January Ends at WVRC — the 27th, that is...

Since I wasn’t in the room at the time, I had to ask who led the Pledge  - it was PDG BILL GOODWYN, and as my informant pointed out to me, Bill seemed to have some previous experience in this endeavor…The song was America, led by JACK HARRIS, with no pianist in attendance, or so I am told.  KACY ROZELLE gave an excellent Invocation, built around the theme of Corazon House.  It’s the 4th of March, and back on the 5th, so sign up with KACY.  New member NICK KAHRILAS could find no Visiting Rotarians, but we had some other visitors.  It was BRIAN BUMPAS 84TH birthday, and FIVE members of his family showed up to help him celebrate.  While possibly not the high point of the celebration, we did sing Happy Birthday. Shirley MORE was there with PETER.

WHAT’S HAPPENING –

Feb. 12th – Sweetheart Brunch at Lawry’s – CHRIS BRADFORD is the contact.

And looking ahead, R.I. Convention in Chicago, 18-22 June.

And President RUDY is seeking someone to help with an eyesight program – give him a call for details, please.

I was sitting next to DONN CONNOR when he was asked what was on Rudy’s World, and he KNEW!  It was a mural of two angels, sharing their single wings so both could fly.

HEALTH NEWS –

LENNY FRIEDMAN has come through his hip replacement very well, and is now at home, where he’ll probably be for several weeks. Cards and calls are welcome.

BRUCE ROLF remains at Berkeley West – and you will ‘make your day’ if you stop by to say hello.

BOB TROXLER, as you know, passed away last week.  His Memorial Service will be on the 17th of February, 3 pm. at Westwood United Methodist Church

And, for those who knew Cate Lyter when she was at WUMC Preschool, her husband,

Jay, was very seriously injured on one of the trains that crashed this week.  His right leg was shattered, and has been operated on.  He has 8 fractured ribs, some with double fractures.  His spine is fractured, and the right side of his face is fractured.  Jay obviously faces a long recovery period – but he DID survive. You can reach Cate at (949) 606-2118

LEO TSENG introduced our Speaker, his cousin Rita Henderson.  She is a reverse example of the value of higher education, since she only has a high school diploma.  She is the Manager of all of Nestle’s  Community Affairs and Educational Programs throughout the U.S. Her employer is Nestles USA, a subsidiary of Nestles International, which is headquartered in Switzerland.

Rita began by pointing out that she is not against higher education – three of she and her husband’s five children are in college right now. She began her career with Nestles fourteen years ago, as a secretary, had several excellent mentors, and now manages over 2500 employee volunteers.  Nestle is the world largest food company – 21 K employees in the U.S., 53 manufacturing facilities, and 8K local and regional brands. Her position is the result of proven attitudes by consumers who want the companies they support to be socially responsible.

When they began to expand in the U.S., Nestle bought a number of existing companies, including Carnation, Stouffers, Ralston Purina, PowerBar – the list is long.  In 1991, they formed Nestle USA, and soon thereafter introduced their “Very Best Volunteer” Adopt-A-School Program.  Today they have over fifty adopted schools across the country, and their 2500 employee volunteers work in classrooms each month.  They are given two hours paid time off each month to participate in this program.

The statistics about education, and reading, more specifically, are shocking.  For example 37% of American fourth graders read below the basic level.  Entering kindergarten, a child from a low-income family has a listening vocabulary of 3,000 words, compared to the 20,000 word vocabulary of a child from a middle-income family. Forty MILLION adults in the U.S. can’t read well enough to read a simple story to a child!  According to the LA Times, “one in every four Los Angeles workers may be functionally illiterate”.

Another way of looking at this figure is to realize how hard it would be to fill out an employment application, or read traffic signs, as two examples of what a handicap adult literary can be.

Rita brought along three large prizes, plus providing each of us with a selection of several of the candy bars made by Nestle.  The prizes were awarded for answering the following questions:  What candy bar was named after the daughter of President Grover Cleveland?  Yes, it was Baby Ruth, and NOT after the baseball player with a similar name.  ELLIOTT TURNER got it right, and brought back his table a nine pound Crunch bar.  What Cleveland family opened a production plant to meet the demand for frozen take-home versions of their Macaroni and Cheese?  The Stouffer’s family – and I think ERIC LOBERG answered this one.  And # 3, What was the name of the dog that regularly sang the jingle “N-E-S-T-L-E-S, Nestle’s makes the very best…CHOCOLATE?  Farfel, and somehow, ELLIOTT TURNER got that one right also.

And I cannot resist a minor editorial comment here – I’m not sure what Mr. TURNER’S early background may have been, but he sure as hell knows a lot of trivia!  The three prizes were then auctioned off – a bit raucously, perhaps, with Birthday Boy BRIAN BUMPAS daughter-in-law Cindy bidding $150 for one, GEORGE COX stepping forward for another $150, and CATHY REZOS getting one for Rotaract, for $150.

There were a couple of Q&A’s – Somebody wanted to know what was their best-selling bar, and it was Crunch.  I can’t read the rest of my notes, so I will close with a quote from Margaret Mead, “ Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world.  For, indeed, that’s all who ever have”.  Thank you, Rita Henderson, for an entertaining and enlightening presentation.

And ere I sign off, those of you who want to see changes in the Windmill – hang on, there will be more coming along.

 — YOE, Ernie Wolfe

---

NEW MEMBERSHIP PROPOSAL