THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain, disguised as Ron Brown.
VISITING ROTARIANS AND GUESTS
Bill Osborne - Rotary Club of Jackson, Mississippi
Agatha Sue Lee - Cal's music impresario
Jeannie Simpson - Special guest of Pat Flaharty
Louise Bourassa - Executive Director of C.C. Interfaith Housing
ANNOUCEMENTS
Paul Fillinger declared he had been dumbstruck (we already new that) by the scintillating one and one-half hour classical piano 
performance rendered by fellow Rotarian Cal Lee at the Bellevue Club in Oakland the previous Sunday afternoon. This reporter can attest to Cal's flawless interpretations of multiple complex preludes and other compositions by Bach, Bartok, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Gershwin, Rachmaninoff, etc. (you get the idea). Estimates of more than 250,000 notes played by Cal, without any visible signs of sheet music, probably impressed Paul the most, remarking he had not yet mastered the 34 words (estimated again by Paul?) contained in the 4 Way Test. Suffice it to say Cal is a tremendous musical talent, although he, too, has never memorized the not quite so difficult 4 Way Test.
BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES
Bob Heinen managed to not forget his 39th wedding anniversary, celebrated by spending a quiet evening at home and only costing him $20 to the club coffers.
Paul Bettleheim's wife Bryn had a birthday which she celebrated by going out with friends? That's what he said. Anyhow he was requested to pay $30 as his penance for staying home.
Dennis Kuramai and Maggie are celebrating their seventh wedding anniversary with a trip to Tahiti, where he has already reserved space for them at the Rotary Club meeting the week following. It's doubtful Dennis got away with only a $7 celebration contribution, but only Treasurer Ernie knows for sure. Dennis promises a banner exchange and a full report on life in a tropical paradise (everybody has to be someplace!)
Finally Krysten Lane was a little miffed that Prez Peeks had somehow overlooked her birthday, but she overcame it with two checks, one to the Endowment and the other to the club. She and Rene took one of their vintage cars on a 10 day circle tour in California, ending up in Yosemite. Very nice!
SEPTEMBER TGITLFOTM IN OCTOBER?
Don't be confused. Ken Kosich has extended a generous invitation to all club members and potential member guests to the Kosich family vineyard just outside of Sonoma on 
Saturday, October 2. The festivities will begin at 11:00 a.m. and this is not a BYOB occasion. Wine and beverages will by supplied by Ken. An e-mail will be forthcoming complete with map and driving directions. Ken requests an RSVP so he can plan accordingly for the LSR invasion. This TGITLFOTM promises to be very special.
Oh, one more thing. There is also an October TGITLFOTM on October 30th. Something about Halloween has been hinted at by host Chuck Bove.
JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS & CHOO CHOO TRAIN TOO
What now? Christmas in October? No, Mark Roberts is just planning ahead for the annual Christmas Party to be held sometime in early December. He's wide open to a possible change in venue this year, and any bright ideas for a theme. This event is always a club winner and Mark is determined to maintain that reputation.
Also, the not quite annual train trip to Reno is now scheduled to occur on Friday and Saturday nights, January 21 -22. Apparently the same rules apply as last year - if enough Rotarians sign up the trip is on, if not, sayonara again. Much more on this to follow.
ORINDA CAR SHOW, SEPTEMBER 25
Hays Englehart is returning the great favor shown us by the Orinda folks in supporting Motorama this year. He is encouraging all of us to attend the Orinda show on Saturday the 25th. This is yet another fine example of friends helping friends in the Lamorinda Community. Let's make every effort to be there.
GILLETT JOHNSON WORKING OVERTIME
Gillett announced a Home Team style activity on October 16 for our annual fix-up trek to Las Trampas Campus and some of their attendant facilities. A new fence will be built and some local repairs will be taking place. Hays and Buddy Burke backed up Gillett's announcement. Good works are also being done there at this time by the Bank of America and the Lafayette noon club.
THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING
In about one year there will be another Rotary International business-to-business visitation to Lamorinda by a delegation of 10 Russians. In the past, the club has had positive experiences with Russian bakers who have come to meet with local bakers to learn more about the trade. These are training internships and are part of the World Peace and Understanding Program. It appears the next delegation will be realtors.
If our club is to participate it will require volunteer families to host two visitors each for a period of 14 days. Gillett is looking for at least five host families, but hopefully up to 10 families, to take on this responsibility. The hosts provide breakfast, dinner and transportation to meeting sites each morning and back. Unless enough host families step forward we will not be able to give the green light to participate in the project. The club must also agree to deposit $1,000 into an account designated for the project. The expenses would include a reception party, orientation lunch, transportation, training and a farewell party. If you are interested, please contact Gillett for additional information.
THE PROGRAM
Pat Flaharty introduced our speaker for the morning, Ambassadorial Scholar Andrew Smith. Pat thanked Venera Maysuryants, Don Reichert, Bob Riegg and Al Sevilla for helping 
Andrew transition into apartment living in Berkeley. Pat is Andrew's mentor for our club. Andrew thanked him and Jeannie Simpson for their warm welcome to his new home for the rest of the school year.
Andrew began with a history lesson about his hometown, Wem, located in Shropshire County in the United Kingdom, near the border with Wales. Listed in William the Conqueror's1086 Doomsday Book for census and location, Wem was originally a Saxon settlement with a turbulent history. Today it is known more as "The Birthplace of the Modern Sweet Pea" and holds the very popular Eckford Society Sweet Pea Show in July of each year.
Shropshire itself is an inland county with a mixture of agriculture-, industrial- and tourist-based economy. The vast 
majority of the county is rural and heavily dependent upon tourism, dairy farming and the manufacture of dairy and agricultural machinery. The Rotary Club of Wem & District was founded in 1980 and currently has 28 members. Andrew Smith is the second successful candidate for a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship in the club history.
Annually the scholarship sends over 600 students to undertake graduate studies abroad as ambassadors for Rotary. Since its inception in 1947 over 400,000 young people have studied under the auspices of the Foundation's program. Grants of $25,000 are provided to further each scholar's education in a field the Foundation believes will create future leaders and further Rotary's aims. In Andrew's case he will be studying for a Masters in human rights and international law at Boalt Hall on the U.C. Berkeley campus.
Before starting college Andrew travelled to India to teach English to young monks and orphans at a monastery in Darjeeling in the foothills of the Himalayas. This experience sparked his interest in human rights and his desire to develop a career helping others.
In 2006 Andrew entered King's College, Cambridge studying for a Bachelors degree in Law. He became involved in several student societies. In 2008 he chaired a King's Affair, an end of year event for 1,300 guests with a $90,000 budget. In his final year he co-founded Lawyers without Borders, attracting notable legal professionals to speak at the University about global human rights issues.
Over the last 12 months Andrew has been working in the human rights charity sector. In January he returned to India to work with the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in New Dehli. He conducted research on police reform in Kenya.
Now that Andrew is at Berkeley in the one year Masters course he is taking Constitutional Law, International Law and U.S. Law. He finds Berkeley a rather fascinating place to live. He likes the fact that it is laid back, even grownups travel by skate board on city streets and it is not compulsory to wear a tie for any occasion. Only Brighton comes close to comparing to Berkeley, but then again, not so much.
Andrew is very bright, energetic and full of life, with a delightful British sense of humor. It will be a pleasure to welcome him back to speak to us on several occasions as his year unfolds. Thank you Andrew and go Bears!
CALENDAR
9/24: Expose Yourself, whoever you are
10/2: Ken Kosich, TGITLFOTM, Sonoma, Saturday afternoon!!
10/12: Board meeting, 7:00 a.m.
10/15: Josh Cooley, Pixar
10/22: District Governor
11/4-11/7: District Conference, Old Town Sacramento
