THE LAMORINDAN 2-20

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Rick Ashburn enlightened us with a quotation from Richard Dawkins, environmental biologist: "By all means, let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out. While not a single one of your ancestors died young, they all copulated at least once"

And there's a visual we could all have done without.

GUESTS, VISITING ROTARIANS, AND SUCH

Connie Linneman - the reason we let John into the Club
Glenda Fillinger - our forever Queen, and the best thing that ever happened to Paul
Katie Waal - David's lovely daughter
Ryan Waal - David's handsome son
Laura Waal - David's lovely wife
Evie Isenberg - David's reason for living
Lynn Kennedy - Orinda (here hawking the Orinda Club's 60th Anniversary fete)
Ulrich Luscher - Joanne's knight in shining armor
Cindy Gershen - more on her below

A FINE WAY TO HELP

Remember a couple of weeks ago when the Fund-a-Field students from Monte Vista High were here? You know, the kids who are getting soccer fields built in Africa - not just wishing or dreaming, but actually getting them built? Well, the Club will match Member donations to this great project, up to an overall total of $250. So who's in? Talk to President Pat. Let's help these students continue to help kids in Africa.

AND ANOTHER FINE WAY TO HELP

Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation have been leading the charge to wipe out Polio for more than 20 years now. And we are sooo close to making polio a thing of the past, world wide, now the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has stepped forward to join in the fight.

Here's the deal. If the Rotary Foundation can come up with $200 million for Polio Plus, the Gates Foundation will kick in another $350 million. That would mean over half a billion - with a "B" - smackers to fund the final elimination of one of the nastiest, most heartbreaking diseases ever to afflict mankind.

So how do you contribute? Go here: http://www.rotary.org/en/EndPolio/Pages/ridefault.aspx.

And many thanks to press guru Tom Black, who noticed the full-page ad in the New York Times (motto: "We wish we were as good as The Lamorindan") and rose to remind us of this tremendous opportunity to push Polio Plus over the top.

MORE FROM OUR PRESS MAVEN

Remember that photo of the Club that Tom Black took a few weeks back? It will be part of a write-up of none other than the Rotary Club of Lamorinda Sunrise in an upcoming March edition of the Lafayette Weekly, arranged thanks to the blood, sweat and tears of the self-same Tom Black. Nicely done, Tom.

RULES TO LIVE BY - LITERALLY

Buddy Burke introduced us to Cindy Gershen, owner of the Sunrise Bistro (1559 Botelho Drive, Walnut Creek, 925-930-0122) and the founder of the Wellness City Challenge (www.wellnesscitchallenge.com) , and she wants us to eat better.

Type II diabetes is an epidemic. We, as a nation, are getting more obese. That is especially true of kids. Children are developing Type II diabetes in numbers never before contemplated. At the rate things are going, the current younger generation will be the first in our nation's history to have shorter lives, on average, than the generation that came before it. And diet is a major contributor.

Ms. Gershen claims to have been quite heavy not so long ago. (Hard to believe to see her today.) But she changed her ways. And we can, too. Really.

Ms. Gershen has developed three simple rules to make it much easier to know what to buy when you go grocery shopping. Here they are:

1. No sugar in the first three ingredients. And "sugar" means more than just the obvious. It also includes, among many other guises, brown rice syrup, corn sweetener, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, galactose, glucose, lactose, malted barley, maltitol, maltodextrin, maltose, mannitol, polydextrose, sorbitol, sucanat, sucrose and xylitol. And that is a real, ugly mouthful!

2. Look for foods that have at least 3 grams of dietary fiber per 100 calories.

3. No trans fats or hydrogenated fats or oils - ever.

Recipes that help put these rules into practice can be found the Wellness City Challenge website (see above) and at www.profoodnetwork.com.

Thanks, Cindy, for sharing this potentially life-saving information.

BANNERS, BANNERS EVERYWHERE

Mike Edwards unveiled the second Banner (where we hang the club banners LSR Members have brought back). He flipped it around to show off the newer ones that have been coming in.

This inspired Joanne Luscher to come forward with the Arusha, Tanzania, banner that she has been bogarting for the last four years or so. She said that, thanks to Mike's efforts, she now felt that there was an appropriate place for it (other than her closet, that is). Thanks again, Mike. If nothing else, the great way of displaying the banners makes a better backdrop for Tom Black's photos.

NEW MEMBERS KEEP BEATING A PATH TO OUR DOOR

Every Club President is urged by The District (sounds like the name of a John Grisham novel, doesn't it?) to do anything and everything they can think of to bring in new members. Well, Prez Pat can honestly say "I Get It" and today was another example.

