No, but they do give grants to other organizations that go to education.
 
What is the group doing for HIV/AIDS?  Although not working in that area, almost everyone is HIV positive.  The medicine is available at no cost but education is lacking though it is better in Uganda than other surround countries. 
 
How do you make paper into a bead?
The design is cut on the paper and then it is put together and hung up in strips where varnish is put on by hand.  The varnish is now non-toxic.
 
What is the role of men?  It’s the somen in the culture who do everything including getting water, farming, preparing food and caring for the children.  They are trying to get men involved but it is difficult.
 
How big is the organization?
There are 13 employees in Colorado, 22 in Uganda.  Approximately 3800 women have graduated from the program and they would like to increase participation.
 
Is there corruption and how do they deal with it?  Yes, there is corruption and they try to work around it by emphasizing that they are an NGO, but it is difficult.
 
MEETING ADJOURNED
Mona thanked our speaker and adjourned the meeting.
 
ANOTHER PERSONAL NOTE:  I want to apologize for being late in getting the Rotator to Editor CINDY LUEDTKE and to MATT CABOT.  They deserve a very large thank you from all of us for their hard work and dedication week in and week out in getting the Rotator to all of us. Thank you, thank you!

THIS THURSDAY'S PROGRAM:

This coming Thursday,  we will hear from Dr. R. H. Mehta on the aerodynamics of sport balls.

Dr. Rabindra “Rabi” D. Mehta
Experimental Aero-Physics Branch Chief
NASA Ames Research Center
 “The Aerodynamics of Sports Balls”

Dr. Mehta is Experimental Aero-Physics Branch Chief at NASA Ames Research Center.  He was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and attended high school in England.  While earning his undergraduate degree in aeronautical engineering, he served in the Royal Air Force as a reserve. 

In graduate school at Imperial College, London University, he specialized in fluid mechanics with emphasis on turbulence; his Ph.D. thesis was on flow through the various components of a small low-speed wind tunnel.  A cricket player for most of his life, Dr. Mehta began doing some wind tunnel research on cricket ball aerodynamics --- a study of why a cricket ball curves through the air (much like a curveball in baseball) and what parameters can affect its flight. 

This was the beginning of his interest in the field of sports ball aerodynamics.  After he moved to California, he expanded his interest to the aerodynamics of baseballs, golf balls, soccer balls and volleyballs. As part of a NASA educational project for school children, he tested tennis balls in wind tunnels to determine their aerodynamic properties.  While he doesn’t play cricket any more, he does enjoy playing golf with his son, Shalin, although he wishes his game was more consistent.