Meeting was called to order by President Andrew Stearns.
Ed Stahl led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Inspiration was Jamie Hekkelman. In honor of Veteran’s Day she read a letter written by a soldier in Iraq to his wife. He described the day breaking in Iraq and showed us that romance is still alive.
Guests:
Guests:Felix Lee is a returning guest. Felix was part of ELC.
Charles Erickson wanted to say hello to all his Los Gatos friends.
Darryl Monda is retiring from Rotary but is still a supporter of the Rotary Foundation. He is looking into joining the Rotary Club of Cayucos located in central California where he is spending much of his time.
Anjana Bose, a guest of Jamie’s. This is Anjana’s second visit and she will be joining our group. Welcome!
Rob Boucher is another returning guest. Rob submitted his application last night. So glad you’re joining us Rob.
Lisa Cheskin and the membership committee wanted to honor our club’s veterans. They are:
- Mike Frangadakis
- Myron Smith
- Dick Konrad
- Ed Stahl
- Rob Chaykin
- Art Rabitz
- Gary Allison
- Grady Jeter
Thank you for your service!
Congratulations to everyone celebrating a club anniversary:
- John Colwell- 55 years!
- Janice Gali- 6 years
- Amy Potts- 6 years
- Russell Couch- 1 year
- Greg Smith- 7 years
- Ed Stahl- 54 years!
- Greg Gomon- 4 years
- Neal Mudgett- 5 years
- Hal Rosen- 4 years
- Gordon Levin- 6 years
- Tina Orsi-Hartigan- 19 years
- David Hubbard- 2 years
Announcements:
Let Doug Brent know if you are interested in a leadership role.
Patti van der Burg explained why her chicken has small arms in the picture. She and her husband created the dolls arms as a way to entertain themselves during SIP. Bonus! She will be making something as an auction item.
Dan Snyder reminded everyone this is Rotary Foundation month. He and Avis appreciate everyone’s support. They would like to see 100% participation this year. Any amount is welcome.
Lisa Cheskin announced the Holiday Giving Tree will be virtual this year. We donated over 100 gifts last year, let’s see if we can top that this year! Please join us in donating gifts to needy children and seniors in our community who have been the hardest hit by the pandemic. https://vtree.fgt.org/RotaryCl
Patti van der Burg told us the Wine Fest committee is working hard on the event. Lots of great auction items have already come in.
Jeffrey Barnett gave a shout out to everyone who helped with the Oak Meadow clean up last week.
Tina Orsi-Hartigan thanked everyone who helped with St. Lukes today.
Marty Fishman announced An Evening to Experience Shelter Box this Thursday 8-9 p.m. The event is free but you must sign up in advance. Register at ShelterBoxUSA.org/virtual. We had someone from Shelter Box speak to us a couple months ago, this will show us how they work.
Patti let us know that Suzanne is having knee surgery tomorrow. Speedy recovery Suzanne!
20 for 20
Lydia Norcia brought succulents that could be purchased as part of 20 for 20.
Doug took one for $40, his wife loves succulents and to celebrate the 11 Interact students from Leigh HS that worked at Second Harvest Food Bank last Friday night. The others went to Avis La Grone, Ed Stahl (for his military service), Tina, and Mike Norcia to honor the students at Leigh HS who recently presented at Pathways to Engineering.
Program:
We heard from Joshua Ogawa a senior at LGHS and founder of Cats to Cats. The goal of Cats to Cats is to combat teen mental health distress at school as well as get rid of the stigma of mental health issues. Joshua told us that last year he suffered from severe depression after he was not selected the marching band drum major. He felt he had lost his purpose. He was chosen to go to RYLA and it changed his life. Because he didn’t know anyone there, he was able to be the person he wanted to be. Everyone was so supportive. It was such an inspiring story of how he found new purpose and that purpose was Cats to Cats. It is run by students for students, as they say, “No One Understands Better Than Another Wildcat.” The group produces webinars and newsletters on a variety of relevant topics. We are so proud of you Joshua and the work you are doing at Cats to Cats.
In addition to Joshua we heard from Marico Sayoc and Erin McNish who represented CASSY (Counseling and Support Services for Youth) at LGHS. We were updated on what CASSY has been doing to help students during distance learning. While individual counseling is down due to COVID consultations are way up from 181 last year to 1335 this year. On a very positive note suicidal ideation has dropped from 22% in 2017-2018 to 4% in 2018-2019 and up slightly to 6% this year. Our club supports CASSY every year and they are very grateful for our support.
Next week’s program is our own Doug Brent who will speak on keeping hackers and scammers away from our data and money.
Andrew left us with this quote:
When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.
-Peter Marshall