The meeting was called to order by President Meghan Burton at 12:30.
The pledge was led by Art Rabbitz.
Inspiration from Andrew Howard who told us about his son’s baseball team playing in a tournament recently. They are the defending champions but lost the first game. Second game they were down by five runs in the 5th inning. He gave them a pep talk about attitude and effort. They came back to score six runs and win the game by one run. In closing Andrew shared two quotes from John Wooden “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
“You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”
Guests:
Terry Rodgers, this was Terry’s second visit
Rotarian in the Wild:
Marie Rector in Iceland. Beautiful picture Marie.
Eggs for St. Luke’s:
Decorated in honor of the World Cup. Thank you Randy Cobb and Kathie Benko, inspired as always.
Upcoming events:
- August 1 First Tuesday at the home of Judy and Gordon Levin, 5:30-7:30. Parking is limited, carpool if you can, ok to park where it says no parking. The driveway is steep, please leave it for people who have trouble walking. Please bring something to drink and appetizer or salad. Desserts will be provided. Thank you, Judy and Gordon.
- August 5 Back to School shopping for West Valley Community Service at Old Navy Westgate. Contact Suzanne Boxer-Gassman for more information.
- August 9 Backpack assembly for Pacific Clinics at 499 Loma Alta LG. Contact Gae La Torre for more information. Just bring yourself, we have purchased supplies.
- September 7-14 wheelchair distribution in the Philippines. Go to rotarydistrict5170.org for more information.
Centennial committee 100 of Service meeting right after the meeting.
Gae La Torre and Ron Cassel presented a certificate of appreciation to Paul Johnson.
30 for 30
- Sergio Michel was a chef for 20 years and he’s putting his skills to use at a fundraiser for St. Leo’s the Great this Saturday July 29 at the church. This will benefit the school and church.
- Jean-Marc Blanchard gave $60 to scholarship in honor of recent work/pleasure trip to Italy.
- Nicholas Welzenbach gave for his annual trip to Goleta in an Airstream to celebrate his son’s birthday. He gave in honor of returning home safely.
- Nicholas also commented on the fact that he and Jean-Marc seem to be growing their hair out, maybe a wager to see who can go the longest without a haircut?
- Judy Rodriguez gave in thanks to Barbara and Marty Fishman coming to visit Julian. Julian loves the visits of various Rotarians so much and Judy feels so thankful. In addition to the visit, Marty brought a delicious peach pie he had made along with vanilla bean ice cream.
- Mike Norcia surprised his mother and sister (as well as the rest of us) when he told us that he went skydiving with his son, Zachary. They had a great time.
Summary of giving:
Last year we gave $242,065 in total. The endowments (scholarships and charities) grew to a total of $3,476,000.
Program:
Our speaker today was District 28 Assembly Member Gail Pellerin. District 28 includes most of Santa Cruz County and part of Santa Clara County. Assembly Member Pellerin was elected to the assembly in Nov. 22. Prior to running for the assembly, she served as the Santa Cruz County Clerk from 1993-2020. She mentioned during the early part of the pandemic she was performing the only marriages in the state. She was quoted in the paper as saying “Love is essential.”
She discussed the issues she sees as most important right now:
Housing crisis, climate crisis, and mental health, especially children and teens. She has a variety of bills being considered right now.
Member Pellerin was in Los Gatos to give a $1M check to the LGS Rec Department for their 55+ program. If you’d like to get to know her better, on Aug.5 she will hosting a Paws and Policy event at Jeffrey Fontana Park on Meridian Ave. from 11-1. On Aug. 17 from 4-6 there will be a grand opening of her district office at 3150 Almaden Expressway. There will be a taco truck and she will be collecting school supplies.
Meeting adjourned at 1:30.
NO lunch meeting next week. First Tuesday at the Levin’s.