Newsletter - Archive  Sep 17, 2009

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Rotary Club of Villa Park

Newsletter

Lopushinsky thrills with Tales and Photos from Africa

Oktoberfest  Tickets Going Fast

We had a busy morning that began with an invocation by Mark Schmidt, flag salute by Millie Alexander and Steven Pollack led us in "Roll Out the Barrel".

Guests:

Brian Kalchman- from Villa Park Magazine

Gerardo Rodriguez- a guest of Greg Mills

Steve Lopushinsky- Orange Rotary and today's speaker

Birthdays:

Sylvan Swartz- Sept 15th- Sylvan went to New York to visit family- he shared his birthday with his daughter-in-law and grandson

Announcements:

Steve Stern announced that there will be a wine tasting at our upcoming Oktoberfest.  Steve has sampled 6 wines he thinks will be very popular.

He also reminded us about the upcoming Vintage 5320 Dinner- on Sept 26 at his home that will feature wines from the Santa Maria area- all are welcome- $10 per person plus bring a bottle of wine from the Santa Maria area.

He was also happy to announce that Stan Van Der Berg is up for membership and will be voted on at the next board meeting at the end of this month.

Jill Kuli talked about the Oktoberfest Event Program Booklet and reminded the group that its time to submit ads-  ad prices:   Business card size= $35; Half Page= $50; Full Page= $100.

Jill can do design if necessary.  Everyone should have at least a business size ad or a note in the program.

By the way Clarinel Stamos's Oktoberfest Poster can be seen on the welcome page of our website www.RotaryclubofVillaPark.org  and in various locations about town. Keep an eye out!!

Kirk Parker requested that those individuals who donate items for the silent or live auction should write up a description of the item.

President Joe Brand reminded everyone that club membership requires a donation of $250 in cash, goods or services to Oktoberfest.

Greg Mills is looking for volunteers to help purchase supplies- tickets, celaphane, etc for the event.

He reminded us that Oktoberfest rapidly approaching and to keep those donations coming.

Pam Dunn told us ticket sales have been very brisk and lots of checks have been coming in.

She asked that we get the checks in quickly to have monies available in advance of the event to pay for some of the supplies.  Make sure to get an address of each person purchasing the tickets for the data base; emails if available.

Each table will seat 10 people.

                                                                    Happy Bucks:

Steven Pollack was happy to announce that his son Cameron had graduated high school.

good luck and congratulations Cameron!!!

Paul Hudson was just happy- life is good.

Jay Applebaum announced that the club helped collect 3,700 pounds of food for the Orange County Food Bank- the club received a thank you letter and certificate that will be posted on the website photo album page- Thank you to all involved.

Teri Brooks was excited about the Villa Park Spartan Football team beating Valencia last week

speaking of the Spartans, Milt Stamos was happy his grandson's freshman football team won last week and yesterday.

Eric Sense is getting his 8th grade football team game ready and invites us all to attend.

He is also impressed with the improvements he's seen at VPHS's football program.

Eddie Nash experienced his first helicopter ride on a trip to Catalina last weekend.  He saw dolphins and a school of tuna along the way and ran into a bartender whose girlfriend was a long lost cousin he hadn't seen in 23 years. Small world.

He also was pleased to be able to help Bob Carey's efforts to renovate a van for the Spartan Marching Band- he donated $1500 toward the mechanics fee to rehab the engine.

Ken Meyer returned and told us his wife Angel is home from Iraq and stationed in Texas. He reported that his dad Bob Meyer is being treated like royalty on his trip to Holland and is slated to be received by the royal family. Way to go Bob; I've been forwarding Bob's travel log to the club, so hopefully you've all read his story first hand.

Nagi Ibrahim- was happy that both USC(where his son graduated) and UCLA(where his daughter graduated) both won their respective football games.

Pam Dunn bought in a floral arrangement donated by the Flowery and Paul Hudson had the winning bid of $40. The money will be donated to the Oktoberfest fund.

Teri Brooks had her article announcing Oktoberfest in this morning's edition of the Orange City News.

Opportunity Drawing- George Poulos had Milt Stamos pull the card for him.  Milt vowed that if he picked the joker he and George were going Athens, Greece- he drew a 7; maybe next time Milt-  $1000 plus remains in the pot with 20+ cards left in the pot.

SPEAKER:  Steve Lopushinsky

Steve, an avid mountain biker, volunteered his services to photograph a 200 mile mountain bike ride/safari through African game preserves.  He was riding for an organization called Children of the Wilderness which raises monies to help the children in the region.  275 bikers took the 4 day trek and Steve photographed the event, getting some great shots of the animals and riders. He was able to take his wife and young daughter, who we learned was very knowledgeable about the animals.

Steve had some incredible shots including one of an elephant breaking out of the bush to chase the group.   Brian Kalchman from the Villa Park Magazine expressed great interest in the talk and photos and I wouldn't be surprized if an article doesn't appear in an upcoming issue of the magazine.

Great job Steve,  incredible photos and obviously wonderful lifelong memories to share with your family.

Steve Lopushinksy- frequent club visitor and good friend, recent African Explorer

and photographer extraordinaire

Oktoberfest is in 20 days

Keep those donations and ticket sales coming