“Together, we see a world where people unite & take action to create lasting change - 
across the globe, in our communities, & in ourselves.”
     
Follow & tag us on social media: @losgatosrotary
Club News
Zoom Meeting Notes from April 6, 2021
Los Gatos Rotary Meeting notes The Cat Tale
 
Meeting was held online via Zoom and called to order at 12:30pm by Andrew Stearns.
 
Pledge of Allegiance was led by Jamie Hekkelman.
 
Inspiration – Today’s inspiration was provided by Jamie Hekkelman.  In honor of National Librarian Day, Jamie shared a passage from her favorite book, “The Wizard of Oz.”
 
Greeter – Our Greeter of the day is Terri Trotter. Terri introduced our visiting Rotarians.
 
Visiting Rotarians – Ervie Smith from the Rotary Club of San Jose.
 

Announcements

Marty Fishman announced that Charlie Erekson is currently on hospice care and unfortunately, not expected to be with us much longer.
 
Marlon Smith announced the April birthdays. Happy Birthday was sung via a music video.
 
Member Spotlight of the Week – This week’s spotlight member is AnnMarie Valle. 
 
Membership Minute – Terri Trotter has moved from her Red Badge to her Blue Badge. Her sponsor (and sister) Tina Orsi-Hartigan welcomed her and gave her the nickname of “Speedy” for getting through the process so quickly.
 
Gae La Torre announced that last week’s First Thursday at Flights in Los Gatos went well.  36 people showed up and it was a beautiful evening. If anyone would like to host our May First Thursday from their home, please let Gae know.
 
Our Annual Roast and Toast will be held on June 29, 2021. Save the Date!
 
Barbara Fishman announced that if you would like to donate any items to the Santa Maria Urban Ministry, they can be dropped off at Marty’s office, located at 431 Monterey Ave., Suite 3 from 9:00am – 5:00pm.
 
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Zoom Meeting Notes from March 30, 2021
Los Gatos Rotary Meeting notes The Cat Tale

Join Your Rotary Club of Los Gatos For A New Project
Santa Maria Urban Ministry Donation Drive

 
Greeter for the day was Karen Anderson

Chris Potter lead the group for the Pledge of Allegiance

Doug Bent gave an inspiration on a story about a professor who asked the students to write their thoughts on a black dot in the center of a paper. Everyone wrote their own interpretation of what the dot signifies but forgot to focus on the white paper itself.  The moral of the story is “Take your eyes away from the black dots in your lives and see the whole page of opportunity. Enjoy each one of your blessings, each moment that life gives you. Be happy and live a life filled with love!”
 
Doug Bent was also featured for the weekly member spotlight. 
 
Mike Norcia gave a heads up for the upcoming Great Race which is tentatively scheduled sometime in late May or early June as the county is moving into less restrictions.
 
Jamie Hekkelman gave an update on the bike drive that she and Patti Vanderburg were involved with. She reported that they received some interesting types of bikes including the oldest from the 1950’s which was from Jamie’s grandmother. John Pencer donated the most interesting bike while Andrew Howard gave the smallest bike. Donated bikes went to Good Karma Bikes, a nonprofit Bike Shop open to the public.
 
Maddie announced that the First Thursday would be at Flights Restaurant in Los Gatos from 5:30pm - 7:30pm
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Zoom Meeting Notes from March 23, 2021
Los Gatos Rotary Meeting notes The Cat Tale
 
Andrew started the meeting by giving kudos to the pac 12 for their performance in march madness!
 
Doug Brent gave a great inspiration starting with a poll on poverty, literacy, mortality, and education.  He then showed in contrast to our views on these topics, there is data from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation that shows the population in poverty has been cut in half, child mortality was cut by a third, literacy has improved as well.  He explained that the media focus on negative events make us think we have not been making progress, where the data shows that we have.  
 
Lydia Norcia was our greeter, and she welcomed our visiting Rotarians and guests. After the meeting Lydia shared an inspirational video; a young lady having a full life because of Inner Wheel and Hanger Corporation. Check out “We are only limited by ourselves.” by Giovanna Dubuc. 
 

 

Announcements:

Speech Contest
Dessy Bonev won our local rotary speech contest, and will go on to the regional speech contest.  That contest will be Tuesday April 6th.
 
Patti will be coming to help collect bikes for the Good karma bike donation.
 
