El

Rodeo

Rotary Club of Los Angeles

Est. 1909

www.rotaryla5.org

2010-11

Number 29

April 1

Rotarians Making a Difference

Carole Donahue & LJ Rivera

were honored last Friday for their

enduring the LA Marathon for

SOS Mentor.

Not pictured are Bob Donahue &

Sumi Kawaratani who also ran.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s

office is the largest local prosecutorial

agency in the United States. As District At-

torney, fellow LA5 member Steve Cooley

directs 1,000 prosecutors, 300 investigators

and more than 800 clerical and support

personnel who prosecute 60,000 felonies

and 200,000 misdemeanors annually. He

oversees an annual operating budget of

more than $352 million.

The son of an FBI agent, DA Cooley is a ca-

reer prosecutor. He joined LADA in 1973 as

a law clerk and rose through the ranks.

Nearly three decades later, he was elected

District Attorney in 2000 by a landslide. He

was overwhelmingly re-elected four years

later. In 2008, he became the first Los An-

geles County District Attorney in 70 years

to be re-elected to a third consecutive

term.

The DA’s Courageous Citizen Award was

created to commend those individuals who

have acted with courage and at consider-

able personal risk to help a victim of crime,

assist in the capture of a suspect or testify

in the face of extraordinary pressures.

Their actions separate those who turn away,

from those who make that split-second de-

cision to get involved, to save a life, to

catch a thief. It is for those individuals who

take the latter course that the District At-

torney's Courageous Citizen Award was cre-

ated. President John F. Kennedy said the

courage to take action in the cause of jus-

tice, without regard to personal conse-

quences, was "the basis of all human mo-

rality."

Bring a guest because this is the program

that will touch you emotionally and restore

your faith in fellow citizens. Don’t miss

what might be our best program of the

year!

Courageous Citizens Awards

Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley

We will meet at the City Club this week.

Rotary Disaster Donations

Rotary Japan & Pacific Islands Disaster Recovery Fund

- Checks should be made payable to The Rotary Founda-

tion. Note on your check that the contribution should be

used for the Rotary Japan and Pacific Islands 2011 Disaster

Recovery Fund, #G10005.

ShelterBox - Donations to ShelterBox USA can be made on

their website at www.ShelterBoxUSA.org.

President’s Message

Rotary life beyond LA5 . . .

To get the MAXIMUM VALUE of your Rotary experience there are three key components:

• Weekly meetings;

• Service Projects; and

• District Conferences and Conventions.

There are two very important events coming up in May . . .

DISTRICT 5280 CONFERENCE 2011

May 12 – 15

Hyatt Grand Champion Resort

Indian Wells

� Register on line: http://www.clubrunner.ca/Portal/SitePages/SitePage.aspx?did=5280&pid=58143

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION

May 21 – 25

New Orleans, LA

� Register on line: http://www.rotary.org/en/Members/Events/Convention/Pages/ridefault.aspx?housead

Last Week with Rotary International’s Exchange Students

Rotary Youth Exchange students went on a daysail aboard

the Exy Johnson last Saturday. This vessel is used for youth

sail training by the Los Angeles Maritime Institute (LAMI) in

the Port of Los Angeles. A grant to fund the sail was pro-

vided by the International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians

(IYFR) with additional funds from the Newport Beach Fleet

of IYFR. IYFR is the first (1930’s) and largest (over 3,000)

fellowship in Rotary.

Our high school exchange students learned how to climb

the rigging, unfurl the top sails, hoist the sails, and prop-

erly fire the ship's gun (it is only a canon if it is on

land). We saw pods of dolphins in the Catalina Channel,

sea lions in the harbor, and played with a sea star at the

dock. Boxed lunches were supplied by Ports O’Call Restau-

rant, thanks to LA5er Jayme Wilson.

LA5'er Michele Leal, Coordinator for French Speaking

Countries, Melody St. John, Managing Director, and Paul

St. John, Multi-District Chair of Rotary YES/SCANEX serving

SoCal/Neva, Arizona, Utah, and Hawaii, joined in on the

team building and fun.

The 10 students on the sail were from France, Germany,

Italy, Japan, Slovakia, & Spain and there are 27 inbound

students in Southern California, with an additional 30 stu-

dents in other states. Not to mention the 60 outbound

USA students we have all over the world. That is 120 high

school exchange students Bridging Continents and Building

Communities this year alone in our Multi-District.

LA5 member, Hal Barstow, put this event together. He

serves as the International Relations Representative of the

Los Angeles Maritime Institute. Terrific job, Hal!!

My name is Michaela Pereira and I am a newscaster in Los Angeles at KTLA.

