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CONNECT

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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 (408) 297-6101.

Join us

Fill up 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.

The Speaker for April 24, 2024: Honorable Pat Lucas

Pat Lucas has recently retired from the California Superior Court for Santa Clara County, where she served for 20 years including a term as presiding (chief) judge.  She presided over complex civil cases, civil and criminal jury trials, a civil pretrial docket, and direct calendars in the criminal and family divisions.  Pat supervised the Court's civil and family divisions, and served in a pro tem assignment on the Sixth District Court of Appeal.  Before she took office in 2003, Pat practiced complex civil litigation for over 20 years, most recently with the Silicon Valley firm of Fenwick & West where she chaired the litigation group.  
 
For many years Pat has taught California judges, and she served as the Dean of the California Judicial College.  She has also taught judges in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.  Pat teaches lawyers through the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), and promotes education among the bench and bar through her participation on the boards of the William A. Ingram Inn of Court and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers.  She has taught at several California law schools and as a Fellow of the Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin.  She currently serves as a neutral, handling mediations and arbitrations at Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (JAMS).
 
Pat is proud to be a graduate of University of California Berkeley School of Law, a third-generation San Franciscan, and a mother and a grandmother.

 

The Culinary & Hospitality Committee is hosting the 6th Annual Blind Wine Tasting
April 30, 5:00 - 7:30 pm
Joseph George Fine Wines - 1559 Meridian Ave, San Jose, CA 95125
Cost - $60, register here - limited to 60 tickets
Please contact Sandra Jewett at 408/410.0298 or sjewett@aol.com if you have any questions.  


Do you like Fireworks? Do you like Parades? Do you like Baseball?  We need you on the Exite-ment Committee!  We are only 2 1/2 months away from our new Fireworks program which we are sponsoring at Excite Ballpark in cooperation with the San Jose Giants on July 3 and 4. In addition, we are organizing a VIP party at Excite Ballpark on July 3 for the game and fireworks show, and for our Club's participation in the annual Rose, White & Blue Parade on July 4.  Yes, we can use your help - so please contact Excite-ment Committee Chair Jeffrey Hare and let him know what you want to help with:  Parade or VIP Party -- or both!  

JeffreyHare@gmail.com
408-391-8321 (Cell)

 

Do you yearn to know more Rotarians? If so, you are not alone.

The link below is intended to collect information that will allow Rotarians to connect with other Rotarians in the same profession or having a common interest.

The District's VS Team will share this information to enable these connections. Therefore, please respond to the questions in this form, which will take only a few minutes.

If you are retired and no longer active in your prior career, you may want to select Other Profession-Career-Job to enter your current role(s). You can also use Additional Interests or Passions.

Access the Survey here.


 

Lisa Reigel has taken over the bookkeeping responsibilities from Teresa McCarthy, whose last day with us will be April 24, though we hope to see her at the June 5 BBQ. Lisa is working half time.

Tori Berninger will be filling in for Marie, who is doing well enough that she visited the Gordon House last week. Marie is looking forward to returning to work later this summer. We are thrilled to have Tori take on tasks such as coordinating the weekly lunches, managing the new member process, and working with President Karen on Wednesday meeting agendas. Tori will be working in the office Mon-Thurs. Many thanks to President-Elect Heather for the referral!

Thank you for your patience during this transition time.


Join President Karen and the Disaster Relief Committee on Sunday, May 19th to pack meals for international famine relief.

Many thanks to Mike Blach for hosting the event at his warehouse - 2244 Blach Place, SJ 95131 (in back).

Sign up here.

Thank you to everyone who joined us on March 23rd! It was such a successful event! If you want to relive the fun, you can click on this link to view photos from the fabulous gala.

Shawna Lucey is the General Director & CEO of Opera San José. Originally from Houston, Texas, she was directing at the Metropolitan Opera when she received her appointment and moved to San José in 2022. Her work has been seen at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Santa Fe Opera, and many others. Her legacy production of Tosca launched San Francisco Opera’s 99th season in 2021 and was followed in 2022 by her centennial celebration legacy production of La Traviata which in 2024 had its debut at LA Opera. She made her directorial debut with Opera San José in 2018 with La Traviata, and she launched that company’s 2023/24 season with a new production of Roméo et Juliette, followed by Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci at Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Since 2022 she has been General Director & CEO of Opera San José, Silicon Valley's premiere opera company. She boasts an international reputation, staging works in Spain, Russia, Germany, Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Bolshoi Theater and Schauspiel Hannover. She is the proud mother of almost 3-year old JJ and her nail art can be seen on her Instagram page.  shawnalucey.com | @29flames 

Christian Pellecchia was raised in Brooklyn N.Y. and worked as a High School Biology teacher from 2001 until 2004. In 2004, Christian moved to the Silicon Valley area to return to graduate school and pursue a different career path. While in graduate school, Christian became a small business owner for two different companies, which lasted for over six years. In 2010, Christian began working for a local General Contractor, and he remained with them until 2023. Currently, Christian is in a Senior Management position with JE Dunn Construction.  
 

