Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show September 15 2011

It was a somber day, as we all remembered MICHAEL STADLEN, active LARC member since April 2005 who had served as Art Show Staffing Chair and Director-Elect, PNG Mentor, LAREF Contributions Committee, LAMP Mediator, and planned to be 2011 Art Show Director. MICHAEL passed away Sept. 10, 2011 due to a brain tumor. His memorial service was held Sunday, Sept. 18, 2:30 pm at Congregation Beth Am Temple, 26790 Arastradero Road, Los Altos Hills.

JUDY OTT passed around a condolence card for the Stadlen family. The three donation recipients preferred by his family are Temple Beth Am, the Brain Tumor Association , and Los Altos Rotary Endowment Fund.

If this newsletter seems long, it is! To help us become better acquainted, it includes the classifications of all members mentioned.

President MONA (Psychotherapist) thanked our greeters JOHN HAMMERSCHMIDT (Design + Build Contractor), ALISON SALISBURY (Financial Services) and ALLART LIGTENBERG (Solar Volunteer Services for Developing Countries). JOHN HAMMERSCHMIDT was also photographer of the day, and

WYATT ALLEN (Private Banking – retired) again served as cashier.

BILL MOISON (Commercial Real Estate Investments) led us in a “song” that was more mumbled than sung, for we couldn’t match ol’ Satch’s version of “What a Wonderful World”.

Visitors were properly welcomed per PE JOHN’s (Insurance-Commercial, Auto and Home) emphatic instructions. Former LARC members Hugh Ridell visited us from his Cupertino Rotary Club and Ken Graham, also a former LARC member, visited from the University RC of Palo Alto. Today only one member, BARRY GROVES (Public Education Administration), introduced a guest, Jeffrey Baier, Superintendant of Los Altos Public Schools.          

Announcements
MARLIS MCALLISTER (Law-Real Estate) invited all to an inaugural hike with the new LARC hiking group, Oct. 22 – 23, and she passed a sign-up sheet.

PAST PRES TRACIE MURRAY (Nursing Home Administrator) reminded us to attend the 7th annual A Santé Fundraiser, Nov. 2, benefiting the RotaCare Free Clinic. Auctions, food, and fun await attendees, and tickets are only $50 (100% tax deductible). The Website for Asante is here.

BEVERLY TUCKER (Municipal Government) invited all to a fundraiser bike ride honoring leukemia research and BONNIE BURDETT’s husband, Ben. It starts Saturday at 9 am . Tickets are $25 for lunch and tee shirt.

MARY MARLEY (Residential Real Estate) gave away two tickets to Silicon Valley Star Rotary Club’s “solar powered” pancake breakfast including a demonstration by ALLART.

PP SAM PESNER (Optometry) invited all to a Wine and Cheese Party Sat, Sept. 17 at his house.

KAILAS CHIDAMBARAM (Construction/Industrial Equipment Sales) encouraged all to donate to COANIQUEM (South American Burned Children Clinics) by attending their Sept. 25 concert or purchasing raffle tickets. He hopes our club will raise enough to sponsor three burned children, and he will organize a car pool to the concert.

President MONA announced that RICH CASEY (Biotechnology Consultant) will be interviewed September 27 about the Los Altos Rotary AIDS Project’s newest initiative, Child AIDS Prevention. If streamed live on computer, it should air 9-10 AM Pacific Time on Boston’s WBUR radio show “Here and Now”, with Robin Young.

Our 10 minute social time was well, and loudly enjoyed by all.

Recognition (er, fines) by PP DENNIS YOUNG (Certified Public Accountant) netted a good income to support our club’s operating costs. He invited Red Badgers to give their personal “elevator speech”, but without preparation, few seemed up to the task today.

