It’s December my favorite Month – I love Fall, I love all things Christmas and this month is always a great family month. December is the month that I truly stop and make time to visit with the friends and family that are important to me.

November was a bit of a resting month for me. The first meeting of the month we had Alex Schubek our first City Manager of Emergency Services. Alex is from Germany and was very interesting. He gave us the 3 steps of getting prepared for a disaster. I’m so proud that our City has given so much thought to keeping us safe. Also in this meeting Tim Gavin shared information after participating with others at Stanford University at an event put on by the Institute for Economics & Peace. Building Sustainable Peace: The eight Positive Peace factors that the Global Peace Index (GPI) identifies correlate strongly to other measures of progress, including the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This makes the GPI useful to NGO’s like Rotary in assessing the impact of their development projects. The graphic slide shows how Rotary’s principles and its six areas of focus connect to the optimal conditions for s sustainable peace. Thanks to Jeff S for the write up on Face Book; we look forward to hearing more about this in the future Tim.

My next meeting was an Area 3 meeting. Jim Bell our assistant District Governor returned this year with an ever changing yet emotional and fascinating historical Veterans Day program. My favorite part, although all interesting was the video about the Star Spangled Banner. Jim was right I will never sing that song the same way again. To know the way our flag was being held up is an amazing piece of history. Thank you so much Jim for another program very well done.

The third meeting of the month was Brian’s meeting to chair. We had our Reverse Raffle Draft. This year Brian is changing things up and he did an Elimination Draft. He literally pulled names out of a hat and assigned people to teams with the help of Tammi Souza. Every 10^th name won a Bundtlet; thank you Chiral from Nothing Bundt Cakes for the fun prizes. The last name called Geeta Kadambi got to pick between Bourbon or a charger. She picked the Bourbon and Margaret Thornberry went away with the Niles Charger. It was a fun meeting and I am very excited about my team – but we need a name!!! The next Thursday we were dark so I was literally out of the pulpit for 3 weeks in a row, nice little rest but still lots of time with the club.

We ended our November with Jan and Pricilla Schultz from Das Brew. He gave a great talk about our local Das Brew, family owned and growing. He talked about the making of beer and the best part was that Das Brew is coming to Niles. I am looking forward to frequenting their little spot. A highlight of the week for me was I became a Great Grandma of a beautiful baby girl — Isabella Rosalina. Both my granddaughter and her baby did great and are both very happy and healthy. Sorry folks – can’t let that beautiful moment go unmentioned. Sancho and Gina first time grandparents are over the moon in love with this little one.   Another highlight of the day was Padmaja did her very interesting icebreaker; this girl is on a roll to get her Blue Badge in record time.

Community Service this month began the first Saturday of the month with tearing down of the Ghost House, IN THE RAIN. I was not present but if you check out the photos you will see that Ms. Margo Hood looked like she was having a lot of fun. She was joined by Paul Andrus, Jeff Schinkel, Sandi Pantages, Wendy Mills, Steven Springer, Kathy Laidlaw and Paul Iannacconi just to name a few. Rain or shine we get it done and have fun! We ended the month at the Free Dinning Room for Feed the Hungry – Meat Loaf was back on the menu and appreciated by all of our guest diners. Our Feed the Hungry group is growing as we had Chiral, Larry, Sophia and Rav join us for the first time. Thank you to The Jones, Rosemary, Rakesh, Merna, Margo, Chuck, Sandi P, Mary Lynn, Steve Cho, Don, Jeff S., John D. and my guy Randy for all of the support and help. It was a great evening and a great way to end the month.

November was also a very social month with our 2^nd Social Change event at Fremont Flowers. Sophia and Aziz hit this one out of the park with a Chef demonstration of three appetizers and two drinks. The food was amazing and the drinks were incredibly good. The company was the best as we laughed, ate, and drank together in a getting to know you kinda way. We also went bowling. Steve Cho along with Angus put together a bowling event at Cloverleaf Bowl. A big group of Niles Rotarians and family arrived to get their Bowl on. There was very tough competition as usual. Jeff Falk came out the BIG winner with highest score men with a 177 and Audrey Kearns came out the winner for the ladies with a 154. Audrey was also awarded the most memorable moment award for throwing her bowling ball the opposite way of the pins. Pizza, Beer and Soda were on the lunch menu. Be looking for this event next year, I think it may become a Steve Cho Annual event.

