As if we didn’t have enough to worry about with extreme weather events on Earth, the next year or so may bring us a new danger from space: the Sun is entering the most worrisome phase of its 11-year cycle of activity  Large flare-ups and ejections of material from the outer layers of the Sun can overwhelm the magnetic zone that protects our planet.  The pleasant result is that we could see northern lights much further south than usual.  The dangerous consequence is that the storms from the Sun can overwhelm delicate satellite electronics, and bring down the power grid on Earth.

In this introductory talk, illustrated with beautiful images from space and mountain-top telescopes, Andrew Fraknoi will introduce the Sun as an active star. He will discuss solar storms and space weather, including the giant 1859 storm that brought down the world-wide web of the time!  And he will show how our modern civilization is more vulnerable than ever to displays of temper from the Sun.
 

Scott's Seafood will provide lunch ($30*) at Wednesday's meeting. The buffet lunch menu includes: 

Starters: Greek Salad (VGT), Avgolemono Soup
Entrees: Grilled Salmon, Chicken Souvlaki, or Wild Mushroom Ravioli (VGT)
Sides: Roasted Carrots (VGN), Roasted Yukon Potatoes (VGN)

GF - Gluten Free, VGT - Vegetarian, VGN - Vegan

Please order by Monday, September 30th at 12noon.  Plan ahead and order early! Late orders will be charged an extra $5.

Important note: If you have a 10-pack, you still need to register, so we have enough food. Please look at payment options as they have changed.

Have something to celebrate? Have someone you want to shout-out? Hit a milestone that you want to share with others? Then come to the meeting on October 2nd to Ring The Bell!

Our 2024-25 Community Grants applications will be closing down on Monday, September 30 at 5:00pm PDT.

Thanks to our generous members, we have $200,000 to distribute to local non-profit organizations, and our Foundation Trustees recently voted to raise the maximum grant amount to $15,000.

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.
 

Volunteers needed! Santa Clara County’s Stand Down is October 2-4 at the County Fairgrounds, and the event will provide access to free services to veterans and their families. Volunteers are needed to help attendees with wayfinding, registration, amongst many other tasks.

The Military Care Committee will be volunteering on October 3, 12pm-4pm. Any questions, contact Megan Toeniskoetter.

Click here to register to volunteer
 

Join us to celebrate the 2024 Leigh Weimers Emerging Artists Awards recipients. You can't help but be inspired when the winners share their art through performances or discussions. The event closes with our Club presenting each artist with an unrestricted grant of $5,000. Many of our members count this as their favorite program of the year!

We welcome all members of the community, even non-Rotarians, to join us for this wonderful event.

Wednesday, October 16 at Hammer Theater from 12:15pm-1:15pm.

It is free to attend*, but you must still register with Eventbrite! Register HERE!

*Do you want to buy a $20 box lunch? If so, click here.

The International Service Committee invites you to the Annual International Feast to enjoy the "Tastes of the World" focusing on Peru!

Improve Life and Health with Clean Water for Peru's Santa Rosa De Pedro Human Settlement. Enjoy a delicious international feast, music, Jaranon y Bochinche dancers, wonderful raffle prizes – and fun and friendship!

WHEN: Friday, October 18th, 2024 at 5:30pm
WHERE: Gordon House, 1690 Senter Rd, San Jose, 95112
COST: $70 per person, additional donations are welcome!

RSVP and buy tickets here.
To donate only, click here.

RSVP HERE

Thanks to Lisa Reigel's hard work, we have our donation page back up and running!

At the very top of our website, sjrotary.org, you will now see the word DONATE located next to MEMBER LOGIN. We currently have the donation module set up for the International Service Committee Feast, Gala Sponsorships, and Neurodivergent Youth Empowerment Fund. We are expecting to make more available soon.

Before the 5,453th Rotary Club of San Jose meeting began, the Leigh Weimers committee greeted Rotarians as they entered the Summit Center; a video loop ran of last week’s meeting; and Jeff Pohle played the piano.

President Heather opened the meeting by welcoming Rotarians and guests.

Red Badger Susan Frazer and Chelsey Souza handled the traveling microphones for guest introductions. We were especially pleased to welcome, with a standing ovation, Marie Barlahan who is back from her leave.

Rotarians Fred Buzo and Leslee Guardino were awarded their blue badges.

Rotarian Sarah Clish invited us all to the best Rotary field trip on October 16^th for the Leigh Weimers Emerging Artists presentation which will take place at the Hammer Theatre. If you want to eat, you must arrive early. And most importantly you must register ahead of time at weimersawards.com.

Rotarian Ryan Sebastian described an upcoming event - Pickleball for Polio in Oakland. The first meeting of the Pickleball committee is September 26 at Quito Pickleball Court from 4 to 6 pm.

Rotarian Megan Toeniskoetter is co-chair of the Military Care Committee. Volunteers are needed to support “Stand Down 2024,” a free 3-day event designed to provide services and support to veterans and their families. The event runs October 2, 3 and 4 at the Santa Clara Fairground. On October 3 from 12 to 4, our committee will be volunteering. See Megan for further details.

Past President Jay Ross recognized the Next Big Project committee for the fine job they did on bringing to life the Rotary Mobile Medical Clinic. The Grand Opening of the van will be at Our Lady of Guadalupe church on October 17, 11:30 – 1 p.m. Jay also provided Chocolate Chip cookies to be on hand at the conclusion of the meeting.

President Heather reminded us that the International Feast date has been changed to October 18 at 5:30 pm at the Gordon House. You can register for this outstanding event on the website; attendance is free.
           
Rotarian Gay Crawford introduced our guest speaker Lissa Kreisler speaking on “Decades of Sunny Mornings.”   Ms. Kreisler hosted morning radio KLOK for 10 years and KBAY 30 years. In 2015, Ms. Kreisler was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame.

Ms. Kreisler said that she was sure she had the best job ever even though she had to rise at 2 a.m. for 39 years. She claims she was paid to gossip and have fun. Ms. Kreisler is southbay born. She started at KLOK upon graduation from San Jose State University and credited her success to that school’s journalism department. Ms. Kreisler shared many amusing I-love-Lucy-type stories including (1) the time she was sent to cover Ronal Reagan and didn’t realize her recorder hadn’t worked until she returned to the studio; (2) the time Bill Clinton’s Secret Service detail let her through security even though she couldn’t pop the hood of her car; and (3) the time she told her radio audience that her daughter broke up with her boyfriend over the phone, not knowing that the radio show played on school buses throughout the district.

During the question-and-answer period, Ms. Kreisler received many accolades from Rotarians for her years of service to this community.

President Heather thanked our speaker Lissa Kreisler for today’s program and made a contribution to Trash Punx.

President Heather announced that our speaker next week will be astronomer Dr. Andrew Fraknoi. And she concluded by giving a hardy thanks to all those who serve on committees.

The meeting was promptly adjourned at 1:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, Karyn Sinunu-Towery, Rotary Meeting Summaries committee.
To see all pictures, click here, thanks to Hal Hendrickson, Photography Committee.
Video is available here, thanks to John Duhring, A/V Committee.

Anthony ‘Tony’ Mata is a Chicago native and has resided in San Jose for the last 28 years. He served as a police officer, detective, and command officer for the City of San Jose including becoming police chief in 2021 and is currently the Chief Investigator for the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.

During his time working in public service, he has developed strong relationships with businesses, the community as well as national and world law enforcement agencies and leaders. It is through these relationships that he will continue to keep our City well informed.

Tony’s passion is to empower our youth because they are our future and especially our inner-city youth because he shares their lived experiences. As an Enlace Mentor at Evergreen Valley College for the last two decades and as a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago and San Jose State University, he is an ambassador for higher education.

He continues to support our San Jose community by participating on community advisory boards and attending various community events. He will support San Jose Rotary’s mission by leveraging Rotary events with our entire community.

His recent position has allowed him to spend more time with his amazing wife and children by traveling and supporting his children’s college and high school journeys.
 

Standing in a beautiful pecan orchard, Yuhui (Hui) Guo was deeply moved by nature's gifts—sunshine, water, flowers and fruits. This experience strengthened her commitment to agriculture and sustainable development. Originally from Beijing, Hui came to the U.S. in 2009 to study at San Francisco State University, where she served as president of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association. She later earned her MBA from Santa Clara University.

Hui's community service experience includes her role as Project Manager at the China National Children's Center in Beijing from 2020 to 2022, where she led international exchange programs fostering cooperation and friendship among youth from diverse cultures. She also spearheaded biodiversity and climate change projects during COP 15 and COP 26. In response to the 2022 Pakistan floods, Hui organized a successful fundraising event with the support of UNHCR and environmental organizations, raising over 137,000USD (1 million RMB) in relief supplies to support disaster-affected communities and strengthen climate resilience.

As a former member of the SF Evening Rotary Club, Hui is excited to continue contributing to community service and sustainable initiatives.