UPCOMING PROGRAMS

FRIDAY: Catherine Sandoval, Calif Public Utilities Commission

August 23: Robert J. Lowe,

CEO Lowe Enterprises

August 30: club is dark for

Labor Day

September 6: Frank E Baxter,

Chairman Emeritus of Jefferies

September 13: Ned Colletti,

General Manager, LA Dodgers

CALENDAR IT NOW

Sept 4: LA5 First Wednesday

Mixer at LA Athletic Club 5pm

VISIT WWW.ROTARYLA5.ORG FOR MORE

Rotary Club of Los Angeles

established 1909

August 16, 2013

rotaryLA5.org

Past Governor swoops in to Save The Day

Governor Experiences Life-

Threatening Tennis Elbow Injury

Only minutes before he was to address LA5, District 5280 Governor Doug Baker suffered a grave tennis elbow attack

that sent him to the hospital and almost upended a meeting

that had otherwise gone without a hiccup.

The first speaker on the special occasion, Paul Netzel, filled in the club on Rotary’s past and what we can anticipate in the future. Next, J. T. Warring gave a passionate first-

person account of the club’s Myanmar water project progress

and efforts to reintroduce Rotary in that country.

With Governor Doug out of action, the program continued without pause thanks to quick-thinking Past District Gover-nor Rick Mendoza who always travels with a prepared

speech in his pocket and fresh batteries in his portable mi-crophone. Many in the audience wished he would speak end-lessly and he did not disappoint them.

Past District Governors have a tendency to grab the spotlight, so Prez Ken enlisted a phalanx to restrict access to the rostrum. That didn’t stop the Past Governor Rick Mendoza from trying, though, as he approached the stage 25 minutes before scheduled. Russ Whittenburg, Elizabeth Wheeler, John Jaacks, John Lockhart, Todd Johnson and Steve Schultz did a great job holding the line.

2 El Rodeo

El Rodeo 3

Margaret Todd, Ruth Wong, Susan Griego and Program Chair Jose Vera.

If you missed the meeting last week

Johannes Masserer, Christina Hurn, Bruce Murdoch and Board Director

Laine Waggenseller.

With persistence Sr. Christine Bowman will eventually wrestle away from

Steinar Tweiten.

J. T. Warring shared with Prez Ken another secret trick to dazzling Rotary

audiences: choose the blue and plaid combination versus brown on brown.

Past Club President, Past District Governor and Past RI Direc-

tor Paul Netzel briefed the club on the most re-cent Council on Legislation. The COL is Rotary

International's parliament which meets every three years in Chicago. Each of the 532 Rotary districts is entitled to have one elected repre-

sentative serve as a voting member. The April 2013 meeting had a record 528 district repre-sentatives in attendance and it debated 200

proposals. Ultimately 53 Enactments and 6

Resolutions were adopted.

The following are some of the noteworthy actions taken by the

2013 COL Representatives.

● Approved a US$1-a-year increase in dues that clubs pay to

Rotary International starting July 2014.

● Approved changing the name of Rotary's Fifth Avenue of

Service, currently called "New Generations" to "Youth Ser-

vice."

● Approved a measure to allow an unlimited number of e-

clubs, removing a previous restriction of two e-clubs per dis-trict. E-clubs meet electronically, conduct service projects,

and sometimes also hold in-person meetings.

● Approved a measure aimed at increasing membership, that provides for satellite clubs, whose members meet at a differ-

ent time and location from their parent club but who are

considered members of the parent club.

● Approved a measure allowing participation in club projects

to count toward club attendance requirements. The measure amends the Standard Rotary Club Constitution to provide that a member must attend or make up at least 50 percent

of club regular meetings or engage in club projects for at least 12 hours in each half of the year or a combination of

both.

Two measures were defeated that would have allowed clubs to meet less frequently. The delegates also rejected a measure

that would have allowed a club to cancel six regular meetings a year instead of four, for holidays, the death of a club mem-

ber, disasters or other emergencies.

