Villa Park CA Rotary Newsletter April April 8, 2011

The April 7, 2011 Newsletter has been published to the Villa Park Rotary website. A copy has been included below.

You may also read it on-line by visiting
http://www.RotaryClubofVillaPark.org/Newsletter.cfm

Rotary Club of Villa Park California

Will Warren Up Close and Personal

Final Farewell To  Our Good Friend Tecate Rotarian Alex Mora

Opening Ceremonies:

Invocation: Brad Reese

Pledge: Teri Brooks

Rotary Four Way Test: Bryan "Eddie" Nash

Song:  America The Beautiful

Guests:

Ed Carter- awaiting new member induction

Announcements:

Pam Dunn-  Yorba Linda Sunrise Lobsterfest is on May 13th- we have 10 members who

      are attending and want the catered table.  Cost is $150/person.

Steve Stern reported on the dinner last Thursday evening at Los Cabos Restaurant.  28 members

       and guests attended at had a wonderful meal.  The next dining out will be on Monday June 6th

       at a Greek restaurant in Huntington Beach.  This restaurant comes highly recommended by

        Milt Stamos and he should know good Greek food.

Jane McDonald talked about plans for the upcoming October Fund Raiser.  A sign-up sheet

       was passed around asking for commitments to help with various aspects of the event.

Mark Schmidt announced that there will be an appreciation luncheon for those members who

       deliver food for the Meals on Wheels Program.

       Date: Wednesday April 13th   Time: 2 PM  Place: Park Plaza Senior Living 620 S. Glassell

       RSVP:  714-538-9633    Music By Tropic Star

Greg Mills talked about the update awards ceremony that will honor teachers, community members

       and local businesses.

Greg Mills also talked about the upcoming Villa Park Community Picnic which will be held at Irvine

        Lake on May 22nd- volunteers are needed to help with the event.  Greg plans on getting lots of

         local kids and their parents out to the event.  He also plans on having a mini-clam fest to

         preview the event for local community attendees,  Date: May 22nd.

Jane McDonald was happy to report that we have made contact with a Rotary Club in India

       concerning a matching grant to construct a girl's bathroom in a school.  Tom Grundy

       will follow up with that.

Bob Meyer and other war veterans are meeting students in high schools to discuss their wartime

      experience.  A program will be set up for Villa Park High with the History and English

      Departments.

Pete Moriarty informed us that we should be inducting Ed Carter as a new member next week.

Happy Bucks:

Eddie Nash- reported that the president of the Surf City Rotary had so much success at their

     recent Splash Fundraiser that they are donating an additional $1000 to Camp to Belong.

Jeannie Hankins had dinner at the San Clemente Fisherman's Wharf Restaurant and upon leaving

       realized that she had left her wallet in their restroom.  She was very relieved to learn that

       someone had turned in the wallet and nothing was missing.

Bob Meyer has been invited to attend a D-Day Celebration on June 6th at the site of the landing

       in France.

Ron Accornero was happy that he closed escrow on a home after many years on the market.

Mark Schmidt and wife Jan traveled to Montreal, Quebec, New York City and New Jersey.

        While in New Jersey they attended grand parents day at their grandson's school.

Eric Sense announced that his wife is going on a business trip next week and he will not

       be able to attend Rotary.  The good news is his wife assured him she will return.

Steven Pollack has been busy with fundraisers for the Don't Worry Be Happy Foundation and

       will participate in a "Boob Ride" this Saturday to raise funds for breast cancer research.

Special Farewell:

Last week our good friend and fellow rotarian Alex Mora from the Tecate Club passed away;he had just celebrated his 60th birthday. Alex loved Rotary and devoted much of his time, energy and money providing service to the Tecate community.  It was because of Alex and the Tecate Rotary Club that we built a clinic in Tecate that will serve 5,000 local families that had little or no access to health care. Many of our current and former members visited the site and marveled at the final outcome, a very modern facility with surgical capabilities.  Each time we visited Alex always invited us back to his home where he provided wonderful Mexican food and music, making us all feel right

at home. Members of our club always marveled at the number of projects his small Rotary Club  accomplished. He also identified areas where we could help, be it backpacks for  orphans, or equipment for the clinic, whiteboards for local schools. Alex was a wonderful advocate and ambassador for Tecate.   Many people will join Rotary, but only a few are truely Rotarians, epitomizing the spirit of the organization and putting service before self, Alex Mora was a Rotarian.

Alex opened my eyes to the possibilities and promise of Rotary. He will be truely missed by his family, his community and many Rotary Clubs and Rotarians around Southern California who worked with him on numerous joint projects.

Our club will make a donation to the Tecate Orphanage in Alex's memory.

Secret Greeter: Craig Beinlich caught a few members remiss in their morning greetings.

Drawing:  $550   Steve Kawa picked a 9

Speeker: Will Warren- Craft Talk

Will is one of our newest members and today we got to learn much about his life, career and business philosophy as manager of the New Villa Park Branch of the Union Bank.

Will was born at home in Pembroke, Massachusetts in a home on a lake in 1981.  His family moved to Southern California in 1983, so his dad could follow the boom in construction.  He lived in Dana Point, San Clemente and Irvine.  An admitted Dodger fan living in Angel territory will states that his mom remarried in 1994 and the family(Will, An older sister and younger brother) moved to Cota De Caza. Will began his love of sports at an early age, picking up the sports page of the newspaper at age 9.  He would have loved to be a professional athlete, but started high school at a mere 5'1" and was encouraged by his family to focus on academics since they didn't feel his athletic prospects looked too good.

Will attended UCI in 1999 majoring and getting a degree in History in 2003.  He spent his senior year in Spain learning about the Catalan language and culture. Upon graduation he spent 3 years teaching English in Matsusaka Japan and had the experience of a lifetime climbing Mount Fuji and watching the sun rise. In 2006 he returned to California and was encouraged by his dad, a commercial lending expert at the Union Bank to enrole in their management training program.

Upon completion of the training program he worked in the Garden Grove Branch and went on to become manager of the personal bankers.  In 2009 he became branch manager of the Anaheim Hills Union Bank and in 2010 he was appointed as the manager of the new Villa Park Branch.  He has far exceeded expectations with the bank and has over $23,000,000 in accounts.   He went on to discuss the philosophy and management style at the Union Bank.

Will is engaged to his fiance Parvin a Phd student in Evolutionary Biology at UCI.  They plan to be

married later this year.  Will joined our Rotary Club after making inquiries through our website.

After hearing his craft talk I'm very glad he decided to join our club.

Next Meeting Assignments:  April 14th

Greeter: Pam Dunn

Invocation: Jim Glenn

Pledge of Allegiance: Lesslie Giacobbi

Speaker:  Author Doug Lyle