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TRANSFORM
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CONNECT
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INSPIRE
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FIGHT HUNGER
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EMPOWER
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MENTOR
Attend a meeting
Join us on a Wednesday convenient to you and experience the fun and friendship of the Rotary Club of San Jose!
Contact our Executive Director, Leslee Hamilton for more details and to RSVP at (408) 297-6101.
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Fill out an application and join community leaders. Become a member of the Rotary Club of San Jose.
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“Service Above Self”
Rotary is a service organization of business and community leaders united worldwide. Rotarians are making a positive impact in our local and global communities.
The Rotary Club of San Jose
Benefiting the community and our world through action, integrity, service, and fellowship.
The Rotary Club of San Jose is the largest, most active and well-known service organization in the community. We are a leadership organization working together to make a difference. Our members include local business, nonprofit, professional and civic leaders. We form lasting friendships through our shared Rotary experiences including weekly meetings with interesting speakers, committee meetings and projects, social events and group service projects within our community and internationally.
Diversity & Inclusion
Having a diverse and inclusive Rotary Club means we value and welcome individuals of all ages, cultures, ethnicities, and races to our Club. We invite younger people, women, and minorities who support Rotary's values, ideals, and mission to join our members in service to our community, and we strive to give all members equal opportunities to serve as leaders within our Club.
Service is the life blood of our Club, and it all happens through our Committees
Rotary Fall BBQ
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To purchase your ticket, please use the QR code or click here.
Rotarians, please login as a member and do not use the guest registration tab.
If you need assistance with your login or password information, please call the office for help. Thanks.
Please contact Mike Mak if you would like your car to be included in the car show.
Staff Schedule Update
Marie will be moving from 30 hours/week to 40 on September 1, while continuing to work from home on Fridays. Her schedule will be 7:30 am to 4:00 pm Mon-Th, and 7 am to 1 pm on Fridays.
Leslee will be shifting to a Monday–Thursday schedule on Sept. 1, and the Gordon House will be closed on Fridays.
Lisa will continue to work from 1:00–3:30 pm on Mondays and 9 am to 3 pm Tuesday–Thursday.
Seeds of Peace Campaign Goes Public
Follow the Penguin: Help Build Peace
Rotarian
s Bill Baron, Kimberly and Michael Mulcahy, and Ron Zraick joined philanthropist Diane Brandenburg on August 19th to launch the public campaign to raise the final $200,000 needed for the $1.5M project.
A penguin represents Antarctica in the 18' monument but is an NHL rival of our Sharks, so Sharkie stopped by for a bit of hazing.
The penguin will be visiting various venues in San Jose, including the Gordon House (now) and the 9/19 Rotary Collaborative Impact Summit at the McEnery Convention Center, to raise awareness of this peace-promoting project.
Click here to contribute to the campaign to build peace.
Community Grants Application
2026-27 Community Grants application window is open until September 30.
Thanks to our generous members, we have $200,000 to distribute to local non-profit organizations.Please help share this opportunity with non-profit organizations you are involved with -
click link for Grant Guidelines and the Grant Application. Both are available at https://www.sjrotary.org/ under Applications.
Rotary Collaborative Impact Summit
International Feast
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Downtown Happy Hour
Rotary Treasure Hunt
The Meeting Summary for September 9, 2026
President Tim Gill called to order the 5537th meeting of the Rotary Club of San Jose. Upon entering, the attendees were treated to a performance from the San Jose State University (SJSU) band, cheerleaders and color guard. He thanked the San Jose State University Committee, chaired by Tim Hegstrom, for hosting the greeting line.
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Melody Walsh announced today’s speaker John Doll, author of St. James Park, a historical fiction novel about a crime committed in 1933 in San Jose. The author provided a fascinating look-back at historical San Jose, from the perspective of the Brooke Hart kidnapping and murder in 1933. His talk centered on the social and economic conditions that led to the incident called the “shame of San Jose”.
Prohibition was also a contributing element, and John shared that Santa Clara County was known as the wettest county at that time! There was also a pervasive criminal element downtown and a lot of political corruption associated with Prohibition. Another aspect that developed at that time was San Jose business associations downtown that exerted influence and helped agitate public sentiment across San Jose’s commercial sector.
Within this confluence of factors, the son of the owner of the well-known downtown Hart’s Department Store was kidnapped and murdered. Two men were arrested, and their confessions were leaked to the press. This caused an immediate uproar because the body was dumped over the Dumbarton Bridge, and later washed up along Hayward shores.
When the body washed up, a crowd gathered at St James Park, which was near the county jail at that time. The crowd was egged on for hours by media reports being played over loudspeakers. The crowd finally stormed the jail, grabbed the two inmates, and lynched them in the park. This horrific crime and the violent aftermath was something the City of San Jose wanted to forget. John Doll concluded by saying that there were many outstanding questions that will never be answered, such as the killers’ motivation and whether there were other accomplices involved.
President Tim announced that the Rotarian of the Week is Tim Hegstrom!
To see all pictures, click here thanks to Kathleen Thomas, Photography Committee.
Video is available here.
New Member Dan Lazzarini
Sponsored by Mark Lazzarini
Dan Lazzarini is a San Jose native and grew up in a 19th century Victorian home near Japantown that his parents Mark and Jeanne Lazzarini completely renovated. Mark is a long time rotary member and contributor and Jeanne is a fellow red-badger! Dan is very excited to share many new Rotary experiences with his mom and dad.
Dan graduated high school in 2004 from Bellarmine College Prep (Go bells!) and completed a Bachelor's and Masters of Architectural Engineering at Cal Poly SLO in 2009. Dan is currently an Associate at Biggs Cardosa, a local structural engineering design firm with a rich history of projects in San Jose. Dan leads a building design team as engineer of record for the successful completion of many local projects including high density housing, tech, education, and civil projects. Seeing projects through to completion is of course rewarding but Dan thrives most on building strong relationships with clients and fellow design consultants in this community. His kids are surely tired of him pointing out his various projects on all their drives around town.
Dan is married to his wife Jennifer and they recently celebrated their 16 year wedding anniversary. Dan and Jenn have two children, Claire (13) and Connor (12) who keep them active with club volleyball, club soccer, Scouting America, and numerous other hobbies!
When he is not attending his kids' sporting events or campouts, Dan loves to play golf and pursue rainbow trout with a fly rod.
Dan is thrilled to be a part of this wonderful organization built on service and community.
New Member Jose Castillo
Sponsored by Tom Bondi
Jose Castillo is a local entrepreneur, owning and operating barbershops in San Jose for nearly a decade and currently working day to day in commercial real estate at Ritchie Commercial. Where he enjoys helping people find opportunities to lease, buy, and sell commercial properties. He holds an Associate of Science in Business Administration from Evergreen Valley College and Bachelor of Arts in Economics from San Jose State University.
In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family; his wife and five-year-old daughter. They are expecting their second child in October, a baby boy. Some hobbies he enjoys are mountain/road cycling, boxing, and lifting. He tries to keep as active as possible, along his busy schedule. On a relaxing trip to Hawaii Big Island earlier this year he was inspired by the IRONMAN 70.3. He has now decided that in the future when time allows, he will train for an Ironman.