JIM GREATHEAD started us off with the Pledge, also announcing, in response to an inquiry from Pres. GEORGE, that it was true - he and Doris have just celebrated their 69th Wedding Anniversary! Looks to YOE that that will be a tough record to beat…

Next came the Song - America the Beautiful - ably led by PP STEVE DAY, and nicely accompanied on the Big Piano by PP JIM DOWNIE. SLOS VIAU first suggested we sit down, then asked for a moment of silence for those lost their lives in the attacks on Sept 11th. He reminded us that we need to exercise restraint in assuming that anyone who LOOKS Middle Eastern is not automatically guilty of anti-US allegiance.

Kevin, the parking guy, told us of the new parking policy, which goes into effect next Thursday - for those who self-park, the first level of the lot above Stone Canyon is henceforth to be used only by us, OK? Note that no street parking will be allowed. Kevin's joke for the day concerns a guy who was trying out for the circus, and the man who was doing the hiring was known to be very hard to impress. So when the prospect leaped off a nearby high point and swooped down almost to the ground, then did a loop to land at the feet of the hirer, the response was "What's with this bird imitation?" Next up was PP JOHN SINGLETON, who stuttered his way through a story about a man who was selling Bibles. Seems the secret of his success was that if they didn't buy, he then offered to READ the Bible to them. PP TOM LENEHEN called our attention to the presence of former member Lee Walker, who was warmly received.

BILL PIERCE was finally present along with PP RON LYSTER, so the long-awaited sage of their motorcycling adventure to and from San Antonio for the recent International Convention was told. Without covering all their problems, and speaking as a non-rider of such vehicles, YOE has to report that he wasn't inclined to take the sport up, based on this chronicle. But for accepting all of BILL'S assistance, PP RON was fined a hundred clams - and without a Dea Dollar as an offset, yet. RUDY ALVAREZ had as his guests his daughter and son-in-law, Anika and Yoshio Nishio. KEN KILPO brought Charles Gafney, while PP DAVE MORE was with Eleanor, PETER MORE brought Shirley, and Janice was with Pres. GEORGE. Jessica Lee was introduced as the new President of our Rotaract Club and she was accompanied by last year's Co-president, Yumi Hara.

PP STEVE DAY reminded us that he still hasn't gotten back all the ticket stubs for the Raffle at the Paul Harris Celebration - and of course, if you don't turn them in, you cannot win any of the excellent prizes that are being offered. Space has become available at one of our tables, so it isn't too late to sign up - Give it a go - you'll enjoy it! Several of our members have contributed prizes, among them Sunny and LENNY FRIEDMAN, Joanne and PP JOHN SINGLETON, Shirley and PETER MORE, BILL EDWARDS, KEVIN KOMATSU, ANN ELKIN, BRUCE ROLF, SHERRY DEWANE, and DAN PRICE. Eloise and PP HOWARD SISKEL were warmly thanked for making their lovely home available for last Sunday's picnic. Those who helped in a big way included the cooks, PP STEVE DAY, LEO TSENG, and PP RALPH WOODWORTH, PETER MORE as chief assistant to Shirley, YOE on the games, PP JIM DOWNIE with his keyboard, Pres. GEORGE and Janice, RUDY ALVAREZ, PP MIKE NEWMAN, and PP STEVE ADLER and Claude. This was our most successful picnic ever, as far as YOE can remember, anyway - almost 100 guests - and everyone who attended had a great time. The starting time of 1 p.m., ending at 4 was well-accepted.

Three announcements, if I may: The WVR Auxiliary will meet on Wednesday, Oct 10th, at 11:30 noon, at the home of Margaret and HARLAN LEWIS. The program, by DAN PRICE, will be "Hollywood's Golden Age" and club members and visitors are welcome. And speaking of DAN PRICE, he reminded me that I misspelled Mae West's name last week - and DID YOU KNOW that she is the only entertainer ever listed in the Dictionary? Seems she was noted as providing the name for the standard Life Jackets used by seaman all over the world! And a health note - DAN SKINNER recently had surgery on his foot, because of an injury related to his diabetes - give him a ring, please.

PP BOB WESSLING, even though somewhat subdued by another poor start for his beloved DePauw Tigers, introduced both our speakers. DORE CHARBONNEAU joined WVRC this past June, and is Executive Director of Development for the Southern California Division of the Salvation Army. She is a graduate of Westmont College in Santa Barbara, where she served as their Development Director immediately after graduation. She has also served with the Southern California Save The Children program, with Cal Tech, plus running her own Fund Raising consultancy.

DORE started out by saying how pleased she was to be on the same program with RUDY, who has a Ph.D. in Sociology - she was Sociology major at Westmont. While there, a friend who was a history major explained that the purpose of Sociology was to painfully explain the obvious…On a more serious note, DORE was born in Pasadena, and grew up in Southern California. She has a son who is deaf, due to her having German Measles when she was pregnant. She and her son communicate by signing, and she had found this to be an excellent method to transmit knowledge. DORE noted that the local Salvation Army sponsors 53 church and social programs - while the national organization serves over 100,000 meals to needy persons every day. She defines her responsibility as bringing the SA into the forefront of everyone's thinking - a major task, since much of what they do is just not known outside the SA itself. (PP BOB would remind us all that Rotary is one of the world's best-kept secrets, and DORE has the same feeling about the SA).

She lives in Altadena and her hobby is rescuing dogs! She has founded WOOF, an acronym which means Work Opportunities for Outstanding Teachers. Its purpose is to educate mainly homeless people as dog trainers, since many of them lack basic skills. Over 150 homeless people have completed the course, which shows that dog training is indeed something they can do. Her dream is to create a shelter for homeless teenagers in Hollywood - a really pressing need. DORE, you have had a most engrossing career, and we are very pleased to have you as one of us.

RUDY ALVAREZ was up next, and pointed out that he was a bit tardy in giving his Craft Talk. He was sponsored by KEN GROSSMAN, a neighbor, and DON HANDY. He became a member on 23 October 1983 - some 18 years ago, but somehow was never scheduled for his Craft Talk - so be forewarned, he has had lots of time to prepare! RUDY'S parents came from Mexico, and he was the third of four children, all born in San Antonio, Texas. He grew up there, spent three years in the Marine Corps, and then moved to California. A fellow Marine and he were offered great housing in the Bay Area, so they enrolled at San Francisco State. RUDY took his junior year abroad, in Aix-en-Provence. He and his wife were married there, and they both graduated from S.F State. They moved to Seattle, where RUDY pursued both his MA and Ph.D. in Sociology.

His first teaching job was as an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Yale, in July of 1966. In 1971, he interviewed at UCLA, and was appointed in July of 1972. His marriage began to fall apart, and he was divorced in 1983 - the same year he joined WVRC. At that time he was the President of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California - but we took him in anyway! He has two daughters, both of whom went to local schools. Anica, the older, graduated from Yale in 1988, and her younger sister, Amira, graduated from UC Berkeley in 1992. (You may recall that Anica and her husband were present today when Rudy spoke).

RUDY adopted the Duarte Rotary Club for ACLU involvement, since they had just been expelled from RI International - because they brought in some women members! This was just one of RUDY'S interests and he obviously enjoys what some of us would call liberal pursuits. This summer he took his annual trip to Aix-en-Provence, and later visited colleagues in the former Yugoslavia. He continues his research, writing, and teaching at UCLA, of course. RUDY, thanks for bring us up to date on your various activities - even though late, your Craft Talk was excellent.

YOE, Ernie Wolfe