How so? Well, we inducted two new members, David Waal and David Isenberg. Past President Ernie Furtado did the honors, with sponsors Alex Arnold (for Dave) and Pat Flaharty (for Dave) proudly looking on. With Laura, Katie and Ryan Waal and Evie Isenberg also looking on, the whole Club maintained the Lamorinda Sunrise tradition of all coming forward to shake our new members' hands. Welcome, Dave and Dave. We are delighted to have you with us.

Today's inductions are just the most recent indication of what a great job is being done by Membership Directors Hays Englehart and Walt Nelson. They have done a lot of behind-the-scenes work to make sure that leads are followed up on, that applications get out to prospective members and get forwarded to the proper authorities, and generally making sure that a wonderful crop of new members are making it into the Club instead of slipping through the cracks. Dave and Dave are just the most recent examples of what Hays and Walt have accomplished this year. Thanks, guys.

Oh, Alex sponsored Dave Waal and Pat sponsored Dave Isenberg. Sorry about that. Sort of.

NO, IT DOES NOT INVOLVE THE LOPEZ SISTERS

Paul Fillinger has had another one of his patented "What if and why not?" moments. This one involves using some of his gorgeous photos of Lafayette Reservoir and environs as the scenery for a calendar, and selling said calendars, thereby enriching our do-good coffers. When last seen, Paul was brainstorming with several other Members, and the sparks thrown off were a definite fire hazard. Stay tuned, folks. This could be the start of something big - or at least medium sized.

IT ALL HELPS

Remember Jim Margraff and the PulsePen? He was here around Christmas time selling these electronic gems that allow you to record while you take notes, and be able to play back what was being said as you wrote, simply by tapping your notes at the appropriate place. (This reporter now uses one to take the notes that eventually become this deathless prose. By contrast, Cal Lee and Ron Brown use judgement and talent.)

If you will recall, Jim sold some the last time he was here. He also promised to donate a portion of those sales to our Club's Foundation. Today, John Linneman brought in a check for $340 from Livescribe, the company that makes and sells the PulsePen. Thanks, John, for getting us in touch with Jim Margraff, and thanks, Jim and Livescribe, for your generous donation.

BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES & MISCELLANEOUS GOOD NEWS

(Note: The B&A section is being moved here by executive fiat as an experiment based on the suggestion of a Member who shall remain nameless. Comments are welcome - as long as you don't direct them toward Ron Brown, Rich Shearer or Cal Lee.)

The catching-up continues. So this week's victims - er, I mean celebrants, were: Alex Arnold, whose birthday was "Wicked," as in seeing the musical; Mike Edwards, whose anniversary included three days of R&R in Monterey; Paul Fillinger for Glenda's birthday, with Past Prez Paul apparently remembering to be in the audience at the Lesher Center whilst the Diablo Symphony, including the lovely Glenda, performed; triplets Steve Ware, Joanne Luscher and Venera Maysuryants, each celebrating their Feb.1 b-days, Steve at dinner withe friends, Joanne in Egypt wth that Ulrich guy, and Venera who reported on her activities the previous week. John Linneman turns Full Social Security in a day or two, but he 'fessed up early because he plans to be back in the desert with Connie before our next confab.

PROGRAM

It was the last Friday of the month, and you know what that means, don't you? Yes, it means TGITLFOTM at Paul Bettelheims, but at the meeting it means another installment of "Expose Yourself," the monthly exposition of our Members and whatever it is they think we should know about them. This week, Kevin Croak and Chris Lane did the honors.

First, though, we had a visit from a guest that seems to show up for every "Expose Yourself" presentation and at other random times, too. That would be: The Curse of Lamorinda Sunrise, the little gremlin that creeps into any and all audio-visual equipment to play havoc with PowerPoint presentations. This week, The Curse treated us to nearly fifteen minute's worth of blue screen fun, which led to much mirth and merriment, topped off by Mike Wilson "swimming" through the azure tint. (He was goaded into it by Hays "Can't Let the Flies Land" Englehart, who quickly 'fessed up and paid up.)

Kevin Croak

Our first scheduled speaker was Kevin Croak, who bore the brunt of the attack of the Curse with good humor and great poise. He was born in San Leandro and is a graduate of Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland. He played all the usual sports - baseball, football, that sort of thing - although he apparently missed out on getting a college athletic scholarship by thiiiiiiiis much.

