The meeting was called to order by President Nicholas Welzenbach at 12:30
The pledge was led by Mike Frangadakis.
Inspiration was from Judy Rodriguez who spoke about Veteran’s Day. She started with the history of Veteran’s Day beginning in 1918. She concluded with thoughts about how we can honor our veterans from Tom Clancy, Barak Obama, and Maya Angelou. She then asked the veterans to stand. Our members who are veterans are:
- Gary Allison
- Clayton Bruntz- Navy
- Rob Chaykin- Naval Reserves
- Dan Doore- Army
- Mike Frangadakis- Army
- Grady Jeter- Army
- Dick Konrad
- Art Rabitz-Air Force
- Myron Smith- Air Force
- Ed Stahl- Army
- Gordon Levin- Navy/Marines
- Ramon Ware- Air Force
Thank you all for your service.
Guests:
Gae La Torre introduced her guest, Ileana Aguilar.
Announcements:
We had a moment of silence for Tom O’Donnell who passed away November 2. Services for Tom will be held at St. Mary’s Church this Saturday November 13 at 11:00. Tom was remembered as a wonderful person and a great Rotarian. Nicholas showed a picture of everyone at the First Tuesday event at Randy and Kathie’s home toasting Tom. He will be missed.
Thank you to Randy Cobb and Kathie Benko for hosting our First Thursday event last week. There was a great turnout and everyone enjoyed themselves.
The veterans were called to the front of the room. Nicholas presented them with American Flag/Rotary flag pins. Mike F. presented Nicholas and Ed Stahl with bottles of sand from Omaha Beach. Mike thanked Nicholas for the work he does with vets.
Wheelchair Project: Our district is spearheading a Wheelchair Project, more info to follow.
Winefest is coming January 29, 2022.
President’s Brunch is December 5 at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club. Suzanne created a video to give us an idea of what to expect and Henry has planned some surprises!
This is the beginning of Rotary Foundation Month. Marty Fishman presented a video about the foundation. The goal is “Every Rotarian, Every Year.” Any amount is appreciated. The focus areas of the Foundation are:
- promoting peace
- fighting disease
- providing clean water, sanitation and hygiene
- saving mothers and children
- supporting education
- protecting the environment
Let’s get to 100% participation this year!
20 for 20
Mike F. gave $20 he will be unfurling the flag at the Monday Night Football 49ers game.
Paul Christensen gave $400 in honor of his recent road trip along the Canadian border.
Program:
Rob Rennie Vice Mayor of Los Gatos and Morning Rotarian was our speaker. Rob spoke to us about what the council has been doing to help businesses downtown before and during the pandemic. Rob serves on several boards in the county. He spoke about the nine-county air district and the work they are doing to improve the air quality in the Bay Area. He also spoke on the activities of several other environmental programs he has worked with such as Silicon Valley Clean Energy and Lights on Silicon Valley. Rob has had a long-time interest in emergency preparedness, starting from the time he flooded cities he built in his sandbox. He now works on projects such as focusing on CERT and HAM programs, emergency drills and emergency preparedness training for seniors, as well as an Ad Hoc wildfire team formed for ideas for wildfire safety and prevention. Rob will be mayor in 2022.
Next week’s program will be Heather Schomaker from the Wheelchair Foundation.
Meeting was adjourned at 1:30.