Meeting Notes from May 12, 2026

Call to Order
President Paul Johnson called the meeting to order at 12:30.

Pledge of Allegiance
Ron Cassel led the pledge of allegiance.

Paul thanked Randy Cobb and others for work to get a new a/v system up and running. There are still some kinks to work out - higher screen, better sound - but it was a good first step with a big, bright screen.

Inspiration
Jean-Marc’s inspiration was titled “judging the judges”, an appropriate theme with our speaker today being a Santa Clara County judge. Jean-Marc talked about the very significant federal judge Frank Johnson who ruled on numerous civil rights cases, including that of Rosa Parks and bus segregation. He also talked about Constance Baker Motley, an NAACP lawyer who was the first African American woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court. These people took real personal risk making unpopular and very impactful decisions.

Red Badges Awarded
President Paul announced two new members receiving Red Badges. Eric Dunston received his Red Badge from his sponsor Nitze Dormandy. And, Angel Ramey received hers from Paul. Angel noted that her sponsor, Anna Maria Valenzuela was impactful in her joining the club and getting through the Red Badge steps, but had a late breaking commitment that didn’t allow Anna Maria to attend the meeting.

 

Blue Badge Bio
Linda Levinson

Linda was born in St. Louis along with three siblings. She had what she described as a “normal mid-west background”. Her father was an active Rotarian in St. Louis. When she was 12, her parents hosted a party for an international group of Rotarians. One person there, Señora Suarez, invited Linda to Puebla, Mexico when she reached the age of 16.

Arriving with some high school Spanish, she met Beto and Nina, their two siblings, and three other American visitors who became her extended Puebla family. Linda fell in love with the family and Mexico - food, mole, tinga, not to mention a unique immersion in the Spanish language. Linda has stayed friends with Beto, through major family events. When Linda’s children were young, she took them to Puebla, exposing them to her 59 year friendship.

Rotary is an important part of Linda’s life, adding to her many other volunteer opportunities. Patty, Linda’s sponsor, presented the Blue Badge. (Linda had time for only a portion of her story, and her full notes can be read by clicking here.)

Suzy Deline - Blue Badge Part Deux
Suzy had the unenviable task of delivering her first round Blue Badge presentation without mic or slides. So she came back with a music theme, giving us songs for each era.

• Her farm girl roots. Song: “Take me home, country road”
• Chicago School days: Song: “Everybody wants to rule the world”
• 90’s Silicon Valley: “Semi-charmed life”
• Hong Kong, Family, Consulting: “Fields of Gold”
• Rotary: “What a wonderful World”

She concluded with yet another song for her Rotary era, titled “Sweet Rotary” (sung to the tune of “Sweet Caroline”) with lyrics about the club and service. LOTS of folks joined in the song (and we sounded pretty good!)

Rotarian Spotlight
Cindy Gentile introduced Ron Cassel, who donned his red sports jacket with lots of Rotary flare.

First, Ron wanted to use this opportunity to talk about Polio. He lived when public pools were closed due to polio. His housemother at school walked with a brace. His father-in-law came down with polio two weeks after being vaccinated. Rotary’s work to eradicate polio has been personal for him.

Ron first came to the club in 1995 looking for funds to get his LG High School students to be able to travel to several venues, including the national championship of automated manufacturing. Ron has received an honorary Paul Harris award, and encouraged future club presidents to consider offering this. After some twists and turns, Ron was sponsored by Ray Cobb. In 2011, Ron went to the International convention in Montreal, and encouraged all of us to take the opportunity to go a Rotary International meeting, as well as participate in International service, as he has done.