Our own Martin Kubelik providedus with an extremely interesting program about Rotary in Europe last week. WhenMartin’s not with us here in thedesert, he divides his time between his home in Prague, his mother’s home inSwitzerland and in Northern Italy. While in Italy, Martin does research and lectures at various universities. Since hejoined our club last spring, Martin hasmaintained perfect Rotary attendance by making up meetings at European clubs.Meetings in Europe are rather formal affairs, according to Martin, with printed menus, excellent speakers and high-end meetinglocations. Great program, Martin!Also last week, Sojourner Mike Wedekinddonated his previous week’s $100 Raffle winnings back to our club. Thanks, Mike!

Another speaker scheduling snafu left us without a program lastweek but we were saved by our friends from north of the border. Sojourners Mike Wedekind and Ray Roth were joined by four other visiting Canadians and showedthe club how the national anthem is meant to be sung. Of course, the anthem was“O Canada” and the group received a great ovation. One of the visitors alsoshared some fundraising ideas with our club. Foundation Chair Kay Van Zandt honored Rotarian Butch Hartman with his seventh PaulHarris recognition and Butch took ita step further and presented AngieGriego, his longtime assistant, with her own Paul Harris award. Mike Wedekind was rewarded for hisconsistent $5 ticket purchases and won $100 in the Rotary Raffle!

Scheduling confusion left us without a speaker last week soProgram Chair Louise Oppenheim toldus a bit about her profession. Don’t despair, we’ll still get to learn allabout dates since we’ve rescheduled Mark Goulet, manager of Shields DateGarden, for February 22. Also last week, we welcomed Mike Laughlin as our newest Palms To Pines Rotarian. Mike, a former Sojourner fromSpringville, California, has the classification Real Estate Broker. He workswith Tarbell, Realtors. Cal McIntosh,a Palms To Pines Charter Member, was also recognized for his continued RotaryFoundation contributions. Cal wasawarded a Paul Harris pin with three sapphires. Congratulations, Cal! Martin Kubelik was our lucky $20 winner in the Rotary Raffle.

Coachella Valley residential properties have lost over 40percent of their value over the past six years according to last week’sspeaker, Greg Berkemer, executive vice president of the California DesertAssociation of Realtors. Last year, Berkemer said, 55 percent of desert saleswere either short sales or bank owned properties. Recovery won’t occur untilregular homes sales predominate again. Banks, Berkemer says, continue to slowlydispose of their foreclosure properties and this “shadow inventory” will delaya recovery until it’s exhausted. Also last week, Palms To Pines welcomed backmember Martin Kubelik. Martin, whose primary home is inPrague, can serve as an example for all of us. Despite being absent from ourclub for the past nine months, Martin maintainedperfect Rotary attendance by making up at a number of clubs. Welcome back, Martin! We also learned last week thatattendance at our weekly bingo project is increasing. January 7 saw 15 players!Jim Eggers was our lucky RotaryRaffle winner last week and he took home $7!

We kicked off the new year (and the halfway point of Pres. Drew Clark’s reign) with a Club Assembly last week. Our club officersand committee chairs gave us updates on activities planned for the comingmonths. Jerry Kress told usChoices-our new stay in school project-is scheduled for early February atShadow Hills High School. He needs one more presenter for the project sovolunteer if you’d like to help keep kids in school. Jerry told us that 7,000 high school students drop out of schoolevery DAY! Also coming up is our second annual Night of Magic. Chair Rob Strain has begun meeting withhis committee and we’re planning a bigger and better event this year on April2. Rotary Foundation Chair Kay Van Zandturged club members to become Paul Harris sustaining members. A contribution ofjust $100 per year (less than $2 per week!) will get you on your way tobecoming a Paul Harris Fellow. TreasurerArt Fleming told us our duesstatements are in the mail and urged members to pay promptly. Shawna McNeill was our lucky $20 RaffleWinner.

Nearly 40 club members and guests enjoyed our Holiday Party lastweek. We conducted a Rotary Raffle and lots of bottles of wine were handed outto lucky winners. Other winners walked away with Holiday centerpieces. Forthose of you who missed our last meeting, we wish you all a very MerryChristmas and Happy New Year! Our next meeting is Wednesday, January 4. See youthen!

