Great rescue, Gary

Gary Fulcher - to make up for his lack of thoughtfulness last week shared that "Minds are like parachutes, they only function when they are open."

VISITING ROTARIANS AND GUESTS

Rotarians:

John Sherry - from the Lafayette lunch club

Sue Breedlove - President Elect from Orinda came to check out Hays Englehart - it was noted that current President Mark Roberts is quickly becoming irrelevant.

Others:

Becky Jenkins - best friend and wife of Don

BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES

Birthday, colonoscopy and bucket! How special

Paul Bettelheim wasn't feeling the love as we missed both his birthday and his wife's birthday as well. Paul reported that they celebrated jointly with a week in New York. He also overshared that he celebrated the actual day of his birth by getting a colonoscopy in honor of his Medicare birthday.

Alex Arnold had an anniversary - he celebrated by having nine family members visit. Steve Ware wanted Alex to be fined but Chuck Bove graciously volunteered to pay on Alex's behalf.

All bribes accepted, Thomas

Thomas Peeks was called on as it was Yolanda's birthday last Sunday. Please note that a bribe was made to leave out his next comment. Thomas reported that there was dinner and festing in honor of Yolanda.

David Waal joined the double nickel club and was happy to see signs reminding him all over the state; it was a warm day so David was very happy. David reported that there were multiple days of festing, eating, bike riding (50 miles).

ANNOUNCEMENTS...

Prez Roberts' time

Mark Roberts reported on the District Conference. He thanked Hays (and Regina), Rich Shearer (and Valerie), Don Jenkins (and Becky) for their attendance and participation. He failed to mention that Claire Roberts had attended but we think that was just an oversight.

Reno Snow Train has been scheduled - Feb 12-14th with the Orinda Club taking the lead; it will be on their website soon. David Pierce is coordinating for Orinda.

Board meeting on Tuesday at the usual time - Mark asked that all Board members let him know if they are unable to attend. Last month only six Board members attended the meeting so he is hoping for a larger group this month.

Chris is not intimidated

Walter Nelson, as Membership Chair, reported that on rare occasions we have the opportunity to recognize and again welcome new members. He handed the mike to Brad Davis - who remained enthroned in his cozy banquet...and asked Chris Lane to approach his royal presence. Chris Lane was presented his blue badge for 'full and honorable membership'. Chris announced that he will be staging a coup to 'fundamentally change Rotary' - more to follow.

We are so happy to have Paula Bernard back among us on a regular basis. In recognition, Paula paid a fine for being late...she was very gracious and paid promptly.

Raffle....Sue Breedlove picked Hays' ticket (clearly a PE conspiracy.)

Buddy asked Club members to shoot him an email after each presentation to rate the speaker on a scale of 1-10.

PROGRAM

Pat kicked it off

Today's program is on the Rotary Foundation...presented by our own Pat Flaharty, Don Jenkins and Cal Lee. Pat began by sharing the Mission of the Rotary Foundation from the RI website and outlined the topics to be discussed

Pat turned the mike over to Don who advised that if we don't listen we can get most of the information from the last issue of the Rotarian. A small riot broke out but Don got control quickly. Some interesting statistics were unveiled:

Don ran with it

Lamorinda Sunrise has donated $233,671 to the Rotary Foundation through 10/12/2012. The Foundation was established in 1917 (same year that the first club in our district - Berkeley --was founded). Our District 5160 donates between $400,000 - $600,000 per year.

Don encouraged each of us to learn about the bigger Rotary picture. He shared that the Rotary Foundation is unique in that we ask not just for money but for projects - projects come from the clubs; except for Polio Plus which is an RI project. Don blames our Club for his involvement in the Foundation - he was in Prague and went to a meeting where there was an ambulance that had been donated to an orphanage by the Clubs of Lamorinda. He got to participate in the recognition event and he was hooked. He and Becky look for matching grant projects that they can visit when they travel and he described some projects that are going on around the world with matching grants.

Don shared the three bucket talk...

• Cal held the Annual bucket and explained about the annual program; 50% of our annual donation is returned to the District, the other 50% goes to Int'l. projects; 100% of the money contributed goes to projects.

Don explained how a new project concept under development by Dennis Kurimai, suggesting iPad donations to the schools, could be structured: The District has $220K this year and each Club can present a proposal to get funds. We could take money from the Club fund, and if we could get matching funds from some local organizations, then we could be eligible for a matching district grant. District grants <$15K; Worldwide grants >$15K. We can partner with other clubs too

• The third bucket, the Permanent Fund, is Don's focus. This is how people can leave a legacy (read big bucks). About 4-5% of the earnings from the permanent fund go to the Annual bucket.

Don noted that there were Benefactor forms on the table for those interested - if you like pins, you are in the right place. If you give more than $25K; you can designate where your funds go - there are many categories and Don would be happy to answer any questions individually.

The last thing...Don warned that many of us have an estate tax issue - if our estate is worth more than $1mil. So let's not rely on Congress to get its act together and do some estate planning - if Uncle Sam is your favorite charity, do nothing. If you would like to see your money do good works, a donation to the Rotary Foundation is a good option.

Sapphires for Gary!

Cal concluded the presentation. He began by calling Gary Fulcher to the front of the room. Cal presented Gary with yet another pin to recognize his contributions to the Rotary Foundation. More sapphires for Gary!! Cal reminded us that we each contribute to the Foundation with our dues payments. Cal reported on the various giving levels. A new point system allows those members who have reached certain levels to share points with other members who are close. So members within $300 can get help (150 points and $150 from donor) - the team will be tapping you. Please check with Cal if you want more information about your current giving level. When it comes to changing your will to include RI, Cal is also the man to see.

President Mark wrapped up our meeting on time!

CALENDAR

Tuesday 11/13 - Board Meeting, Orinda

Friday 11/16 - Rich Cox, Improv extraordinare

Friday 11/23 - Dark, Thanksgiving weekend

Friday 11/30 - Leander Hauri exposes himself

Friday 12/7 - Congressman George Miller

Friday 12/14 Dr. Paul Staudohar, Baseball, unions, the East Bay

Fridays 12/21 & 12/28 - DARK FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Friday 1/4/2013 - Club Assembly

HOME Team schedules...Saturdays 8 am to noon 

2013 - January 26, March 23, May 25, July 27