So, off to college, where he decided to go into business of some sort, primarily because nothing else leapt out at him and business leaves open options in a lot of different directions. He settled on accounting, ultimately deciding to pursue public accounting. He went to work for a small firm in San Francisco, where he toiled away for about 20 years, 15 of them as a partner. Kevin now has his own business in Walnut Creek, still in public accounting. Kevin enjoys the diversity of what he does. His different clients allow him to learn about different businesses in different fields, and it helps keep one day from looking like another.

No story of Kevin's life would be complete without hearing about The Ranch. The family ranch is located between Dublin and Livermore on . . . wait for it . . . Croak Road, just off of I-580. Many a weekend was spent there by the youthful Kevin, doing all the work that has to get done on a ranch. (It gave Kevin a healthy appreciation for why many folks don't want to be ranchers or farmers - it's a heck of a lot of hard work.)

So at one point, when Kevin was about 11, ne'er-do-wells were coming out to the ranch, having figured out that no one was actually living there, and making off with the stuff that was stored there. So Kevin's dad thought the thing to do was to sleep out in the barn, where many of these thefts were taking place, and bring Kevin and several firearms along. (As Kevin presciently observed: "At that time, the legal environment was different.") Sure enough, a little after 2:00 a.m., when the bars had closed, Kevin and dear old dad hear some noise. With the help of their arsenal, they persuaded three would-be thieves to set a spell.

So what to do now? Cell phones were not yet on the scene, and a regular phone wasn't handy. So, Mr. Croak pere hog-tied the miscreants with baling wire, he and Kevin left them there and drove off to Santa Rita to invite some Alameda County Sheriff's Deputies to come get them thar now-immobilized crooks.

Along about this time, The Curse went away and we did actually get to see photos of a cute young Kevin, all of his 5 siblings, and Kevin in a moustache as he and Lynne tied the proverbial knot.

Chris Lane

Next up was Chris Lane, a veritable young 'un, having been born in 1968 in Scottsdale, Arizona. The family moved to San Diego very soon thereafter, and in 1971 moved to Lafayette. Chris is, not surprisingly, a graduate of Acalanes High, Class of 1986.

From there, into the Air Force for young Chris. He was an Aircraft Maintenance Specialist (crew chief to you and me). He first worked on F-4 Phantoms. Well, not just any Phantom, but 67-0379, a plane that fought in Vietnam and was built a year before Chris was born. By this time, F-4's were not front-line fighters, but were used in "Wild Weasel" missions that jammed enemy electronics in order to blind anti-aircraft defenses. (They were used in this role, with great success, as late as the 1991 Gulf War.)

After finishing up his enlistment, Chris served in the Air Force Reserves. This saw him spending time at Travis AFB working on the largest plane ever in the US arsenal, the C-5 Galaxy. (The Russkis had one or two bigger.) If you have never seen a C-5, the word "enormous" does not do it justice. It can haul a whole bunch of stuff or a whole bunch of people.

Chris left the Air Force Reserves in 1995 with the rank of Staff Sergeant.

He started working at Contra Costa Stationers in 1991. Two years later in 1993, Chris bought the business, and you can see him there most days, in the Longs/Trader Joe's/Diablo Foods shopping center. Chris has been active in the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce as a natural outgrowth of his business. Four times he has been on the committee that puts on the Chamber's signature event, the Art & Wine Festival. This past year, Chris was the Big Kahuna, the Chair of the whole thing.

Chris introduced his lovely bride, Natalie, to the assembled horde. Chris and Natalie have a "blended" marriage, including Chris' daughter Savannah (age 14), Chris' son Schuyler (age 12) and Natalie's son Christopher (age 11). Actually, all three are both of theirs, as became clear when Natalie had to remind Chris that Savannah is now 14, not 13. And since both Chris and Natalie brought kids to the marriage, it seems only fitting that they both brought dogs to the family, too: Tucker, Floyd, Lily and Zoe.

Many thanks to both Kevin and Chris for baring their souls and their lives for us heathens and hoi polloi. Special thanks to Jim Brencic who refrained from throwing the projector across the room when it was being difficult and he had every reason to want to.

UPCOMING EVENTS
as seen on our web site calendar

Friday, March 6: Rotarian Benjamin Lawrance presents his topic: "Bringing clean water to rural West Africa: Rotary Development in Action" Benjamin give us insight on district matching grants in Togo, Benin, and Ghana.

Friday, March 13: Brad Howard, former District Governor, gives us insight on a broad view of the goings on of the Rotary International Foundation.

Friday, March 27: Expose Yourself Ken Kosich and Dave Watson share the most intimate secrets of their past. Come see where they come from, what they've done, and when their paroles end.