Lee Ann Clark, an Ambassador with the Palm Springs Follies, wasour speaker last week. This year’s show is entitled Hot! Hot! Hot! andcelebrates summer vacations and the music of the 70s. Guest stars this seasoninclude John Davidson (through Dec. 31) and Maureen McGovern (Jan. 5-Mar. 10).Also on the bill is ventriloquist Brad Cummings. In addition to the stars, theFollies features 16 other cast members with the oldest female performer being78. Lee Ann told us that the Follies employs 120 people making it one of PalmSprings’ largest employers. The troop has over 1,500 costumes, 300 pairs ofshoes and 300 wigs! Learn more about the Follies at www.psfollies.com. Also last week, club members were saddened to learn ofthe resignation of long-time member ChuckWeisbart. Chuck and Susan are now making Idyllwild theirprimary residence and Chuck istransferring to Idyllwild Rotary. He promises to visit us once a month or so andwe’ll hold him to it! Suzy Homme wasthe lucky winner of $5 in the Rotary Mega-Raffle.

With us last week was RotaryDistrict 5330 Governor Steve Wallace. Steveand wife Vicky joined LakeElsinore Rotary in 2000 and almost resigned because of the club’s lack ofactivities. Fortunately for our district, the pair stayed on and participated ina National Polio Immunization Day in India. This, says Steve, changed their lives. Since that event, they have dedicatedthemselves to Service Above Self and have participated in Rotary projectsthroughout the world. Steve urged ourclub to get new members active in Rotary immediately. He says we should alsoget our children and grandchildren involved in club projects to teach them toserve. Sojourner Jim Eggers returnedlast week and went home with $10 from the Rotary Raffle.

We received an inside look at football refereeing last week. Ourown Jerry Kress, a high schoolfootball referee in Orange County for 30 years, gave us a great overview of thejob, the equipment we see referees use and the rules of the game. Jerry also shared some great storiesabout his career including a highlight—refereeing a game featuring CarsonPalmer and Matt Linert. Outstanding job, Jerry!Also last week, we learned our Second Annual Night of Magic is scheduled forApril 2. Rob Strain is chairing theevent and is seeking volunteers to help. Contact Rob! Rain didn’t deter JeanDores, Richard Karp and Rob Strain from participating in thediabetes walk. Club members contributed over $500 to support our walkers! Welearned that Saturday bingo participation is increasing and that our membersrunning the games are catching on and speeding up play. Finally last week, Donna-Lee Ekstrom pulled the Ace in theRotary Raffle and walked away with $53. Congratulations, Donna-Lee!

We’re still catching our breath from last week’s high energypresentation by Jan Boydstun of Kitchen, Kitchen in Indian Wells. Jan took atemporary job at the store for her parents in 1989 and has been there eversince. Jan brought along a whole box of new and favorite kitchen gadgets whichwould make great holiday gifts. From classics like a square egg maker to newitems like a plastic bag holder, Jan’s store has it all. Jan co-hosts a weeklykitchen show on Saturdays from 8-10 a.m. on KNEWS 94.3. Also last week, Kay Van Zandt, our club’s RotaryFoundation chair, reminded members that November is Foundation Month. Pleasetake the time to make your annual contribution to the Rotary Foundation. $100annually (less than $2 per week!) will get you on your way to your Paul HarrisAward. Doug Walker pulled a King andwalked away with $20 in the Rotary Raffle.

Who knew bingo was so complicated? Daniel Coover, programdirector at Joslyn Center, was with us last week to in-service us on our weeklybingo project at the center. Joslyn Center Saturday Bingo began this pastSaturday so we’ll get firsthand reports on how it went this week. Our club hasbeen divided into seven work teams so each club member will have a three hour commitmentevery seven weeks. The work schedule is posted on our club website and we’llinclude weekly assignments on page two of this newsletter. Remember, if you can’tmeet your work commitment, YOU areresponsible for securing a replacement! We definitely don’t want a room full ofangry bingo players! Also last week, LillianRoberts promoted the annual Super Pet Adoption event on Nov. 19 & 20 atWhitewater Park in Rancho Mirage. We’ll have more on this event next week. Shawna McNeill was a lucky $7 winner inour Rotary Raffle.

