Yes, we inducted New Members - and BERT KREISBERG was the only man left standing, so to speak. YOE doesn't recall ever seeing the presentation of that many ladies at one time, and that is the best result of our gender-free policy that we have yet accomplished. More on this subject below, OK?

PROLOGUE
TERRY WHITE led the Pledge, followed by a trio (that means three) on the song - PP STEVE DAY as Conductor, with PP JIM DOWNIE and (now) One Finger JACK on the harpsichord. This demotion from Three to One doesn't seem entirely fair to JACK, but YOE in his constant pursuit of the whole truth and nothing but, feels compelled to report 'Just the facts, Ma'am'. Along that line, I'm sure you recall the finishing Trill, which came from somewhere as we concluded... About-to-be-New Member BERT KREISBERG gave the Invocation, reminding us all that we need help to live in harmony.

VISITORS, etc.
Scads of visitors, once again. TODD GURVIS led off with Colin Wallace, in Finance, who is from Seattle 4 - that means they were chartered BEFORE our own LA 5!  Prexy STEVE brought Claude Cutright, and RALPH SMITH was accompanied by Betty Good. DENNIS CORNWELL introduced Karen. DICK LITTLESTONE was with Eva Walthers, the newest Counselor in the UCLA Expo Center, who has been very helpful in gathering scholars for our Ambassadorial program. MAX LICHTENBERGER spoke of Special Guest Bill So, who is with California Fed S&L in their mortgage dept. KEN LEVER sat next to Walter Weiss, proud father of our Speaker. Prexy STEVE finally spoke of his other guest, Bob Holmes, who is in Human Resources. Not only was he a Special Guest, but Prexy STEVE almost overlooked introducing him. Despite a cacophony (that means a LOT -and another new word!) of vocal support suggesting that the President fine himself, it didn't happen. Apparently another example of Executive Privilege…

WLA POLICE EXPLORERS
Then it was PDG ANDY ANDERSON'S turn, and his Special Guest was Matthew Rodman. Matt spoke briefly of his many activities (over the last 12 years) with the WLA Explorer unit, which has some 30 members. These young adults, aged 14 to 20, have usually had some problems with violations of the law, and as part of their rehabilitation they first undergo a 12-week indoctrination at the Police Academy (on Saturdays). They then assist the police on Wednesdays and Fridays with crowd control and various other activities, which help them to learn about leadership and problem solving. The WLA program is unique in that it provides a $4K scholarship to many participants, which can only be used for college expenses - all of their graduates go on to college!  There are between 400 and 500 Explorers in the program citywide. . Matthew is also running for the Los Angeles School Board, District 4, which represents some 450K residents. You can reach him at (310) 824-0804, HONORS PP STEVE DAY, wearing his hat as our Representative to the R.I. Foundation, invited Karen Cornwell and Claude Cutright forward, and presented them both with Paul Harris Fellowships. Once again we were reminded of all the good these $1,000 donations provide - we thank their sponsors, DENNIS and STEVE.

DATES
Don't forget the Yearling Breakfast at the Holiday Inn on Sunset on March 6th - RSVP with HARLAN LEWIS, please, and be there promptly at 0730. On Wednesday, March 14th, the WVR Auxiliary will meet at 1130 at the Wesslings.

The program will be given by Playwright Eleanor Harder - and YOE cannot resist pointing our that he and Eleanor were fellow graduates of UniHi a few years ago (1943). Later in March, the 27th to be exact, is the District Breakfast - JIM GREATHEAD has the details. BOB THOM once again offered some Laker tickets, which were snapped up for 150 clams by SHARIN KLISSER. By the way, YOE doesn't think it appropriate to be questioning the location of seats which BOB donates from time to time - it is suspected that he probably only buys good seats… And TED IHNEN reminded us of the upcoming District Conference in Newport Beach, starting on April 26th.

And BACK TO OUR FIVE LADIES who were inducted into WVRC by PP MIKE NEWMAN. We were reminded that our Club was founded in 1929 by the Santa Monica Club, and we have been located at the Bel Air Hotel for the last 37 years! Those who came in awhile ago include PP HOWIE HENKES ('52), PP JIM COLLINS ('53), PP JIM DOWNIE ('54), PP BOB LUSK ('55), SANDY SANDERSON ('60) and YOE ('61). PP MIKE graciously included BERT KREISBERG in the inductees, while the distaff side (always wanted to use that word) was represented by SHERRY DEWANE, ATHENA JACKSON, JAYNE SPENCER, RO SHAW and SHARIN KLISSER. JAYNE was sponsored by PP TOM LENEHEN, SHARIN by GEORGE DEA, BERT by RALPH SMITH, RO by HENRY TSENG (LEE DUNAYER substituted), and SHERRY by PDG BILL GOODWYN (PP STEVE SCHERER substituted). We were asked to remember that Rotary Is What Rotary Does.  A great group - see you all at the Yearling Breakfast on March 6th!

ANOTHER GOOD SPEAKER was Jack Weiss, who is running for City Council from the 5th (our own) District. He was introduced by Susan Shaw, his campaign manager (and she ought to be someone's Special Guest soon, OK?) Jack graduated with honors from Princeton, has a law degree from UCLA, where he was Editor of the Law Review (and YOE thinks that means he had the best grades in the class - would one of our several attorneys please verify this with me?) Jack has been an Assistant US Attorney in LA for the past six years, specializing in prosecuting Public Corruption and Government Fraud. As an aside, YOE would not choose him to be prosecuted by… Council District #5 bridges the mountains between the Westside and the Valley, with 62% of the District being south of Mulholland. Jack began by stating, "I Want" and then including a reformed Police Dept., safe and less-centralized schools, and better public transportation. He also touched on the issue of secession. When campaigning, the most frequently asked question he gets is, "Why would you want this job?" and his answer would probably be because he thinks he can make a difference. Jack has raised almost $200K - the most of any candidate, and that will certainly come in handy when big advertising starts. The Primary is on April 10th, and surviving that will be very tough. You then get to go against Tom Hayden, with a marital history you may remember - and YOE would hope that Hayden falls flat on his face (SO THERE!)

Jack's guiding principle as a Prosecutor is that if you are fair, you win cases. He believes his leadership and ability to work with other City Council members are his biggest assets.  During the Q&A, it came out that no one living in the Valley has ever been elected to the 5th District seat (and my favorite carpetbagger, whose initials are T.H. now calls the Valley home) But I digress - first time today? Jack is against the proposed golf development in the Valley. What are the potential problems with the new Charter? It changes the power mix, with the Mayor having more and the Council less - and that is a good change. Traffic and gridlock - he wants a much expanded bus system, and he pointed out that further Subway construction is dead, at least for now. (By the way, we spent $300 million PER MILE for the 16 usable miles of our new subway - the most expensive subway ever built!) He likes the DASH shuttle now operating downtown.  He feels the present Permit Parking can be greatly improved. And he points out that they are currently installing a Diamond Lane on the 405 over Mulholland (and YOE pointed out that the last time they tried this, AFTER building it, they discovered that City busses can only make 35 mph on those grades - maybe they are now supercharged…) What was your most exciting case as a Federal Prosecutor? After our District Attorney declined to go after Superior Court Judge George Trammell, the Feds took over prosecuting it - and it was personal with Jack, since both his grandfather and his mother were former Superior Court Judges. Jack, thanks for coming to visit - and these political speakers are usually quite informative.

Thought for the Day - Frank Hubbard says, "The safe way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket".

YOE, Ernie Wolfe