VOTERS WHO WERE MISCOUNTED - UNITE!

While YOE hasn't heard from any WVRC members who may qualify as above, it does seem appropriate to title the real news of the day this way…

But I digress, and now I'll record most of what happened yesterday, Nov. 9th
at noon.  KEVIN KOMATSU led us off with the Pledge  - and let us never forget that it is, indeed the best country in the world today. LENNY FRIEDMAN and JACK HARRIS offered You're a Grand Old Flag.  This was preceded by JACK saying he would give us a starting note, then being overruled by LENNY, who pleaded with the ladies present to really let him hear their soprano voices.  A couple of grumblers asked, soto voche (that means off key, or something similar) what they should do since they were altos, not sopranos. But even with this minor discontent, we did get through the song.  SHARON RHODES-WICKETT led up to her Invocation by reminding us that our country was, indeed, in a waiting mode, and ended
her prayer with "Teach us to Wait".

JIM GREATHEAD introduced visiting Rotarian Hideyuki Yoshida, from the Rotary Club of Tsu in Japan.  Hideyuki was accompanied by his translator, and we learned that Mr. Yoshida is the G.M. of an advertising agency - and YOE cannot help but point out that coming to the US on business and needing a translator would make for a quite difficult visit.  Prez STEVE asked each table to introduce the spouses and significant others who were present - and it was a large group:  ELEANOR MORE, A.J. WHITE, DORIS SUMNER, MARGE VIAU, CLAUDE CUTRIGHT, JOY BENNETT WOLFE, BETTYE WOODWORTH, SHIRLEY MORE, ELOISE SISKEL, AL RHODES-WICKETT, CAROLINE HARRIS,MARJORIE ZICKFELD MARY JANE BLEAK, PAULINE HARRIS and ANNIE TSENG (who had a special reason to be there).  There was one Special Guest, Bert Kriesburg, who is in Financial Consulting, and was brought by RALPH SMITH. PP STEVE SCHERER had two guests with strong ties to our speaker - Mary and Bob Norvet, GEORGE DEA escorted Jessica Lee and Umi Hara of Rotaract.  

RUDY ALVAREZ asked for housing for three groups of three people each, who will be arriving on November 20th, and staying until December 18th.  Each group consists of a mother, a child having surgery at UCLA, and a translator (since the parent and child speak no English) and would need little except room and board during all or part of this month-long period.  This program is entitled Gift of Life, and it certainly deserves our consideration - all RUDY if you can help, please.  The Bell Then Tolled, which YOE has now figured out means it's going to cost someone some money.  The lucky recipient was none other than PP MIKE NEWMAN, who is being married TOMORROW to Angel!  This cost MIKE 150 big ones - but MIKE, get used to it - being married isn't free…

Having survived this financial blow, PP MIKE then led us through a long
introduction to our new Rotarian of the Year.  This was complicated by the
fact that the recipient has so many singular accomplishments that they had to
be camouflaged with serious obfuscation (that means trying to lead you
astray, YOE thinks).  But since the name is now known anyway, let me here
highlight some of the accomplishments of our Rotarian of the Year, HENRY
TSENG. He and Annie have been married for 66 years - apparently she agrees that he is a very good husband.  Born in Yokohama, he moved to Hong Kong and was one of the original water-skiers, having the fastest ski boat (inboard, 42 feet) in the world for some time.  His business was import/export, and he is a past president of the Hong Kong Rotary Club.  He and Annie met when he was visiting in Shanghai, and then he pursued her to H.K. where she accepted his proposal (based, they claim, on the advice of her father).  Both he and Annie love to dance, and HENRY still exercises daily at the Westside YMCA.  HENRY is now 92, and since he is planning on making 100, he advocates his regular exercise regimen.  Congratulations, HENRY - Rotarian of the Year for 2000-200l.

A couple of quick but important announcements, please:
We are dark on Nov 23rd, but back on the 30th.
December 14th - our Christmas Program featuring the PaliHi Madrigals
and that evening, MIKE YOUSEM'S Christmas shopping trip - call him, OK?
Dec 15th - HOWIE HENKES has room for a few good helpers on the Braille
Institute Luncheon - it's a great way to get into the spirit of Christmas.
And an unpaid commercial - STEW GILMAN won the $700 Family Photo Gift
Certificate, which is valid until the end of January 2001.  He can't use it. 
The Photographer is Bradford Renaissance in Newport Beach, and his samples are beautiful.  You are still in time for that family Christmas portrait -
give STEW a call, please.

PP STEVE SCHERER introduced our Speaker, Charles Cappleman, Senior VP,West Coast Operations and Engineering for CBS Corporation.  Charles graduated from William and Mary, served in the US Air Force and joined CBS in 1954.  In 1974, for a local touch, he graduated from the Executive Program at UCLA.  He is an active Methodist, lives in Tarzana with his wife Jane, and they have four adult children.  His topic was The Changing Face of TV Production.  STEVE'S guest, Bob Norvet, was Charles' boss until he retired in 1992.  In a brief historical tribute, Bob pointed out that he had known Charles for over 40 years, and he recalls asking him where he got all his energy - "If you are working for the Lord, he takes care of it".

Charles began by telling us that he had received a copy of the Rotary Code of Ethics when still in high school, and it remains a basic tenet of his life
philosophy.  His 16-minute tape gave an overview of CBS TV history, and
brought back many memories of past and present programs.  Their two
production facilities are housed at the Studio Center (1976), in the Valley,
and CBS TV City (1986), on Fairfax Avenue, which together provide 26 sound stages and thus a complete menu of facilities for all aspects of TV
production. They also rent their facilities to a number of independent
producers, including Touchstone Pictures, Castle Rock, and Dreamworks SKG, to name a few.

Currently CBS is offering 15 to 17 hours weekly on high definition TV, a new
digital type of signal, and this will continue to increase.  This high
definition resolution is four times as clear as earlier TV, so we can all
look forward to considerably greater clarity in TV.  In his brief Q&A,
Charles said that Broadband TV is coming, but that the needed royalty
payments are still an unresolved problem.  He strongly feels that free TV
will continue, even with the great, and continuing,  expansion of
pay-for-view and cable.  Who were the easiest performers he has worked with - everyone loved Red Skelton, and Carol Burnett.  He also was associated with Ed Murrow, who was very special.  Charles, thanks for sharing your view of the future of TV - it's important to all of us.

Thought for the Day - "If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn't
thinking" George S Patton.

                                YOE, Ernie Wolfe