President STAN SCARDINO called the meeting to order at 12:15 pm, reminding us to put our phones on silent. In the spirit of
continuous improvement, President STAN shared best practices from the San Francisco Rotary Club whose members make a $100 donation if their phone goes off during the meeting.
Rotarians stood for the Pledge of Allegiance led by JOHN CARDOZA. We remained standing while PP KATHY BERRY led us in “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!” sung by Gordan MacRae.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
LINDSAY CARPENTER offered this week’s Thought of the Day from Ann Landers:
“At age 20, we worry about what others think of us…at age 40, we don’t care what others think of us…at age 60, we discover they haven’t been thinking of us at all.”
TODAY’S OPERATIONS TEAM
President STAN thanked
- Greeters, JULIE ROSE, BECKY MORGAN and SHIRLEY FLEGEL;
- Rotator photographer STEVE POMEROY;
- Rotator writer SUSIE MIELKE;
- Sergeants-at-Arms AARON NEUFELD, MIKE ABRAMS, HANK DREW, MIKE KERR, PETER THURSTON, STEVE POMEROY and NICK WEMYSS.
INTRODUCTIONS
President-elect CHUCK LINDAUER welcomed visiting Rotarians and Rotarians with guests.
- Dana Tom, our District Assistant Governor, noted that he is having fun with President STAN who has picked up the baton and is running fast.
- PP KENNY WARREN attending via Zoom introduced Julia Arndt.
- ANNE KEARNS also on Zoom introduced her husband, Tom Johnson.
- BARB MACKRAZ introduced Amos Kipeen, co-founder and director of her Kenyan nonprofit, Olive Seed, Kenya.
President STAN presented the book,
I Eat Poop, to BA
RB for her presentation earlier this month. It will be donated to a local school in her honor.
Erika Delemarre will speak about Ocean Health next week.
JULY BIRTHDAYS
Many happy returns to our July Birthdays! Ester Ng,
born on July 11, won the book,
Early Los Altos and Los Altos Hills.
“NEW” CAST MEMBER
DUANNI HURD inducted a familiar face, LIZ NYBERG, who is becoming an active Rotarian after many years as an honorary Rotarian. LIZ was a Los Altan of the Year and past owner of the Town Crier, among many other accomplishments. The breadth and depth of Rotary projects, social activities, and the family-like atmosphere of Rotary prompted Liz to switch to active status. DUANNI is LIZ’s sponsor. We are fortunate to have LIZ stay in Rotary!
SPONSOR OF THE MONTH
We are starting our membership drive anew. PP SAM HARDING gave tips about recruiting new members. It’s all about relationships. He noted that it took a double team to bring in PP HARRY.
FINE ART IN THE PARK
SANDY MINGIA shared several of the 1,000+ photos from FAITP archives. She asked for the loan of a 3000-watt gas generator. PETE DAILEY graciously offered his. SANDY thanked KAREN DRUKER and her team for putting up signs. She requested that signs that are not in good locations be returned.
ANNIE JU has been working hard for the past 9 months getting corporate sponsors. Marketing has blown past the $35k goal and has secured $50k+ of sponsorships to date. ANNIE ask
ed that Rotarians thank sponsors and visit their booths to express their appreciation.
WINE & CHEESE SOCIAL
Last Saturday’s event at the Nelson home was wonderful. Thanks for hosting, DEB and BART! The next social is scheduled for Friday, August 19th, at SUSIE MIELKE’s house.
ROTARIANS IN THE COMMUNITY
GERRI ACERS, KAREN GREGURAS, BETTE HOUTCHENS, JOHN MCBIRNEY, PHIL SHEMANSKI, and ELSBETH TEBRAKE joined other local Rotary Clubs to build a shed at Jasper Ridge Farm. The goats and donkey stole the show.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Save the date for the Ramblers August hike in the Purisima Creek Redwoods, August 5
th at 9am. Contact PETER THURSTON to join.
RECOGNITION – DUANNI HURD
DUANNI was ably assisted by ANNIE JU on duck bucket. Many Rotarians volunteered in honor of LIZ NYBERG. This week’s theme was favorite FAITP moment.
FEATURED PROGRAM: Sandy Rosenthal, Author of Words Whispered in Water and founder of levees.org
Sandy summarized the 2005 New Orleans flooding catastrophe caused by the failure of levees designed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Believable reasons given for the breech – monster storm, city below the sea, local corruption – proved to be false. The Army Corps of Engineers was to blame. Steel sheet pilings anchoring the floodwalls were too short at 16 feet deep, not 46. Fortunately, today’s system performed during Hurricane Ida in August 2021.
California has learned from the New Orleans catastrophe. It has passed legislation, designated significant funding and re-structured levee boards.
Sandy is working with the AP on a style guide to accurately describe flooding in New Orleans in August 2005. She also is working on college civil engineering curriculum to include catastrophic engineering mistakes. Her book won 7 awards.
President STAN presented the book, Yes We Will, to Sandy which will be donated to a local school in her honor.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 pm.
