Doug called the meeting to order at 12:30. Jean Marc led the flag salute.
Doug’s Rotary fact of the week: Rotary’s official avenues of service include club service, vocational service, community service, international service, and youth service. Which have you participated in?
Guests:
- Marjory Brent, Ian Brent, and Ariana Brent (family of Doug Brent)
- Debbie Johnson (Paul Johnson’s wife)
- Elizabeth Synder (Dan Synder’s daughter)
Inspiration:
Barry Cheskin gave our inspiration, continuing his theme of lessons in leadership. Queen Elizabeth II was one of the most beloved monarchs with incredibly high approval ratings. Why? She listened. She was present. She had a sense of duty in her service to the people.
Club business:
- Marty Fishman reminded us the Rotary Foundation Drive is in full swing with a fun new twist. Remember, we are not just part of Los Gatos Rotary, we are part of Rotary International and its foundation does incredible philanthropy around the world. We have an anonymous donor willing to match any funds we raise over the amount we raised last year! Let’s do this! Contribute what you can! Reach out to Marty with any questions.
- Volunteer at our local schools! There are a few STEAM nights and some bike rodeo (bike safety) mornings where you can volunteer. Please look for emails from Jeffrey Blum to sign up. Doug shared some photos from last week’s STEAM event. It’s great to see Rotary partner with our fantastic community schools.
- Paul Johnson talked about the Guatamala School Project, a LGUSD project we gave a grant to last year. Over 1600 books - purchased through LGUSD, Rotary Club, and the Interfaith Council - were brought to 7 schools in Guatemala this past spring. These are schools that had NO books at all. Paul shared how the kids swarmed the table of new books and started devouring them. We made an impact on thousands of children. The project also donated more RACHEL computers. We will be doing another Spanish book drive this year because of its success.
Announcements
- Crabfest! It’s time to start donating or soliciting items for auction. Would you like to be a solicitor? Let Elaine Ware know. And thanks Elaine (a member for only a few months!) for volunteering to lead the auction.
- There is a club board meeting on Wednesday Sept 18 at 5:30 at the LGUSD office.
- See Doug’s weekly email for more events and more details.
Guest Speaker
Lissa Kreisler introduced Robert Handa, long time TV reporter.
‘Highs and Lows of a 50 Year Career in TV’
Robert’s first job was in the Los Community, working for St Mary’s School as a football coach while he went to San Jose State (where he was good friends with Lissa Kreissler in the school of journalism). He listed all the bay area newsrooms he has worked with, culminating in his current post at NBC with his own talk show- NBC Bay Area Asia Pacific America.
Robert’s Highs: He shared photos of many celebrities he interviewed: Jane Fonda, Buzz Aldrin, Stephen Curry, Kristi Yamaguchi, Mikhail Gorbachev, Joe Montana, and more.
One thing about being a reporter is getting to live vicariously through the interesting people and stories he covers. For example, he once got to fly a Blue Angels jet and break the sound barrier.
He joined the high school newspaper because he thought interviewing different people would help him find a career, but what it ended up doing is showing him he loves getting an inside look into everything. Interviewing became his career.
Robert’s lows: He worked for the TV station that got in trouble for their jump-the-gun, false information coverage of an airplane crash. He wasn’t involved himself but the newsroom faced tremendous backlash. He remembers how difficult it was to be under that kind of high pressure scrutiny and it gives him empathy for others under scrutiny.
He ended his presentation by telling us he feels confident about the future.