Meeting was held online via Zoom and called to order at 12:30pm by Andrew Stearns.
We had 49 Zoom participants.
Pledge of Allegiance was led by Nava Fathi.
Inspiration – John Pencer shared 5 quotes. One was inspired by the Super Bowl. One was about education, inspired by the students and teachers dealing with learning during the pandemic. And three were about motivation, attitude and self-esteem.
Visiting Rotarians – Ron Cassel re-introduced Nava Fathi who was attending for the first time in a while. Also visiting was Terri Trotter.
Announcements
Andrew introduced new Red Badge member, Jeffrey Blum. Jeffrey is an attorney who practices family law and is on his way to retirement. He is looking forward to contributing and he thanked the Club for welcoming him.
Member Spotlight of the Week – This week’s spotlight member is Jeffrey Barnett and last week’s spotlight member was Amy Potts. Each of them shared what the like about Rotary.
Rotary Anniversaries – Lydia Norcia shared the Rotarian anniversaries for the month of February. One highlight was Charles Goss who is coming up on 50 years!
Membership Minutes – The Membership Committee is chaired by Lisa Norcia Cheskin. The sub-committees are: Recruitments, chaired by Marty Fishman, Onboarding chaired by Lisa Norcia Cheskin and Retention, chaired by Tina Orsi-Hartigan. Our club has grown from 103 – 123 members over the past 5 years and we will add 3 more new members by next week. Changes have been made recently to make it easier to join including family memberships, corporate memberships and no mandatory district events. The committee challenged all current members to bring in family, colleagues and friends by inviting them to meetings and service activities.
Andrew shared the news about the passing of former club member, John Foley. John passed away in January following a battle with Parkinson’s disease. Ron Cassel and John Spencer shared memories of John.
The week’s avatar challenge focused on our member’s high school photos. Those that participated shared where they attended high school.
Santa Clara Country is looking for volunteers to help with COVID19 vaccines. If interested, you can visit the County website.
Philanthropy – Champion Forms due February 28, 2021.
Second Harvest Food Bank Volunteer Opportunity – The date is not set but will be sometime in late February or early March and will be announced soon.
Westbourne Rotary Club in the United Kingdom has invited our club to attend their charter Zoom meeting on February 24, 2021 at 11:30pm. Let Andrew know if you are interested in attending.
ELC past and present DGs are encouraged to participate in the development of the new ELC Alumni Association.
Leigh High School Interactors are offering help as personal assistants to help out with shopping, chores, etc… Contact Avis Le Grone or Doug Brent if you are interested.
St. Luke’s Volunteers – Thank you to the folks that donated food this week.
Presentation
Today, our Club hosted the virtual Richard D. King Annual Youth Speech Contest which is sponsored by all Rotary District 5170 clubs.
The contest was hosted by Tina Orsi-Hartigan. Tina reminded us of the contest rules and process.
Each student may select their own topic which they feel is timely and of interest, and the speech must be the original work of the contestant. The content of their speech must relate to the Rotary International President’s theme for the year.
This year’s competition addresses the 2020-2021 theme, “Rotary opens opportunities” In addition to this theme, the speech must also illustrate how youth is able to reach out to others utilizing the Rotarian’s 4-Way Test:
This year’s competition addresses the 2020-2021 theme, “Rotary opens opportunities” In addition to this theme, the speech must also illustrate how youth is able to reach out to others utilizing the Rotarian’s 4-Way Test:
- Is it the truth?
- Is it fair to all concerned?
- Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
- Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
There were two contestants this year. The speeches were recorded yesterday afternoon by Doug Brent and presented to the club via Zoom.
The winner will move on to the Area 8 contest hosted by Los Gatos Morning Rotary.
While the judges scored the speakers, Tina thanked everyone who helped:
Jane Marashian: chair
Doug Brent: electronic scoring and tallying plus recording and showing videos
Ron Cassel: time keeper
Judges: Tom Anthony, Nava Fathi and David Wells
Talliers: Jeffrey Barnett and Mike Norcia
Teachers: Anthoney Roe, Leigh High School and Zach Davison-Wilson, Los Gatos High School
After the scores were tallied, Tina announced the 1st and 2nd place winners:
1st Dessy Bonev from Leigh High School won a $100 prize
2nd Arianna Contaldi from Los Gatos High School won a $50 prize
Closing Announcement - Next week’s meeting will be a game of Trivial Pursuit.
Andrew closed the meeting at 1:30pm.