Events

I will be telling fun and interesting short stories about leasing the first ever office space to Facebook and meeting with Mark Zuckerberg.

Former Rotarian Glen Rojas, David Johnson, and I were all Rotarians who had met Facebook and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg. Glen Rojas was Menlo Park's City Manager during the process of developing the campus of Facebook. Dave Johnson was the Business Development person for the town of Menlo Park.  Glen and David plan to speak to our Rotary Club next year.

Meet at the Arts in Action warehouse to pack kits.

Founded in 2008, LEMO Foundation is a Bay Area-based nonprofit that exists to close the opportunity gap for student athletes. LEMO ensures that all student athletes, regardless of income, can access the supports, resources, and experiences they need to thrive. We serve as a comprehensive all-in-one destination for students to engage in sports, education, and community programming that models and cultivates the mindsets, habits, and relationships for success. Through a supportive campus and enrichment programs, we enable student athletes to play, learn, and grow to their full potential.

https://www.lemofoundation.org/

Pete Wilson will be interviewing Mike Herzen and Wil Patterson.  We can look forward to finding out about their background, as well as (hopefully) enlightening insights and wisdom.

Born into the carnival life of a Borscht Belt Catskills hotel family, Bart has never let the ordinary constrain him. From professional photography to painting, he has always set his creativity free, now entering into the realm of authorship. His first book, A Catskill Carnival: My Borscht Belt Life Lived, Lost and Loved, is a memoir of his early years in a unique setting, coming to terms with and cherishing its life lessons.

https://bartcharlow.com/about.html

Susan Dean is the President of the Rotary Club of San Francisco Chinatown.  She will be presenting about a Global Grant to eliminate cervical cancer in Guatemala.  Amy Boggs thought her global grant proposal was very thorough and would make an interesting presentation to our Rotary Club.

Rock Star Photographer

https://patjohnsonphotography.com/?page_id=2675

https://www.clevescene.com/music/cleveland-native-pat-johnson-talks-about-his-new-book-of-rock-photos-41667599

Tori Muir is the President of the Beekeeper's Guild of San Mateo County. 

The Beekeepers’ Guild of San Mateo County was founded in 1979. Their members range from people wanting to learn about bees before acquiring them, to “newbee” beekeepers with their first hives, to master beekeepers with many years of experience and education. A few of their hive enthusiasts have over 100 hives. Members range from young children to beekeepers in their 80s. Their master beekeepers are very generous with their time and knowledge, answering questions on their email lists, in their monthly meetings, in their beekeeping classes, and by mentoring new beekeepers.

https://sanmateobeeguild.org/about/

https://scotscoop.com/the-silence-of-the-bees-the-changing-world-endangers-pollinators/

This week, we have Rotary Connects at 5:00 p.m. the Russel Center at Menlo
College. Join us for an evening of networking and meet 10 Bay Area non-profits that
make up the CSC (College Success Collaborative). CSC is a group committed to
help underserve communities access and complete a college education. See how our
club's mentoring program is leveraging and contributing to the collective resources of
the College Success Collaborative for the benefit of our Rotary Scholars.

Chuck’s presentation concentrates on the nearly 250-year heritage of ships named Hornet, the WWII actions of the 2 Hornets, the Apollo Program and the features and programs of the museum.

Lisa Petrides is on the San Mateo Community College District Board of Trustees.  Their district includes Skyline College, College of San Mateo and Canada College, and they have recently opened the College of San Mateo Coastside facility in downtown Half Moon Bay.  In November of 2024 she was reelected to the Board.  The attached article provides details on her goals and positions.

https://www.coastsidenews.com/election/candidates-for-college-board-respond-to-our-questions/article_bab3524a-8d08-11ef-9c0a-9751f63a69b3.html

Lisa Petrides, Ph.D., is also the CEO and founder of the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME).

https://www.iskme.org/about-us/

Today we honor 14 organizations who were selected by the Rotary Gifts Committee as most deserving to receive a grant. Between our Foundation and our club, we awarded $41,000 in Community Gift Grants this year. Each group will give a brief talk about what they do in our community and how they plan to use their grant to further their mission.

Remi Sobomehin is the CEO of Ambition Angels.  Ambition Angels empower teens to thrive by transforming smartphones into tools for personal and professional growth for teens.

https://www.ambitionangels.org/2

In 1982, Judy Sleeth founded Art in Action to address the loss of arts education in California schools after Proposition 13. When her child’s kindergarten class lacked an art program, she began creating and teaching her own lessons. Her passion sparked a movement, and through word of mouth, Art in Action grew, bringing the joy of art to classrooms in need.

The mission of Art in Action is to provide an art curriculum that expands their knowledge in art techniques, cultural understanding, and core subject topics, along with providing art supplies and training for educators and volunteers to bring the curriculum to life!

Cybersecurity Risks and Recommendations

Cybercrime has become a huge business and the risk of loss is growing quickly. Here are some of the topics that David Williamson will be expanding on:  Phishing, Smishing, and Email -   Most malware is still loaded because we clicked on it!  Your phone is the ubiquitous device; the loss of which can give a bad actor complete control over essentially everything.   Protecting your home network and the intenet of things.

Susan R Lin is the Head of Wine Expertise for online fine wine retailer Belmont Wine Exchange in the San Francisco Bay Area, serving customers worldwide. Susan has been named Master of Wine (MW) by the Institute of Masters of Wine. The Master of Wine credential is recognized globally for the highest standards of rigor in its holistic examination of all aspects of wine. Lin joins a prestigious group of 418 Masters of Wine around the world and is one of 56 Masters of Wine in the United States.

A lifelong devotee of music, Susan is a classical pianist and holds a Master of Fine Arts in Classical Piano Performance and Musicology. She has performed internationally as a Chinese classical and folk dancer. Susan also works with performing arts organizations to grow their audiences through innovative programming and events, integrating wine whenever possible. Her joy is to create memorable experiences through wine and the performing arts.