UPCOMING PROGRAMS

Jan 10: Most Reverend José

Gomez, LA Archbishop

Jan 17: Richard McPherson,

Downrange Global Solutions

Jan 24: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

retired basketball player

CALENDAR IT NOW

Jan 14: District Breakfast

7:00am at Westin LAX Hotel

Feb 5: Associates 1st Thursday

Feb 23: Day At the Races

organized by Denny Dynes

VISIT WWW.ROTARYLA5.ORG FOR MORE

INFORMATION ON SPEAKERS & EVENTS

Rotary Club of Los Angeles

established 1909

January 10, 2014

rotaryLA5.org

Beautiful new venue remodel cost zillion$

City Club Hosts LA5 in January

T he January Los Angeles 5 meetings will be held at

the all new City Club. The City Club's former Bun-ker Hill facility was LA5's meeting place from 2003 through 2009. The newly renovated City Club

(located at the top of the City National Bank Tower just across from the California Club on Flower Street) features

spectacular views, soaring 16-foot ceilings and a ballroom

that will seat 400.

Prez Ken says, “This place has a WOW factor that will match

the incredible speakers Program Chair Jose Vera has lined up for the new year. The panoramic view is as sweeping as

Archbishop Gomez and the tall ceiling will accommodate 7-foot 2-inch Kareem. LA5ers: don’t miss a series of great

meetings and an opportunity to see the new City Club.”

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Prez Ken gives a hearty thank you and a nice gift to the California Club staff who have taken good care of us all year long. Ken dou-

bled fines on members to cover the check.

If you missed the meeting last week

Elizabeth Wheeler knows who’s been naughty and who’s been nice. Have you given your end of the year donation to the LA5 or RI?

As part of his tougher membership standards, Prez Ken holds up a diagram for the new and improved LA5 36-Way Test. Actually,

it’s Lynne Norwick’s father’s Paul Harris pins when he was a District Governor.

Santa arrived two days early and delivered this nifty hat to past president Jay Richardson along with a special gift: Hana Jane

Richardson born on the 23rd. Congratulations Jay and Miyuki.

Prez Ken and J.T. Waring welcome the President of the new Ro-tary Club of Yangon. Kudos to J.T. for his outstanding work with

the Myanmar water project and growing Rotary.

Ben Turner unveils the latest LA5 new member recruitment tech-nique.

Ben’s Lunch Advice

Past President and world-class

Gastronome Ben Tunnell was judging an international cooking

competition and was unable to meet with the City Club Execu-tive Chef. Here are Ben’s sugges-

tions to the chef.

Diners: please RSVP to guarantee your seat!

ENTREE: Pan-fried Sea Bass with a Lemon Grass Foam and stewed baby leeks, Light Pea Velouté with hint of Peppermint on sweet onion cloud.

VEGETARIAN: Purée of Sunchoke Soup with Pickled Red Radishes and Country Bread Croutons, Semolina and Gruyère Quenelles with Tomato Sauce.

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I n a traditional southern Indian ceremony, LA5er

Jagdish Jaganath married Archana on December 27. Jagdish arrived in a horse drawn carriage and

was welcomed at the temple entrance by the bride's father and her sister. Other family members carried plat-

ters of fruits and flowers and formed a procession.

A typical South India wedding takes place over a period of four to five days. The festivities include several pre- and post-wedding ceremonies including such things as the

bride's entire family visiting the groom's home to check

out the bride's future living environment.

LA5ers Major Kyle Smith, Nick Stonnington, Sally Gallagher and Peggy York rang up a bunch of donations at the annual Salvation Army Committee Bell Ringing held this year at the Grove.

