Kudos to all those who stepped forward to welcome and help our visitors from Bavaria. Leading off were Marian and LEO TSENG, who hosted a lovely Reception at this home. Not only was the view over the whole Valley gorgeous, but the food and libations were also first class. The following day, Monday, PETER MORE stepped in as Tour Director, taking all five of the group to Warner Bros Studio, and the County Museum. Enroute, they stopped at Grauman's Chinese, and drove through Beverly Hills, to see some of the homes. That evening, YOE and Jennifer took Georg, the Team Leader, to dinner at Pacos, where we met Santa Monica host Sam and Cathy Muslim and their guest, Katrin Jockel. Georg allowed as how Mexican beer was pretty good (and of course the margaritas can't be beat).

Tuesday was another full program, with MARK BLOCK and TED IHNEN spending the whole day at the Getty - parking by SUSAN ALLEN, of course. They had an excellent lunch, and came away impressed, certainly. Wednesday, SALLY BRANT and ELLIOTT TURNER briefed Georg on how real estate transactions work in this country, as opposed to Germany, RAY ZICKFELD met Peter to talk about banking, LEE DUNAYER earlier having discussed the same subject. Shirley More escorted Katrin to several retail stores, since that is what Katrin does in Munich. Everyone met at lunch at the Beach Club, hosted by PP TOM LENEHEN - and the spread was magnificent. They had the afternoon free, and the beach - and surf - were perfect. The evening, in a change of pace, Anita and MAX LICHTENBERGER invited Georg to dinner, and the rumor is that not a word of English was spoken! May served his famous bear stew - and its former owner was spread out on the hearth in the living room.

Thursday was UCLA time, hosted by DICK LITTLESTONE, complete with his Australian outback chapeau. DICK showed them the campus, and they then came to our noon meeting - more on that below. YOE showed them around the athletic facilities at Bruindom, and then DICK took them to the Theatre Arts dept and Fowler Museum. So ended the formal phase of their stay with us, since on Friday they all were going to the District Conference in Palm Springs. Georg, as a matter of fact, was picked up at my house at 0620 - that's early!

But back to the above-mentioned meeting, which did occur as scheduled. PP HOMER NEWMAN led the Pledge, and JACK HARRIS along with PP JIM DOWNIE gave what was predicted to be - and was - a rousing rendition of Home On The Range). LEE DUNAYER, apparently not having enough to do as our day-to-day coordinator for the GSE team, then provided a thoughtful invocation. PP DAVE WHITEHEAD had a number of Rotarian guests to introduce, including THREE dentists from Hollywood - Bob Foster, Ron Wong, and Karl Zeiler, plus their President, Paul St. John - they are hosting the group next week, so wanted to check them out, I guess. Don Groth, from Dominguez Carson, was there - he is the District GSE Chair. There were several other guests, TED IHNEN having Special Guest Jerry Arnold, and PP MIKE NEWMAN brought Richard Pelke, another Special Guest, while MAX was accompanied by Anita, Marian was with LEO, and PETER brought Shirley.

JOHN McGINNES was asked to stand, and was recognized for attending his last regular WVRC meeting - they are moving to Santa Barbara next week. He was given a spontaneous standing ovation, as we all wanted JOHN to know how much he has done for the club and how much he will be missed. John joined us 22 years ago, sponsored by PP DOUG DESCH - another good choice, DOUG! Paul St. John, President of Hollywood, was again introduced, and he presented LEO TSENG with a lovely eagle in flight trophy. LEO, who was PP of Hollywood before he moved to WVRC, was the founder of the Hollywood Rotary Foundation, and Paul described him as being" the wind beneath our wings" in getting the project underway - they now have $l00,000 in endowment funds. LEO protested that it was a nice recognition, but he worries that it may cost him a big fine. LEO, don't give it a second thought - Prez BOB would NEVER fine anyone for such a good deed…(and if you believe that, please see YOE about a bridge that he has for sale in New York harbor).

