Meeting Notes from March 26, 2024

The meeting was brought to order by President Meghan Burton at 12:30.

Mike “The Greek” Frangadakis led the pledge of allegiance.

Erika Buck gave the inspiration. She again went to the book 100 Ways to Calm for an excerpt, and this time shared a little life advice: Be late for work. Call or email your boss and tell them you’ll be a little late. Do something nice for yourself! Make yourself a great breakfast, practice yoga or take the dog out for a walk. And, miss the traffic! A much more restful day (unless being late annoys your boss :-)

Introduction of Guests

Cindy Carter, President Elect of Sebastopol Rotary joined us today. She was visiting with her daughter who works in Los Gatos at Charles Schwab, and wanted to check out how another large club operates after meeting Doug Brent at President Elect Training. Her daughter, Michelle Flamm also visited.
Ed Stahl introduced JoAnn Smith from the Los Gatos Morning club.
Tom Boyce introduced Peter Morris, a former Rotarian, and now Executive Director at the Terraces. This is the second visit to our club.

The Rotarian in the Wild was Rachelle Lopp. Rachelle climbed an 800 year old 200 ft high tree in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Janice LeFevre of Saratoga Inner Wheel sent a slide that showed their work supporting artificial limbs, and thanking those who supported their raffle.

Meghan reviewed the contribution several Rotarians made to Rise Against Hunger, along with Saratoga Rotary, and others. The group packaged 20,000 meals that will be used anywhere in the world, where needed. Each kit is a healthy meal in a bag, that just needs to be boiled, and seasoned to local tastes.

Upcoming club events

(Please note: details/links for these will be provided by Meghan in her weekly newsletter.)

The April, “First Tuesday” will be held at Chez Felipe in downtown Los Gatos on 2 April from 5:30-7:30. Hope to see you there!
Paul Christensen discussed Great Race progress. Sponsorships are going really well (thanks to Patti!), and sign-ups are on track with progress last year. But Lisa Cheskin pointed out that we still have about 400+ people to sign up, so continue getting the word out! Paul stated that this week, you will get a link to a website where you can sign up for different tasks to support the race. Most will be race day tasks, but it is possible to work ahead of time, and it is even possible to sign up for tasks that still allow you to race. This is a major fund raiser for the club (and very significant for the Scholarship Foundation), and we’re asking for everyone to find a way to help.

Member Survey, Barry Cheskin

Barry Cheskin put together a membership satisfaction survey and shared the results with the club. Of approximately 140 surveys sent out, 85 people responsed, which is a fantastic response rate. Barry noted two things about the respondents. 1) Looking at the data, the respondents had about the same duration of club membership as compared with the duration of our total membership. This is at least one measure that would indicate the sample of respondents is representative of all club membership. 2) Barry did note that respondents may be those who are more engaged in the club, and that this could have impacted the results.

Barry explained the concept of Net Promoter Score, and said that the club’s is a 72 - an excellet result. He also noted, though, that there were about one-third of the respondents who did not feel that engaged in club activities. How could it be made better? Some items mentioned were: Member involvement in decision-making on project choices and financial allocation. Improved quality of speakers. Greater community focus. Better governance, and process-oriented decision making. And, better food.

In summary, we have a lot to be happy about, but should always be looking for ways to make things better.

30-for-30

Erin Hartnet started a new, no out of pocket cost service for veterans at her Willow Glen office and for home use. Through the VA, she is able to offer eligible Veterans GammaCore (non invasive) Vagus Nerve Stimulator. It treats PTSD, cluster headaches, migraines and more.
Tom Boyce talked about his 85th birthday, and what the nine of them did for his birthday. And, he described his ideal present - which he received! A meteoroid from the moon.
Doug Brent apologized to Cindy Carter for not being there to greet her, and promised to do better next time!
Clayton talked about his recent vacation, including a highlight: An all day visit to the World War 2 museum in New Orleans!
John Pencer talked about the San Jose Rotary Gala dinner and auction. John mentioned that tickets were $250 each, and to consider that cost in relation to our $175 100th anniversary celebration tickets. Don’t wait for the 150th celebration!
Paul Yeadon mentioned that the Fun Time Singers will be performing at Shir Hadash in about one month. Saturday April 20th at 7:00PM, and Sunday April 21st at 2:30PM. The theme is “Celestial”.
Lissa Kriesler announced that starting May 6 at 10:00 there will be a monthly movie at the Los Gatos theater benefiting the Los Gatos Thrives Foundation. The price is, $10, which also includes some goodies. The first movie will be Fall Guy.
Jeffrey Barnet pledged in honor of his sixth grandchild!

Paul Harris Fellow Recognition,

Meghan assisted by Marty Fishman recognized our Paul Harris Fellows and Society Members. Paul Harris was Rotary’s founder. Paul Harris Fellow awards recognize lifetime giving to the Rotary Foundation in increments of $1,000. Paul Harris Fellows gave $1,000 or more to the Rotary Foundation/and or Polio Plus in one year.

Paul Harris Fellow ($1000)

Kirsten Bridges

Fabio Giannetti

Greg Smith

Ane Troger

Paul Harris Fellow +2 ($3000)

Richard Bobis

Clayton Bruntz

Meghan Burton

Sarita Johnson

Henry VItkovich

Paul Harris Fellow +3 ($4000)