Meeting Notes August 11, 2015

Mountain View Rotary Club

President Twana Karney greeted and welcomed members and guests to the Rotary Club of Mountain View where, “We’re More Than A Club…We’re a Family!!!”

She reminded us that our International call to action for 2015-2016 is to “Be a Gift to the World” and our club’s call to action is “Fun Through Service.”  This year’s club focus is “Being the Best We Can Be.” 

• Thanks to Bruce for providing dessert today.

• President’s Club – Many, many thanks for those who have joined the President’s Club and getting our club off to a strong start. Today Roger Kao and Fred Storek joined the President’s Club.  Fred announced that Debbie and he just celebrated their forty-second anniversary.  Congratulations to both!

• Foundation – Monique Kane thanked Bert Raphael and Bruce Barsi for their contributions to the Foundation and presented them both with a delicious cupcake.  Fred Storek became a Super Sustainer today and is looking forward to his “Super” cupcake at the next meeting.

• Camp RYLA – The BBQ this year was on Thursday, August 6^th in Scotts Valley. Heather Stenshamn attended in her capacity as Youth Services Chair. She said, “The RYLA campers made me feel very welcomed and taught me tons about the program. I saw part of the presentations which included one Mountain View student as the spokesperson for the Sport Committee. Mountain View was proudly represented and as the party was to begin, the students shared with me their cheer and then the music began.”

• San Jose Giants Game – The game is this Saturday, August 15^th, starting at 6:00 pm at San Jose Municipal Stadium.  Those attending should meet in the BBQ Area between 5:45 and 6:00 pm.  It’s forecast to be hot so bring sunscreen and hats.  Tickets can be picked up at the Will Call Window unless you hear otherwise from Alan.  The cost is $26 per person and Alan will collect at the game.  So far, we have 36 folks attending.  Contact Alan right away if you still need tickets.

• Evening Social – Our next evening social will be Tuesday, August 25^th, at President Twana’s home in Mountain View. It will be from 6 to 8 pm and will cost $15 per person who. If you are planning to attend, please sign up on the sheet going around to give us an idea of how many appetizers, wine and beer to provide.

• Board Meeting – Thursday, August 20^th, starting at 5:00 pm at CHAC.

• District Governor Visit – Tuesday, September 1^st, will be the meeting with our District Governor Susan Valenta. The board will meet with her before the meeting at 10:30 am here at the Adobe. When she is here, we will present her with our donation to the Wheelchair Drive.

• Wheelchair Drive – This year, the gift by our club to the District Governor will be a donation for Children’s Wheelchairs. Each $100 we give as a club will provide one wheelchair for a child, thanks to a matching program. The District hopes to fill a container and is halfway there, thanks to the generosity of other clubs in the District. Checks are payable to The Wheelchair Foundation. If you think that you can afford to spend $100 to provide a child with a wheelchair, please do so, and it is fully tax deductible.

• RotaCare Food Delivery – Jim Cochran passed around a signup list to pick up food from local restaurants and then deliver it to RotaCare for the staff.

• Endowment Board – Jim Cunningham advised that the Endowment Board will meet next Tuesday at 11:45 am at the Adobe.

• Club Service – Bruce Barsi talked about plans that have been developed together with Co-Chair Brodie Yazaki.  Social events will include the monthly evening meetings as well as gatherings after our community service projects.  We will continue with popular events such as the Rotating Dinner, Golf and BBQ, and Ski Trip, and we will try to schedule a day of hiking and a theatre event.  In addition, we are looking into a couple of new events which involve a pub crawl and art training with wine.  We are looking forward to a fun year!

• Community Service – Monique spoke of the need for volunteers to help staff the CHAC Parking Lot Project at this year’s Art and Wine Festival on September 12^th and 13^th.  They still need many more volunteers, so please see Monique to sign up for a shift.

• Rotary Business Networking – One of the reasons to join Rotary is to network with other businesses. Our club has been invited to attend a “Rotary Means Business” event sponsored by the Palo Alto Clubs on Wednesday morning, August 19^th beginning at 7 am at the Channing House in Palo Alto. There will be a speaker on Crowd funding and lots of networking. A handout with more details was circulated.

• Membership Workshop – The workshop will be on Saturday, August 22^nd, from 9:30 to 11 am in Milpitas. See Twana for more details if you are interested.

• Public Image Seminars – The first in a series of seminars on Public Image will be held on Tuesday, September 22^nd, at 7pm at the Santa Clara Police Community Rooms and it is free.

• Interact Presidents’ Meeting – The meeting will be on Saturday, September 5^th from 10:30 am to 4:15 pm at the Quinlan Community Center in Cupertino.

• Interact Fall Leadership Conference – The conference will take place on Sunday, October 11^th, from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm at Independence High School in San Jose.

• The District has decided to do away with the Avenues of Service Project Faire that has been held every year in October. Instead, the District plans to allow clubs to showcase their International Projects on September 2^nd, at the District Cabinet meeting and all who are interested are invited to attend. A Youth Service Project Faire is planned for the District Cabinet Meeting on December 2^nd.

• The last country in Africa where polio was endemic, Nigeria, has now been polio free for one year. This means that all of Africa has been polio free for one year thanks to the efforts of Rotary and others. It is a reason to celebrate and also to hope that Pakistan and Afghanistan will soon join Nigeria in becoming polio free.