Los Altos Rotary Club eNewsletter "Rotator"

Los Altos Rotary Club

Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show

July 26 2012

Writer: Clyde Noel - Photographer: Chuck Lindauer - Editor: Cynthia Luedtke 2012-2013 #04

After you picked up your Rotary identification card you took a few steps and there were the greeting hands of ELAINE GLISSMEYER, LONNIE GARY and PAUL GONELLA. Red Badgers getting to know faces in the Los Altos Rotary Club.

Walking around the corner and cashier KAREN GREGURAS took your $20 or a $5 depending on your choice of lunch as you sat down.

President JOHN SYLVESTER called the meeting at 12:15 and PP BOB ADAMS provided the direction for the pledge to the stars and stripes.

STEPHEN WU provided the thought for the day with the top 6 things you could remember from movie titles.
6. “Yes, a person is……”
5. “No place like home.”
4. “Never too late for redemption.”
3. “The Human Spirit”
2. “Every person is precious.”
1. “Unconditional love.”

PP SAM PESNER brought to our attention the song “Smile” that was the favorite of SAMMY KAHN, during his reign as the Rotarian Song leader for the Day.”

INTRODUCTIONS:

PE JACK KELLY assumed his chore for introductions and introduced MIKE McMANN from the Palo Alto Club and the District Governor.

Rotarians with visiting guests were: DONNA VERNA, VAL CARPENTER, KATHY LERA and MEL KAHN introducing his guest who was also the speaker and a first time Red Badger introduction of TAYLOR ROBINSON.

President JOHN said TAYLOR ROBINSON was approved for membership and it should be called “TAYLOR ROBINSON DAY.”

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

DAN O’DONNELL thanked everyone who has taken part in the delivery of dinners for the Rota Care personnel.

KENDRA GJERSETH announced the Public Relations Committee would meet Thursday August 16 at 11:00 in the Garden House before the regular meeting.

JACK HEIDMILLER gave us the financials for the Art and Wine Festival. Total booth sales for two days were $6,540 and The Rotary Club made $3,000.

President John reported on MARY MARLEY’S recuperation from her operation. She is now home from the hospital and doing fine.

JOHN also produced a plaque from the Relay for Life organization for our participation.

RECOGNITION:

JOHN SINES reminded us that in the past, Rotary Presidents were the fine masters. However today he was going to be the fine master and he managed to assess the following, asking for each individual’s favorite movie quote:

BOO BUE For failure to communicate: $20.
GREG DABB: $20
PP JACK HEIDMILLER: $40
JEANNE MacVICAR: $20
CRESS MCFALL: $20
DAN O’DONNEL: $20
PP MARY PROCHNOW: $20
JANE REED: $20
BARBARA SMALL: $20
AL TRAFICANTI: $20
RICK GLAZE: $50

President JOHN gave us all a 10-minute break for social activities and to visit member friends. It became noisy, but interesting.

VAL CARPENTER introduced TAYLOR ROBINSON of Passerelle Investments and the title of her speech, “Investing in Downtown Los Altos.” Her passion is for understanding and implementing new technologies and managing diverse teams.

Since the arrival in Los Altos, Passerelle Investment has made a major impact on downtown Los Altos. Taylor started by showing a slide show of projects started in Los Altos that created an impact in the community.

“Passerelle” is a French word meaning “footbridge” for pedestrians and bicycles. It spoke to the desire to bridge the community to the downtown in an environmental way.

Since 2009, the company owns or started 9 new businesses and one startup. These businesses are: Evolve Yoga & Pilates, Skate Works, Bumble, 359 State Street (the bike shop) and renovating the facades of Peet’s Coffee and Tea building, and Linden Tree Children’s Books at 265 State Street. The start-up company is Indigo-I.

Taylor mentioned that they carved out a gathering place with a seat-wall planter at the corner of First and State Streets. “It’s a great place to sit on the bench and charge your cell phone at our expense.”

For the immediate future, new businesses include Area 151, a brand new arcade opening in downtown Los Altos at 151 First Street and Malia Mills swimwear.

In addition, there is a strong desire to build Pop-ups because they encourage community gathering.

Taylor said they selected Los Altos as a logical place to start the company. “We felt that the issues facing downtown Los Altos could be effectively addressed by our particular brand of experience and talent.”
Taylor closed her speech in what we want in Los Altos: A hot bed of activity with no vacancies.

After a few questions, President JOHN closed the meeting with his usual directive “HAVE A GOOD DAY, UNLESS YOU MADE OTHER PLANS.”

THIS THURSDAY'S PROGRAM: