Meeting Notes from September 29, 2026

Vice President Ryan Rosenberg called the meeting to order at 12:30.

Carol Goedde led the pledge of allegiance.

For the first time in forever, we had no visiting Rotarians and no other visitors.

Suzanne Boxer-Gassman
Suzanne brought us a poem from her book club by Mary Oliver about worry, particularly all of the things we worry about that are completely outside of our control. The message was simple: worrying accomplishes very little. It’s better to focus our attention on the things we enjoy and can actually do something about.

Lisa Cheskin reviewed the Great Race and recognized the very large group of Rotarians who helped make it happen, including on the executive committee: Patti Van der Berg, Martha Sterne, Mike Norcia, Karen Briones, Suzy Deline and many others. Randy was also thanked for the photographs.

The result: almost 450 participants and a really terrific community event.

Lisa also recognized all of the Rotarians who met the challenge of bringing at least three people to the race. She then drew the winner of a free CrabFest ticket raffle. Winner: Andrew Howard!

As always, check the President’s weekly email for details, but there is plenty coming up.

• Santa Cruz Shakespeare is on the calendar, with an available discount for Rotarians.
• First Tuesday Social at Enoteca on October 6 from 5:30–7:30, including happy hour.
• November’s First Tuesday will be at Patti’s.

If you’re looking for a chance to volunteer, check Lissa’s email. There are six(!) different service opportunities coming up in October. If you haven’t raised your hand in a while, now is a great time to do so.

Shailaja was born in Mumbai, the youngest of five children, and completed her early education there. She told us how to pronounce her name (really, just like it is written), but she is happy with Shai.

Shai came to the United States and earned a master’s degree in Accounting Information Systems from Virginia Tech, followed by a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the University of Arizona in Tucson. She also learned during this time that American College Football does not have a goalie.

Her academic career included serving on the faculty of Tulane’s MBA program and later San José State. She received tenure in 2010 and took early retirement in 2019 so she could spend more time with her family. Her two children are now at the University of Washington.

Along the way, Shailaja also gave us a very funny account of her adventures, or perhaps misadventures, with automobiles. She mentioned at least three.

Since retiring, she has devoted considerable time to volunteer activities, including serving on the Community Health and Senior Services commission in Los Gatos.

She closed with advice from her mother that has clearly stayed with her: give to others without expecting anything in return; true joy comes from doing that. Very Rotarian-compatible!

Our Rotary Moment focused on how Rotary changes us.

Avis talked about her involvement with Interact and about one of her passion projects: fighting human trafficking, one child at a time, in Vietnam.

She thanked the club for its continuing financial support of the work. This very significant project is now on its fourth Rotary Global Grant, a pretty remarkable example of how a Rotary effort can expand its impact, and a local Rotarian can participate at every level.

We had some extra wine left from the Club BBQ, which meant there was only one reasonable thing to do with it: raffle it off. Five winners took home two bottles of wine (and there was some mention of a “bag of beer”).