The aforementioned Prez BOB was then interrupted by PP STEVE SCHERER. STEVE read an announcement that DePauw had just completed their Endowment Campaign, raising over $343 million dollars - the largest ever for a comparable institution! However, sad to relate, there was no self-imposed fine on You-Know-Who - rank hath its privileges, and don't you forget it. However, Prez BOB recovered sufficiently to propose a Resolution on Polio, which will be voted on at the District Conference - it passed, unanimously. In a vain attempt to regain some semblance of "being a good guy" Prez BOB then forgave the reading of the 27 standing announcements - this in honor of PP JIM DOWNIE, who has been known to toss his cookies over their inclusion. (That means it makes him throw up).

MAX then came forward to welcome our guests - and I guess he did, since it was all in German! Georg Eschenlohr, Team Leader, then thanked our club for their hosting, and sent his regards to Bentley, YOE's 90 lb Doberman - who, fortunately, enjoyed George as a house guest Georg pointed out that they all felt at home with us - and it was mutual. He urged us all to support GSE, and to let RI know of our support. Georg is the Chief Surveyor of Landsberg, a lovely medieval town about 30 miles out of Munich, and he had some wonderful posters and slides to illustrate his remarks. Prez BOB exchanged banners, and Georg gave him some excellent travel folders on the area - BOB has these, so check with him if you are going to Bavaria.

The four team members then assembled and sang a song, to the tune of California, Here I Come, and it was well done. Probably only MAX and closet-German-speaker DON NELSON could translate the words - but DON couldn't attend, so we should ask MAX what they were singing, I guess. Next was Katrin Jockel, who is a sales trainer living in Munich itself. She pointed out that Munich is the home office for BMW, plus the Octoberfest, and the main square is called Marienplatz . In addition to having a wonderful animated clock in its tower, Marienplatz was the 'ticket exchange' point during the 1972 Olympics - which I'm sure you all needed to know. The department store Katrin works for has 700 employees, and she trains about 10% of them as sales apprentices. Each year, about 250 apply, and 30 are chosen. Their ages range from 16 to 21, and the training lasts from two to three years. Question - could we use some of this training in OUR stores? The next speaker was Holger Klug, who is a photographer. Born in Frankfurt, he is 29, and when he was younger was a member of Regensburger Domspatzen, a boys choir with a tradition going back over 1000 years. This is all possible since Regensburger is the 2nd oldest city in Germany, having been founded in 179! He showed some lovely slides of the area, including a replica of the Parthenon, built by the mad King Ludwig the 2nd. (Who also built Neuschwanstein Castle, as copied at Disneyland).

Christine Lohse is a music teacher, who is also a concert violinist and conductor. She lives on a lovely lake - and had slides to show, also - and is an advocate for Garmisch Partenkirchen, which surrounds her home. She has traveled extensively - and now has to return to Germany this weekend, so she will miss Palm Springs and next week with the Hollywood club. The last team member to speak was Peter Herfert, a banker. He is the only one who is married, and has children aged 8, 5, and l - all girls. He likes to hike and ski, and travels with his VW bus. He thanked his wife for letting him come - she encouraged it, which helped a lot in deciding if he could be away for five weeks.

A fine group of people, ably led by Georg - and we are wiser in the ways of Germany than before we met them. They all would be welcome to return.

LENNY FRIEDMAN announced that he had seen Danny Skinner recently, and he is feeling much better. Give him a ring, please. And hold in your thoughts BOB FERGUS, of course. JIM BECHTEL announced that the speaker next week would be Arturo Marquez, VP of Public Affairs for CNBC - similar to George Nickolaw, and our recent radio speaker. And two weeks away is Spouses Day, with Rod Stryker speaking on Slowing the Aging Process through Stress Reduction, Yoga and Meditation. Be There!

YOE, Ernie Wolfe