Pledge
The pledge was led by Mike Norcia.Visitors
Visiting Rotarian was Jaime Goodo from Weed California (guess which member yelled out “Did you bring any?”), a retired Mechanical Engineer from Silicon Valley club.
Patti’s guest was Linda Levenson, a potential new member who speaks Spanish and looks forward to helping in our Guatemalan and Mexican trips.
She also knows Suzanne and the Fishmans, and already volunteers with our partners Santa Maria Urban Ministry, Food Runners, and Refugee Services at JFSCV.
She also knows Suzanne and the Fishmans, and already volunteers with our partners Santa Maria Urban Ministry, Food Runners, and Refugee Services at JFSCV.
Inspiration
Inspiration was by Jean Marc Blanchard. He noted Memorial Day was for fallen soldiers, and he wanted to honor courageous cops who had fallen in the line of duty. He said they run toward danger when others run away, a true example of service above self.
Doug shared a few photos:
- Randy and Kathy’s memorial day eggs for St Luke’s homeless pantry
- a thank you note from our grant recipient Days for Girls (sponsored by Andrew Howard)
- JW House group of volunteers who served dinner to those traveling for a loved one in the hospital
- Seniors of Distinction ceremony at Terraces held last week where Tina Orsi-Hartigan and Jeffrey Blum were honored. Also in attendance was Rotarian and mayor Matthew Hudes and other Rotarians. Doug noted the bios were inspirational and it was nice to be in a room where all had a high regard for service. Congrats to Tina and Jeffrey!
- there were a couple new Guess the Rotarians: teen pictures of Art Rabitz playing football and soldier Mike Frangadakis
- this week’s Rotary family was Mike Frangadakis- showing his group of 10 at Dodge Ridge
Scholarship Committee
The Scholarship committee explained this year’s awards. Chair Henry Vitkovich said the fund started in 1947 with a $1200 donation. The endowment started in 1973, and has grown to over $2 million.WE hand out the dividends and interest each spring, and this year that was $50,000. They gave out 10 $5000 scholarships, 6 to Los Gatos High and 4 to Leigh High. The school counselors make the recommendation based on need, merit, grades, and service. Committee members Henry, Jeffrey Barnett and Skip Brewster each highlighted a winner. Their resumes included high grades, musical abilities, sports, service, research, and in one case a difficult home life.
Announcements
- see Patti if you can sponsor the Great Race (pattigvanderburg@gmail.com408 348-1497), sponsorship deadline is July 15 for the August 30 4 mile Race at Vasona
- Club BBQ is 5/30 at Oak Meadow
- District Conference is 5/31 at SJSU
- First Tuesday social is at Mike Norcia’s on 6/3
- Roast and Toast is 6/24 at Shir Hadash
30 for 30
- Ryan mentioned he is in a band called Ryan and Ryan and will play at LG Coffee Roasting 6/13 and Little Lou’s on 7/30
- Tina pledged $100 to Charities in honor of Randy’s efforts to always attend Rotary events and take and share great photos. Well done Randy!
- Mike Frangadakis noted there is a Greek Festival next weekend with great home cooked food
- Judy gave $50 in honor of a group that came to visit Julian bringing treats, including master-mind Gregg Butterfield, Art, Gentile’s, Grady, Paul Christenson, and Marlon Smith
- Lissa Kreisler reminded all of Monday movies at 10am at Los gatos Theater. This week it’s Mission Impossible, benefitting Los Gatos Thrives
- Avis gave $100 to scholarship in honor of her granddaughter graduating from University of British Columbia
Speakers
The speakers were Jackie Rose from the town offices, Chief of Police Jamie Fields, and Dispatcher Leigh Ann with therapy doodle dog JJ.
Chief Fields gave us some Police Department highlights:
- the contract is renewed for Monte Serno to partner with Los Gatos, so it’s still the LGMS Police Department
- there are 60 staff members, 39 are sworn officers and 21 are professional staff (dispatchers, records, evidence, parking etc)
- there is a big increase in DUI’s, so get help to those that need it to prevent
- e-bikes are causing injuries, working with commissions to update ordinances, hard to enforce safely since teens don’t always pull over
- she’s working on state laws to allow towing of e-bikes by police
- immigration is an issue. The 2018 California Values Act prevents local law enforcement from working with ICE
- scams are on the rise, so don’t take the bait re claims of bridge tolls, police needing funds, or a family member abroad needing money
Leigh Ann the dispatcher
Leigh Ann the dispatcher spoke of the community engagement with JJ the therapy dog. She takes her to schools and retirement centers and clubs. She gets to roam the police offices when not in the community.
A new dog is coming soon trained in explosive detection and tracking, in time for the big bay area events of FIFA and the Super Bowl.
Leigh Ann the dispatcher spoke of the community engagement with JJ the therapy dog. She takes her to schools and retirement centers and clubs. She gets to roam the police offices when not in the community.
A new dog is coming soon trained in explosive detection and tracking, in time for the big bay area events of FIFA and the Super Bowl.
Questions:
- homelessness is not illegal, so mostly the outreach is for the police to make sure they have services such as showers and pantries etc
- there is no longer an active jail cell in town, since it’s cheaper to drive to the 15 minute away county jail when rarely needed
- beach traffic can’t be foxed by police, but they do plan for strategically placing officers where needed in case of emergency during those times
- if a person is taken into custody their pet is taken to the county animal welfare department