2026-27
2026
October
Mark Fischer-Colbrie, Community Outreach Manager at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) spoke at our regular meeting of October 23rd. CIRM is a state agency created by California voters to accelerate stem cell and gene therapies for people with unmet medical needs. Since 2004, Californians have entrusted CIRM with $8.5 billion to accelerate promising discoveries through clinical trials, train a regenerative medicine workforce, strengthen the state’s biotechnology economy, and expand access to transformative treatments.
Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton, Ph.D.
, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at San Jose State University, spoke at our regular meeting of October 9th. He spoke about Tommie Smith and John Carlos who were athletes at the 1968 Olympics and took a civil rights stand.
Awards Presentations at Giorgio's
Mulching with Mulcahy work project at Bramhall Park in Willow Glen. Bob Carlson, Emilie and 14 interactors represented the Rotary Club Almaden Valley-Willow Glen on October 3rd. 911 was called when one of the community members passed out because of the heat. She was OK! A celebration lunch was for our interactors showing appreciation for how hard they worked.
   
September
  Doug Rice, Aviation expert & former pilot spoke to our regular meeting of September 25th. In addition to his flight experience of over 30,000 hours of flying time, Doug's background includes 25 years in Aviation Security, 4 years as an Airports Commissioner, and 19 years as an Airport Advocate. He has been an airspace expert for both AOPA and ALPA as well. He also worked for 18 years for a FAR 135 charter operator as an Operations Coordinator and Security Director.
Alison Carpenter Davis, author of
Letters Home from Stanford, spoke at our regular meeting of September 18th: The letters are 125 Years of Correspondence Collected from Students of Stanford University. The collection are hand-written and electronic correspondence of generations of Stanford students, and recalls the common human experience of breaking out and trying to find our way as we observe the world around us and look over a shoulder toward home. From first letters home from the freshman year and firsthand accounts of historical events to questions about self and questions about laundry, these letters, emails, and texts evoke a sense of the heritage, history, and shared experience common to college students everywhere, and Stanford students in particular.
Guy Marzorati, a correspondent on KQED's California Politics and Government Desk, based in San Jose spoke at our regular meeting of September 11th, Guy is a graduate of Santa Clara University and joined KQED in 2013. He reports on state and local politics and produces KQED's digital voter guide.
July
 Students that we sponsored to attend RYLA in June spoke at our regular meeting of July 31st. They were very enthusiastic and excited about their experiences.
 John Flaniken, a dedicated Rotarian and leader in District 5170, spoke at our regular club meeting on July 24th. He currently serves as District International Chair (2023–2025) and previously served as District Lieutenant Governor (2023-2024). A Leadership Academy graduate and District Governor’s Award recipient, he is Chair of the 2026 District Conference. A member of the Rotary Club of Santa Cruz Sunrise since 2013, John was Club President in 2021–2022, earning the Distinguished Club President Award after achieving record growth in membership and Rotary Foundation giving. He now serves as TRF Chair and is active on key committees, including International, Charities & Grants, and Community Service.
By the way, John Gloye won our weekly drawing and the accumulated past weekly amounts that were in the hundreds of dollars and he then donated a significant amount back to our endowment.
The OCC team, DAR, Rotary Club of Almaden Valley-Willow Glen, NCL, YNSL, and many military and veterans met at NRC San Jose on July 20th. They all worked like a well oiled machine to process all of the donations from Boot Barn stores across the country! In all, over 250 boxes of donations were sorted, with our distribution to troops and veterans starting immediately. Thank you to Boot Barn, NRC San Jose and all outstanding volunteers who finished in three hours! (Powered by Stan's donuts, Starbucks coffee, House of Pizza, McDonald's and See's Candy!!)
      
    
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