Karen Riley, executive director of the Art Museum of theEnvironment, was our speaker last week. The museum operates the S.C.R.A.P.Gallery at the Riverside County Fairgrounds in Indio. The gallery’s mission isto actively engage youth as stewards of their environment through aconcentrated, hands-on, educational effort stressing the Four R’s – Reduce,Reuse, Recycle, Responsibility. The gallery offers arts and science workshopsto local students and also makes donated materials available for reuse byteachers, arts and community programs. The gallery also schedules a month-longseries of events each April in celebration of Earth Day on April 22 and KeepCalifornia Beautiful Month. The gallery has received a number of state andfederal honors for its efforts. Funding is provided by grants, local non-profitorganizations, desert cities, the County of Riverside and the valley’s threeschool districts.

With us last week was the seven-member Odyssey of the Mind teamfrom Palm Desert and Xavier Prep high schools. The team is raising funds tocompete at the Odyssey World Finals at EuroFest 2012 in St. Petersburg, Russia.An estimated 30,000 students from throughout the world will compete at the eventin April, 2012. Local team members have been to the state finals six times andto the U.S. World finals three times. They are the only California teamexpected to compete in Russia. Their fundraising goal is $30,000 and they got aboost from Pres. Drew Clark who pulled the Ace in the RotaryMega Raffle and donated his $128 winnings to the team. Team members includeSabrina Fletcher, Jennifer Jenkins, Gregorio Leon, Nik Manning and SamTragesser of Palm Desert High School and Melissa Cedillo and Zannie Murphy ofXavier Prep. Learn more and donate at www.wix.com/desertodyssey/missionrussia.

District 5330 New Generations Director Neal Dewing was our speaker last week. Neal, a member of the Palm Desert noon club, told us that NewGenerations is the new name for the former Youth Services Avenue of Service.Added to the traditional Youth Service activities is the emphasis onrecruitment of younger members. Young members provide new energy to a club,according to Neal. Rotary’s ongoingYouth Service activities are a perfect tool to recruit young members. Interact,Youth Exchange and RYLA alumni are great candidates for Rotary membership oncethey enter the work force. Also last week, JerryKress reported that Shadow Hills High School is enthusiastic about our stayin school program call Choices. P2P members will speak with freshmen at theschool during the second week of February. Jerrystill needs a few volunteers so contact him to participate. Butch Hartman’s daughter Elizabeth won$6 in the Raffle.

Jennifer Salciccioli, environmental coordinator for BurrtecWaste and Recycling Services, was our speaker last week. Jennifer brought us upto date on community recycling efforts and also reminded us of what is and whatis not acceptable waste for recycling. Who knew you can’t recycle Kleenex? Alsolast week, Shawna McNeil gave theclub an update on plans for our hospitality suite on Nov. 4 at the DistrictConference. The hours are 5 to 9 p.m. and clubs from throughout the districtwill be hosting suites. This is a great opportunity to enjoy Rotary Fellowshipso plan on participating! The District Conference continues on Saturday morningwith a number of outstanding speakers including Rotary Humorist John T. Capps.Our district’s Foundation Gala is scheduled Saturday evening. Jeff Patterson was our lucky RotaryRaffle winner last week. Jeff pulleda two and got to take home $2!

Last week, Jerry Kresstold us about Choices, a program designed to encourage kids to stay in schooland get schooling beyond a high school education. Jerry was in charge of this very successful program for years athis previous Rotary club and he would like to see Palms To Pines Rotary beginthe program here. The program involves five to six Rotarians speaking to highschool freshmen classes. Each Rotarian’s commitment would be four to six hoursover a one week period in January. Also last week, Chuck Weisbart reported that P2P Rotarians had donated $1,065 tohis Cambodian landmine relief efforts and Pres.Drew Clark announced that theWorld Affairs Council will be having “Rotary Night” at its October 23presentation. Louise Oppenheimreminded Rotarians that the annual Diabetes Walk is Saturday, November 12. Lillian Roberts won the big Rotary Rafflefor the second week in a row adding another $4 to her winnings!

