Niles Rotarians showed up in a big way both with financial donations toward the number of wheelchairs being delivered as well as physically to deliver the wheelchairs in person to those we care about in Monterrey, Mexico. Many of our own Niles Rotarians took the trip to personally see the delivery take place. Audrey Kearns, our International Service Chair, led the effort for the Niles Rotarians. Mike Kearns had a big hand in this too – although he can’t claim being a Niles Rotarian…just teasing a bit Mike. Audrey had this to share about her experience:
This experience was a real life changer for me! After all the years donating to international projects and hearing/reading about other Rotarian’s experience with hands on projects, it’s just not the same as actually being there and participating myself. We traveled to a college sports auditorium, where 350 boxes of wheelchairs were waiting for us. We had Rotarians from District 5170, 5160, 5730 including 5 clubs from Monterrey, Mexico as well and a group of foreign exchange students, the Red Cross and local paramedics. We assembled the wheelchairs and gave them to children, teenagers and adults. Families came with the loved ones and the happiness and gratitude of everyone was overwhelming. It was very humbling. This is an experience that everyone should have at least once in their lives and once experienced they will never forget it. (Audrey Kearns)
Thank you Audrey for sharing your thoughts with us. It’s wonderful to see what good work is being done by Niles Rotarians locally and internationally! Great work!!
Access our photo album of the event. (You may want to consider getting some memorabilia from this beautiful trip).
Niles Park Clean-Up a Success! 04.02.16
Thank you Niles Rotarians for showing up and putting two feet on the ground to clean up the Niles Park. It was so clean afterwards, we literally could not find any garbage in the park! What a wonderful job for you wonderful volunteers! It was a beautiful sunshine filled day with smiles and helping hands! Terri, you did a great job again organizing this event – big thank you! To see more of the photos from the day Click Here.District 5170 Assembly – Great Training
The District 5170 Training Assembly was held on Thursday, March 24, 2016
Keynote Speaker was Frederick Marx, an internationally acclaimed, Oscar and Emmy nominated director/writer with 35 years in the film business. He was named a Chicago Tribune Artist of the Year for 1994, a 1995 Guggenheim Fellow, and a recipient of a Robert F. Kennedy Special Achievement Award. His film HOOP DREAMS played in hundreds of theatres nationwide after winning the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and was the first documentary ever chosen to close the New York Film Festival. This event was District 5170’s annual training for all club presidents-elect, presidents-nominee, club officers and committee chairs along with new and experienced Rotarians. We had some great workshops that prepare your club leaders for next year; learned best practices from other clubs; and introduced Red Badgers and newer Rotarians to the world of Rotary. This was a great evening of inspiration, training, fellowship and fun! Event location: India Community Center, 525 Los Coches Road, Milpitas, CA. Event Chair: Angus Cochran.
March 2016 Pinion
In this Issue
- On Track with President Lisa
- Paso Robles Wine Trip
- Remembering Don Amsbaugh
- New Member Kimberly MacFarlane
President Lisa’s March Message
February is the shortest month of the year, even with the extra day that this Leap Year affords us! Good thing we have that extra day, as there are so many wonderful Niles Rotary activities that we need that extra time! We began the month with our first quarterly Mentoring meeting of the year. A big thank you to our gracious host, PP Rakesh Sharma and his beautiful wife Ranjana for opening up their beautiful home. Also, a big thank you to Vocational Chair Adam Moura and Sandy Stabile for organizing this hugely successful event. The Mentoring meeting is not only a excellent tool for connecting our newest Rotarians with their sponsor and a carefully chosen Mentor, but it has grown into an engaging social event for new and seasoned Rotarians alike. If you haven’t been to a Mentoring meeting before, April 5th is the next scheduled. Come check it out!
It was my honor to kick off the month announcing the Rotarian of the Month …none other than Sandi Pantages! I am thankful to Sandi for her little reminders that keep me on track for many of my duties as president. I am especially thankful for her patience because I know that she would love to have my Pinion articles days ahead of the preferred deadline given because writing is not one of my fortes! My submissions always include a note saying “help please!” or “can you word this better?” Sandi certainly makes my articles look great! [editor’s note: Thank You President Lisa for the very kind words!].
Our first meeting of the month was our club speech contest. Youth Service chair, Dirk Lorenz was very anxious in the weeks leading up to the contest, worried that we would not have the expected 6 contestants. Nonetheless….the day ended up with 7 contestants! All of the contestants did a great job and I’m sure the judges had a difficult job choosing the winner, but in the end:
1st Place – Justin Bulanadi – Fremont Christian High School
2nd Place – Rachel Chu – Washington High School
3rd Place – Billy Nordhausen – Robertson High School
As of this writing, we are coming upon the eve of the 21st annual Richard D King Speech contest. Always an impressive event, I am astounded by the grace and composure of our high school students. Had I participated in a speech contest and performed as well as these students, I would have settled into my presidency with equal grace and composure. Best of luck to our contestants at our Area 3 contest March 3rd. The winner of the Area 3 speech contest will go on to the District Conference and compete on May 1st.