Chartered June 25, 1909

Club Leadership 2013-14

Ken Chong, President Alan Bernstein, President-Elect Jose Vera, Vice-President Elizabeth Wheeler, Secretary Don Robinson, Treasurer Jay Richardson, Past President

Club Service Arthur Kassel Paul Richey

Community Service Margaret Karren Jim Hoyt

Funding Todd Johnson Al Shonk

International Service Laine Wagenseller Rick Sarmiento

Membership and Retention Charisse Older Erick Weiss

Vocational Service John Miller John Jaacks

Youth Service Anthony Calloway Paul Jacques

Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Ekstrand Barry Hytowitz Steve Sommers

Executive Director Jon Gibby JON@ROTARYLA5.ORG

Rotary Club of Los Angeles 523 West Sixth Street, Suite 718 Los Angeles, CA 90014 Telephone 213.624.8601 Facsimile 213.624.2694 WWW.ROTARYLA5.ORG

District 5280 Governor Doug Baker

El Rodeo Marc Leeka, Editor Peter Weinberger, Sr. Reporter Marjorie Heller, Photographer

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Rotarians You Want to Know:

Jennifer Gregg

T he face of Los Angeles 5 might not

be one of the good-looking past presidents that multiply like old

shoes in your closet. The person who answers your calls to the office, takes your lunch reservation to make sure there

are enough seats and packs up all the regis-tration materials after every meeting is likely to be the one you see more over years than

the elected officers and directors.

Jennifer Gregg has worked at LA5 since February 2010. She is

the Executive Administrator and, working with Execu-tive Director Jon Gibby,

does everything to keep the Club moving from account

receivables and website management to making badges. Everything in-

between is too long to list, but Jennifer loves helping members. She says, “LA5 is

a great place to work!”

“The most rewarding thing

about LA5 is the generosity our members express. See-ing how their donations

make such a difference lo-cally and worldwide is really inspiring. Rotary

makes a huge difference in the world because so many

lives are positively changed, from eradicating polio to changing the life of one boy

in Uganda. How awesome is

that?”

If you haven’t met Jennifer yet, then please introduce yourself at the next meet-

ing.

Jennifer’s Favorites

The best city I have ever visited is

Florence. The history, art, architecture and the food are so

fantastic.

If I had one last restaurant meal in LA, I would splurge at the

Arroyo Chop House in Pasadena.

I am currently reading Mocking-jay, the final book of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My

nephew got me hooked on them.

I know it is junk food but my guilty pleasure is dessert . . . any

dessert.

Three albums I would take to a

desert island: Tears For Fear’s The Seeds of Love, The Beatles’

Abbey Road and Led Zeppelin’s

Physical Graffiti released in 1975.

I graduated from high school in the 80s. When I hear Prince or

INXS on the radio, it takes me

back again.

The best advice my father and mother gave me was to be re-

spectful and kind to everyone.

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Past President Jay Richardson announces the election of the club’s next officers, directors and Sergeants-at-Arms. From left: Simone Liu, Tuan Do, Steve Sommers, Rick Gibson, Paul Ekstrand, Calvin Chan, Steve Cooley, Susan Porter-Griego, Matthew Ball, Tim Brown, Prez Ken, Charisse Older, Todd Johnson and Jose Vera. (The board directors completing their 2013-2015 term are not shown because they were elected last year.)

City Club underground parking is easy to miss

How to find the January Meeting Place

T hree January meetings will be held

at the newly renovated City Club on the top floor of the City National

Bank. It is across the street from the California Club but the parking entrance is

poorly marked and you don’t know if you are

entering the correct lot. Please follow these

directions.

1. Travel south on Flower Street about 100 feet past Fifth Street and stay in the right lane. Enter the 525

Building underground parking.

2. Take a ticket from the auto-

mated entry gate.

3. Drive forward about 75 feet

to the valet parking reception.

4. Leave your car with the valet. Turn left and walk to the

555 South Flower building.

5. Take the escalator up one floor to the lobby, then take an

elevator to the City Club pent-

house on the 51st floor.

Get a validation when you

check in at the LA5 table to re-duce the parking cost to only

$8 for up to three hours.