Meeting Recap - 5/26/09

Thought for the Day- Cheryl Moller reminded us about the real reason for Memorial Day. God Bless all those who have served and are serving our country, and God Bless America.

Phil Armi- led us in "God Bless America"

President Elect, Tom Myers- Introduced Visiting Rotarians: Barry Groves from the Los Altos Rotary and Guests of Rotary: Vincent Guadagni, Marciano Gutierez, Donna Guadagni, Cameron Luckey, Bo Gary, Kristne Diny, Margaret Neven, Jennifer and Carlos Castro, John Mittan, Christine Bitler, Haze Bitler, Pat Bitler, Sherrie Tasnady, Dan Quinn,  Annemarie Stone, Linda Stone, Mr. Stone, Violet Madrid, Patrick Yanes, Meng-Te Chou, Dan Merdinjer, Oscar Garcia, and Abraham Rojas.

Phil Armi- reminded us about Golf at Shoreline and the BBQ to follow at Shoup Park.

A sign-up sheet was passed to arrange speakers for future months. Another sgn-up sheet was passed to car-pool and attend the RYLA BBQ on June 18 at Camp Campbell on Highway 9.

Alicia Crank- presented a check for $400 to Oscar Garcia for  scholarships to help children at poverty level in Mountain View go to camp at CSMA and KMTV.

Judy Hannemann introduced students from MVLA Adult Education:

• Jennifer and Carlos Castro (left)- will be usinge their $1000scholarship  to attend Mission College. Jennifer has dreams of becoming a nurse and Carlos will pursue a career in Computer Technology.
• Bo Gary (right)- struggled with learning disabilities throughout his school career. When he realized the importance of an education the MVLA Adult Education program assisted him and provided the help he need to complete his GED. He considers himself to be lucky and looks forward to using his $500 scholarship to further his education.
• Cameron Luckey (center)- left High School in his senior year. After struggling to make end meet he came back to school. He plans to use is $500 scholarship for his education at Mission College. Cameron has learned to work for what he wants.

Sandi McDounnough introduced students from Alta Vista High School:

• Christine Bitler (left) graduated 1 year early and is using her $1000 scholarship to pursue a career in nursing.
• Vincent Guadagni (center) is the first in his family to go to college. He vows to use every cent of his $1000 scholarship to its max. He want to go into Biotechnology and will give school his all.
• Violet Madrid (right) was involved with drugs, alcohol and bad friends prior to being turned around. She plans to use her $1000 scholarship to go college and study to be a nurse.

Monique Kane introduced a student from Mountain View Academy:

• Meng-Ta Chou (podium) came to California from China 4 years ago. Unable to speak a complete sentence in English when he came, now he is getting A's in English and was very fluent in his brief acceptance speech. He will use his $1000 scholarship to study Engineering at UCLA.

Bruce Barsi introduced students from Saint Francis High School: 

• Annemarie Stone (left) is one of triplets. She and two of her siblings are graduating from Saint Francis this year and going on to college. Annemarie will use her $1000 scholarship to pursue a career as a teacher.
• Abraham Rojas (right) is very active in the community and was a very hard working football player. He thanked his coach and mentor for all the support he received thoughout his high school career. He will be using his $1000 scholarship to attend USF next fall.

President Sheila Hodgkinson thanked all who came and she was followed by Bert Raphael who informed us that Jim Cochran had a stroke over the Memorial Day weekend.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Jim and his family for a swift and speedy recovery.

Please remember that there will be NO MEETING ON JUNE 9 because of the Golf at Shoreline event and the BBQ at Shoup Park. There will be normal meetings on June 16 and 23, but NO MEETING ON JUNE 30 as the kick-out is June 27.