President's Message

2/19/2015

As most of you are aware by now Walt Marwitz’s wife, Joan, pass away this past Monday. Joan attended many of the Rotary social functions and was well known and liked within the Club. She had been on a program to fight the cancer but time ran out. She will be missed and our condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to the Marwitz family. When we learn more about the service we will pass that information on.

Last week’s meeting was an inspiration to us all as Ashley Wong, the Interact District 5170 Area 11 Director, gave an emotional talk about Interact, the projects they engaged in and the impact they make. Ashley shared what Interact has done for her and how important it is in her life. As a senior in High School she amazed us all with her abilities, passion and her speech was met with a standing ovation from the Club. She reminded us all why we support Interact Clubs. Thank you to Margaret Demorest, our Interact Advisor, for exposing Ashley to the Club. She is a talented student who will make an impact on people’s lives.

It is crunch time for ELC as teams are being finalized and preparations are underway for the Orientation Sessions to be held on March 3 and March 5. Thanks to Daniel Peck, Mission College will be the site for the Orientation Sessions and the first half day of the Conference. ELC takes place March 11-13 with two ELC groups holding the conference on the same dates. Six years ago the Rotary Clubs of Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Campbell and Saratoga started off with 48 students. At this year’s event there will be 120 students and 8 Clubs involved in the conference.

ArLyne Diamond was inducted as the newest member at last week’s meeting. ArLyne has been active in the community for several years and has her own consulting company. Her designation is Leadership and O-D Consultant. Be sure to take the time to introduce yourself to ArLyne.

President Elect Andy Ratermann pulled out all of the stops for this year’s Valentine Dinner. Great food, great wine, great gifts, great decorations, and great entertainment. Opera singer Michael Taylor (husband of our own Susan Lucas Taylor) got some of the Rotary men to sing along and his version of The Phantom of the Opera’s "Music of the Night" was captivating. If Andy’s Valentine Dinner is any indication of his year as President, we are in for a great ride. Thanks to all of those who helped put this event on- Diamond Mike, Deb York, Colleen Noll, Gary Citti, Susan Lucas, Jim Landis, the staff at Justin’s and the staff from Black Ridge Vineyards.

It is Academy Award season and this week we have Brian Adams to share his predictions with us. Brian is VP of Marketing/Communication at Bellarmine College Prep and knows a bit about movies and the Academy. So be sure to attend this week’s meeting to see how your predictions compare.

See you all on Thursday.