President's Message

Rotary Club of Santa Clara

Message From President Steve Rainbolt

Weekly Club News Update!

2/12/2015

Keith Blackey is help establish the first Rotary Club in Kabul, Afghanistan and was last week’s guest speaker. Keith has been active in Rotary and Boy Scouts for many years. The unique thing about Keith is that he has severed in various military war zones and has made great strides in establishing Boy Scout troops as well as a Rotary Club in areas you would not expect. In Iraq he was instrumental in setting Boy Scout troops despite the ongoing civil unrest in that country. Likewise in Afghanistan he was able to lay the ground work and overcome the obstacles associated with the development of a Boy Scout network in that war torn country. He told the stories of what they had to do to avoid the Taliban and keep the Scouts safe. Similarly he was instrumental in establishing the fist Rotary Club in Afghanistan where once again they had to be concerned about the Taliban. Keith’s talk was very enlightening about what it takes to establish such organizations in countries with unstable political systems. Hope you all enjoyed it.

With ELC about one month away, the committee is hard at work putting the final touches on the program. Students have been selected, speaker assigned, and RTA’s given their teams. THERE IS STILL A NEED FOR A COUPLE OF MORE RTAs. YES, IT IS A THREE DAY COMMITMENT BUT YOU WILL FIND IT REWARDING AND BEST OF ALL, IT IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE WITH YOUNG STUDENTS WHO MAY BECOME FUTURE ENTREPRENEURS. Please see Phil Dolan if you feel you can commit to this outstanding program.

The BBQ committee kicked off the program to sell tables at this year event. They have all of the material you need to promote the event and sign up organizations. They will even accompany you on a prospect visit to help close the deal. Please be thinking about who might be purchasers of tables and see Susan Lucas Taylor, Miles Barber, or Joe Sweeney for any help. This effort has the potential to significantly add revenue for our Club and Foundation that will allow us to expand our charitable activities locally and internationally.

This week’s speaker is Ashley Wong, Interact District 5170 Area 11 Director. Ashley is a student at Wilcox High School and will be speaking about Interacts within the Santa Clara Unified School District and other Interact activities happening in Area 11. Please plan to attend the meeting to hear about the great things our Interact Clubs are doing.

See you all on Thursday.

COMING UP….

Club events:



TRF Campaign – on going

 Feb. 14, 2015—Valentine Dinner at Justin’s hosted by President Elect Andy Ratermann

 ELC – March 11-13, 2015

District Events:



TRF Campaign – on going

 District Conference- April 17-19, 2015

 Far West PETS- March 6-8, 2015

Rotary International Events:

 International Convention-

São Paulo, Brazil, June 6-9 2015