Rotary Club of Villa Park Newsletter for January 13, 2011

The January 13, 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

Villa Park Rotary Newsletter 

Double the Pleasure

Today we had the pleasure of meeting twice in one day, once at our regular AM session and then later at our ChristmasHanukkahNewYear Party  at the Orange County Mining Company.  Our morning meeting began with an invocation by Paul Hudson.  Jeannie Hankins then led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.  The Rotary Four Way Test was led by Bryan Nash and we concluded our opening exercises with the singing of our national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner.

Guests:

Moose Steubing

Larry Dick

Gerard Edery

Judge Frederick Aguirre- today's guest speaker

Birthdays/Anniversaries:

Clarinel Stamos- celebrated her birthday yesterday and will be at tonight's Orange County

Mining Company dinner.  Be sure to wish her a happy birthday!!

Ed & Amy Howard celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary. Congratulations!!

Announcements:

Lisa Stepanski - attended this week's President's Meeting at the Double Tree Hotel

             She reported  on the following:

          *RYLA monies from each club are due by Feb 1st

          *Villa Park Rotary was mentioned as a Platinum Sponsor of the upcoming

             Governor's Million Dollar Dinner

           *There will be some new pilot programs for more flexible membership requirements

               beginning on April 1st.

            * District Grant monies are available for worthwhile club projects

            * Paul Harris 100% Clubs in District 5320 were noted.

Craig Beinlich reminded us not to miss tonight's dinner at the OC Mining Company

               which will run from 6-9 PM.

Paul Hudson- noted that another work party will be called to help rebuild the irrigation system

             at the Tree Farm in the next several weeks.  Recent rains have given us some time

             before the irrigation becomes a big issue.

            Paul also was asked to comment on his recent trip to Egypt. He was most impressed

             by the gigantic scale of the Pyramid at Cheops and the warm friendly nature of the

             local people.

Bill Baker updated us on Jane McDonald.  Jane recently broke her ankle and sprained the other

             unbroken ankle.  She was at last night's dinner with husband Bill and was in great spirits.

             She hopes to get her cast off soon.

Jill Kuli- noted we will be sending 3 students to Camp RYLA this year.  This year's camp

             will be in May and may overlap with AP Testing dates. 

Wayne Silzel- helped box up DVDs and snacks for the troop with Bob Meyer and Marianne

             Koepnick.  They made up about 125 boxes.  Wayne reported that Bob Meyer has

            sent upwards of 30,000 boxes to our troops over the years. Great job Bob!!

Nagy Ibrahim- suggested we attend the public meeting of the Villa Park Water District

            on March 9th to protest the high cost of our water.  The meeting will be held in the

             the Villa Park City Hall Council Chambers.  Nagy reported that water from the

              district is sold to Orange Residents at a lower cost than we are currently paying.

Brad Reeseshowed us an artists rendering of the proposed fascade of the Villa Park City Hall.

              The current fascade is being held up by braces due to its deteriorating condition.

Drawing:  $202 - Bryan Nash drew a 2

Secret Greeter-Lesslie Giacobbi who also was doing her maiden voyage running our

drawing.

Happy Bucks:

Lesslie Giacobbi- complimented Gerard Ebery for the great meal she had at his Shiki Restaurant on New Year's Eve.  Shiki is a great local eatery with Sushi and Japanese Food. Give it a try.

Eric Sense commented on Will Warren's photo that appeared in the Orange City News this week.

Bob Meyer's book describing his exploits as a WWII Glider Pilot is due out on May 17th.

          Which is also his birthday.

Wayne Silzel is taking his grandson duck hunting. Wayne described how his duck hunting club

       hatches and raises 2500 ducks per year and only "harvests' 500.  They are great stewards of

        the club's wetlands. Wayne is also taking his son along and it sounds like a nice family outing.

Ed Howard was happy to announce his 15th wedding anniversary and how once kids graduate it is

         sad to lose the good families that actively participate and support school functions.

         Thank you Ed for complimenting the Applebaum Family.

Speaker:

Judge Frederick Aguirre

Judge Aguirre is a judge in the Orange County Superior Court System since 2002.

He attended college at USC and went on to attend Law School at UCLA.

He is also an avid historian, who along with his wife has written 3 books and 1 CD chronicling

over 1200 hispanic soldiers who have served in WWII, Korea and the Vietnam Wars.

This was a fascinating presentation detailing Spanish involvement in America's Revolutionary

War  when King Carlos of Spain loaned our Continental Congress $300,000 between 1776 and 1779.

Spain went on to declare war on Britain in 1779  and encouraged its vassals to participate in the hostilities against the British.  In 1781 Spain again contributed over $1,000,000 to the American Patriots to help in the war effort. Another prominent hispanic in the Revolutionary War was

General Bernardo de Galves  who secured the Mississippi River to prevent the British from

attacking the rear of the American Forces. 

Another prominant hispanic was Admiral David Farrugut who was named America's first Admiral by Abraham LIncoln in 1862.  It was Farrugut who said, " Damn the Torpedos! Full Speed Ahead!"

during the 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay.  Farrugut started his naval career at age 9 and spent

60 years in our Navy. 

During the Spanish American War it was Captain Maxilliano Luna who helped Teddy Roosevelt

establish the "Rough Riders" and participated in the Battle of San Juan Hill.

Judge Aquirre went on to talk about the thousands of soldiers and sailors who participated in WWII, Korean  and Vietnam Wars.  In fact over 450,000 hispanic men participated in WWII and all were sent to overseas fighting areas.

The Judges father served in the Army Air Corp and his mother was working in the airplane factories as a "Rosie the Riveter".

Holiday Party

This year's ChristmasHanukkahNewYear's Party was held at the Orange County MIning Company.

The event was well attended by Rotarians, spouses and some guests. Dinner was a choice between a chicken dish and steak.  Our event was hosted by Club Service Chair Craig Beinlich.

President Greg Mills welcomed everyone and then one of our newest members Will Warren gave

our invocation reminding us to be thankful for the our opportunities and to be mindful of those in need. Greg Mills led the Pledge of Allegiance.  Bryan Nash led the Rotary Four Way Test. We then sang Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer and retired to enjoy our meals and fellowship.  It was a wonderful opportunity to get together with fellow rotarians and their spouses, significant others and some family members.  It was great to see Jane McDonald who is recovering from her recent injuries as well as many of the spouses.  Thank you all for attending.

Next Meeting: January 20th- Speaker Polly Bowen- Emergency Preparedness.