Community Relations Executive Seminar Training (CREST) is anFBI-sponsored program for community leaders which is coming to the CoachellaValley, With us last week was Dennis M. Stratton, a member of the Palm SpringsPolice Advisory Board and an alumnus of the FBI’s Citizens Academy. Accordingto Dennis, CREST is a one day session where students learn about the mission,goals, history and internal workings of the FBI as well as about local problemsof particular interest to federal law enforcement agencies. Plans call forCREST sessions here in the desert in April and October, 2012. Potential classmembers must undergo a background check so that precludes a number of P2PRotarians from attending but our club will be notified when programapplications are available. This sounds like a great program and excellentnetworking and Rotary recruitment tool! LillianRoberts was a lucky $20 winner in our Rotary Raffle.

Chuck Weisbart’seffortsto raise funds for landmine clearing in Cambodia got a boost last week when weheard from Bill Miller. Bill, a part time Palms Springs resident, works withCambodian Self Help Demining to help rid that country of millions of landminesand unexploded bombs left over from wars in that country. Bill and his wifework with Aki Ra, a former child soldier who has worked to clear mines in lowpriority villages since 2003. In addition to demining, the group also runs theCambodia Landmine Museum as well as an orphanage. Chuck has now raised over $1,200 for this organization and you canstill contribute. Bring your check this week! Learn more about Aki Ra and hisorganization by visiting www.CambodianSelfHelpDemining.org.Cheryl Silver, our district governor’srepresentative from Palm Springs, was a lucky $20 winner in the Rotary Raffle. Cheryl donated her winnings back toPalms To Pines!

We closed out Rotary Membership Month last week with a specialRotary Information meeting for prospective members. Eleven guests attended andgot an introduction to Rotary International and Palms to Pines from CharterMember Jeff Patterson. Jeff highlighted some of our club’sprojects including the Holiday Gift Exchange, Mini Muster, Back To SchoolShopping Spree, RYLA and our Shelter Box and children’s book donations. Guestsgot to see our club in action first hand when Past Pres. Rob Strain and International Service chair Charles Riggs presented a $3,000 donation to Rosemary Ortega, PalmDesert Sister Cities Committee president. Our donation will be used to fund ascouting program in Ixtapa, Mexico. They also got to hear about a fund drive spearheadedby Chuck Weisbart to raise money forLand Mind Relief in Cambodia. Bill Morris from that organization was on hand togive us an update.

Member Richard Karpwas our speaker last week and provided valuable tips for saving (or delaying)taxes. Richard is a Palm Desert CPAand he told us that it’s too early to identify tax changes for the year sinceour hardworking Congress is involved.  Ifyou expect a big tax bite this year (and especially if you could be subject tothe Alternative Minimum Tax) your accountant should prepare mock returns beforethe end of the year. That way, you can make a decision on prepaying propertyand state income taxes, making charitable contributions, delaying a bonus untilJanuary of 2012 and maximizing your contributions to an IRA. People over 50have until April 15 to contribute up to $6,000 to an IRA. We also learned aboutthe advantages of taking required IRA disbursements by donating them directlyto charity. Thanks, Richard! Margaret Claggett was our lucky RotaryRaffle winner and she took home $6 in cold, hard cash!

Member Jeff Pattersonwas with us last week to talk about Family Services of the Desert. Jeff is the current president of theorganization and has served on its board of directors for over 40 years. Theorganization’s major current program is Food Now. According to Jeff, “giving food preventshomelessness” since food and housing are a family’s two major monthly expenses.Food Now provides food to an estimated 19 percent of Desert Hot Springs’households, Jeff says. Family Servicesalso played a major role in fundraising for the Barbara Sinatra Center atEisenhower Medical Center. Working with Barbara Sinatra, Family Services helpedraise over $200,000 for the center. Also last week, we were told that the clubwould soon begin accepting credit card payments for dues and meals. We’ll havemore details this week! Finally, DougWalker was the lucky $10 Rotary Raffle winner.

