January 17 January 24

Next Week... January 17 Craft Talks Upcoming Meetings... January 24 Luncheon Speaker Gil Garcetti January 31 Luncheon Speaker PDG Bill Goodwyn "Around The World in 21 Days" February 7 Luncheon Speaker Radio Talk Show Host Lores Rizkalla Upcoming Events... February 8-10 District Conference Newport Beach February 17 Sweetheart Valentine Brunch Lawry's Beverly Hills, 12:30pm

This Week...
FINANCIAL ADVISORS DAY at WVRC on January 10th
CLAWSON BLEAK led the Pledge.  JACK HARRIS stepped in for LENNY, and we sang You’re a Grand Old Flag.  PP STEVE DAY was up next, and he preceded the Invocation with several comments about what happened on this day of the year in the past, among them that the UN had it’s first General Meeting on January 10th.  He then asked God for his Love, Mercy, and Understanding, and to forgive us for anything He had seen today.  “Remind us of the need for Service, being aware of the needs of others, and let us remember that when we serve others, we serve you”.  Well Done, STEVE.

There were several guests. PP JIM COLLINS brought my neighbor, George Vulich.  TONY MARRONE was with Bob Wilson.  PAT ANDERSON accompanied PDG ANDY, and LEO TSENG brought Dwight Heikkila, who will be circularized in todays Windmill.  PP HOMER NEWMAN was with a Junior at UCLA. We had the same two Visiting Rotarians as last week – Rick and Marcia Brous,  who hail from Madison N.J, and both are Past Presidents of that Club. Although not technically in that category, CEO CHRIS introduced two ”Visiting Rotarians” as KACY ROZELLE and RICK CULLEN.

First, two corrections to the Front Page:
The District Breakfast scheduled for 24 January has been cancelled.

Second, PDG BILL GOODWYN’S talk on January 31st now has a title:
AROUND THE WORLD IN 21 DAYS.

ELLIOTT TURNER came forward to make two announcements. First, the Japan Student Exchange, which was not carried out last year, is back on track. It is for students between 15-18, and they spend four weeks in Japan, staying with Rotarians.  They then reciprocate by hosting the Japanese students when they come here right afterward.  This will be in July 2008, and ELLIOTT will have details shortly.  I must Editorialize on this – It’s a great program, and your kids, or grandchildren, will have a wonderful experience. Call me – I’m a real booster, particularly since both my daughter and stepdaughter took the trip.  ELLIOTT also announced that the Mexico Build-a-House Program was set for
Saturday, March 8th.  Details to follow, but save the date, please.

District Conference is set for Newport Beach from 8 to 10 February.  Hyatt Regency Hotel. It’s a great show, and New Members in particular should plan to attend. I have Registration Forms.

And now, I have to point some fingers, you might say:
We are supposed to have 15 parking spaces at the St. Albans Church across the street. Today I collected $40.00 from the 16 persons with Rotary Signs who were there. Now, some of you (two!) had paid earlier, but SOME haven’t paid.  In addition to the 16 with Rotary ID, there were 7 cars parked with no ID.  I hope none of these were Rotarians – but either way, everyone who parks there is NOT paying, apparently. Two Conclusions, if I may:
 1. There is no room for more members to sign up – we are already one over our 15
 2. Please be sure to pay the $5.00 each week.

‘Nuff Said.  Let’s make this work better, since it benefits both us AND the church, OK?.

FLORENCE SAMPSON and ELLIOTT TURNER were summoned forward.  PP STEVE DAY outlined the conditions to achieve the Paul Harris Fellowship status, which is to invest one thousand dollars in the Rotary International Foundation, plus being an active  Rotarian.  ELLOITT honored FLORENCE with her Paul Harris Fellowship.  PP STEVE then explained that WVRC has its own Foundation, and will supply half the cost of a  Paul Harris Fellowship, providing the member or sponsor supplies the other half. This is a lovely way to honor spouses, children and grandchildren.  And, as you probably know, these funds are what provide the many matching grants Rotary distributes all over the world. This award to FLORENCE resulted in her receiving a standing ovation.

