Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show June 6, 2013

It was a very good day! Today a group of seven delighted visitors joined Los Altos Rotarians to accept their community grants after hearing the 2013 Art Show report at the LAREF Annual Meeting. Since this reporter was appointed to write only after the meeting had begun, part of President JOHN’s recognition of members who served today will not be printed. You know who you are!

Greeters were MIKE KING, BONNIE BURDETT, GARY WALDECK.

PP SAM PESNER quoted Coach John Wooden in his Thought for the Day: “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”

Song Meister RON STEFANI tickled our funny bones into singing “She’s your Tootsey, Wootsey in the good old summertime” before updating the song’s second verse:

“In the good old summertime, in the good old summertime,
Working out at Lincoln Park, selling beer and wine.
The artists sell and we rejoice, and that’s a very good sign,
That we’ve done our job for Rotary, in the good old summertime!!”

President JOHN announced the May 31 demise of former LARC member HUGH RIDDELL who retired as consultant at Mountain View Los Altos High School District and recently succumbed after a long and valiant struggle with cancer. See last week's Rotator for further detail.

The District Governor Nominee brought greetings from District Governor Joe Hamilton along with an award for being “a vibrant club” and a book autographed by Rita Moreno in recognition of PP SAM PESNER’s service.

Nicholas and Ben who serve on the District Council of 100 nearby high school Interact clubs announced these club members had done 70,000 hours of community service and raised $100,000 for literacy in Bangladesh. They sold raffle tickets at LARC to help send seven District Council Interactors to the Rotary International Convention in Portugal.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Joint LARC-Kiwanis Mixer will be held June 19 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm at the History House.

Sunshine Chair JUDY OTT circulated a condolence card for Janet Riddell and a get well card for CLYDE NOEL who fell and now faces knee surgery.

PAUL SCHUTZ needs a new Chairperson for Welcome Home Vets, as his work load has increased. Who will volunteer?

RON STEFANI needs more song leaders. Banjo picking skill not required! Please contact him.

STEVE SHEPHERD reminded us of the annual June 7 Golf event at Shoreline Golf Course with a great raffle prize of two nights at the Enchanted Resort in Sedona, AZ donated by ROY JONES’ All Horizons Travel.  See the website for some of the pictures from the event.

Here is a small sample:

BILL BALSON announced the passing of his 97 year old father and his memorial gathering at Moffett Field Wednesda, June 26 at 1 PM.  
BILL’s father led the capture of a unique Japanese underwater airplane carrier, labeled top secret as ”Operation Storm” in WWII.  All are invited to attend the memorial service.

Finemaster BONNIE BURDETT had trouble finding folks who weren’t yet members of the President’s Club, though she did succeed in nicking a few.

• PP SAM PESNER volunteered to pay a fine for MIKE SPENCE whose wife Gae Ann was dubbed a “Gamer Babe” when she caught a foul ball at the last Giants game.
• Red Badger ROD FOX was coaxed out of $50. MIKE KING who had donated to a Paul Harris before becoming a Rotarian decided to contribute $50. RON STEFANI chimed in, “Congratulations, Mike, but I beat you!”
• ANABEL PELHAM joined the President’s Club and shared that she had taught at the University of Padua in the same classroom as Galileo!
• MARK ROGGE shared that his niece, an intern in Washington D.C, was lunching today with First Lady Michelle Obama.
• PATRICIA ROHR joined the President’s Club after sharing that, at age 30, she had spent 2 weeks hitchhiking through Scotland.
• JERRY MOISON’s confession was the best, as he was captured in a photo, bathing in a washtub (soda cooler tub?) at the conclusion of the Fine Art Show.
  

Art Show Director CRYSTA KRAMES gave a fun photo report on our very successful 2013 Art Show with an enthusiastic “The show went amazingly well!” Throughout her theme, “What does Rotary do?” she delighted us with quips and photos showing how we raise money for grant-making, recognize artistic talent, buy art, eat local and help feed locals, and serve as leaders in the community. Among her many chairpersons, she thanked FRANK ELMER for his staffing management and JEAN MORDO for raffle proceeds which will benefit the SOPUDEP school in Haiti,

She especially thanked Artist Coordinator Laura Pai, present at the meeting, for her contribution in the great income generated at the art show. Next year’s Art Show Director will be HARN SOPER.

