THE LAMORINDAN 9-11-09

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Alex Arnold gave a moving tribute marking the anniversary of 09/11/01, the date our nation was first attacked on the mainland. He followed with and equally appropriate thought for the day. "If you hear with your heart...if you see with your soul...if you are guided by a hand you cannot hold...if you trust in a way that you cannot see...that's what faith must be." Wow!

BRAD DAVIS BRINGS 9/11 CLOSER TO HOME

Brad was working for Morgan Stanley in Orinda when the attack occurred. His company had a very large contingent of employees scattered throughout the various World Trade buildings either damaged or destroyed. Thirteen of his compadres lost their lives. Nearly 3,000 others were saved by the actions of Rick Rescola, who was head of security for Morgan Stanley in New York. Tragically and ironically, he was the last person killed when Building 5 collapsed. The story of this man's life has been chronicled in a book titled "Heart of a Soldier" by James B. Stewart. Brad calls it a must-read for everyone. Buy your copy at Lafayette Book Store. Let's make the effort to support local merchants whenever we can. After all, THEY support us!

VISITING ROTARIANS

Jenni Beeman - President Elect of the Diablo View Rotary Club
Jay Lifson - Noon Club and Chamber of Commerce Major Domo
Larry Sly - Concord Club and winner of today's raffle

GUESTS

Mariam Worsham - keeping husband Chuck Yeager in line
Katie Rose Ware - Little sister of Becky, daughter of you-know-who
Dan Rogers - Third visit; something must be brewing
Glen Zamarian - Experience Unlimited
Friends of Buddy Burke: Eileen McEntyre, Eric Johnson, Dave Kinsey
Randy Williams - Founder of Keiretsu Forum and today's guest speaker

BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES

Krysten Laine - Birthday no. ??? accompanied by an IOU recogntion donation.

Bob Heinen - Forgot his 30th wedding anniversary but Kandy bailed him out. WHAT?!?! He's been warned. Since he was actually married on September 11th it is at least one date he ought to remember. Cost him only $40. He got off cheap.

Dan Herbert's wife Annette had a birthday. Dan "celebrated" by having emergency root-canal oral surgery. At least he SAID it was an emergency. He followed this up with a pulse-raising garage cleaning over the weekend. Somehow or another a gala boat house opening event was sandwiched between the fetes. Our hearts go out to Annette. Recognition levy (OK, FINE!) TBD.

Newbie Sharon Rossi had neither a birthday nor an anniversary. But she told us about her husband who was with her in Osaka last week and was standing on a street corner looking lost. A Japanese man stepped up to him and offered him a map of the city. The back of the map was labeled "courtesy of Osaka Rotary Club." Sharon opined that Rotary really does have good men and women willing to help worldwide - some 1.2 million all told, if fact. $10 donation.

Dan Garfin declared that he is not married. Not for emphasis, presumably, but rather as a prelude to his announcement that he and his S.O. have been together for two years. Cost Dan 10 bucks per.

Al Sevilla was also in Osaka at an Engineering Expo. He had the most expensive make-up lunch at the self-same Osaka Club - tab of $60 U.S. dollars. Al is pleading for mercy on his make-up remuneration.

AMYRIC'S AMAZING LABOR DAY WEEKEND

This year's exchange student is off to blazing start. He began his presentation by revealing a Cal Bear T-shirt and logo baseball cap. Aymeric was Don Reichert's guest at the Cal football game on Saturday (which, not incidentally, Cal won. Gooooooooo, Bears!). Don took photos of Aymeric's appearance with the Cal cheerleaders and the band. Aymeric led the breakfast group in a flawlessly authentic "give me a C, give me an A, give me an L" cheer, complete with appropriate gestures. Don commented that the pictures he took at the game were immediately sent to Aymeric's parents in Belgium and by the time they had returned to Don's home there was an e-mail acknowledgment from the parents. Ain't new-fangled technology wunnerful?

Last Sunday, Aymeric turned up at the Scottish games in Pleasanton. He had a picture taken shaking hands with a Scot, who looked more like a Viking (no, NOT a Minnesota Viking, heaven's sake!). Let us all hope and pray that Aymeric is a fan of bagpipe music.

The long weekend was capped on Monday with an exhilarating sail on the Bay with the Ware host family. We were shown several great slides of the Bay Bridge and that other one.

This was a weekend that will be very hard to equal, much less surpass. The rest of the week consisted of coming back down to earth at school.

ARTS AND WINE FESTIVAL READY TO ROLL

Alex Arnold has put together a splendiferous list of club volunteers to participate in this year's event on Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20. You may recall there was a small bet with the noon club as to who could muster the most volunteers to work the two days. In Alex's own words "WE CRUSHED THEM!" Jay Lifson was on hand to acknowledge the defeat of his noon club, and promised to hand over the $100 on Saturday. He also appeared in his day job roll of director of the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce to thank us for our help, and to remind workers to check in behind the Bank of the West at the C of C Booth for traffic control assignments. For those without a Rotary shirt, see Steve Ware at the check-in booth. He'll have one for you.

DAN GARFIN TURNS BLUE

Brad Davis welcomed Dan Garfin to the ranks of the Blue Badgers. It is always great to experience the hearty efforts by new members like Dan to meld into the group so easily, and to make immediate contributions to projects and activities. It is comforting to know that the future of Rotary is secure in the hands of people like Dan, still in his early 30s. Yikes! A baby amongst us.

PROGRAM

Guest speaker Randy Williams founded the Keiretsu Forum in September 2000 to provide a disciplined and structured approach to private equity investing. Randy's passion for investing and bringing together like-minded community leaders has created a powerful and giving environment for entrepreneurs.

Since its inception, Keiretsu Forum members have invested more than $180 million in 200 companies representing technology, real estate, healthcare, biotech, life sciences and other sectors of the economy with high-growth opportunity. Keiretsu has expanded to seventeen chapters throughout the U. S., China and Europe. With upward of 750 members, Keiretsu is the largest angel investment community in the world.

Acquiring Angel investment funds from Keiretsu follows a simple, straightforward four-week process. During week one, the 40-member Kieretsu committee reviews 30 to 50 investment proposals. Week two consists of deal screening and results on eight to 10 of the proposals moving forward. Week three results in four to five potential deals being presented to Forum members. At this point, there is a 60% chance of a proposal getting a green light, meaning funding. Week four consists of deal screening, with two to three companies actually getting funded.

Randy stressed that the Forum really reflects the goals of Rotary. Not only to provide funding for new companies, but also to help however possible through ongoing involvement. The members are there to lend "partnership- like" assistance and direction, he said. The Forum's level of success in investing is beating the Venture Capital index, which Randy attributes to the Forum's level of market intelligence and ability to help each other. He believes that revenue is what really validates investment decisions. Learn more about the organization at www.keiretsuforum.com.

Randy also is founder of the Keiretsu Forum Charitable Foundation. Since its inception in 2001, 107 deserving charities have been granted sizable donations. The goal of the Charitable Forum is to grant $250,000 annually to worthy local charities through the Forum chapter network.

Randy has 30 years of experience in finance, real estate and marketing. He currently holds board and advisory positions in eight companies. He was founder of Lamorinda Bank, co-founder of Diablo Bank, president of Pacific Union Commercial Brokerage, and director of Kennedy-Wilson International.

He holds a baccalaureate degree from U.C. Berkeley and a master's from St. Mary's College of California. He is an avid masters swimmer. Randy lives in Orinda with his wife Maile and their two children.