MARK ROGO was next fingered.  Seems there was a recent newspaper article naming MARK as one of the top R.E. Agents in Beverly Hills.  He achieved that lofty status by selling OVER fifty million dollars in Real Estate during 2007!  This was of course a reason for a fine – which can be any amount to which the donor agrees – and CEO CHRIS fined MARK five hundred dollars.  I should add that during my hundred and fifty years as a member of WVRC I can recall even larger fines, particularly for PP JIM COLLINS and PP JOHN SINGLETON. So, success breeds large fines!

PP STEVE SCHERER next introduced most of our Financial Advisors, who sat up front awaiting their turn to make their yearly predictions. Prior to that, PP STEVE gave us some financial history and background on what had transpired this year.  The DOW rose 6.4%, S&P 500 went up 3.5 %, and NASDAQ went up 9.8  %. Short term interest rates fell by 150 basis points, and long term rates also fell.  He feels there are four factors which will define the market in 2008.  First, the economy.  Next is earnings.  Our financial situation comes up next.  And of course, politics enters in, but won’t be of much effect until closer to the election. The ‘civilian’ members last year made some right and some wrong guesses.  The pros each named a stock, and if you had invested $10,000 in each of their eight stocks, your total capital at the end of 2007 would have been $75,900.

DICK ROBINSON led off, predicting that the DOW would end at 14,400, S&P at 1570, and the NASDAQ at 2785. Treasuries at 2.75 and 3.0.  His stock pick was Goldman Sachs.  SHERRY DEWANE followed, predicting that the DOW would be at 14,127, S&P 1,524,  NASDAQ 2845, Treasuries 2.537 and 3.256.  And I missed her stock, I’m sorry to report. RICK CULLEN was next, He noted the extreme volatility of the market, citing one case where present value was 47 billion and prior to that, 89 billion! The DOW 13,811, S&P at 1,480, NASDAQ 2740, Treasuries 3.5 and 4.83 and his stock is Fannie May.  DONN CONNER came up with the DOW at 1325, S&P 1485, NASDAQ 2420, Treasuries 3.10 and 3.70.  His stock pick is BofA.  LEE DUNAYER was next,  the DOW down as far as 11,900, S&P 1377, while NASDAQ will go up to 2734,  Treasuries 3% and 3.7%.  LEE thinks enough water is the problem of the future, with population slated to grow by perhaps 20% - and water usage going up 80%.  His two picks, thus, are PHO and CGW.  As the Senior Advisor, LEO TSENG first made his usual comments about consulting his dartboard.  The DOW at 1360, NASDAQ 2692, S7P 1530. treasuries 3.00 and 4.00, and his stock pick is BofA..    Last on the Team was PP STEVE SCHERER. The DOW 14,000, NASDAQ 2700, S&P 1575.  Treasuries 2.5 and 3.5.  His stock pick is Monsanto. He again recommended that we all read “The World is Flat”, and it turned out that many of us already had.

And, an abject confession, which I’m sure most of you would not agree with…
I may not have accurately reported your remarks, and if so I do apologize.

Words of Wisdom:
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.  Teach him how to fish and he will sit in a boat & drink beer all day.

Next week, Jan 17th – we will have a piano recital, and Craft Talks from MARK KRAUSE and RON KLEPETAR – so BE THERE!

NEW MEMBERSHIP PROPOSAL Name: Dwight Heikkila Address: 1903 S. Westgate  Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90025 310-820-6090 Classification: Retirement Planning Sponsor: Leo Tseng This proposal has already cleared the Membership Committee. Notify the Secretary in writing if you have any objections to the above proposal becoming a member of our club. If there are no objections the proposal will be submitted for final approval 10 days after the date of this notice.

—YOE, Ernie Wolfe

WESTWOOD VILLAGE ROTARY CLUB 2007 - 2008
OFFICERS: President  Christopher Bradford President Elect Sean McMillan Vice President Ed Gauld Treasurer Mark Block Exec. Treasurer Don Nelson Secretary Shane Waarbroek Executive Secretary Ernie Wolfe Past President Michael Gintz	DIRECTORS: Community Service Chair Mark Rogo International Service Chair Elliott Turner Membership Chair Steve Scherer Vocational Service Chair Sherry Dewane Youth Service Chair Ann Samson ..... ROTARY INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT: Wilfrid J. Wilkinson DISTRICT 5280 GOVERNOR:     David Moyers Palos Verdes Sunset Rotary