Newsletter - Archive  May 2, 2010

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We Did It!!

Harlem Ambassadors Deliver an Exciting and Fun Filled, Profitable Event

Congratulations Everyone, what an exciting night we provided for about a thousand of our friends and neighbors in Villa Park.   I have received nothing but compliments about the event from everyone I've run into .  And how about that Rotary Wheels Team!!  From power forward Brice Prather, shooting guard Riley Johnson and Center Eric Chenowith( all 7'2" of him)  along with a whole group of talented young players and coaches they gave the Ambassadors notice early on that this was going to be a basketball game and not a comedy show.  When it  was all over the mutual admiration was touching as the players hugged and shook hands.  Many of the Rotary Wheels players were thrilled to have competed  and heard  the roar of the appreciative crowd every time they scored a basket. The outcome  wasn't important( the Ambassadors Won 88-73); it was the positive energy that filled the gymnasium. For those of you who hung around for the post-game dinner with the Ambassadors it was a real treat to learn more about the Ambassador players who all have college degrees, have avoided using drugs. They travel world playing these exhibition games to help groups like ours raise funds.

Other highlights of the evening were the demonstration of Wheelchair Basketball by Bob Bell's grandson and two  of his teammates during the first quarter break , that amazing all net 3 point shot by Villa Park High's Varsity Women's Basketball Coach Kim Cram, Swosh!!,  the 1st rate program that Linda Bartrom-Olsen and VPHS Graphics Teacher Zoe Seals put together, Wayne Silzel's dance moves with Lade Majic,  and of course the pre-game Tail Gate feast for  about 100 guests  that was loving prepared by Steve Stern and a bunch of shish kabob makers.

Gross receipts for the event totalled over $14,000 with over $2000 of donations and $1000 of food sponsorships.  We'll tally the expenses and figure out how much we actually made in the coming weeks.

 Thank you all for helping to make this event the overwhelming success we knew it could be and  very special thanks to those who went the extra mile and stayed late into the night to help with the clean up, gave up their Saturdays to help sell tickets and  ran all over on their own time to get the event program, team jerseys and everything right.  That's what "Service Above Self" is all about!!

Jay

Anyone who has photos from the event please forward them to me so I can post them on the website.

But Back to business:  We've got a newsletter to write!!

Newsletter Rotary Club of Villa Park

T minus 48 and Counting To the Big Fundraiser

All System are Go for Lift Off

Our meeting this week opened with an invocation by JIm Glenn,  Pledge of Allegiance by Lesslie Giacobbi and a rousing version of Zipity Do Dah.  President-Elect Greg Mills led us in the reading of Rotary's Four Way Test.

Guests:

Dan Hunsburger from the Orange Club

Brian Kalchman from Villa Park Magazine

Announcements:

LInda Bartrom-Olsen-   May 13th will be our annual Club Recognition Day

                        Awards to be given:   Above and Beyond-  Teri Brooks

                                                       Teacher of the Year- Anita Jameson

                                                       Essay Contest Winners- Lesslie

                                                                                 Giacobbi

                                                        Business of the Year- Pam Dunn

                                              May 22nd Interact Awards Dinner at

                                                         Rockwell's

                                                           Scholarships and recognition of Interact

                                               Clubs from Villa Park and Lutheran High..

Jay Applebaum- gave us the latest on what turned out to be a wonderful event for our club and the entire community of Villa Park( See comments above)

Pete Moriarty -Membership Committee Chair reminded us of our commitment to get 10 new members in the next 14 month

Brad Reese talked about donation that can be made at the City Hall for Homeaid Essentials- diapers, bottles, baby wipes, etc.

Bob Meyer thanked Millie Alexander for helping with his project to send Tide Laundry Detergent to the troops in Afghanistan and had some great photos of the troops holding the detergent with big smiles

Jill Kuli-  Let us know the kids who attended RYLA last weekend had a great time.

Jay Applebaum updated us on Dan Cregg who recently had a stem cell transplant at UCLA and is recovering at home.

Wayne Silzel -encountered a student at Villa Park High last wednesday during the Open House that our rotary club had sponsored as an Explorer Scout. He was very grateful for the experience.  Wayne was very impressed with the high school and the esprit de corp he felt while hanging around promoting the Harlem Ambassadors Game.  He, Pete Moriarty, Jay Applebaum and Greg Mills were treated to a VPHS Choir concert that sounded heavenly under the breezeway at the High School.

Happy Bucks:

Jane McDonald thanked Jay Applebaum for his efforts with the Harlem Ambassador game.  If you've been to Jane's home you know she had two concrete pigs that greeted you by the front gate, unfortunately someone stole one of the pigs; Jane has replaced them with concrete goats.

Jay Applebaum thanked all those people who came to the high school last Wednesday night to help promote the basketball game.

He also thanked Ed Howard for the sales pitch he delivered during his opening remarks to the parents.

Marsha Leeg- visiting from Nevada was impressed with the energy and enthusiasm surrounding the basketball event.

Jeannie Hankinsattended the Orange Rotary Fundraiser  and won a dinner for Four at OPUS.  She also reminded everyone that this weekend was the District Conference at the Knott's Berry Farm Hotel .  The hospitality suites will be on Friday Night.

Teri Brooks pointed out that there was an article in the Orange City News(Front Page) about Covenant Presbyterian Church and that

all the members of the church owe $1.

She was proud of her sons who each bought 4 tickets to the basketball game to donate to needy kids and she thanked Brad Reese for helping her with her yard problems.

Mark Schmidt just returned from a 1 week trip to the east coast where Jan worked with her choir project.  They started off in New York City where 300 kids sang at mass, then Sparta New Jersey where Mark and Heidi are planning to relocate and then Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Louisville.  The trip covered 1000 miles

Speaker:  Bob Kreisberg

Bob loves to sell and started his career at age 18. At age 20 he met his future wife Fran through his dad's tailor store and married at age 23. At that time he was a junior sales rep for a company that sold turnkey computer systems to small business owners. He soon moved up to be the New York Branch Manager and ultimately the National Sales Manager relocating his family to Irvine.

He and Fran have 2 children Jason, age 33 is a brilliant young man who attended MIT as a Biology Major and now is doing disease research in Singapore. Bob is very proud of him and Fran has a tee shirt that reads:  " after all I've done for you would one Nobel Prize be too much to ask?" Bob and Fran fully expect that some day this will come to pass.  There daughter Lauren, who always lived in the shadow of her brothers intelligence ("Einstein's Kid Sister"), is 29 and is a certified Veterinary Technician and just help set up an animal hospital in a local animal shelter for which she received high praise.

Bob and Fran are proud of both children.

    Bob is currently the president of Opus Marketing.

He joined his first Rotary Club in 1991 in the Irvine Spectrum Club after attending a "Meet the Mayor" event. He liked the people, the energy and friendliness. Rotary has and will be an important of Bob's Life.   He moved to Villa Park in 1995 and then District Governor Mike Abdulla decided to help start a Rotary Club in Villa Park. He tasked Jay Lieberman, Bob and Nick Terpestra with laying the groundwork and Jay Lieberman went on to be the club's first president in 1996.

Bob served as everything else.  The first speakers program for our club was our very own "onery" member Bob Meyer , who spoke about his glider pilot experience in WWII.  And the rest is history....