Additional photos are posted on the Art Show’s Facebook page, though CRYSTA reminded us that “What happens in the Park stays in the Park!”  

Art Show Treasurer JEAN MORDO later confirmed that this show’s net income was actually $103,000, a historic record for LARC!

PHIL ROSE, President of The Los Altos Rotary Endowment Fund presided at this LAREF Annual Meeting. After reminding us that all LARC members in good standing are also LAREF members, he got an unanimous vote confirming election of three new Board members: KATHY BERRY, CLARI NOLET and RANDY GARD.

PHIL listed LAREF’s 2012-13 income including $90,000 from the 2012 Art Show, $15,000 from the Bruce Cann Fund, $500 contributions restricted to scholarships, $495 in unrestricted contributions, and $11,595 as investment income.

• LAREF’s 2012-13 budget included $38,320 for community grants,
• $16,000 for scholarships, $15,000 for World Community Service,
• $4,750 in matching grants,
• $2,000 for Camp RYLA,
• $5,000 for PNG, $5,000 for RotaCare,
• $1,000 to Partners for Elder Generations,
• $5,000 for Los Altos Rotary AIDS Project,
• $1,500 administrative,
• $7,000 reserve funds,
• for a total of $100,530.

The corpus now stands at $460,000. The checking/savings accounts hold $172,198. PHIL thanked all members for their volunteer efforts and monetary contributions, which do make a difference.

JERRY MOISON, Chair of the Community Grants Committee, thanked the LARC members who select worthy non-profit recipient groups to receive the proceeds of the Fine Art Show. He invited today’s seven smiling recipients to describe how their groups will use their Spring grants.

• The Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC) will use its School-Based Prevention Plus grant to address the recent increase in bullying and suicidal students.
• The Foothill College Foundation’s grant helps fund the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math summer camp for high school upperclassmen at Foothill College.
• The grant for the Los Altos Stage Company will underwrite children’s tickets to ”The Fantastiks”.
• Via Verde Nature Education program will dedicate their funds to a free overnight environmental learning camp for local 10 year olds.
• Family Supportive Housing will provide summer tutors to homeless school children at the San Jose Family Shelter.
• Child Advocates of Santa Clara County need updated computers to communicate with staff who deal annually with 600 foster children who are removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect.

We can be proud that our local Rotary Art Show income is serving the local community by benefitting an array of local programs.

JERRY received two letters of appreciation addressed to LAREF from Foothill College students, as follows:

“Thank you for your contribution. Your support truly makes a difference. My success in college is very much based on my personal drive; however when you have drive but no means to complete academically with others who are not financially challenged, it can be discouraging. Many thanks for making my burden a lot lighter and giving me the confidence to start my classes well prepared Please know that your donations truly change lives.”

“This is to express my deep thankfulness for the donations you made to the EOPS program at Foothill College. Thanks for the donations you provide to keep the textbook program going on. This benefits many low income students like me to get our books to better prepare for our classes. Without your kindness and great support this program won’t be possible. Blessings!”

Kinda makes one feel good to know their efforts are appreciated!
 

THIS THURSDAY'S PROGRAM:

Jun 13, 2013

"What it takes for a HS graduate to get into college today "
Dr. Barry Groves has served as superintendent of the Mountain View Los Altos High School District since July 1, 2006. Previously, Barry was superintendent of the Cambrian School District in San Jose for 14 years.  During his career, he has served as an assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, curriculum coordinator, consultant, and high school teacher.

He earned a B.A .in American Studies and an M.A. degree in education from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His Ed.D. and another M.A .degree are in Administration and Policy Analysis from Stanford University.

 He lives in Los Gatos with his wife Julie, and their two boys, Dylan and Holden, who attend Georgetown and UCSD, respectively.