Vice President Greg Gentile began the meeting at 12:30
Pledge: Andrea Lee
Inspiration: Andrew Howard, spoke about being grateful for club mentorship from the elders in the club. Tips about being an elder: modern elders are curious and wise, time is our best asset, 10 years from now, ask yourself what will you regret, anticipating regret is a form of wisdom. To help lengthen your life; stop smoking, exercise and have a positive attitude!
Guests: Monique, Jean-Marc’s wife, Jonathan Knowles, President of the Los Gatos Monte Sereno Police Foundation. Carol Goedde from Rotary of Silicon Valley, Elizabeth Snyder, daughter of Dan Snyder and Marty T. visiting from Coronado Rotary.
Fall Fundraiser: Jean-Marc spoke about the last 3 years as chair of the fundraiser. Thanked Tina Orsi-Hartigan and Mike Norcia for all of their help and thanked the club for support and donations. A special thank you to Cinelux and Willow Street. We raised 9,350 in the three years and this year the Los Gatos Police Foundation was the recipient and we raised $2,800. President of the Foundation Jonathan Knowles was there to accept the check.
St. Luke’s Eggs: Thanks again to Randy and Kathie for the beautifully decorated holiday eggs.
Blue Badge Presentation: Jeff Blum presented Dan and Riane Spalding with their Blue Badges. Congratulations!!
Nominating committee: Tina Orsi-Hartigan presented the new slate of Officers and Directors for the 2025-2026 year that was voted on and approved.
The new officers are:
Vice President: Terri Trotter
Secretary: John Walker
Directors: Randy Cobb and Doug Carlen
President Elect: Rachelle Lopp
Scholarship: Martha Sterne
Investment: John Pencer
Investment: John Pencer
Returning officers are:
President: Paul Johnson
Immediate Past President: Doug Brent
Directors: Cindy Gentile, Nicolette Rodman Kelly and Stefka Bonev
Treasurer: Ramon Ware
Assistant Treasurer: Dan Snyder
Assistant Secretary: Ane Troger
Sergeant At Arms: Gregg Butterfield
Speaker Survey: Barry Cheskin presented the mid-year report. Members were asked to rate speakers as follows:Speaker topic: 1 (uninteresting)-5 (very interesting)
Speaker Presentation skills: 1 (poor)-5 (excellent)
Responses were very high about 65% of attendees
Average speaker topic rating was 4.3 out of 5
Average speaker presentation Skills rating was 4.4 out of 5
Some challenges for the speaker program:
Not being able to pay speakers, not always able to preview them, not controlling speakers’ schedules and not being able to get all the speaker suggestions received
Qualitative Feedback:
Many people reported that they liked the speakers; two people thought that a speaker was too promotional and a few people wished they could leave comments.
Our Rotary Family: David Wells showed a picture of he and his wife Sonya and their daughter Hannah on a 16 hundred foot vertical mountain in Norway.
30 for 30:
- Ramon Ware reminded us about the availability of the Los Gatos Loyal Cards to purchase. You can use them to get discounts in various Los Gatos restaurants and businesses.
- Meghan Burton, got tickets from her brother, who was a delegate at the Democratic National Convention, for the Holiday White House Open House. She is leaving this weekend.
- Riane Spalding thanked her husband for being so supportive during her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, and told everyone the importance of regular check-ups and tests to maintain good health.
Guest Speaker:
Our very own Rotarian Margaret Smith, presented on her store Domus and the impact it has on the community. Margaret went to George Washington University and got her law degree from Santa Clara University. She was a business attorney in San Mateo and Los Altos. She belonged to and was the president of the National Association of Women Business Owners. Immigrants who came here from Holland were the first to open Domus as a leather goods store in the 1960’s. Margaret bought the store in the 1990’s. She re-opened the business again when Ed Stahl came to her with a proposal to use the space in the old Pharmaca building. She talked about how Domus is really a community-gathering place and how generations of families have shopped there. They gathered when 9/11 happened to shop and be with other community members and people have fond memories of Domus being part of their family traditions. Domus is a gathering place that builds community and brings joy to the town and it’s residents.
Greg adjourned meeting at 1:30.