
Meeting called to order by President Doug Brent at 12:30pm.
The Boy Scout Troop #2 Color Guard lead the pledge of allegiance ceremony.
Blossom Hill Elementary students sang a cute rendition of “You’re a Grand Old Flag”.
Johann Jacob gave a presentation of Los Gatos Boy Scout Troop #2.
- It is the oldest troop in Santa Clara County.
- The Los Gatos Rotary Club has sponsored the Troop since 1924.
- They are involved in community service, including the Crabfest and the Great Race.
- All scouts go to leadership training and have 9 adult mentors.
- Dick Konrad is the Rotary representative.
- By supporting Scouting, the Rotary Club has impacted the lives of numerous youths. Thank you, Rotary!
Suzanne Boxer-Gassman gave our inspirational message:
“All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” by Robert Fulghum.
Share everything; play fair; don’t hit people; put things back where you found them; clean up your own mess; don’t take things that aren’t yours; say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody, wash your hands before you eat; warm milk and cookies are good for you; live a balanced life; take a nap every afternoon; be aware of wonder; and remember, goldfish and hamsters and little white mice all die—and so do we.
It is still true, no matter how old you are; when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.
Visitors:
Linda and Alan Levenson, guests of Suzanne Boxer-Gassman
Melissa Crow, Teresa Fiscus and Jenny Anderson, guests of Paul Johnson
Decorated eggs St. Lukes Pantry:
Last week autumn, this week Halloween.
Announcements:
October Birthdays and Anniversaries (see slides)
A video was shown highlighting the bike rodeo and bike safety training for kids.
New members red badge: Michelle Mattson and Derrick Du
November 9th: Rotary 24 Fall Fundraiser Movie; however, we don’t have a movie, a time or a theater yet. Stay tuned.
Reminder about service for long time Rotary member Don McCleve, October 12 at the Monte Sereno Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Jeff Blum encouraged people to participate in the Community Center Design Event, October 14, 5-7pm; Los Gatos Masonic Lodge, 131 E. Main St.
Our Rotary Family Picture: John Pencer and his family enjoying a cooking class in Italy.
30 For 30:
- Lisa Cheskin--$60.00 to the scholarship fund for brother Michael’s birthday.
- Elaine Ware--$100.00 to the scholarship fund for her daughter passing the Bar exam.
- Dan Synder--$100.00 because he brought his daughter a few weeks ago and she sat with Terri, instead of him.
- Jeff Barnett--$100.00 for his wonderful granddaughter.
- Tina Orsi-Hartigan--$50.00 for spending a wonderful time with family in Italy.
- Anna Maria Valenzuela--$50.00. She visited Mexico last week and she is rebuilding her childhood home.
- Kirsten Bridges--$100.00 for her husband’s new heart.
- Marlon Smith--$200.00 for his colorful caravan trip to Portland.
- Doug Brent--$100.00 for Michelle Myers Nelson’s continued excellence with all she does to make the luncheons remarkable week after week.
- Clare Vickers—to acknowledge all the helpers.
Guest Speaker: Vidya Rajagopalan, VP of engineering at Rivian
Vidya’s career has included:
- executive in the semiconductor business at both Digital Equipment Corporation and Xilinx.
- more recently, she has been focused on the systems side of electric vehicle design from the Model 3 Tesla to her current role as VP of engineering at Rivian.
- Vidya was named one of Electric Vehicle’s 30 power players by The Business Insider in June 2022.
- Vidya was born and raised in India.
- She is a graduate of the University of Maryland.
- Her career has covered tiny computer chips to large vehicles.
When she joined Tesla to work on the model 3, she knew little about cars. She worked tirelessly at night; then was asked to manage teams, developing automotive electronics. After leaving Tesla, she took a year off (she always did that after leaving a position).
Vidya had reached a point where she wanted to focus her technology expertise and career on something she was passionate about. That is when she learned about Rivian. Her draw was: disruption in the automotive market utilizing electrification, connectivity, vertical integration, interactive entertainment, driver assistance/autonomy and digital customer experience. She was able to be a part of a major transition, and helped to transform a 100-year-old industry with electric vehicles. She has been instrumental in the integration of hardware and software that comes from designing and engineering from scratch.
The hardware and software are developed in-house, which allows the integration of their technology to move quickly and promote innovation.
Rivian has signed the Climate Pledge to reach the goal of net-zero emissions by 2040—10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.
Rivian models include the all-electric truck Rivian R1T, the Rivian SUV RIS, R2(2026), ???Rivian R3 and Amazon Prime commercial vans.
Rivian sees vehicles as smart, connected computers on wheels. The software is the force behind the scenes. It’s the thing that helps reveal the beauty and capability of all the hardware.