Special Note:
Roast and Toast: The Roast and Toast celebrating outgoing President Meghan Burton was held June 25 at Darling and Fisher Campbell. Thanks to Nicholas Welzenbach for hosting and Mike Norcia for chairing the event. Food was a full bar and delicious taco dinner, offered as a cost savings due to recent Centennial Event. Mike and Committee offered some comic relief involving Meghan’s beloved SF Giants. Meghan thanked her outgoing board, and presented a Paul Harris Award to the club’s financial advisor Karra Canum with Wells Fargo Advisors for her outstanding stewardship of the club’s 2 endowments. Hearty appreciation was expressed by all to Meghan for a great year of leadership. Thank you Meghan!
Ron Cassel’s Awards Committee presented the following awards:
Rotarian of the Year: Gregg Butterfield
Elite Awards: Paul Christensen & Andrew Stearns
Plaque of Appreciation: Rachelle Lopp & Art Rabitz - two more to be presented at a future club meeting
Framed Certificates: Erica Buck - three more to be presented at a future club meeting
Meeting July 16, 2024
Meeting called to order by President Doug Brent at 12:30pm.
Barry Cheskin led the pledge of allegiance.
John Pencer gave our inspirational message on one of the five core values of the Rotary: Leadership. Our values as an organization represent our beliefs and determine our behavior; they are also the basis for the guiding principles that define Rotary. Rotary is a global fellowship of individuals who are leaders in their fields of endeavor and who believe in the importance of leadership development and in leadership as a quality of our members. We are also leaders in implementing our core values. There are two traits that define a leader: (1) Attitude and (2) Stick to it ness.
John read the poem “It Couldn’t be Done” by Edgar Guest that ties in to attitude and “stick to it ness”. The end of the poem reads: “There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done. There are thousands to prophesy failure”. Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing that “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.
Visitors:
- Jenny Wong was inducted into the Saratoga Rotary; she was hoping to join the Los Gatos Rotary too, but she can only belong to one.
- Sonja Tappan, director of Los Gatos Education Foundation, guest of Paul Johnson
- Ali Kagawa, director of Pets in Need, guest of Barry Cheskin
- Harry Franze, consultant, guest of Dick Konrad
- Dan Snyder introduced his daughter, who will be attending college in the Midwest this fall.
- Michelle Mattson, event coordinator West Valley Community Services, guest of Bobbi Bornstein
Decorated eggs St. Lukes Pantry-- “Eat, Drink, Watch Football Soccer”
Copa America (Argentina vs Columbia)
Announcements:
--Thank you to Rotary for $1000 Shelter Box contribution.
Ali Kagawa, director of Development at Pets in Need told us about the Pets in Need program. There are two locations; Redwood City and Palo Alto; and, it is the first no kill shelter, saving lives since 1965.
- Rescued and found homes for 1,382 animals last year.
- Provided 5,315 animals in the community with medical care like vaccines and spay/neuters.
- All with the help of 7,667 volunteer hours
- Our club’s generous grant funded the most recent Pet Food Pantry at Ecumenical Hunger Program helping 61 families, 154 pets (cats and dogs), with 454 cans of wet food, 617 lbs. of dry kibble. Approximately 2,922 meals were distributed during the event. Thank you Rotary.
Pets in Need Contact Information:
- PetsinNeed.org; Give@PetsinNeed.org; Followus@PetsinNeed1965
Bobbi Bornstein, manager of volunteer services at West Valley Community Services spoke about the back-to-school annual event Saturday, August 3, 2024 at Westgate mall, Old Navy. With our help, children of low-income families in our community will receive new clothes, a new backpack and supplies.
To Donate: go to www.wvcommunityservices.org/donatenow
Event information: contact Michelle Mattson at (408) 709-5220 or specialprograms@wvcommunityservices.org
Jeff and Lissa—Pacific Clinics backpack service opportunity
--August 5, 2024, sign up 10am—12pm or 1pm—3pm. Sign up sheet circulated during the meeting.
Our Rotary Families: This week’s photo was Paul Johnson, his wife Debbie and their grandchildren, enjoying the beach.
Rotarian Recognition Awards from the Roast and Toast:
--Terri Trotter was recognized for outstanding and dedicated services for her many contributions to the Rotary. Congratulations, Terri.
--Ramon Ware was also recognized for outstanding and dedicated services. Ramon arranged all of our speakers last year. Congratulations, Ramon.
Guest Speaker:
Jill Duerig, 2024-2025 District Governor Rotary District 5170 Update
Sangita Seshadri introduced Jill Duerig. Jill joined the Rotary in 2003. She was President of the Rotary Club of Livermore Valley in 2019-2020, Assistant Governor for Area 4 in 2020-2021, Lieutenant Governor 2021-2023.
As a retired General Manager of Zone 7 Water Agency in Livermore and a former General Manager/Chief Engineer for Scotts Valley Water District, her passion for potable water got her involved in the Haiti National Clean Water Sanitation and Hygiene Strategy (HANWASH), a partnership between Rotary’s WASH Rotary Action Group and the government of Haiti). Jill serves on HANWASH’s Steering Committee and chairs its Project & Technical Advisory Subcommittee.
She is married to her college sweetheart, Tom. They have three children and six grandchildren.
- New Rotary Foundation: designated funds generate income and lets individuals choose how to spend those funds, both international and local.
- If you donate $10,000 or more per individual, Jill will host at her home as a thank you.
Goals for the year 2024-2025:
- Be kind to one another.
- Find your club passion.
Jill asked a panel consisting of Lisa Cheskin, Ramon Ware and John
Pencer a few questions:
What was your favorite project?
Ramon—packing rice and bean packets, knowing this is going to help so many people.
John—Committees setting aside money for the future (started in 1984).
Lisa—Crab Fest, all the people involved who made it happen.
Jill asked the panel: Have you seen the sparkle in someone’s eyes?
Lisa—The back-to-school program; seeing the children happy to be able to choose their own things.
Ramon—Seeing the sparkle in Patti’s eyes when Ramon said he would take over as Treasurer.
John—Inviting kids with disabilities to a park to carve pumpkins.
Meeting adjourned at 1:20pm.