It’s a great career and who would think

that I would cite Rotary International as one of my earliest influences?

I’m from a small town in the interior of British Columbia, Canada by the name of 100 Mile House. It is in Rotary District 5040.

Community service was always a big part of our family. One of the many organizations that my father was in-volved in, was Rotary. Following my senior year in high school, I departed my Canadian home for a one year

stint in Brazil as a Rotary Exchange Student.

That year in Brazil was an extraordi-nary, life changing, eye opening ex-perience for me. I had the opportunity to learn firsthand about the terrific and varied history of the people of Brazil: the music, the food, the art.

I also had a chance to see Canada from another perspective, from outside its borders. What a game changer for a 17 year old!

I am biracial and until my time in South America, was very confused about my race, and about race in general. Twelve months later, I returned a young woman, confident in the color of her skin, the shape of her thighs and

the wave in her hair.

This experience as a foreign exchange student also helped me find a better understanding of my place in the world, and my responsibility to be a good steward to that world.

I’m forever indebted to Rotary for hav-ing opened my eyes up to a world be-yond the borders of my small town.

I hope that many more young people will continue to benefit from the Ex-change Program run by this tremen-dous organization.

The Rotary Club of Los Angeles

Est. June 25, 1909

CLUB LEADERSHIP

President Gerry Turner

President-Elect Megan O’Rourke

V. P./Program Chair Jay Richardson

Secretary Christina Chanpong

Treasurer Don Robinson

Immediate Past President Marc Leeka

DIRECTORS

Alan Bernstein John Green

Christina Hurn Art Kassel

John Langfitt Diane Netzel

Gus Oppermann L J Rivera

Barrie Segall Carol Shafer

Margaret Todd Noble Trenham

Jose Vera Elizabeth Wheeler

Club Fellowship Carol Shafer

Elizabeth Wheeler

Communications Noble Trenham

Funding Art Kassel

L J Rivera

Diane Netzel

Membership

Jon Gibby

Barrie Segall

Christina Hurn

Jose Vera

Service Projects John Langfitt

John Green

Gus Oppermann

New Generations Margaret Todd

Alan Bernstein

Sergeants-at-Arms Anthony Bourg

Anthony Calloway

Robert Donahue

Executive Director Jon S. Gibby

jon@rotaryla5.org

FOUNDATION BOARD

Chairman Al Shonk

Vice Chairman Ben F. Tunnell III

Secretary David L. Bland

Chief Financial Officer Donald R. Robinson

Director Nancy Howard

Director Marc Leeka

Director Ed Matveld

Director Gerry Turner

Rotary Club of Los Angeles Office

900 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 418

Los Angeles, CA 90017

Telephone 213-624-8601

Fax 213-624-2694

Website www.rotaryla5.org

District 5280 www.district5280.org

Governor Doug Baker

http://www.rotary.org/en/members/events/convention/

pages/ridefault.aspx

Membership Reception

April 13 - 5:30 - 7:30 PM

Nick & Stef’s Steakhouse

330 S. Hope Street

Complimentary Hors d’oeuvres - No Host Bar

Invite a Prospective New Member

krosloff@marchofdimes.com

213.637.5035

Wine Tasting Committee

Needs Hosts!

If you’re interested in hosting a wine tasting, please contact:

Michael Hainkel @ mhainkel@lionsgate.com

310-255-3703

OR

Joseph Auday @ Auday@GerberKawasaki.com

310-560-4946 Thank Y

ou!

A Meeting as Big as the World

Last Friday at the California Club

LA5 was honored to host the Rotary International Exchange Students and the Consuls General from

their respective countries. There was an electricity in the air from beginning to end.

Photos

courtesy

of Carole

Donahue

and Art

Kassel.

LA5 Bowling Party Last Saturday

The party was held on March 26, 2011 at the Montebello Lanes. LA 5 hosted 75 special needs

individuals from five Ability First Centers, including Pasadena, Claremont, East Los Angeles,

Crown House and Long Beach.

Along with 25 Ability First volunteers, there was an additional 16 LA 5 members who made the

Party a success. After bowling for two hours, the bowlers were treated to lunch, which included

Pizza, Soft Drinks and Cookies.

The highlight of the event was the presentation of a trophy to each person who bowled. The par-

ticipants were very grateful to LA 5, and all of the volunteers received a round of applause and a

standing ovation.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

LA5 member, Denny Dynes, seen above with the

trophies, has been the driving force behind this bowl-

ing party for each of the 11 years of its existence.

Great Service Above Self, Denny. You are the

epitome of what Rotary is all about!!!