The meeting started early at 11:30 due to speaker’s schedule. President Marty shared pics of the recent Los Gatos protests for George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. He then led the pledge, and there were no guests.
 
Henry gave an inspiration based on slowing down amidst all the current chaos and enjoying the simple pleasure of a slice of pie, whether store bought or home-made.
 
Marty gave a Covid update for our county where new cases are currently down, noting a top epidemiologist points out that Covid can be dealt with by 80% of us wearing masks in public 80% of the time. (and wash your hands and keep 6ft apart). Check the county website for testing locations. He then shared another funny Holderness family SIP video, which can be viewed on YouTube.
 
Note the Los Gatos Lodge will not be open until Jan 1, 2021 if then, meaning Zoom meetings will likely be with us a long while! Reach out to Rotarians that have not joined via Zoom yet. Marty encouraged us to attend other club meetings via Zoom, including siliconvalleyrotary.com, where Marty gave a Seeing Again Guatemala presentation.
 
Dick Konrad gave an Avenues of Service update, noting Tina’s weekly homeless brunches and Amy’s House of Hope. Patti mentioned another option where they really need people weekly is Second Harvest Food Bank sorting and distribution. See slides for contacts.
Dr. Richard Bobis gave his Red Badge Bio. He was born in Brooklyn and moved to Long Island, and has a great fondness for all things New York, including baseball and comedians, and returns for visits often. He recently toured Ellis Island and found meaning in Emma Lazarus’ poem at the Statue of Liberty about “give me your tired, your poor,  your huddled masses”, which shows the importance of immigrants to our country. He went to Tufts University in Boston and Med School. He married and started a family, and settled in Los Gatos. He retired 6 years ago and enjoyed tennis with some Rotarians and traveling, and now wants to actively give back and is thankful to be joining Rotary.
 
Avis reminded us she is still coming for us…40 Rotarians to go to get 100% participation in the Polio Drive. Any amount is accepted so consider giving if you haven’t yet.
 
Tina announced the District Year-End Roast and Toast is 6/27 3 - 4:30 via Zoom. All are encouraged to join the festivities. Marty noted our district is kind of a big deal, in that we have the most donations of all districts and many new chapters. Our District Rocks!
 
First Thursday last week at Campo di Bocce was a big hit and some pictures were shared. People kept distant outside and shared some laughs and beverages. Many took food to go.
 
The years’ budget was discussed at the Board meeting. See slides for details.
 
Next week’s speaker is on human trafficking and looks to be very interesting.
 
Today’s speaker was Robert Swenson, Operations Manager for the Mineta San Jose International Airport.
  • airport is 1000 acres, has 2 runways
  • for commercial and general aviation
  • operated by City of San Jose, needs Council approval for changes (noise issues go to FAA)
  • a 747 may be coming in fall for British Airways
  • has full corporate jet service that is heavily used
  • pre-Covid there were 50 nonstop destinations, 238 daily departures, and 13 carriers
  • fastest growing airport in the country
  • 2019 had 15.8 million passengers and were projecting 2020 growth
  • currently at 2000 passengers/day and growing (500/day at the worst of Covid)
  • concessions mainly closed until traffic picks up (exciting new ones soon: Trader Vics and Beer Union)
  • safety measures include masks, sneeze shields, nightly cleaning, hand stations and 6 ft distancing
  • Delta is not selling middle seats and Frontier will take temps of all passengers soon
  • parking expansion project in process, also adding more car charging stations
  • all parking currently $18/day
  • common use club is $35/day if you find yourself stuck due to a delayed flight
  • a new hotel is going in on south end of airport
 
The meeting was adjourned, with roughly 49 attendees.
 
 
Click here to view the slides from this meeting.