• PP SAM PESNER offered $33 in recognition of his 33rd wedding anniversary with Lou. This was raised to $34 for good luck after PE JOHN quipped, “Condolences to Lou!”
• GREG HARTWELL (Home Health Care) joined the President’s Club in celebration of 20 years of marital bliss and in memory of MICHAEL STADLEN.
• STEVE SHEPHERD announced his daughter’s appointment as Goldman Sachs’ Chief Operating Officer for Latin America; however when a verbal sparring match with MEL KAHN (Pharmacy, retired) broke out, we were no longer sure who was paying what.
• MEL then suggested fining BILL MOISON for leading “the worst song ever heard.”
• BARBARA SMALL (Trust and Estates Law) was recognized for a Home Care California blog article about her, so she joined the President’s Club for $95.
• LONNIE GARY (Tax Services) read a carefully prepared elevator speech, admitting “This is what Dennis wants us to say.”. DENNIS then added $20 to GARY’s fine.
• What did BEV TUCKER and ABBY AHRENS (Home Design and Development) have in common today? They were both “Dressed to Kill” in lovely black dresses purchased at our Rotary Fine Art Show.
• DAN O’DONNELL volunteered that he had once commented about another Rotarian, “When I’m that old, I hope I look that good.” He remembered MICHAEL STADLEN’s retort, “You don’t look that good now!”
• KATHY LERA (Advertising – Newspaper) negotiated a fine of just $39 for her birthday and gave a great elevator speech.
• PP MARY PROCHNOW (Real Estate – General) paid to know how many new “friends” DENNIS had gained on Facebook and also gave a great elevator speech.
• BAIDRA MURPHY (Real Estate – Residential) reminded us that when her grandmother started in real estate, there was no exam to get a real estate license, just a $13 fee.

Pres MONA reminded us to please respond to the emailed questionnaire about LARC’s programs and meetings.

Today’s speaker was Seth Flagsberg, staff attorney at the Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) and instructor at Santa Clara University Law School. He brought the compelling, true story case of Franky Carrillo who was incarcerated 20 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Flagsberg serves with the Santa Clara University students and lawyers working pro bono for the Northern California Innocence Project. NCIP was finally able to exonerate Franky Carrillo who had been convicted of a drive-by shooting in Lynwood, California, based on supposed eyewitness identification, but no physical evidence.

Later, the primary eyewitness recanted, perhaps to avoid being labeled as “a snitch” while incarcerated for another charge, and admitted in writing, “I didn’t see him do it, and that’s my bad.” He had convinced five of his buddies to also swear they had also witnessed Carrillo commit the crime. It seems that a “perfect storm” of false eyewitness accusations, “lazy” police investigation, and unreliable forensics had coalesced to put Frank Carrillo behind bars. By the time his conviction was finally overturned, the trials and investigations had cost $2 million and an incalculable personal expense.

Flagsberg stated that 75% of the most recent 200 DNA exonerations had been based on mistaken eyewitness accounts. In the ten years that NICP has been working, twelve wrongfully convicted persons have been exonerated by students and the NICP staff. For further information, visit  www.ncip.scu.edu

THIS THURSDAY'S PROGRAM:

 Anne Ehresman
What attributes do young people lack that provide the foundation for a healthy, successful future?  Project Cornerstone calls them “developmental assets.”  They have identified 41 of these assets and correlated them, or their lack thereof, to future success.   During the 2010-11 school year, this organization was active in more than 170 schools, training more than 2,800 adult volunteers to reach out to more than 33,000 students.
 
Anne joined Project Cornerstone in January, 2008, bringing 20 years of non-profit leadership that includes fighting childhood hunger, preventing child abuse and developing housing and programs to help low-income families achieve self-sufficiency. Anne was previously Senior Vice President of InnVision the Way Home, overseeing programs serving 15,000 homeless and low-income families and individuals throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Anne is a member of the YUSA Family Strengthening Expert Panel and in 2011 received an award from the Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission.
 
Anne holds a Master’s in Social Welfare from University of California at Berkeley and Bachelor’s degree from Brown University. Anne is an avid reader, loves spending time with her family and is an active volunteer in her children’s schools.