Success Through Teamwork 11/28/12

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

Beginnings and endings. This week we said goodbye to November and welcomed the beginning of the holiday season. We were also fortunate to welcome several new friends to the Club.

Once again the average age of the room was brought down with the delightful presence of two more members of our Animo Venice Interact Club. They brightened the room with their presence. 

In addition, after attending and supporting us at several functions, we were happy to welcome Mike Sarlo to this week's meeting. Great to see Mike again! We were also pleased to welcome David Shapiro to the meeting. David, a Playa Vista resident sought us out and came to see what we are all about. Hopefully he liked what he saw, we surely did with him. We can't call our favorite new lawyer Insa Jenssen a guest, because she is family. We have it on "good authority" if you check out the upcoming District Newsletter, you'll see Insa "shaking her booty" at the Paul Harris Celebration. Mention it to her, she sports a lovely shade of red when you do, we tried it. Filling out the list of guests was someone who will never again be referred to with that label, Brian Hill. Brian is our newest member from the Marina del Rey Hospital. He steps in to fill the spot formally held by Chris Kishida. We offer a warm Playa Venice welcome to Brian and look forward to working with him as part of the MDR Hospital team. 

Please allow us an indulgence. We have two "corporate" members, the LAX Coastal Area Chamber of Commerce and the MDR Hospital. In today's world of "time poverty" these two groups have maintained 100% attendance, since joining Rotary, a strong sign of their commitment to our Club. In addition, they are ever present at each of our projects and programs, modeling "Service Above Self." We are very proud to have them as members. OK, one step back and off the soap box.

Just a short, but strong reminder, we need a big turn out for Governor Lew Bertrand's visit next week. If not for the most important reason, to make the Club look good, then for the secondary reason, he's my boss and even though I work for free, I need the work. Actually, a more important reason to attend, is to hear Lew's "state of the district message."

It was time for another Club favorite, the auctioning of a "Bear Essential" in support of Polio Plus to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. After lively bidding and being mindful of the fact that "brevity is next to godliness" Mr. Generosity, Howard Pollack, capped the bidding at $100. This brings us within $155 our goal of a $1,000 donation to Polio Plus. "If" there is another auction next week, it would be great to hit the goal when District Governor Lew is with us! Howard "piggy backed" a brag on his purchase to note that Rainbow Acres recently hit a one day high of $30,000, that in the early days of Rainbow Acres would have been considered a good month. Congratulations Howard!

Please note (and see below) the many activities that are upcoming, they are all examples of where we, as Rotarians, can actually change the harsh face of reality for our fellow man. 

Before the day's program began, President Jim had to acknowledge a debt. He called Irish Katie Litsey (the artist formerly known as Butler) to the podium. Last Saturday's historic (and infrequent) defeat of USC, made President Jim pay homage to Lady Kate and Notre Dame. Jim humbly and graciously bowed to the victor. He sported a Notre Dame sweatshirt as part of the bet payoff. We heard later that Jim had to go to his dermatologist because the sweatshirt caused him to develop a rash! 

Finally to the "business at hand" when Chair Anne Algaze stepped up to kick off the "Holiday Adopt a Family Program." The teams have been assigned but for the first time, captains were elected. Having been elected, Anne announced they now had to be crowned, so the balance of the team had to create a crown for their captain. The results were outrageous and drew a lot of criticism from the fashionably aware community, but it was pure fun! 12/14 was announced as the "wrapping party" at 5:00 PM at the Equity Offices property at 3200 Ocean Park Blvd. in Santa Monica.This event has become our annual Holiday Party, usually catered by the best Italian restaurant in town, Cantalini's. It is always filled with fun and surprises. If you come across a gift that does not fit your family's profile, save it, it may find a place in another team's needs. 

With a break on December 26th we'll start the New Year off on January 2nd with our annual White Elephant Exchange. For those not victimized in the past, this is where we get rid of the ugly ties and stupid "hostess" gifts we got during the holidays. They will be "re-gifted." Simply wrap the "dog" and bring it to participate. The event is living proof that "one man's trash is soon to be your trash." Having said that, there have been some old "favorites" that have appeared year after year. That is dedicated re-gifting!

Our thanks to Judith Ciancimino for this week's pictures!

Save the Date  

December 1 & 2 Angel City Chorale Performance  

December 2 Midnight Mission Food Service  

December 5 Governor Lew Bertrand's Club visit  

December 11 McBride School Holiday Party 

December 12 Board of Directors Election 

December 14 Holiday Gift Wrapping Party 

December 17 Santa Tour

December 26 No meeting, Club dark 

January 2 White Elephant Gift Exchange 

January 11 Teacher Mini Grants, food sponsored by Playa Vista (replaces 1/9 regular meeting) 

Be well.   

Yours in Rotary service,   

Tony