I didn’t know we had our own Pat Sajak and Vanna White in the club. Foundation Chair Ray Pedersen with Vanna (Sherry Higgs) spun the Wheel of Paul Harris and landed on John Dutra for a Paul Harris +2. A Paul Harris Fellow award reflects a donation of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation (of Rotary International) over a period of time; the +2 indicates another two Paul Harris donations of $1,000 each. The Rotary Foundation funds the international projects of RI as well as some community service projects through grants coming back from the District.
Having a spouse that is a florist is wonderful, except when it’s the Valentine’s weekend that is also the Niles Rotary Paso Robles 4 day weekend trip. PP Steve and PP Chuck planned a fine weekend of wining and dining, as evidenced by the many FaceBook postings. The highlight of the trip was the elegant Friday night wine pairing dinner at Cass Winery. I will be social chair next year, and Valentine’ day falls on the Tuesday before President’s weekend – so I will definitely get to go!
It was during Valentine’s weekend that we learned of the passing of Don Amsbaugh. Don was a past president serving in 1969-1970.
The family held a wonderful memorial service for Don at Washington Hospital in the auditorium where many of us were able to celebrate Don and his legacy. Don’s son Scott asked if someone from Niles Rotary could speak about Don’s involvement with Rotary. Sandi Pantages was a natural choice, and she beautifully recounted memories of Don and his love for Niles Rotary. With a premonition of what was to come for Niles Rotary in recent years, Don was wine guy, with a significant wine cellar at his house. His demotion was held in the trendy “Bucket of Blood Saloon” where the wine was stored in Erlenmeyer flasks and served through intravenous tubing. I will always remember Don’s great smile and his big warm hugs.
It is bittersweet losing Don, but gaining our newest member – Kimberly MacFarlane. Kimberly is the daughter-in-law of Don’s bride Joy Amsbaugh. Kimberly was sponsored by Scott Chambers and is in the field of sales and marketing; she was joined by her husband Steve and son Kyle at the club meeting for her induction as a new member (and for her ice breaker). Enthusiastic Red Badger Geeta Kadambi may have started a new practice of doing an Ice Breaker right after being inducted into the club, and Kimberly was quick to follow Geeta’s lead!
It was a real treat having Paul Iannaccone as song leader last week. I think many of us have heard Paul’s powerful baritone voice in the crowd and thought that he would probably be great as a song leader! He definitely did not disappoint. Paul had the room going and wanting more after 3 songs!
So the count down is on! President Elect Angus will be going to PETS this weekend where he will meet his class of 2016-2017 Presidents, and the reality of being president will really kick in. He will be able to boast how he is the first President Elect to sell out our annual fundraiser 7 weeks before the actual event! Way to go Angus!!!
I am in awe every week at the energy in the room, the laughter that I hear, and the smiles that I see. I look forward to each and every week meeting the guests that come and have the opportunity to experience the fun and fellowship that is uniquely Niles Rotary. This is the last month of our “All Aboard Challenge”, so I hope that you will get on board and invite a guest!
President Lisa
Don Amsbaugh – In Remembrance…
Long time dedicated Niles Rotarian Don Amsbaugh passed away on February 12, 2016. He was 91 years of age, and had been a member of Niles Rotary since 1961. Don was club president on 1969-70, and he boasted of his fifty years of perfect attendance.
During Don’s presidential year, District 517 came into being, breaking out of District 516. The major fundraiser for the club during Don’s year was the annual pancake breakfast (it showed a profit of $1,370 – considering the cost of living then and now, that is a very tidy profit!). The breakfast profit was donated to the City of Fremont to finance a youth fishing pier at Lake Elizabeth – Niles Rotary has revisited that pier since then to move and refurbish it. (It needs it again in 2016!). Other community projects funded then included the YMCA, Boy’s Club, Boy Scouts, high school scholarships, and a two-year project to fund the flag pole, benches, and landscaping at the then new City Government Building. Lunches cost $3.00, and the population of Fremont reached 100,000.
Don and his late wife Babs were our club historians for many years. They served on the History Committee to write the Second Twenty-Five Years history book, and they collected the annual club history years from each club president as they left office. Much of our club history, as reflected in a year-by-year accounting on our website, comes from Don and Babs’ work. Don also served as our Rotary International Foundation chairman, and presented Paul Harris Fellows to many club members over the years.
As a polio survivor with post-polio syndrome, Don was our local inspiration for Rotary’s End Polio Now campaign. Here is a photo of Don showing we are “this close” to finishing the battle against Polio.
Don was quite involved in the community, having served on the board of Washington Township Hospital, Washington Hospital Foundation, Ohlone College Foundation, and serving in his professional organizations. Don was a key figure in the growth and development of Washington Hospital.
Among Don’s hobbies were planes and wine. He flew a Citabria airplane and a sailplane, and was famous for his aerobatics. Don’s demotion was held in the “Bucket of Blood Saloon,” a trendy establishment where the wine was stored in Erlenmeyer flasks and served through intravenous tubing. He also told great jokes, and was the winner of the first annual Niles Rotary Bad Joke Contest.
Don loved Niles Rotary, and will be missed.