Having received no opposition from 5% or more of the 34,558 clubs worldwide, the results of the 2013 COL will took effect in

July and will be reflected in the next publication of Rotary’s

Manual of Procedure.

Paul Netzel Briefing

4 El Rodeo

When the Boss screws up your LA5 schedule

Can’t attend LA5 on Friday because your boss

is bugging you to finish a project? Then do a Make-Up at any Rotary Club and ask Secre-

tary Elizabeth Wheeler to credit your atten-

dance. Here are some nearby choices:

Playa Venice Sunrise Wednesdays 7:15 a.m.

Woodland Hills Wednesdays 12 noon

Wilshire Wednesdays 12 noon

Westchester Wednesdays 12:10 p.m.

Latinos Unidos Wednesdays 7:00 p.m.

See the entire list at WWW.ROTARY5280.ORG.

T he LA5 Board of Directors re-

cently approved a Corporate Mem-bership Program that will bring

more organizations into the Rotary

universe.

The program allows for two active member-

ships, including annual dues, initiation fees and a Community Service Fund contribu-tion to qualify for the 365 Club. The com-

pany will receive a full page roster ad and prominent front page placement on the LA5

website.

Other cross-marketing opportunities pro-vided include an invitation to join the CEO

Roundtable, host LA5 mixers or events at the company’s location and be a Program

Sponsor.

The cumulative benefits are far in excess of

the $3000 annual fee.

Rotary International launched this 2011-2014 pilot program to gauge the effective-ness of extending membership to compa-

nies. Many clubs have reported having ex-perienced an improvement in leadership

and engagement opportunities for members, an increase in participation in club activi-ties, a greater gender balance in the club

membership and stronger diversity within

the club’s membership.

LA5 Corporate

Membership Program

D o you need an effective forum

to promote your company or your skills to the club? Consider either

becoming a Program Sponsor or a

Green Room Sponsor — or both!

A Program Sponsor

receives branding for that week’s program: announcement plac-

ards at the California Club, website place-

ment and mention in the prestigious El Ro-deo. Janet Doud can

give you the scoop and eloquently detail the

myriad of benefits you

will reap.

Hal Barstow, here ap-

pearing fresh from sailing the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan says,

“Don’t forget about sponsoring the Green

Room, either!”

The Green Room is the private guest reception

held before the Friday

LA5 lunch meeting.

Interested in sponsoring? Please send an e-

mail to INFO@ROTARYLA5.ORG.

Who Wants to be a

Program Sponsor?

Chartered June 25, 1909

Club Leadership 2013-14

Ken Chong, President Alan Bernstein, President-Elect Jose Vera, Vice-President Elizabeth Wheeler, Secretary Don Robinson, Treasurer Jay Richardson, Past President

Club Service Arthur Kassel Paul Richey

Community Service Margaret Karren Jim Hoyt

Funding Todd Johnson Al Shonk

International Service Laine Wagenseller Rick Sarmiento

Membership and Retention Charisse Older Erick Weiss

Vocational Service John Miller John Jaacks

Youth Service Anthony Calloway Paul Jacques

Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Ekstrand Barry Hytowitz Steve Sommers

Executive Director Jon Gibby Jon@rotaryLA5.org

Rotary Club of Los Angeles 523 West Sixth Street, Suite 718 Los Angeles, CA 90014 Telephone 213.624.8601 Facsimile 213.624.2694 www.rotaryLA5.org

District 5280 Governor Doug Baker

El Rodeo Marc Leeka, Editor Felix Keats, Photographer

El Rodeo 5

Rotarians You Want to Know:

John Miller

J OHN MILLER was a member of the Ro-

tary Club of Santa Monica for 21 years before joining LA5, even serving as the

club’s Program Chair. He is the son of a

Rotarian and his wife is a Rotarian.

His personal commitment to Rotary came 30

years ago after he was selected to participate in a six-week Rotary Group Study Exchange to India, Nepal and Bangladesh. John was a young Christian minister

at the time, so a highlight of the trip was the opportunity to stay in the homes of Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist Rotarians.

