Join us at the next meeting as we welcome Mayor Matt Mahan. With a background in public service, Mayor Mahan has been a dynamic force in addressing the city's challenges and opportunities. In his upcoming State of the City address, he will share insights on San Jose’s progress, ongoing initiatives, and his vision for the future.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear directly from the Mayor about the exciting developments shaping our community.

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

Starters: Boston Clam Chowder, Louie Salad
Entrees: Beef Broccoli, Classic Chicken Picatta, or Pesto Rigatoni (VGT)
Sides: Sauteed Seasonal Vegetables (VGT, GF), Roasted Yukon Potatoes (VGT, GF)

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

Please order by Monday, September 16th 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.

The monthly Downtown Happy Hours will be moving to every 3rd Thursday of the month at varying locations.

Please join us for the next Downtown Happy Hour at Rollati Ristorante on Thursday, September 19 at 4pm!

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, especially 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! Register HERE!

*Box lunches will be available to pre-order soon

RSVP HERE

Our 2024-25 Community Grants application window is now open and closes Monday, September 30.

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.
 

Rotarians and their guests were greeted in the lobby by the Next Big Project Committee before getting in line for another outstanding lunch catered by Scott’s Seafood. President Heather Lerner rang the bell to open the 5,451st meeting.

Red Badgers Ryan Sebastian and Chelsey Souza handled the traveling mics. We introduced guests, who included James Leventhal, director of the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art; visiting students from the San Jose State International House; and a few attorneys from Hopkins Carley, introduced by Jay Ross, including Managing Shareholder Jennifer Johnson and Dori Yob Kilmer, executive director of talent and practice strategy.

We moved on to a session or Ring the Bell, raising money for our foundation endowment, and Jay Ross really blew everyone away with his celebration of two milestones: His 34th anniversary of employment at Hopkins Carley on Oct. 1, and the firm’s combining with Lathrop GPM on the same day. Jay rang the bell 35 times, followed by colleague Steve Ellenberg who added 15 more to make it an even 50, and then Matt Bell added a ring in honor of Jay.

Sal Pizarro shared the upcoming happenings in downtown San Jose this month, including the San Jose Museum of Art opening two exhibitions tied to artist Alexander Calder this Friday, Opera San Jose performing at the California Theatre during the South First Fridays art walk this week, the 10th anniversary of the SoFA Market food hall; the return of the Viva CalleSJ open streets event on Sept. 8; the next block party at Little Italy on Sept. 19, the last two concerts of the year for Music in the Park on Sept. 20 and 22 and the San Jose Poetry Festival, which started Thursday and continues all weekend.

Arthur Weissbrodt was next, sharing what the Book Club committee has been up to. It’s currently reading Timothy Egan’s “A Fever in the Heartland,” and other books on their recommended list include: “Citizens of London” by Lynne Olson; “The Boys in the Boat” by Daniel James Brown; “Criaturas Luminosas” by Shelby Van Pelt; “Last Days of Night” by Graham Moore; and “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

President Heather made a few announcements during her President’s Time: there’s a Pickleball for Polio tournament at the Oakland Hills Tennis Club on Sept. 28; our new Rotary Mobile Health Clinic – the product of our Next Big Project committee’s hard work – will roll into the Fall Barbecue next Wednesday; and then she tried to sell a pair of San Francisco Giants tickets for $100, but there were no takers.

Robert Massey came up to the stage to introduce our guest, pianist Jon Nakamatsu. The two had an engrossing conversation about Nakamatsu’s career, including his “secret origin” as a young pianist living in West San Jose. 

Here are a few things from the conversation that you might not have known:
– Nakamatsu grew up in a family of musicians and graduated from Prospect High School. 
– He did not attend music school but instead majored in literature and linguistics at Stanford.
– He was teaching German at St. Francis High School in Mountain View when he won the Van Cliburn award in 1997 and because of his immediate touring could not return to clean out his classroom until August.
– Nakamatsu and Robert Massey met during this time as he was working for the Performing Arts Center in Memphis when they booked Nakamatsu. Nakamatsu remembered him in part because Massey suggested Nakamatsu visit Graceland on his day off.
– Nakamatsu’s best advice to young people is “Just be brave enough to walk in the door you think is not for you.”
– He’s looking forward to playing with Symphony San Jose on Oct. 5-6, when he’ll not only perform Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” but will also play a piano concerto by Aaron Copland he has not played before.

After fielding a few questions from the audience, Nakamatsu sat down at the piano that had been behind him during the whole conversation and finished the meeting by playing a piece for us. 

After presenting Nakamatsu with his bag of Chandler walnuts, President Heather closed the meeting by reminding us that there’s no meeting next week because of the barbecue, but Mayor Matt Mahan will join us September 18 with his State of the City address. 

Summary submitted by Sal Pizarro, Rotary Summaries Committee
To see all pictures, click here, thanks to Kathleen Thomas, Photography Committee.
Video is available here, thanks to John Duhring, A/V Committee.

Susan Frazer is the President and CEO of Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley (JFS), a position she has held since 2023. With over 35 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, including significant work in the field of aging, Susan is dedicated to enhancing the lives of individuals and families in Silicon Valley. At JFS, she focuses on fostering innovation, inclusivity, and real change to support the diverse needs of the community.  Susan is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and holds a Master’s degree in Social Welfare from the University of California at Berkeley.
 

Ardi Arian is the Founder and CEO of Renewable America, a company dedicated to delivering renewable energy solutions for communities. Over the past 20 years, Ardi has been instrumental in launching several start-ups, with a strong focus on developing commercial solar systems on the ground as well as roof. After earning a degree in electrical engineering in Germany, Ardi founded his first company, Germany Energy, in 2005. Ardi has successfully completed throughout his career over 60 turnkey solar projects for private equity funds, now operating across Europe and the United States.

In 2017, Ardi relocated to San Jose and envisioned a more vertically integrated business that could oversee every stage of a solar project’s lifecycle. This vision led to the founding of Renewable America in 2019, in partnership with a Japanese business partner. The company acts as a one-stop shop, handling everything from project development, engineering, and financing to full-scale construction and operation of solar+storage community projects. By placing these projects closer to suburban areas, Renewable America improves energy resiliency, providing localized, sustainable energy solutions. These projects are unique in that they enhance a company's energy resiliency by being located near suburban areas, rather than in remote locations thousands of miles away.

Outside of his professional life, Ardi is an avid sports enthusiast. He enjoys beach volleyball, wakeboarding, tennis, golf, kitesurfing, speedboating, and swimming, among other outdoor activities. His passion for the outdoors extends to spending quality time with family and friends.