Chuck Canada and Geeta Kadambi put together our 2^nd quarter mentoring check-in held at the beautiful home of Geeta. Thank you Geeta for hosting this event once again. We had a great turn out of new Rotarians, membership committee members, mentors and sponsors. Chuck and PE Brian shared great information and of course it was all done as we grazed on light appetizers and wine, thank you PP Lisa. PP

Paul Iannacconi has been hard at it in the Paul Harris Department. This month Gary Basrai gave his daughter her Paul Harris and PP Lisa Lorenz awarded Madhu a Paul Harris to her son. This month the following Rotarians were awarded with their Paul Harris + pins. Tami got her PH + 1, Margo PH +2, Tim Gavin PH + 5. A special honor for Margo and me was when we visited Steve Barnett and awarded him with his PH + 3 pin. It was a great visit and Steve is looking great.

Last but certainly not least – this month Daren announced that our Chili Pepper Challenge has broken all goals by netting over $65,000. Great Job Area 3 Rotarians and it really was fun! At our final meeting of the month Daren also announced that for the second year in a row Dryco, the premier paving company in Fremont, won the Bocce tournament netting $7500.00. Dryco will be donating the money to Niles Rotary who will turn around and donate it to the District 5130 Fire Victim Relief Fund. Thank you for your generosity Daren – We all truly win!

Until next month have a great December, stop and take time for the ones that are special to you. Enjoy all the holiday traditions of the season.

Last month ended with a Roll and Stroll in Niles Canyon, and an encounter with Mill’s Mini Museum of amazing collections reflecting Niles History set in the Old Niles Firehouse. It was a PRICELESS Day! We began our day with coffee, donuts, and bicycles. Off we went into Niles Canyon with the goal of biking to Sunol and back (or, as in my case, as far as you could and back) – a 14 mile ride. The Rollers, just to name a few, were Sandi & Dick Pantages, Randy & I, Angus Cochran, Tim Gavin, Mary & Ray Pedersen, and Sandi & Don Cole. The Strollers included Amy & Steve Cho, Gary Raver, Scott Chambers, and Mary Lynn Pelican.

It was a beautiful morning and ride or walk. Lots of families and friendly folks taking advantage of a rare opportunity to really take your time and bask in the beauty of Mother Nature and our Niles Canyon, a very special place. Upon beginning our ride we ran into a few Niles Rotarians that volunteered as greeters and directors of the crowd – thank you to Steve Springer, Maggie Guilbeaux-Chambers, Sherry Higgs, Rich Godfrey, and Paul Andrus. You all looked like you were having as much fun as the Rollers and Strollers. Following the ride all that could joined together at the Old Niles Fire House currently owned and refurbished by Wendy and Gary Mills. They have done an amazing job of collecting, displaying, and sharing the past.   It was a rare treat as we dined on a delicious lunch prepared by Gael Stewart. GREAT SOCIAL, PAST PRESIDENT ANGUS!

Our first meeting of the month was a very special meeting as we inducted our third Rotarian of our year into the club: Chiral Desai. Chiral was joined by her parents and her husband. Her Mentor Geeta was on hand to stand in for her sponsor Tony Boudames. Welcome Chiral; we are so glad you have joined us and look forward to getting to know you and your family better. Chiral then jumped right behind the podium to follow in her mentor’s footsteps and do her Ice Breaker seconds after induction.   Steve Landon was asked to give a big Thank You to all the club members that stepped up and gave of their time and hospitality to host, welcome, and include the Alaskans in our exchange raffle item. Mike & Sunny Morrison from Alaska arrived on Tuesday Sept 26, 2017 to be welcomed into the home of Harry Avila. During the time they were here they were wined and dined by Niles Rotarians. They began their visit with a hosted dinner at Papillon with Tony Boudames and his lovely wife Heather. They came to the club on the 28^th and then were whisked off to beautiful Monterey with Harry Avilla for golfing and shopping, ultimately joined by PP Steve & Terri Landon for a day. They returned to hospitality of the Joan & John Kimber’s home, wine tasting with Bruce Prescott, Fellowship evening at Steven Lloyd’s, lunch with PRIP Richard King and Paella Dinner, prepared by the Landons, at Chuck Canada’s, to cap off their visit. They flew home on the 3^rd of Oct. This effort takes a team. Thank you to all that extended your kindness and friendship at all group events. I think they really understood when leaving why Niles Rotarians are Family by Choice. Our speaker was Robert Garfinkle, he discussed all things MOON! He gave a very interesting presentation on the moon and our evolution of understanding.

Avenues of Service – Our club showed up BIG time as 17 Niles Rotarians attended and we hosted two Rotaractors to the Dinner. It was a great evening of Rotary Fun, great information, good dinner, and a great Keynote speaker, RI Director John Mathews 2017-2019 Zones 25 & 26, “Leaders keep learning”.

The second meeting of the month started out with a big hug, hand shake, and smiling hello as I named the Rotarian of the Month for September: our beloved Greeter, A’s fan extraordinaire, Jeff Falk. Congratulations Jeff you are a real asset and blessing to our Club. Thank you for all you do!   Paul Iannacconi presented Larry Bowen and Kathy Laidlaw with their framed Paul Harris Awards. The spotlight moved to Mary Lynn as she received her pin, necklace, and crystal award for becoming a Major Donor to The Rotary Foundation. Our speakers for the day were Eva-Marie Tisdale and Herbert Chiu talking about 300 years of time travel from Bach to Pop. They gave a background to the upcoming November 18 concert TOCCATA featuring Falk & Sons – this concert is a fundraiser for the Fremont Symphony. Towards the end of the speakers’ presentation, I glanced across the room to see both Manuel and Daren on fire with RED faces after tasting one of the hottttteeeessssstttt Chili peppers on the planet presented to them by Paul Andrus. At the beginning of the meeting it was agreed that this pepper was too hot for consumption. However, Boys will be Boys! Somehow about 1:15, common sense evaded them and they could not resist. Let’s just say it was a VERY HOT ending to a FUN meeting. See FACEBOOK for the video!

October 19^th Diwali! Our club came together in an amazing way this day as we celebrated Diwali with our Rotary Family for the first time – The Festival of Light. Geeta, Padma, Chiral, Savita, Rav, and Manohar put together a beautiful program of celebration, information, dance, food and sweets. The room was decorated with LED candles, beautiful scarves, and gems, and most were in festive brightly colored traditional clothing. Walking into the room made one smile. We opened our meeting with our own Sophia Ahmad doing her Ice Breaker and exchanging her Red Badge for BLUE – her parents were in proud attendance. Geeta then took the stage and got the party started. All told of their Diwali Traditions, and Padma did a beautiful dance. Check our Facebook page for pictures. Because I was worried about time, I began the program early without fining or Happy Cup. Because I had some extra time at the end, I announced the Happy Cup and had the Happiest Cup donations ever. Everyone was happy-happy-happy! Thank you Niles Rotarians Family members for a wonderful meeting and one that I will never forget.

That evening Niles Rotarians gathered at La Pinata for our first Social Change meeting lead by Sophia Ahmad and Aziz Akbari. We invited Rotarians, Rotaractors and young professionals under 40 to an evening of Margaritas, great food, Ice Breaker games, and just a time of getting to know each other. Aziz and Sophia gave the group some basic information about Rotary and why they became Rotarians. It was a great evening; about 30 attended. OH and not to be forgotten, yes, we took time for the HOT HOT Chili Pepper Challenge. The waiter thought Jeff and Colin were crazy. I know the younger participants had a wonderful time; we can expect that they will bring their friends in November. Congratulations on an evening well done to Team Leaders Sophia and Aziz with the team of Maggie Guilbeaux-Chambers, Don Cole, Tammi Souza, Chuck Canada, Lisa Lorenz, Mary Lynn Pelican, and Jeff Schinkel.

Our last official social of the month was the annual bocce party at the Prescott Casa. It was a beautiful day of socializing, vineyards, and bocce. Thank you Bruce for hosting this fun event every year. Thank you to the Social Chair, Angus, for organizing along with Steve Landon, Chuck Canada, Dana Jones, Lisa Lorenz, and Tammi Souza for putting all the details together for a wonderful afternoon. Someone had the influence to get our own Bubba back on the grill. We miss you Bubba. It is always great to see you and EAT your BBQ. THE Bocce Winners ARE — Rose and Randy, Orlando, and Steven Lloyd.

Our last meeting of October (can you believe it?) began especially great as we inducted our 4^th Rotarian of the year Larry Day, sponsored by Nader Ayad. Larry will be mentored by Steve Landon. Larry introduced the club to his wife Kathy and gave a little overview about kids, travel, and sports. Welcome to the Club, Larry and Kathy.

Paul Iannaccone was present once again to honor Rosemary Ashley’s daughter Christine as a Paul Harris Fellow. Rosemary’s daughter flew down from Seattle for the presentation. This is the last child of Rosemary’s to receive their Paul Harris Fellow; she will begin to work on her grandkids next.

TODAY was the DAY Rav and Maggie finally get to say they have exchanged their Red badges for Blue. Congratulations. The HOT HOT Chili Pepper challenge is about at an end. Today the twist was from Padma who brought HOT Indian prepared chilis and challenged everyone to come forward for $10.00. We had a line!! Niles Rotarians are the BEST and step up for any challenge.   John Dutra introduced our Speaker Suzanne Wolf from Fremont Parks and Rec. She gave an interesting presentation about our City – current happenings and plans for the future. Parks are very important to the City and I was very proud as she outlined Niles Rotary’s involvement in assisting the City in maintaining our parks and supporting wonderful programs.