Amid small uncertainties about whether Fire Station #37 would be with us today, RALPH WOODWORTH led us in the Pledge. LENNY FRIEDMAN and GREGG ELLIOTT led us through You're a Grand Old Flag. ART HENRY came forward for the Invocation - and nobody suggested we sit down! He began by asking that we be taught the measure of success - that we laugh often, win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, earn the appreciation of honest critics, and summed up success by reminding us that we need to be able to know that lives have breathed easier because we have lived. And here, YOE has a minor confession - it really isn't hard to recognize that some of us have done this before - and it shows. Thanks, ART.

November 6th has provided some significant anniversaries over the years. An early example was in 1851, when Charles Henry Dow was born. He co-founded Dow Jones & Co, and because the first editor of the Wall Street Journal... And, a few political milestones on the 6th - in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected, while in 1956, Dwight Eisenhower was re-elected. In 1984, Ronald Reagan was reelected, defeating Walter Mondale. At this point YOE was subjected to a bit of suspenseful scrutiny, with Pres. PETER contending that he knew the secret of my success as far as reducing stress. At this point, PP DAVE WHITEHEAD was called in to contribute to this expose, and on his large screen, there appeared in bold letters, the one word STRESS. As these machines can then do, the word stress metamorphosed into DESSERT, which of course was the little known secret of my method of stress reduction. But ere you scoff, or question this process, just be reminded that IT WORKS - so there!

SLOSS VIAU found a Visiting Rotarian, none other than our neighbor, PDG Len Wasserstein from Beverly Hills. RALPH WOODWORTH brought along Bettye, who certainly brightened up the surroundings.

This led to Birthdays, which are announced on the first Thursday of the month - and today is the day! We had two members who choose November 4th - SUSAN ALLEN, in Detroit, and STEVE LORE, in good old LA. Next were two more on the same date - the SIXTH, which is today, and that means the fine gets doubled! The lucky recipients are PP TOM LENEHEN, in Evanston, and MIKE YOUSEM, who choose Omaha. Infrequent member ALON DORON came along on the 9th, in far-away Tel Aviv, Israel. HENRIETTA LIAN brought us back home, to Santa Ana on the 16th. Honorary member JEFF BRONSTEIN picked Albany, NY, on the 18th, while NEVEN SENKAN arrived in Ankara, Turkey on the 20th. NEVEN, we miss you - try to get by occasionally, if you can, OK? LEE DUNAYER was the next day, the 21st, and PP RON WANGLIN elected the 23rd - both of them in Los Angeles. AL BELLANCA arrived in Buffalo on the 27th, and concluding November, we had Vice President DON NELSON choosing San Diego on the 28th.

MIKE YOUSEM reminded us about the upcoming Holiday Shopping night on December 11th. ANN SAMSON of the YMCA gathers some needy kids, and our members accompany them while they do some Christmas shopping. Each kid gets $30.00 from our treasury, and the adult accompanying them guides them somewhat in their choices of what to buy, usually for relatives. They have dinner beforehand, and go by bus to and from the store - and it seems only fair for YOE to tell you that MIKE picks up the dinner tab for all the kids. They expect to have about thirty kids participating, and as of now MIKE has over twenty members signed up to go along. It's a nice lead in to the Christmas spirit - try it, you'll like it.

PDG ANDY ANDERSON was up next, telling us about the Wine Tasting set for next May 16th. This will benefit the Global Neuro Rescue program led by Dr. Jorge Lazareff.   You will recall that Dr. Lazareff was the lead surgeon when the conjoined twins from Guatemala were successfully separated at UCLA almost a year ago. Everything we raise will go toward Global Neuro Rescue, in which Dr. Lazareff takes a team of physicians aboard, usually to 3rd world countries. The team conducts major surgery in these countries, which allows many local physicians to learn the techniques which are demonstrated. So far this year, the team has visited China and Rumania - and they are dependent upon the support we can supply. ANDY also noted that we need items for the Silent Auction which will be a part of the Wine Tasting - he noted that PP MIKE NEWMAN and Pres. PETER have already offered items. It will be held again at the James West Center at UCLA. I'm pleased to report that Joseph Phelps has already stepped forward with wine for our event - and we're just getting started, of course. So Save the Date - May 16th!

