President Marty called the Zoom format meeting to order at 12:30. There were 63 participants. Guests were Hal’s wife Lydia Rosen, and famed former member Russ Klein (pants were neither confirmed nor denied).
 
Inspiration was led by Doug Brent, and was dedicated to all those trying Zoom for the first time. The point was frogs sometimes can’t hear well, and one should encourage others, and you may be surprised at the results 😊 For those considering Zoom, it’s a great way to participate in meetings and social events. But be aware the camera sees all and watch out what’s in the background of your shot! See Doug Brent for help getting the right equipment and setting it up. Thanks for providing this valuable club service Doug! Note that Club Meetings will continue on Zoom through April, and probably at least through May as well. They are always 12:30-1:30 Tuesdays.
 
We heard a brief profile of Rotarian Manizheh Zand. She has been an Engineering professor at San Jose State and many other local colleges. She was inspired by our club to start a non-profit called MyMentorTree, which offers curriculum and mentorship in engineering to students aged 12-18.
 
John Pencer gave an informative talk of the past 48 year history of Los Gatos Rotary. Well done, John!
 
Darren Evora DeMonsi of Uplift Family Services thanked us for past support and gave an update on current services offered. They are providing essentials services in Santa Clara County for those with high need and mental health issues. The Campbell Campus provides crisis services and autism support services. You can go to their website www.upliftfs.org for donations or buy items on their wish list. He suggested if you are interested in supporting a local restaurant during this time, you can purchase a gift card from the restaurant and mail to UpLift, he will see that a needy family gets it.
President Marty gave a summary of Shelter in Place guidelines, county dashboard summary, baseline testing and optional activities to keep you busy. See slides for more detail.
 
Mike Norcia described details of the Greta Social Distance Race. The show will go on (online)! You can enter your times online and post a pic. Medals will be given in each category.
 
Carol Abela continues to organize Rotary Buddies for those that want to give or receive a little help during this time. Let him know if you’d like to participate.
 
President Marty listed all the ways various members in Dick Konrad’s Community Service Committee are delivering food, organizing blood drives etc. See Dick if you want to join in, especially in the new program we are participating in at West Valley Community Service Food Pantry, Family Giving Tree, and County Health Services. See slide for details.
 
The Club’s own Book Club is kicking off. See Barbara Fishman if you’d like to read a book and join a Zoom discussion of it.
 
The Philanthropy process continues, and the 3 committees are meeting this month to review all champion forms and vote on allocations. The World Service Committee meeting is open to champions and any interested club member on April 28 4:00. A Zoom invite will be sent to the club the week prior. Including DDF Funds, scholarships etc., our club will be giving away roughly $203,000 this year!
 
The Avis and Dan Team will be heading up the Polio Plus Drive again. The scope of the campaign is being expanded to COVID training, contact tracing, and risk communication. More relevant than ever!
 
Next week’s speaker is world explorer Jim Williams  (www.exploradus.com) He has led major expeditions in Nepal, China, India and elsewhere.
 
Cupertino Rotary is offering a zoom meditation class every Friday 5:30-6:30. See Marty for details.
 
The Club Board of Directors meeting is this Thursday April 16 5:30-7:00 at (you guessed it) Zoom! See Marty for an invite. Open to all members.
 
This week’s speaker was Tim Wong, Technical Marketing Head for Nvidia. His topic was how AI is applied to Autonomous Vehicles.
 
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30.
 
Slides from this meeting can be viewed by clicking here