DON PARK led us in the Pledge - particularly fitting since he was the sponsor of ALON DORON, one of today's inductees. LENNY FRIEDMAN combined with LYNDON PARKER (this duo being identified by LENNY as the Two Shorties) for And The Saints Go Marching In. LYNDON, already being up there, then gave a thoughtful Invocation, based on living one's life one day at a time. It should also be reported - in the constant pursuit of absolute accuracy, to which YOE is always dedicated…- that LYNDON did 'Left Foot' us, suggesting as how he was beginning with Chapter One. Not true, but a Good Job, LYNDON

PP DAVE MORE was next up, introducing our two visiting Rotarians. First up was Francis Lichtenberger, son of MAX of the same last name - Francis lives in Boston, belongs to Rotary there, and MAX told me that having his grandchildren for a visit was always a highlight. Our other Visiting Rotarian was our Speaker, Earl Mindell, who belongs to Beverly Hills Rotary. But alas, from the podium, as many of us well know, skipping the Guests of Rotarians is one of the most common mistakes - however, PP ERIC LOBERG leaped to his feet to point out this egregious error. ERIC added a question -"What's the deal - have we got enough new members already?" "Should we tell them to come back next year?' Anyway, you get the drift - ERIC was having a very good time. It turns out he was not entirely selfless in this harangue, having two 'Yokels' along whom HE wished to introduce. First was our former member, Erny Pinckert, and next was Special Guest Eric Pinckert -who is, if you were paying attention, Erny's son. In response to a direct question from ERIC (that's LOBERG, not Pinckert) Pres. GEORGE assured him that our membership rolls would remain open all next week. SHERRY DEWANE had a Special Guest, Sandra Von Paul, who is a Wealth Management Specialist - she is also with Wells Fargo.

SUSAN ALLEN rose to make an announcement. She reported that Jinbeck Lee, one of our Ambassadorial Scholars, had returned to Korea upon completing his studies, and is going to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers there. He has just learned that he passed ALL the USA CPA exams which he took here in November - so as we suspected, Jinbeck is not only a real scholar, but also a credit to our Ambassadorial program. SUSAN ALLEN was Jinbeck's Counselor- and her concern and help to him was amply rewarded. We had a note from our Resident Angel, VIRGINIA HANDY, thanking us for the recent bouquet from WVRC. Our next Yearling Breakfast is coming up this Tuesday, February 26th, at the Holiday Inn on Sunset and the 405 - HARLAN LEWIS is the person to contact, since we do need reservations, please. RUDY ALVAREZ and then PP RON LYSTER spoke about the upcoming District Conference in San Diego from May 2nd through the 5th. Eight of our members are on the planning committee, there will be lots of things to do and see - so save the date, and call PP DOUG DESCH to make a reservation.

MARK BLOCK was asked about the upcoming Japanese Student Exchange, which takes place in late June into July. This is a truly wonderful program, and each student who has participated gives glowing reports. Applications will be online - but please think seriously, right now, about a child or grandchild who should be considering going. Call me - I'll be happy to get the juices going. SANDY SANDERSON pointed out that yesterday, 022002 is the first time in hundreds of years that these numbers came together. Specifically, it was in 111111 And of course, some wag asked if anyone could remember when it last happened, but this question was wisely ignored.

PDG BILL GOODWYN (got it spelled right, again!) did his usual excellent job of inducting our four new members who were present. BILL pointed out that this was the continuation of a 73-year-old tradition at WVRC, and reminded us that RI will be celebrating its one-hundredth Anniversary in 2005! A couple of historical notes should be remembered - WVRC has given the Rotary Foundation $551,000, including 600 Paul Harris Fellows, and we are just a part of 30,000 Rotary Clubs in 185 countries all over the world. Truly, this is a major fellowship of like-minded women and men.

MICHAEL GINTZ is the Manager of City National Bank in Westwood, and was sponsored by TWO PP's, BOB LUSK and JOHN SINGLETON. Not to be outdone in this sponsorship business, the team of HOMER and MICHAEL NEWMAN (another TWO PP's) brought LILLIAN KLIEWER into WVRC - she is in Real Estate. ALON DORON, who is in Custom Publishing, was sponsored by DON PARK. CATHY REZOS was sponsored by RUDY ALVAREZ, and she is a Personal Business Affairs Consultant. BILL then reminded us that if we all joined Rotary to help others, we are in the right place. So, four fine new members, and their Sponsors were honored with special lapel pins. Note - a couple more are yet to be inducted, so stay tuned.

PAUL SORRELL introduced our Speaker, DR. Earl Mindell. He was first a Pharmacist, then received his Ph.D. in Nutrition, and is the author of numerous books - the most famous being his Vitamin Bible, which has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. His topic today was Health Secrets of the 21st Century.

He began with some alarming statistics. The US Surgeon General estimates that 61% of adult Americans are overweight, and 1/3rd of our children are following the same pattern. This obesity is the cause of 300K deaths each year! Recently, diabetes has become the most rapidly increasing disease, and again, obesity is the leading cause of diabetes. He suggests that we take better care of our cars (and our PETS) than we do of ourselves, and that is certainly a disturbing thought.

Dr. Mindell puts forth a six-point program, which will lead to optimal health. Note the word optimal - that means best, as opposed to so/so, or just getting along. Here, briefly, are the six steps:
Eat your way to optimal health - concentrate on fruits and vegetable, five or more daily.
Drink 8 to 10 glasses of water each day.
Add movement and exercise to your daily regimen - brisk walking two miles is excellent.
Reduce your stress for health and longevity.
Sleep eight hours every night.
And supplement your diet with vitamins and minerals.

Some general comments - avoid decaffeinated soft drinks, and alcohol. Soft drinks are really hard candy - they are the leading source of sugar intake - cut them out. He pointed out the gigantic burgers we see on the TV screen, and wonders if they provide a tire jack to keep your mouth open that wide. Stick to natural foods - much of what we see in the grocery store today is artificially processed, and that's not good.

Q&A - What are antioxidants. They are important, and vitamin C plus green and yellow fruits and vegetables are excellent natural sources. Are there different kinds of sugars. There are eight, but we only get two. How would you rate our meal today. Salad was good, and chicken is fine - avoid red meat. Are eggs bad for your cholesterol. Not really - eating cholesterol is OK, and they get a bad rap. There was more - but a bit of editorializing may be in order here: This was a very self-promoting presentation, and much of what he offered we have heard many times before. I personally heard six or seven of our members disagreeing with this kind of program, and while it may be hard to know what to expect, the best safeguard is probably to hear the speaker before inviting him. As a final and very personal opinion, our own DR RALPH BEASOM is a lot more helpful resource (and he loves to share his knowledge).

Two final health notes. DANNY SKINNER is having a tough time. He has had some more toes amputated, and needs our support. Give him a ring or stop by to say hello, please. And BOB TROXLER is doing better, but would appreciate some visitors. Let's be real here - none of us do enough nice things, and here are two chances to improve your score (and your self-esteem).

YOE, Ernie Wolfe