A Look Back at December 15th 2011
A LOOK BACK AT December 15, 2011.
A hundred Rotarians and guests enjoyed an evening of Christmas celebration and fellowship. We were entertained by, the musical talents of Kevin Hull and Sarah Rogers. They sang traditional Christmas Songs and concluded with a beautiful rendition of Silent Night.
Retired Santa Clara Police Chief, Manny Ferguson was given a very enthusiastic introduction by all in attendance. Manny has been a member of Santa Clara Rotary for over 34 years with Larry Fargher as his sponsor. Manny gave us an inspiring Invocation on words to live by and Larry led us in the Pledge.
Stan Chinchen and Manny were welcomed for being infrequent visitors and were recognized for having 90 years of membership in Santa Clara Rotary between them. For their longevity in Rotary, they were warmly accepted into our $50 Club.
Ted Keech and his late father, Theodore has accomplished something in Rotary that may never be duplicated. This father and son have eighty + years of Perfect Attendance. For this special achievement Ted was welcomed into our $50 Club. Truly an amazing feat Ted, congratulations!
Christmas for Kids Chair, Bill recognized his lovely wife; Carleen and Linda, Margaret, Kelly and the committee for their efforts in making this Christmas for Kids so special. Bill also recognized Joe and the staff at Lexus for providing such a wonderful venue for this event. Lexus also put together a two-minute video of Christmas for Kids. Thank you Bill for all you do; you da man!
Jan put together a 75th Anniversary slide show, which was presented before dinner and will be shown again during a future meeting. Thank you Jan for taking the time to put this together on such short notice!
Recognized for Club Anniversary’s were; Bill Carver, November 20, 2002, John Bertolotti, December 01, 1978, Heath Hanich, (Our Speech Chair) December 03, 2009 and Tony Avelar, (Board Director) December 03, 2009
Recognized for Wedding Anniversary’s were; Bob Ricks, November 23, 1968 to Betty, Terry Rose, November 30, 1963 to Trudy, President-Elect Stewart Cusimano, December 03, 1977 to Leslie, Mohammed Nadeem, December 27, 1991 to Sarah, and Steve Van Dorn, December 28, 1985 to Lori.
Recognized for Birthdays were; Satish Ullal, December 06, Jim Landes, December 11, Stanley Chinchen, December 20, Joe Sweeney, December 28, and Don Skinner, December 31. Happy Birthday!
After dinner the staff from the Santa Clara Hilton were recognized for their professionalism and service provided in making the Hilton such an outstanding venue for our club. As a token of appreciation our 75th Anniversary memento was awarded to each staff member!
Membership Chair, Bob came to the podium and acknowledged Ron Galonsky for achieving his Blue Badge status is far less time than it took Jan to achieve his!
Bill acknowledged many of our Rotarians for achieving Paul Harris awards over the past few months and they are, Jim, Dick, Ken, Roy, Sandy, Colleen, Phil, Steve R., Ted M., Lorenzo, Anton and Joe. Congratulations folks and please never underestimate the value of your goodness.
It was a great honor to induct Tom Clark as our newest member and to have his fiancé, Linda stand with him as well as having our Membership Chair Bob present him his Red Badge. Welcome to the Rotary Club of Santa Clara, Tom!
The evening concluded with Nominating Committee Chair, Ken introducing our two Directors for the 2012-2013 Rotary Year as well as making a historic announcement of our President-Elect-Elect for the 2013-2014 Rotary Year. The two Directors will be Steve Rainbolt and Joe Sweeney.
As you may recall women were accepted into Rotary in 1987, but our club had yet to have a woman serve as a Club President. In concluding a truly wonderful evening, Ken announced that our 2013-2014 President will be Lou Ann Alexander! As Lou Ann made her way to the podium, an emotionally charged standing ovation filled the room and it was so fitting that Stan give the first congratulatory hug to Lou Ann!
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous 2012!