On a day that belied climate change, Los Altos Rotarians made their way inside Garden House, and online, for a summer meeting of the Los Altos Rotary Club.
President FRANK ELMER rang the meeting to order at 12:15 PM and immediately called upon KAREN GREGURAS to lead the gathered group in the Pledge of Allegiance.
SONG FOR THE DAY
President FRANK next called upon Songmeister RON STEFANI who led the congregation in the yearly warbling of the Fine Art in the Park homage, “In the Good Old Rotary Summertime,” a song that … just … never … gets … old.
TODAY’S ROTARY FRANK TALK
President FRANK then thanked those that helped make the meeting a success, including our Greeters JACKSON WISE, MARY ANN PETERS, and CRISTINA HOLSTINE, along with the technical wizardry of LEE CODDING, MIKE KERR and PETER GREEN. Cookie Monster was ANNE ARJANI. Sergeants at Arms this week were MARY JO LOMAX and ERIK WALUKIEWICZ. SCOTT HUNTER handled the words for this Rotator, JOHN HAMMERSCHMIDT snapped some photos, PP CYNTHIA LUEDTKE edited the prose and PP CHUCK LINDAUER took on publishing duties this week.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
President FRANK next called upon CRISTINA HOLSTINE
who shared a quote from Gabrielle Garcia Marquez:
“I have learned that a man has the right and obligation to look down at another man only when that man needs help to get up from the ground.”
VISITORS
Moving ahead, President-Elect JOE EYRE stepped to the podium and asked for any visiting Rotarians and heard from:
Sangeeta Seshadri, visiting from the Rotary Club of Saratoga and, Rebecca Giraldi, Asst. Governor, visiting from the Rotary Club of Palo Alto
PE JOE then called for Rotarians with guests and heard from:
DIANA CARBONE, who introduced her friend, Firouzel (FiFi) Ebrahim
and, KAREN DRUKER, who introduced her sister, Pegi Harvey.
Lastly, PE JOE reminded everyone of next week’s guest speaker, author Christy Hale, who will speak on “Creating Worlds for Curious Minds.”
10-MINUTE TALK
CRISTINA HOLSTINE returned to the podium with an
informative talk about herself from her birth in San Francisco to immigrant parents and growing up in two different cultures with two different languages, followed by her time in Catholic schools leading to a 37-year career with PG&E. Keeping her grounded are her family, son Tony, daughters Camila and Katy and husband CLAY. She left the group with an additional Thought for the Day:
“We are not only the story we have lived; We are also the imprint left on us by the people we have loved.”
PILLARS OF THE CLUB
In the second of a series, President FRANK noted five more long-standing members of LARC, including:
LARRY CHU JR. (25 years), PP JACK KELLY (23 years),JEAN MORDO (23 years), JOHN McDONNELL (23 years) and, CINDY WEMYSS (23 years)
Congrats and thanks to all.
RED BADGE INDUCTION
MARY JO LOMAX next stepped up to introduce two new Red Badge members of the club, JAYANTI MALLICK and SRIJOY ADITYA, both of who were sponsored by MADELEINE FACKLER. Joining MARY JO and MADELEINE in welcoming the new members was District Governor Geeta Kadambi.
CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS
Kicking off club announcements, President FRANK offered birthday wishes to those LARC members born in August:
8/3 – PP Mary Prochnow
8/4 – Katie Boennighausen, PP Tracie Murray
8/5 – Scott Hunter
8/8 – Lee Codding, Lee Lera
8/12 – Madeleine Fackler
8/13 – Stan Scardino
8/14 – Crysta Krames – Woo!
8/15 – Cristina Holstine
8/22 – Roger Medsker
8/24 – Clay Holstine, Sherry Auerbach
8/30 – Doug Tanner
PE JOE EYRE returning the head of the class to remind everyone to update their profile for inclusion in the club handbook. There are those that need to bring their photo into the 21st century. August 6th is the deadline.
President FRANK then Announced August 13th as the next Rotary Dine Around event, to be held at the Long Bar Bistro inside the Courtyard Marriott.
CAROL DABB followed with a brief update on Fine Art in the Park. We still need a few volunteers.
DUANNI HURD finished things of by sharing her visit with Rotarians in Modena, Italy and brought a banner.
RECOGNITION
KAREN GREGURAS returned the front of the room to wring some funds out of folks and their “favorite Summer songs.” Aided by KAREN FOX on duck bucket, she grabbed some cash from:
LINDSAY CARPENTER speaking on behalf Honorary Member CRAIG CARPENTER who joined the President’s Club
STEVE POMEROY who had a recent surgery on one of his fingers
TERESA THURSTON, who shared that she likes to listen to the Beach Boys in the summertime.
CLAUDIA COLEMAN who was proud of Cristina Holstine’s talk
SALLY CHAVES likes songs about the moon and is over the moon having celebrated her 70th in Tahoe with her family
DENNIS MILLIGAN loved RON STEFANI’s song choice since he loves and looks forward to work and be part of FAITP every year
PP KATHY BERRY paid a tribute to CAROL DABB and all she does to make FAITP a success year after year
BARB MACKRAZ joined the President’s Club in honor of KAREN DRUKER. Together they established another library in Africa. Both grew up along the Mississippi and makes her think of Nat King Cole and “Crazy Hazy Days of Summer”
ERIK WALUKIEWICZ beamed about his daughter, a soccer star who scored so many goals during the past weekend, he lost count
JOHN McBIRNEY thought of The Blues and a very heart-felt “thank you” to Rotary friends for being there for him.
and, KAREN DRUKER announced it is the last week for the summer series of bands at Hillview. Karen is a sponsor and will be there with food to share, so join her!
TODAY’S FEATURED SPEAKER
PP HARRY PRICE and his orator’s voice stepped up to introduce our featured speaker for the day, Rotary 5170 District Governor Geeta Kadambi, a founding member of the Fremont Bridge Rotary Club.
What follows is an AI summary of her presentation. (ed. - Let me be among the first to welcome our new AI overlords.)
During her presentation, DG Kadambi shared a personal
metaphor that reflects both her profession and her passion. As a chemist who loves to cook, she explained that just as spices blend together to create a great dish, Rotarians come together to make the world a better place. Cheesy or not, she said, it’s a comparison she proudly stands by.
She then offered Red Badgers and new members a clear overview of how Rotary is structured. Echoing Harry’s earlier comments, she noted that Rotary’s compartmentalized organization is intentional — and remarkably effective.
She emphasized that everything in Rotary begins with the club. Even the President of Rotary International introduces themselves by name and by club. She explained that districts are composed of 50 to 70 clubs, and that District Governors serve one‑year terms. Rotary has changed leadership annually for 121 years — a feat that would create chaos in most organizations, yet Rotary manages it with precision and volunteer dedication. This annual renewal, she said, is one of Rotary’s greatest strengths.
Multiple districts form a zone, and our district is part of Zone 26. She proudly highlighted that our district is the largest in the zone and ranks #1 in Zone 26 and #12 worldwide in giving — a testament to the generosity of our members and Rotarians across the district.
She noted that Rotary has long cited a membership of 1.2 million worldwide. However, she believes it’s time to update that narrative — and that reaching 1.3 million members is an achievable goal. This ambition is shared across the district governor leadership team.
She closed by praising the Rotary Foundation, calling it one of the best‑run foundations anywhere. Members who have worked on global grants — including Dr. JACK HIGGINS — know firsthand how efficient and well‑organized the Foundation truly is.
President FRANK ended the meeting with his belief that “our best days are ahead of us” and to go out and “create a lasting impact.”
