Finally, an accountant who can make taxes accessible and udnertandable! Last year, Jim Karp joined us to update us on some of the most critical changes in the tax law affecting business owners and personal estate plans. After he finished, members rated it one of the best programs of the year and extracted a promise from Jim that he'd come back at the beginning of 2012 to bring us up-to-date on any other changes we needed to know about.  Now, exactly one year to the week, Jim returns to keep his promise.  Based on Jim's program last year, you can rest assured that this is one meeting you won't want to miss!  

Bryna Fischer worked for a major Boston publisher, first in the trade and reference division, and later in the elementary school reading department, before turning to freelancing. Bryna has been a freelance editor for more than twenty years, working with diverse clients. She has edited textbooks, trade nonfiction books, and corporate materials. More recently, Bryna has worked as an editor and writer for a major internet content producer, where she edits and writes SEO-driven articles. In her spare time, Bryna serves as vice president of education for her local Hadassah chapter, for which she writes and presents monthly articles on a variety of subjects of interest to Jewish women. She also writes a blog about whatever strikes her fancy. Bryna is a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association.

This past September, Calabasas for the first time ever entertained large numbers of people at Juan Bautista De Anza Park with an evening of music, wine, food and socializing under the late summer sky, at the first Annual Calabasas Music Festival.  The Evening under the Stars Music Festival is the brainchild of Woodland Hills artist Noel Webb.  Vendors, business sponsors, charity groups and on-site food and wine service were on hand. "It's not just a concert, " Webb told the Calabasas Parks, Recreation and Education Commission.  "It's almost like a block party; comfortable, with colleagues and friends all getting together to enjoy a music festival," he said.  

Corazon de Vida (CDV), or Heart of Life, was formed in 1994 to raise funds and support for the children of Baja, Mexico. Without funds for housing, food or social programs for orphaned, homeless and abandoned children, Mexico is not able to provide a future for its youngest citizens.

In keeping with our ongoing commitment to Corazon de Vida, and in the spirit of the season please review the Corazon de Vida Wish List and, if you are able to contribute any of the listed items, please bring them to the meeting and George will see to it they are delivered promptly.

Many of these children are found living on the streets, while a lucky few have been taken in by well meaning families. These families offer help to one or two children in desperate need, and shortly find themselves running a home for as many as 75 or 100 children. The families often seek support from churches, area businesses or friends to feed and clothe the children, but there are no government funds. 

Come out and support the Rotary Clubof Calabasas for an afternoon filled with fun and prizes!  Allproceeds from the event go to support the Calabasas Rotary Club's mission toprovide humanitarian services to our local community and around the world.

Date: December 4, 2011 
Doors open at 1:30 pm   Event starts at 2:00 pm
Event Fee: $1

Location:   Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center

27040 Malibu Hills Rd

Calabasas, CA 91302

• Come see what a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, or dollar can buy
• Your entrance fee of $1 buys you 100 tickets
• 6 tables filled with opportunities to win huge variety of prizes ranging in value from $1 to several hundred dollars.
• Play the tables for a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, $1 or $5
• To win a prize you put your numbered tickets and the corresponding money (ex:penny table = 5 tickets + 5 pennies = 5 chances for your number to be drawn and you become a winner)
• Move fast before someone gets the prize you want

Thanksgiving this year was once again a festive occasion at the Sagebrush Cantina for hundreds of local senior citizens.  As in past years, all the turkeys were collected and donated by Kathleen Sterling, publisher of the Valley Vantage Group of Newspapers, and traditional pumpkin and fruit pies were generously donated by St. Bernardine's Church and School while, in addition to offering the use of its amazing establishment, the Sagebrush Cantina rounded out the meal with delicious holiday side dishes. The overwhelming generosity of these sponsors to provide the traditional holiday dinner essentials was matched only by the willingness of over 150 community volunteers to contribute their time and energy to do the hard work required to make this event possible.

A very special thanks also goes to L.A. City Councilman Mitch Englander who, along with L.A. City Councilman Dennis Zine donated bus transportation from several area Senior Centers, providing transportation for over 200 senior citizens. Silverado Senior Living provided an accessible shuttle to transport those with special requirements, and many other Seniors arrived by car.  Councilman Englander, and his family, were also on hand to work alongside the other community volunteers greeting the Senior Citizens and serving meals. 

Making the day particularly special for the honored guests, were the scores of students who helped in every way possible.  While students from the newly formed Canoga Park High School Interact Club  comprised the largest group, a good number of students also came from the Calabasas High Interact Club, Viewpoint High School and El Camino Real High School, with others from Harvard Westlake School, Nobel Middle School and other area schools.   The opportunity to interact with the students has been consistently noted as a high point by many of the Seniors.

Without a doubt the Thanksgiving Dinner for Seniors was a great success in benefiting not only the Senior Citizens, but was also an enriching experience for all the volunteers and sponsors who participated.

For those who haven't had the pleasure of meeting our District Governor, you're in for a real treat.  We look forward to welcoming DG Tom to our Club on Tuesday, October 18th.  In honor of his visit, and as an informal introduction to our new District Governor, please take a look at his October message, reprinted below:

  Flatly stating that one Avenue of Service is our most important Avenue is always a recipe for getting yourself in trouble—so I am going to stay away from saying that Vocational Service is our single most important Avenue; but’s it’s really tempting to stir the pot by saying so. Why? Because it is the one Avenue of Service that really and truly sets Rotary apart from so many other organizations that do good in the world. For someone who just wants to help out by serving his or her community or the world there are lots of groups out there; groups that don’t ask you to come to meetings once a week and pay dues. What makes a Rotarian a Rotarian is that while we want to serve others, we want to extend that service all the way down to what we do in our businesses and professions every single day. We honor all “useful occupations” and encourage our members to conduct their lives according to the Four Way Test. Rotary has five “core values” and three of them relate very strongly back to Vocational Service: fellowship, leadership, and integrity.

