At its January 14, 2019 meeting, the club board voted to move our Thursday lunch meeting back to the restaurant at The Ranch Golf Club, 4601 Hill Top View Ln, San Jose, CA 95138. We started on Thursday, January 17, 2019 and ordered from the menu rather than pay for a more expensive buffet. Staff were welcoming and the view remains terrific!
Now that the golf course has closed, we hope that the restaurant won't be as noisy as it had been on the occasions when we were moved out of the private room due to a conflict.
We're not going back to the private room because there's a hefty surcharge which, in 2018, cost us $4000+ more than the funds we collected for lunches. An exception will be the Speech Contest on February 7.
2019-20 Rotary International President Mark Daniel Maloney is urging leaders to grow Rotary by creating new Rotary and Rotaract clubs that take advantage of innovative membership models.
In his speech to incoming leaders at the annual training event in San Diego, California, USA, Monday, Maloney said “The first emphasis is to grow Rotary — to grow our service, to grow the impact of our projects, but most importantly, to grow our membership so that we can achieve more."
During the 2016 Council on Legislation, delegates voted to give Rotary clubs more freedom to decide when, where, and how they meet and the types of membership they offer. Clubs that have taken advantage of the new club flexibility options have reported increased membership; greater diversity in age, professions, and experience; and more engaged members.
On January 11, a new safety crosswalk was dedicated on Marten Avenue near Mt. Pleasant High School in East San Jose. Representing the Rotary Club of San Jose East/Evergreen, Ravi Pathak, had photo ops with San Jose Council Member Magdalena Carrasco and Erika Salazar from Assembly member Ash Kalra's office -- being a Rotary presence and reinforcing the continuing support of our club in the community.
From the Mt. Pleasant High School staff in attendance, Ravi heard many positive comments about our Robotic Car project spearheaded by club member Harbinder Sikka.
The team there is working enthusiastically on the project.
Vocational service can be hard to define, but it is easy to describe: It is simply the point where our Rotary lives and our professional lives intersect. When we put our Rotary ideals to work through our work, that is vocational service.