Visitors
- Karen Beeson, Santa Cruz Rotary
- Adam Schwartz, Mathew Hudes’s nephew
- Jennifer Lin, Chamber of Commerce
- Jackie Ward, 55+ program
- Mark Bony, friend of Mike Frangadakis
Inspiration
Jean Marc Blanchard gave the weekly inspiration:
He told the story of Mountain Man Mayor who successfully climbed Mount Everest. If we focus on the journey, the summit will come. One backpack project at a time, one polio drive at a time, one volunteer shift at a time will build community we want.
Chamber of Commerce Presentation
Jennifer Lin, Chamber of Commerce President, presented Magical Memories. First, she thanked our club as one of their most reliable partners, continually showing up to volunteer and support the Chamber.
Magical Memories will take place the first two weekends of December, serving 800+ community members. Last year Rotarians helped volunteer to assist Santa, and she hopes we can do so again this year. They are also raising funds for Rebecca Childrens Services, which provides foster kid mental health care.
Other holiday happenings include a window decorating contest among retail store fronts and the holiday edition of the Los Gatos Perks Pass, available at losgatoschamber.com
Upcoming Service Opportunities for Rotarians
- Jewish Family Services holiday gift drive - see Paul Johnson’s emails to sign up
- Bill Wilson Center dinner program - see Paul Johnson’s emails to sign up
- Santa’s Workshop helping elves - details to come
- LGUSD Guatemala book drive - see below
LGUSD Guatemala Book Drive
Karen Briones presented the (now in its third year) LGUSD book drive, collecting books in Spanish for the Guatemala schools our Club works with. As of Tuesday they are 30% of reaching their goal — and we have until the first week of December. Click here to learn more.
(And thank you to those serving Thanksgiving at LiveOak Senior Center this week)
Upcoming Social Events
12/2 — 5:30-7:30 — Rotary Social (holiday edition) at John Pencer’s home
12/6 — Los Gatos Childrens Holiday Parade. We are in it! Please walk with us! Dress festive and meet us at 10am for an 11am start.
12/7 — 10am — President’s Brunch at Cinnabar — Meghan Burton reminded us to get our tickets soon
12/14 — Pasquale’s Holiday Concert — if we buy tickets through the link sent by Lissa Kreisler, a portion will benefit our Rotary Guatemala project.
12/6 — Los Gatos Childrens Holiday Parade. We are in it! Please walk with us! Dress festive and meet us at 10am for an 11am start.
12/7 — 10am — President’s Brunch at Cinnabar — Meghan Burton reminded us to get our tickets soon
12/14 — Pasquale’s Holiday Concert — if we buy tickets through the link sent by Lissa Kreisler, a portion will benefit our Rotary Guatemala project.
Shout Outs
Member Rami Wazni has a full spread feature in the Los Gatos Magazine! And he mentions Rotary and the opportunities it gives him for service.
Member Dick Konrad is on the cover of Los Gatos Living. Congratulations on the excellent profile and the work you do in our community!
Nominating Committee
Patti van der Burg updated us on the nominating committee, which is meeting this month. If you are interested in taking on a leadership role on the board, please contact one of the five members of the committee — Elaine Ware, Jeff Blum, Patti van der Burg, Greg Gentile, or Mike Norcia.
Member Spotlight
Tina Orsi-Hartigan spotlighted John Colwell, a Los Gatos Rotarian of 60 years! He arrived in Los Gatos in 1963. Since he didn’t know anyone, he hunted down a Rotary club and officially joined in 1965.
He shared some stories about the past — he spoke about how the club took over the Great Race to keep it from shutting down. He also had a hand in starting our scholarship endowment — it has grown from $17,000 at its beginning to over $2M today.
John has also brought in over 40 members to this club, far above anyone else. Thank you John for all you have contributed to our club!
30 for 30
Tom Boyce just got back from visiting family and announced one granddaughter got engaged and another granddaughter had a baby girl, his first great granddaughter. Congrats Tom.
Dan Snyder thanked John Colwell for all his service over the years.
Tom Boyce just got back from visiting family and announced one granddaughter got engaged and another granddaughter had a baby girl, his first great granddaughter. Congrats Tom.
Dan Snyder thanked John Colwell for all his service over the years.
Program
Ryan Rosenberg then introduced Los Gatos Mayor Mathew Hudes who gave an overview of the year in Los Gatos.