Success Through Teamwork 11/14/12

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends, 

This week's speaker was Dr. Michael Ye of USC. This was a return visit for Michael who brought us up to date on the Renaissance of Chinese Culture and its Global Impact. He advised that the show which features spectacular and beautiful dancing and music will be returning to Los Angeles in January. He graciously offered to donate back to our Club 10% of any sales to Rotarians. You can get more information on the show called Shen Yun at ShenYun.com/LA. As in the past Michael was very informative and brought a new accent to the expression Fight On!

This was another week of acknowledgments and announcements. I asked Dan Kolodziejski to join me at the podium to award him a special "sponsor" pin for bringing his mom Katy into the Club at our recent Cultural Dinner. Katy is a special lady and gives us the distinction of having three generations of the same family in the Club at the same time. Thanks again Dan for all you do in support of our Club!           

President Jim also recognized Peter Smyth with his meeting name badge. Peter has already made memorable contributions to our Club, we are fortunate to have Peter with us. 

A reminder to all that we are serving dinner at the Midnight Mission on Sunday Dec. 2 . We have to have exactly 10 members there at 3:00 PM to serve until 6:00 PM. We are planning a group dinner afterwards. Tom Dixon is heading this effort for the Club. There is a wish list for needed items which we will post separately. If donating, you can bring items to  the next two Wed. meetings. 

President Jim and Tom Ryan advised those not aware that we have had to cancel Thanksgiving on Sat. for lack of a proper venue. This does not mean we are abandoning the concept. We will scheduling something for 2013 since hunger does not recognize the calendar and there are less people thinking of giving back to the needy after the holiday season. 

Our only officially allowed singer, Lucy Wegner, "voiced" a special announcement. Once again Lucy's Angel City Chorale will be giving Holiday Concerts on 12/1 & 2. She will be providing details which we will post on our website. As she generously did last year, Lucy will be donating back to the Club 50% of the total she takes in on ticket sales. This year's beneficiary will be Teacher Mini Grants. Many thanks Lucy!

Speaking of Teacher Mini Grants the date they will be awarded has been set for Jan. 11th at the Playa Vista Center Pointe Club at 7:30 AM. This is a Friday and the gathering will take the place of our normal Wed. meeting. For any Rotarian or friend of the Club who wants to contribute to Teacher Mini Grants but feel more comfortable doing it online or anonymously, we have created a structure to accommodate you. You can go to  http://www.crowdrise.com/TeacherMiniGrants and make a contribution. You can also see how we are doing towards our goal of $5,000 for online contributions. Obviously, if you want to send or give a check to the Club, this will by pass the charges we pay for the online service. The bottom line(s) are, large or small it all helps the students and please follow the method that is easiest for you!

President Jim, Tore Knos and Tom Carson have formed an ad hoc committee to determine the best way we can provide hurricane Sandy relief to the East Coast. We'll hear more shortly.

The Santa Tour has been scheduled for 12/17 with a slightly different structure. We will pick four stops in our service area and have Rotarians manning each stop until Santa arrives. We will no longer be partnering with LAPD since they provide more barriers than bridges. Locations and sign ups will be announced. 

Judith Ciancimino was called to the podium to acknowledge birthdays, specifically Tom Carson and designated accepter for Rotarian Greg Eckhardt, James Frawley. James will also get Greg's new Club logo pin to him. We hope new papa Greg is doing well!

As noted below please mark your calendars for the 11/28 kick off of the Holiday Giving program. Chair Anne Algaze promises a unique start to this annual event.  We are also expecting two "special guests" at that meeting, so we'd appreciate special attendance efforts to support these two important areas of involvement.

Rotarian attendees were deeply touched by the beautiful memorial services for Gale LaBarre last Saturday. All are reminded of her wishes for donations to the Playa Sunrise Rotary Foundation in lieu of flowers and other remembrances. Our thoughts and prayers are with Diane Pollock as we remember a very special Rotarian!

There were no 50/50 card drawing winners this week so the number of cards goes down and the pot goes up to $1320.

Thanks to Don Culton and Judith Ciancimino for this week's photos.

Save the Date 

November 28 Holiday Giving Program kick off

December 1 & 2 Angel City Chorale Performance 

December 2 Midnight Mission Food Service 

December 5 Governor Lew Bertrand's Club visit 

December 17 Santa Tour

January 11 Teacher Mini Grants

Be well.  

Yours in Rotary service,  

Tony