 

We can’t ever forget that Rotary started out in 1905 as an organization for men (and now, thank goodness, women) who were engaged in business and the professions, and who wanted to associate with others who shared their ethical standards and beliefs. They believed in coming together in friendship once a week to share experiences and contacts, and to serve others. We have never really been a “business referral network”, and we are not supposed to expect any “advantage” from doing business with Rotarians, but our clubs have always been forums where individual Rotarians could trust in the integrity of their fellow club members, learn from them, and never worry about referring customers and clients in need of a product or service to a fellow member.

 

Perhaps most importantly, Rotary Clubs have always been made up of people who are active and working in the community. Back in 1905 we were founded by a group of “thirty-somethings” who wanted to be connected to their communities. Our Clubs should still be fulfilling that roll as a place in our communities where business, professional, and community leaders come together to make things happen.

 

This year, I am asking all the clubs in our District to implement a Vocational Service project that is directed to reminding Rotarians about our commitment to high ethical standards and personal integrity. While we have many Vocational Service projects, many of these are aimed at educating and helping non-Rotarians—so I want to see at least one project in every club for the members themselves that truly advances our commitment to being better individuals. Let’s remember that Vocational Service adds value back to each of us and gives us all a compelling reason to be Rotarians.

 

Maybe I will go ahead and risk it—Vocational Service is our most important Avenue of Service.

 

Rocking on . . .

Tom

Be sure to stop by the Calabasas Pumpkin Festival this weekend  for a fun-filled family day with friends and neighbors.  Enjoy rides, bands, contests, car show and lots of food!  

Speaking of FOOD, the Rotary Club of Calabasas will reprise its premier Pumpkin Pie booth this year, where we will once again be selling generous slices, with or without a dollop of whipped cream, both in celebration of our city's namesake, and to raise much needed funds to help our Club sustain its ongoing projects.

We have a very special meeting in store for our lunch meeting this Tuesday, October 4th.  Honorary Calabasas Rotarian,  Kathleen Sterling will be the special guest , and will discuss her recently published book, "Sex After Death: A Love Story".  

Kathleen Sterling is an award winning journalist and, as owner of the Valley News Group, publisher of three weekly newspapers in Los Angeles: Warner Center News, Valley Vantage and Las Virgenes Enterprise.  She graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from USC and received a MBA from UCLA's Anderson School of Management. Sterling started her first newspaper at the age of twenty-two. She and her husband Rodger worked together for twenty-five years until his death in 2009.

Sex After Death began as a journal she kept in the hospital at her husband's bedside. It evolved into a chronicle of her life as a young widow - true, tragic and often funny. Sterling lives and works in suburban Los Angeles. She is actively involved in the community as a publisher, and as a volunteer with many organizations. In her spare time - which she doesn't have a lot of! - she is an avid reader and traveler.

Dan Duncan worked as a physics and electronics teacher for 33 years for both the Los Angeles and Pasadena school districts.   Dan has been a licensed amateur ("ham") radio operator since 1966, and is known online by his license number, WA6NZZ.

When disaster strikes throughout the world, amateur radio operators step in to support or, when needed, replace the traditional lines of communication. They work closely with the Red Cross, Red Crescent Society, Rotary, Lions and so many other service and relief organizations to provide help to thousands in need throughout the world.

Don't even think about missing next Tuesday's meeting, when we will have the extraordinary opportunity for an intriguing glimpse at the significant roles of translators and translation services in the world today.

Irene Agnew is founder and President of Agnew Tech-II, dba Agnew Multilingual, with more than 30 years experience in the translation field. Prior to establishing Agnew Tech-II in 1986, she was a consultant for Bunker Ramo Corporation on machine translation research and at the height of cold war translated radio broadcasts from USSR for the US State Departments’ Foreign Broadcast Information Service.

Irene Agnew is a founding member of the National Association of Women Business Owners, Ventura County, and a recipient of the Trailblazer of the Year award in 2001. She is a member of the American Translators Association, and is International Chair of Rotary Club of Conejo Valley.  

MEETING REMINDER

More specifically, on Tuesday, August 30th, our Club will meet at 6:00pm for an EVENING MEETING at the Sagebrush Cantina.

See you there!

Don't miss it!  Be sure to attend the meeting on Tuesday, August 2nd, for a  first hand account of the sights and sounds - and a beautiful array of photos - from Bill & Jean's  recent tour of twelve countries in Eastern Europe.

Come enjoy this fabulous feast of fellowship with our Calabasas Rotarians!

Invited to speak at the meeting on Tuesday, July 19th, Jordan Wright, also known as "Mr. Right",  will discuss Surrealism: Exploring the World Between Fantasy and Reality.

Jordan is an accomplished performer with over 15 years of experience performing in major cities such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Chicago. His Las Vegas performances have graced venues as large as the 6,000-seat Orleans Arena and the elegant Wynn Las Vegas. In addition to performing in different venues across the U.S., Jordan has also performed for crowds of people all over Canada, Italy, Taiwan, and China. For four years Jordan apprenticed under world-renowned magician Jeff McBride, obtaining knowledge and performance techniques useful for his future in magic.  Blending psychology, art, and magic to create riveting performance pieces, Jordan gives his audiences an entertaining and uniquely interactive experience.