Last Saturday's Paul Harris Celebration was reported on. The District raised $5,000 more than last year on raffle tickets alone, and more than $10,000 from the year before.  Results are not yet tallied on the Auction items, but we will get a full report shortly. The four leading clubs in participation were Santa Monica, Westwood Village, Beverly Hills, and Westchester. PP DAVE WHITEHEAD ran some great photos of the event and thanks to all of you who provided Auction Items and attended. There was a late groundswell of support for a fine for PP STEVE DAY, our Foundation Chair who did his usual great job but didn't manage to attend - somehow, $59.00 appeared to be the proper amount.

PDG BILL GOODWYN discussed how the Paul Harris Dinner idea came about. As his term as District Governor was approaching, BILL wanted to do something new. He enlisted ANDY ANDERSON as his Chair, and together they began to plan and promote. This first dinner had 600 in attendance - the high was 1300 when PP MIKE NEWMAN chaired it at the NBC Studio in the Valley - and this year there were 700 present. These dinners have raised more than three million dollars for the Rotary Foundation -and WVRC has always been the leading supporter of the event. Let's keep up the good work!

CHRIS BRADFORD introduced our Speaker, Nanci Linke-Ellis. She is the Executive Director of InSight Cinema, a non profit that works with ten studios and twenty five theatre chains to distribute open-captioned, first-run films to deaf and hard of hearing audiences nationwide. She has an extensive background in TV and film production, is a member of the Director's Guild of America. She is a past-president of the D.E.A.F. Foundation, and serves on the Board of the Cochlear Implant Club International. Nancy has been deaf since she was four years old - and now is the recipient of a Cochlear Implant. She lives in Santa Monica with her husband, Steve.

Movies are so much a part of our lives that we don't even think about going to the movies. But way back in 1927, when talkies first started, the entire deaf and hearing impaired generation quit attending - they simply couldn't tell what was going on.
About ten years ago, captioned films began to appear, and this is what she promotes.

Most deaf children are born into hearing families. Her own father was a theatrical agent with Disney, among other studios, but for years she was unable to follow his films.  Her cochlear implant was placed several years ago, and for the first six months, she was totally deaf, and over the next eight months she learned to adjust to its use. Her Insight Cinema is a 50lC 3 entity, and this year they have provided open captions for over 50 movies, which have been shown in four hundred cities. Their total production so far is over 300 films, and an interesting side effect is that that the captions are an excellent tool for teaching English as a second language.

Q&A - JACK HARRIS, How do you qualify for a Cochlear Implant. She received hers at the House Clinic nine years ago, and when she removes it, is completely deaf.

PP STEVE SCHERER, What is the process for captioning, and how do you select the films... There is a laser edge on 35mm film, and inserting captions costs between $6500 and $7500 per film. Essentially, the studios do the selecting. YOE, Are the captions OK for those who can hear. Yes, but they are mainly shown to audiences who are hearing impaired. As more and more people request these captions, the studios have to listen.

LENNY FRIEDMAN, What are the qualifications for receiving a Cochlear Implant. Generally, anyone who cannot use a telephone with a hearing aid will qualify.

PDG BILL GOODWYN, Who pays for the dubbing? The studios, as they do for any other production costs. They are still wanting InSight Cinema to prove that there is a market.  A major problem is publicizing what movies are available - this is often done with stickers on the box office itself. Note that the approximate 9% of the population which is hearing impaired represents over twenty million people.

SHARON RHODES- WICKETT, How can we help to get the word out on what is available. The internet is a major source, and expanding.

LENNY FRIEDMAN, What hardships did you encounter in bringing kids into the big screen experience. It's trial and error.

GREGG ELLIOTT, With your screenings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, is it profitable. After they see five or six films, they are fans henceforth.

PP DAVE WHITEHEAD, What is the effect of new technology on your success. The coming of Digital films will change everything - meanwhile, all we can do is work with what we have. Digital is probably about ten years away from widespread use.

PP JOHN SINGLETON, How does your captioning work with news reports. They are done by a court steno in real time, and it is very difficult to keep up.

JACK HARRIS, Is there time to read the captions. They match the frames, but it isn't easy.

RAY ZICKFELD, I use the hearing aids which are available in the theatres. Can this be expanded. We think our laser captions are a better answer.

Pres. PETER, what changes will digital cameras provide. It will be an easy transition.

PP STEVE SCHERER, What would you have us remember about your presentation today. You never know if people are hard of hearing, but the good news is that the US is the world leader in making films available.

Thank you, Nanci, for a most informative presentation.

YOE, Ernie Wolfe