After observing the work of Rotary in the world, John decided that if he ever were given the opportunity to join a service club, Rotary would be the one. John cherishes the memory of

one of his Muslim hosts planting a tree on his property on the day John departed to commemorate their new friendship say-

ing ‘that just as the tree will grow and give life for generations

to come, so will their fellowship and service through Rotary.’

One of John’s favorite memories of Rotary leadership took

place the year John was vice president of programs. He re-counts a story about when a long-scheduled speaker cancelled with almost no notice. “My sister had recently dated a Dodger

Stadium peanut vendor. Desperate to fill the speaking slot, I got the guy’s phone number

from my sister and asked him to come and talk about ‘his life working for peanuts.’

The man agreed, and the club was wildly entertained as he tossed bags of peanuts

overhand, underhand, side-arm, behind the back and

over the shoulder, all the while regaling the club with a crazy cascade of anecdotes

about life at the stadium. We saw how, even in humble cir-

cumstances, life can be lived with such a high level joy and service if we only bring

the right attitude.”

If you haven’t met John yet, then please introduce your-

self at the next meeting.

John’s Favorites

The last book I read was

“Halftime: Moving from Success

to Significance” by Bob Buford.

The best city I have ever visited

was Jerusalem .

I know it is junk food, but my guilty pleasure is I cannot get

enough chocolate chip ice

cream.

The most satisfying thing I have done in the club since I joined is

the Children’s Court Committee

And three albums I would take

to a desert island because I never grow tired of listening to

them: Sammy Davis, Jr. and Buddy Rich “The Sounds of ‘66 ,

Rachmaninov “Piano Concerto

No. 2” and Handel’s “Messiah.”

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, I passed Prez Ken at a lunch meeting and he shook my hand. I’m not too sure of the protocol. Do I refrain from washing that hand for two weeks or should I keep the Purell handy? STAPHYLOCOCCUS ADVERSE

Dear Germphobic,

All of us in the newsroom are highly suspicious of glad-handing present and past

presidents. Don’t feel guilty washing your hands but con-tinue to show your respect by

burning a candle in the little presidential shrine all of us

keep in our homes.

Dear Editor,

I think every lunch meeting should be described as unin-hibitedly exuberant. I’m a new member and would like to feel more comfortable in such a vi-brant crowd. How can I feel less timid approaching and meeting others. SHY IN LOS ANGELES

Dear Wallflower,

We wear giant name badges to encourage everyone to mingle

and interact. If you still feel a little shy then walk up to one of the Directors (full list on

page 5) and ask them to intro-duce you around. They know

just about everyone.

The District's 5-member Vocational Training Team will head to

Istanbul, Turkey, the week of September 24 to attend the an-nual congress of Mediators Beyond Borders. The team will

learn about cross-cultural negotiations and train to develop

skills and strategies to build peaceable communities.

T he vocational team concept was developed by The Rotary Foundation in the early 1960s to promote in-ternational goodwill and understanding by sending

small groups of young business professionals from one Rotary district to a district in another country. Each team

is led by one experienced Rotarian and three or four non-Rotarians recruited from communities in the district. A team typically comprises one profession or focus and the trips allow

participants to share their culture and know-how with their hosts. More than 70,000 young men and women have traveled

in the program since 1965.

The District 5280 team will be led by Greg O’Brien of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Club. If you have non-Rotarian acquaintan-

ces between the ages of 25-40 who would consider joining the experience of a lifetime, particularly any peacemakers or pro-fessional mediators, please contact VTT District Coordinator

Freddi King at freddi.king@gmail.com.

All expenses for the trip will be paid by a District Grant funded

by The Rotary Foundation. Our annual contributions to The Rotary Foundation are returned to this district to be used for humanitarian and other projects that qualify under strict

guidelines. 6 El Rodeo

District Peacemakers

will go to Istanbul