Call to Order
Paul Johnson called the meeting to order at 12:30pm.
Pledge
Dick Konrad led the pledge of allegiance.
Dick Konrad led the pledge of allegiance.
Guests and Visiting Rotarians
- Gay Crawford, San Jose Rotary and Cancer CAREpoint
- Sandi Frazier
- Susan Bruntz
- Bill Penrod
- Ken Glass
We sang Happy Birthday to LeRoy Neider, but his birthday is not until November!
Inspiration
Art Rabitz, with the help of Lissa Kreisler. Art is a laughter therapist and led us in a five-minute 3-point laughter exercise. Very fun and very creative.
Decor
Beautifully decorated Under the Sea eggs by Kathie and Randy for St. Luke’s! Thank you, Kathie.
Beautifully decorated Under the Sea eggs by Kathie and Randy for St. Luke’s! Thank you, Kathie.
Blue Badge Presentation
Jim Childers.
Jim was born in Walla Walla, Washington on 280 acres of wheat. He was raised in Milton-Freewater, Oregon.
Trivia Question #1: Which hall of famer played single A ball in Walla Walla in 1976-1977. He was known for his back flip and was considered the wizard of Oz: Ozzie Smith.
Trivia question #2: Which New England Patriots quarterback was selected in the first round 1983 draft and played high school football in Walla Walla: Drew Bledsoe.
Jim went to Southern Oregon University and moved to the bay area in 1986. He worked for Seafirst bank and US Bank. He started the company BrandVia which was acquired by HALO in 2022. When he sold the company in 2022, he stayed on as a consultant until he retired in 2025.
His daughter, Ashley, was the first Los Gatos High School graduate to attend Cornell and play D-1 basketball. His son Jimmy is a junior at Los Gatos High School and plays for the Wildcats.
Since joining Rotary, he has been a DG at ELC in March and wants to continue giving back to the community. His future goals include:
Trivia Question #1: Which hall of famer played single A ball in Walla Walla in 1976-1977. He was known for his back flip and was considered the wizard of Oz: Ozzie Smith.
Trivia question #2: Which New England Patriots quarterback was selected in the first round 1983 draft and played high school football in Walla Walla: Drew Bledsoe.
Jim went to Southern Oregon University and moved to the bay area in 1986. He worked for Seafirst bank and US Bank. He started the company BrandVia which was acquired by HALO in 2022. When he sold the company in 2022, he stayed on as a consultant until he retired in 2025.
His daughter, Ashley, was the first Los Gatos High School graduate to attend Cornell and play D-1 basketball. His son Jimmy is a junior at Los Gatos High School and plays for the Wildcats.
Since joining Rotary, he has been a DG at ELC in March and wants to continue giving back to the community. His future goals include:
- Traveling
- Spending time with family
- Presenting the history and evolution of Branded Merchandise to college students
- Local community service
Paul showed slides of the service events that took place last week:
- Rise Against Hunger where 30,000 meals were packaged
- Curated Pathways to Innovation, organized by Nathan Pendleton, where 100 Middle School students presented technology product pitches
- Hunger at Home where 276 families received boxes and bags of food
Punta Colonet Casita Build
Skip and Donna Brewster talked about the 2026 Punta Colonet Casita Build. April 5 to April 10th, they along with their son Steve and other volunteers, traveled to Punta Colonet, Baja on a combined LG United Methodist Church, Rotary, and Lighting for Literacy Mission trip.
Over 5 days, the team built a 475 sq. ft. casita for a disabled farmworker family. They also installed solar powered lights into six houses. The next trip will be April 4-9, 2027.
30 for 30
- Jeff Barnett: $100 for the Scholarship Foundation in honor of Doug Brent and Avis, who sponsored an Interact student for RYLA.
- Gary Allison: $100 for Scholarship for riding in and driving a 1956 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud. This was always a dream of his as a car buff.
- Gay Crawford: $30 to the Beck family (And Eric Eberlee and John Colwell, who were early supporters) for their support of Cancer CAREpoint.
- LeRoy Neider: $100 for his birthday not being today but in November.
- Randy Cobb: $30 for John Pencer, who was able to walk his daughter down the aisle for her wedding after his heart surgery.