For what has become a routine for President John “Copy Cat” Milich, the meeting was called to order at 12:15p.  A delicious salmon lunch was served this week much to the appreciation of the club members.  President Milich welcomed everyone to the meeting and reminded members that the RI President was Barry Rassin and the theme is “Be the Inspiration” not only to ourselves but to everyone around us. 

 

Norbert Walz was our Greeter despite the fact of his late arrival.  He suggested that his failure to fully greet everyone in attendance should result in his being fined (recognized).  Mr. Milich obliged with a $50 fine for his birthday.  Norbert’s inspiration for the day was “treat everyone you meet as a gentleman or a lady, not because they may not be either but because you are.”  Don Jones led us in God Bless America having recovered from his extended Hawaii trip.

Nick Milich, John’s son, was introduced having graduated college, returned from an Australia trip and was well on his way to beginning the rest of his life.

 

The fourth Thursday of the month is reserved for fellowship and club announcements so members are encouraged to come to this meeting to know what your club is pursuing and planning to achieve in the future.

 

6 Club Meeting:  Don’t miss the upcoming 6 club meeting on April 17^th at Round Hill Country Club where Betty Yee, State Controller, will be the featured speaker.  The cost is $39 per person.  Be there, or be square.  There WILL be a Rotary meeting on April 18 recognizing scholarships and graduation for Interact members.

Recognitions:  Both Norbert Walz and Ray Giles were recognized $50 for their birthdays but the dispute over who was older remained unresolved.

 

Financial Report:  Geoff Disch reported that the financials and cash flow were in “good shape”.  Geoff indicated that cash flow was dependent upon timely payment of dues and lunch charges which thus far has been paid on time. He encouraged members to continue to support the raffle that has been a terrific added balance to the budget. Geoff also indicated that there were still available grant money from the Foundation.

 

International Report:  Guy Greco reported that the Bolivia Water project was moving forward thanks to the efforts of Ana Dominguez and the support of her fellow Rotarians.  Edgardo was pursuing a possible Guatemala project.  Garth (and his wife, Michelle) were going to Peru to support a Dental Clinic.

 

Membership Report: Dennis Harvey was recognized for doing an amazing job in revitalizing the club with new members.  The committee is specializing into various components to improve aspects of acquiring members.   Chris Gayler will be revamping the orientation converting the power point into a video with the help of the Interact Videographer.  Dennis also reported that a better system of RI referring member contracts to San Ramon Rotary has been devised.  An orientation for 2-3 new members will be held on Tuesday March 5^th and a general membership meeting will be held on Thursday at 11am.   Pat Paterson will provide sponsor oversight for new members to insure retention and involve our new members in the club early and often.

 

 

 

Other membership efforts include the Business Expo on March 21^st at the Bridges golf course from 5p to 7p.  Try to attend.  Also, Dennis requested members look at their contacts list to identify potential new members.  A new website calendar is available to all members but will also act as a good communications device for new members.

 

New Member: Dennis announced that he expects 6-7 new members, one of which may be Colette’s daughter!  He introduced our newest member, Namrata Shah, a wealth manager who lives in San Ramon, married 11 years to a software engineer who works for a start up company in San Jose and has a four-year old son.  Namrata shared that she is looking forward to finding meaningful ways to improve our community.  Namrata was inducted into the club with a welcome from all members.

 

Youth Services Report:  Gary Sloan shared that this is a very busy time of year with 8 scholarship candidates to be interviewed by the scholarship committee (Don, Mike T, Edgardo, Patti and Gary).  $20,000 will be awarded through a $10,000 scholarship, a $3500 award for the John Simms Memorial Award, $2000 awards and $1000 awards. Four camp spots will also be determined for Interact students (2 for Camp Royal and 2 for Camp Venture) in the coming months.

 

Service projects included Rise Against Hunger held two Saturdays ago where 30 Interact members and a handful of Rotarians participated from 10a to 12p in packaging 10,000 meals to be sent to poverty stricken communities.  Gary encouraged more members to participate in this event both to serve the hungry but also get to know our Interact students.  Other ways to support the Interact Club is to participate in their fundraiser events.  Gary encouraged Rotarians to join the kids on February 25-27 at Fire Pizza but then realized with the gentle help of our Rotarians that the date had already passed.   Of course, this gaff demonstrated how unprepared the person in charge of Youth Services truly is in dispensing his duties.

 

The Interact Club will also be an integral part of the Smoke Detector project helping Dennis and the Fire Department identify residents desiring the service and assisting in the installation on April 27^th.  

 

One of the goals of Rotary is to introduce Interact club members to Rotaract so that they may ultimately become Rotarians. Toward that end, Interact members may participate in an overnight stay at UC Berkeley and Davis hosted by former Interact students who are participating in a Rotaract Club.

 

Don Jones rose to personally thank Norbert Walz for organizing the Rise Against Hunger project this year in Don’s absence.  Norbert coordinated the project and insured a smooth running day.   GOOD JOB, Norbert.

 

President Elect Report: Colette Lay announced that she would be attending PETS (President Elect Training) in a few weeks.  In Stacey Littrel’s absence she requested three drivers for Shadow Day on March 28^th.    Apparently Herman showed up on February 28^th indicating his level of commitment and excitement.   A sign up sheet was passed around.

 

President Elect-Elect Report:  Responsible this year for Club Administration Chris (party-monster) Gallagher suggested the need for more social activities.  He asked for suggestions from club members.  Chris also announced that March 8 was the Alzheimer Association Annual Gala for $150 per person held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View for Rotarians interested in supporting this group and having a fun evening with incredible auction items.

 

 

Educator of the Year program:  Chris Gayler needs three presenters for Educator of the Year.  Gary, Bill and Steve volunteered to honor our teachers on April 25^th.

 

Vocational Services:  Edgardo noted that most Rotarian activities were initiated by a members passion and hoped that members will remember that vocation is not what we are paid for but comes from the heart.

 

Fine Free Announcements:  Guy Greco proudly announced that his 7^th grade grandson won the Soccer State Finals game in Modesto.  This validates claims of a Greco Dynasty in soccer.

 

Tribute to John Moore:  A fellow Rotarian, Crows men’s club leader, hospital Board Member and owner of the Medical Office building near the country club was tragically killed (shot) last week.  The perpetrator was apprehended but killed himself as the police attempted to take him into custody.  The police had previously placed a restraining order on the criminal but to no avail.  A moment of silence was observed out of respect for this outstanding community icon.

 

New Day for Children:  Kathy Gailey reminded the club that this organization would be our program in March.  The group attempts to ameliorate sex trafficking.  They will be having a fund raising brunch for $40 per person at Contra Costa Country Club on March 8^th.  Kathy shared that a sex trafficking ring was recently arrested in Danville last month.  This is not a distant problem that does not affect our community.

 

Drawing:  Chris Gallagher won $20 greeters gift and Mark Hofstra won $10 after pulling the blue marble. 

 

Next week’s program will be on Karen McNamara’s trip to Guatemala.  The greeter will be Herman Welm.

 

 

 

For the record, March 14^th greeter will be Don Bierman and Steve Wilcox will welcome members on March 28^th representing a switch.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 1:10p.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Gary Sloan

Crow’s Call Scribe