President Karen Philbrick opened the 5,433rd meeting of the Rotary Club of San Jose by noting that two weeks earlier, she had used an incorrect number for the meeting. She asked if anyone caught it. (Of course everyone had caught it, but nobody would dare to suggest that our leader used flawed data. Don’t tell her.)

She thanked the Refugee Care Committee chaired by Mark McKenna for manning the greeting line and noted that tables were in the lobby to sign up for Fish Day and/or the Blind Wine Tasting. None of the club’s song leaders were present, so President Karen skipped the traditional song. She knows the rest of us can’t carry a tune. She then fined two members—who will remain nameless—for talking loudly through her opening. This information is included not to embarrass the two former presidents whom everybody knows, but as a warning of possible $100 fines at future meetings.


President Karen introduced a new Rotary employee, Tori Berninger, helping to fill in during Marie Barlahan’s medical leave. Twenty-year employee Teresa McCarthy will retire this month, with Lisa Reigel filling her bookkeeping role. Be sure to come to next week’s meeting to thank Teresa for her years of service.

Red Badgers Steve Preminger and Blake Ward manned the traveling mics for members with guest introductions.

Then President Karen welcomed Daniel Zazueta (in absentia) and Chuck Cantrell as Blue Badgers.  
Brian Adams contributed some mirth day merriment with the 10 Rotary signs of spring.  Matt Bell reported on the Membership Committee’s accomplishments, reporting the group is nearing its goal of 40 new members.

President Karen then introduced a special guest, Estonian Rotarian Peep Aaviksoo, who was visiting San Jose’s club for the third time in several decades. He reported on Rotary’s accomplishments in his small but important country, whose population is less than Santa Clara County’s but whose beauty, its history, and its peril as a neighbor of Russia make it relevant in these times. Not to mention a fascinating place to visit.

President Karen mentioned having a great time in Belize and was even involved in a lifesaving incident while on a boat tour. She gave a shout out to Past President Rod Diridon, Sr. for an Earth Day award and wished Vic Corsiglia an early happy 93rd birthday (4/21).

Program Committee Chair Charlie McCollum introduced fellow committee member Ed Correia, founder of Sagacent Technologies, as the speaker on cybersecurity. He announced that the threats to the security of all information online, including financial, scare the daylights out of him, even though his life’s work is trying to prevent them. He said he didn’t mean to scare everyone else, but at least part of the rapt attention paid to his fascinating and entertaining presentation was due to sheer terror. He said more than 90 percent of online users will be hacked at some point. If you missed the talk, be sure to watch the YouTube video on the Rotary website.

Next week’s speaker will be Rotarian and retired Santa Clara County Judge Pat Lucas on “Judicial Independence and the Rule of Law.”

Meeting summary prepared by Barbara Marshman.
To view a video for the full meeting, click here.
To view all photos taken, click here.

Calendar

Leigh Weimers Emerging Artists Awards Committee Meeting

More info

Ski Committee meeting

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International House Committee Meeting

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District 5170 Conference

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Red Badge Spring Project @ Washington Elementary

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Blind Wine Tasting

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Unhoused Impact Committee Meeting

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Program Committee Meeting

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Rotary PlayGarden Committee Meeting

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Rotacare Committee Meeting

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Book Club

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Los Amigos Washington School Committee Meeting

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Fun and Friendship Committee Meeting

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Refugee Committee Meeting

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Downtown Happy Hour
Topic: Mix and mingle at a no-host happy hour - no need to register

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San Jose Paws Committee Meeting

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International Service Committee Meeting

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Military Care Committee Meeting

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Rise Against Hunger (service opportunity)

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Rotary Family Friendly Event--Rancho Roben Rescues

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Leigh Weimers Emerging Artists Awards Committee Meeting

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DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS

Hon. Pat Lucas
Judicial Independence and the Rule of Law
Apr 24th 2024 12:15 pm
More info

Stephanie Kavanaugh & Matt Roben
Personals
May 1st 2024 12:15 pm
More info

Alex Stettinski, SJ Downtown Association
May 8th 2024 12:15 pm
More info

Heather Lerner
Personal
May 15th 2024 12:15 pm
More info