Member Shawna McNeilltold about her business, Desert Cities Stop Smoking & Weight Loss LaserTherapy in Rancho Mirage. Shawnacombines laser therapy and education to help people stop smoking and loseweight. Laser therapy triggers endorphins, natural chemicals in the body associatedwith the spontaneous relief of pain, stress and anxiety, according to Shawna. Learn more about these programsat www.smokefreedesert.com. When Shawna concluded her program, she wasnot finished for the day, however. ButchHartman had the winning Rotary Raffle ticket and he promptly provided it toShawna who then pulled an Ace fromthe deck to win $20. She continued the “pay forward” trend and donated thewinnings to next year’s Back To School Shopping Spree. Congratulations, Shawna!

With us last week was LillianRoberts, our club veterinarian. Lillianowns Country Club Animal Clinic and she gave us a glimpse of her career. Aveterinarian often sees an animal from birth to death. There have beentremendous advances in veterinary medicine in recent years. Lillian recounted the story of talkingwith a doctor who accompanied a relative and pet into a veterinary emergencyroom. The doctor had volunteered in Somalia and told Lillian her emergency room was equipped with more medical equipmentthan the entire country of Somalia. The most exotic animal Lillian has treated is a zebra. Lillian cautions young people considering a career as aveterinarian. The cost of training does not make economic sense anymore, shesays, and urges people considering a veterinary career to spend time working inclinic before coming to a final decision. Also last week, we honored Margot Serrano who received her fifthPaul Harris Fellow award. Congratulations, Margot!Jeff Patterson calmly pulling an Acefrom the Rotary Raffle deck and walked away with $63.

Lisa Snow, Business Development Manager of Desert Arc, was ourspeaker last week. Desert Arc has been in the desert since 1959 and now servesover 600 clients with developmental disabilities. The organization providesvocational training, job placement and employment and independent livingsupport. They perform contract assembly work at their 20,000 sf facility onCountry Club and also provide onsite work teams for a number of business andorganizations. They also operate a recycling center. You can learn more aboutthis great organization by visiting their website, www.desertarc.org. Also last week, SuzyHomme donated $100 to the club in recognition of her $63 Rotary Raffle win(we like the math!) and Cal McIntoshwas the lucky winner of $3 in the depleted Rotary Raffle. Cal donated his winnings back to the raffle pot. Thanks, Suzy and Cal!

Our own Cal McIntoshgave us the ABCs of estate planning last week. Every one of us should havethree important documents, a trust, an advanced healthcare directive and adurable power of attorney for financial matters. A trust is essential to avoidprobable. Probate is time consuming, expensive and complicated, according to Cal. Federal and state estate taxesshould not be an issue for most of us, says Cal, so most trusts are fairly simple these days. The biggestpitfall involving a trust is not putting all assets into the trust. Thanks, Cal, for a VERY informative program! Past Pres. Rob Strain was back fromvacation and he recognized two additional Rotarians for their service duringhis term. Congratulations to MargaretClaggett and Art Fleming! Suzy Homme was back to her winning wayswhen she pulled an Ace and collected $63 in the raffle.

New Pres. Drew Clark conducteda Palms To Pines club assembly last week. Pres.Drew introduced our 2011-2012 club officers and presented them with officerpins. He also reviewed upcoming club activities and projects for the comingyear. Pres. Drew still has someopenings for committee chairs. Contact him if you’d like to take on additionalresponsibilities this year. Drew alsomentioned a couple of new club activities beginning this year. Our club willstart running bingo at the Joslyn Center in September and we’re also consideringan October Fest event. Jeff Pattersonis forming a group of club members to visit other valley Rotary clubs. Jeff believes we can make our clubstronger by learning from the activities and projects of other desert clubs. He’sworking on a schedule of club visits so contact him to join the group.

Palms To Pines Rotarians bid farewell to outgoing Pres. Rob Strain and welcomed incoming Pres. Drew Clark at our annual demotion party Wednesday evening.

Held at the La Quinta home of Dana Tarnow, Rotarians and guests enjoyed food, beverages and Rotary Fellowship. Pres. Rob reviewed his Rotary year and presented awards to Rotarians who exemplified Service Above Self.

Special thanks To Dana for volunteering her home!

See photos of the evening in the Photo Album.