First Thursday will be April 1st 5:30-7:30 at Flights restaurant in Los Gatos.  They have created a nice new patio on the side of the building where we can have happy hour.
 
Leigh High Fund Raiser
If you have interest in having your e-waste picked up, they will do this for 15 dollars.  If you have interest please contact Doug Brent.
 
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Zoom Meeting Notes from March 16, 2021
Los Gatos Rotary Meeting notes The Cat Tale
 
Meeting was called to order by President Andrew Stearns. 
 
Amy Potts led us in the Pledge.
 
Doug Brent shared some thoughts from a WSJ article he read on how people’s lives have changed during the pandemic year. One person shared how losing her job and having to help her teach her children at home made her realize she didn’t need all the material things that had been important before, she learned about herself and her priorities. Another was a small business owner that almost went out of business, but through hard work and creativity she was able to save her business and she sees things slowly return to normal. Doug’s thought on this, “My take away from this and some of the other stories I read I that you have got to believe there are tens of millions of stories like these-many in our own club. While you hate to see it takes a pandemic to prove it, humans are persistent, resilient, optimistic and adaptable.”
 
Greeter Art Rabbitz- No guests. One guest Eric acknowledged at end of meeting.
 
We Care Art- Charlie Ericson was diagnosed with lung cancer. He will be starting treatment in Portland. Please keep Charlie in your thoughts.
 
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day (when everyone is Irish) Don McCleve played When Irish Eyes are Smiling.
 
Featured Members this week are Judy and Julian Rodriguez. Julian said one of his favorite Rotary memories was hosting nine Russians in 1998. He also mentioned the water fountain in downtown LG we are responsible for. It is wheelchair accessible and has a doggy water bowl. Judy talked about hosting 100 people at a party in San Antonio’s oldest bar during one of the conventions they attended. They both are happy and proud to be members of LG Rotary. Thank you for all you have done for our club and the community.
 

Announcements:

Speech contest March 17.  Here is the link for the Area 8 Speech Contest happening at 7:30am at the Los Gatos Morning Rotary meeting. Dessy Bonev, the winner of our contest, will be competing. Please join if you'd like to see the contest.
 
     Topic: LGMR Meeting.- Speech Contest
     Time: Mar 17, 2021 07:30 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada) 
 
Red Badge Schmooze March 18 at 5:00. This is for members two years or less.
 
Membership Survey- about half the members have replied, thank you. Survey closes this Friday.
 
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Club Information

JOIN US ON ZOOM

Due to COVID-19
We zoom every Tuesday 12pm - 1:30pm
Visitors are welcome to attend our meetings.
Contact: secretary@losgatosrotary.org
for zoom login
 
Mailing Address:
PO Box 1018
Los Gatos, CA  95031
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Community Events
Guest Speakers
Tom Geballe, Astronomer, Mona Loa Observatory
Apr 13, 2021
Why is the sky dark? What’s happening between the stars?
Why is the sky dark? What’s happening between the stars?
Mike Moses, San Jose Fire Department
Apr 20, 2021
"It's NOT a broken bone"
Steve Wymer, President & CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs
Apr 27, 2021
“The Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley – Serving Kids Who Need Us Most”
Esther Sun, Los Gatos HS
May 04, 2021
Poetry
View entire list...
Community service
We provide food and volunteer in many food pantries including St. Lukes, House of Hope in Los Gatos, Second Harvest in San Jose, and Rise Against Hunger.  Fighting hunger and providing for low income households is just one way are helping during these difficult times.  
“For Los Gatos Rotarians, Service and Fellowship are two intertwining themes that drive much of what our club does. Our members give what they can even blood. 
 We partner with other Rotary clubs. We collected hundreds of shoes that will be delivered to Africa, South America and the Caribbean. 

Join us - we are people of Action

We meet every Tuesday 12:15-1:30pm at the Los Gatos Lodge.  Every month we complete a community service project, host social events, offer networking opportunities that build personal and professional connections.  Our two largest fund raiser are held in January CrabFest and Auction and April The Great Race of Los Gatos.  From the proceeds of our fundraisers, we have created charities and scholarship foundations, allowing us to give approximately $125,000 annually to local and international organizations and award high school seniors college scholarships. 

Rotary's 1.2 million members believe it starts with a commitment to Service Above Self. In more than 34,000 clubs worldwide, you'll find members volunteering in communities at home and abroad to support education and job training, provide clean water, combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, and eradicate polio.

 

Rotary International 2020/21 Theme