Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show May 15 2014

Gracious greeters were JUDY OTT, BRANDON SMITH, PHIL SHEMANSKI, and STAN SCARDINO.
President JACK KELLY convened the meeting. Past president JACK HEIDMILLER led the pledge to the flag.

BEVERLY TUCKER presented two, interrelated thoughts for the day: “No member of a crew is praised for the rugged individuality of his rowing” by Ralph Waldo Emerson and “We must all hang together, or assuredly, we shall all hang separately” by Benjamin Franklin.

HARN SOPER and RON STEFANI, strumming his banjo, co-led today’s heavily adapted song— “Looking over the Art in the Park Clover”—to get us in the mood for Fine Art in the Park.

President-Elect KENDRA GJERSETH invited introductions. Rotarians from Denver SE, Cupertino, and San Carlos clubs introduced themselves.

Guests of LARC Rotarians were Daniel Brenner (JACK KELLY), Jo Ann and Jerome Fishpaw, parents of JARRETT FISHPAW, Malu Kulaschekar (MARLENE COWAN), Gregg Ann Herrern daughter of ABBY AHRENS, and Shelly Bowers (DUDE ANGIUS, JR.)

Announcements:

JULIA ROSE issued an invitation to Perspective: State of the Cities—Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, a May 30th lunch event sponsored by The Los Altos Chamber of Commerce www.losaltoschamber.org

RON STEFANI circulated a sign-up sheet for being a weekly song leader.

SAM PESNER read a letter written to deceased Rotarian Joe LoConte's wife, Patricia.  Our letter was in thanks to Patricia for donating the electrical equipment to the Rotary Club that is used for our Art Show weekend.  Joe had always lent his equipment for the show in years previous to his death.  Our letter was in gratitude to her and to say Joe has not and will not be forgotten.

ALLART LIGTENBERG requested Rotarians to support our Club's Child AIDS Prevention project in Nepal by purchasing and urging others to purchase raffle tickets at the art fair.

DICK BLANDING thanked fellow Rotarians for attending last week’s social event at his home and invited Rotarians to bring their grandchildren to see his trains.

MARLENE COWAN re-introduced Malu Kulaschekar, who is incoming district governor for Rotaract, a young professionals’ spin-off of Rotary International. The Rotaract Club’s goal is to raise $5,000 to donate to Rotary International’s Child AIDS Prevention project (www.rotaryaidsproject.org/childaidsprevention.html).

Malu invited Rotarians to help achieve this goal by attending Rotaract’s fund-raising event, Bottle CAP, to be held June 8 at the Purple Orchid Inn in the Livermore Valley (http://bit.ly/1qcGSyn).

JACK KELLY introduced two members of Interact, Holly Nguyen and Yuri Wada both of whom are participating in a fundraiser, Empowering Youth, so that they can attend the Rotary International Convention, June 2014, in Sydney, Australia. Raffle tickets were available for purchase at today’s meeting.

Membership Director, JEAN MORDO awarded blue badges to ANABEL PELHAM and JARRETT FISHPAW.

2014 Fine Art in the Park (FAITP): HARN SOPER, Director of the 39th Rotary Art Show, encouraged new members to get involved in this annual, LARC fund-raiser—a great way to get to know fellow Rotarians. Harn’s key points are summarized here:

Everything new we did this year resulted from listening to our artists to make the show more successful for them and more enjoyable for our visitors. Feedback from Rotarians is also welcome. Funds raised equate to over $700 per Rotary member; volunteering for FAITP has a BIG financial impact. We reduced the number of artists and the number of jewelry artists, enabling larger booth space and better focus on art. We compensated for lost booth fees by charging slightly higher fees/booth. For the first time at FAITP, we hosted non-Rotary groups (e.g., Sierra Club) in a government-mandated “Free Speech” area. We initiated a $200 Roto-Buck drawing (one Saturday and one Sunday), intended to promote visitors’ complete tour, thereby promoting art sales.

Winners can apply Roto-bucks to purchase art at artists’ booths ONLY for this show. We added two extra seating areas for weary shoppers and volunteers.

The following Rotarians are the movers and shakers we thank profusely for their work on this year’s show:

• Art Show Director: HARN SOPER
• Artist Coordinator: LARA PAI, ALISON SALISBURY
• Finance & Administration Coordinator: JEAN MORDO, LONNIE GARY
• Club Coordinator: STEVE POMEROY
• Staffing: FRANK ELMER
• Food & Beverage Coordinator: GARY WALDECK
• Operations Coordinator: BONNIE BURDETT
• Site Coordinator: JOHN BOGART
• Community Coordinator: ALLAN VARNI

Recognition:

ANNE ARJANI recognized the following Rotarians today:

• STEVE POMEROY
• BILL BALSON
• LONNIE GARY
• PP MARLENE COWAN
• DAVID CASAS
• ROLAND PAYNE
• GEORGE STAFFORD

Speaker:

In keeping with this year’s theme, Communication, President JACK KELLY introduced Bill Koefoed, who worked for and with deceased LARC Rotarian, BOO BUE. Boo’s wife, Gretchen, a special guest at today’s meeting. Bill Koefoed, who is a Past President of the Rotary Club of San Francisco, a Paul Harris Fellow, and a Past President of the San Francisco Rotary Foundation, possesses expertise in public speaking. He owned and developed the Dale Carnegie Training® franchise for the counties of San Mateo, San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, and Napa. In addition to training sales people and managers, he has made thousands of speeches around the world; has authored Carnegie programs; and won the highest award within the Dale Carnegie organization.

Bill’s topic today was “Communications and Public Speaking.” He asserted that public speaking is the highest paid skill, bolstering this statement with an example of two people identical in all aspects but their respective abilities to speak confidently in front of a group. Which of the two will eventually earn leadership positions and a higher salary? You guessed it.

He emphasized three, critical aspects of planning and delivering a speech: (1) a strong, memorized opening; (2) a strong close, also memorized, and (3) a short speaking distance between (1) and (2). He also recommended making no more than three points, using stories to illustrate each point, and using a particular gesture (one hand, cupped, curved above the speaker’s head). To train a speaker, don’t recount his/her mistakes; instead, build on the successes. Among the group’s questions and Bill’s brief answers today were these:

“How do you overcome your terror of speaking in public?” Practice with a coach to build confidence.
“How do you overcome stuttering?” As in the film, The King’s Speech, get a coach and practice.
“Are tele-prompters useful?” They are good for the US President, but one needs special skill to use one. It is easier to read a speech.

“Do good actors and good speakers share qualities?” Yes.
Promptly at 1:30, President JACK KELLY struck the bell, signaling the meeting’s conclusion.

Lew Fraser, Phil Rose, and Frank Verlot
"Scholarships/Young at Art"