Orangutan Preservation in Indonesia

by Gillian Bradshaw

Betsy Yaap, Bob Yaap's daughter, visited us from Indonesia today, along with her family, including her sons James and Robert. She took us on an amazing journey of her life in Thailand, Australia, Borneo, and Indonesia where she has been working to preserve the habitat of orangutans and other wildlife, as land is developed for agriculture.

She explained that they survey the animals' home range and identify areas where plantations can be developed, leaving corridors for the wildlife. She consults with businesses on sustainable development and teaches children about the abundant life in their "backyard" forests.

While visiting the remote villages, where the natives live entirely off the land, she helps to educate them in protecting the environment and how harmful poaching and trading can be. She said that we can help by using products with an FSC logo showing they have been harvested responsibly; also that we can avoid products containing palm oil as these plants are of no value to the native animals of these countries.

Betsy is working on her PhD which will help answer many questions relating to conservation in this part of the world. When asked where she will go next, she expressed an interest in Egypt or Chad so we will look forward to her "Chapter 2" presentation in a few years!

Irvine Rotary welcomes three new members

PDG Bret Gerdes and Membership Chair Rick Topping welcome Ed Linck, Dan Kempff and Jay Spencer to the Irvine Rotary Club.

Irvine City Councilmember Jeff Lalloway

Our speaker last meeting was Jeff Lalloway, the newly elected Irvine City Councilmember. He spoke about why he decided to run for office and the current challenges facing Irvine. From the state trying to take redevelopment funds allocated for the Great Park, to public employee unions, to what the future planning issues are, Councilmember Lalloway gave his candid insight.

He handled all of the questions brought forth by members and stayed after the meeting to answer more.

Irvine PD Emergency Response Team

Our guest speaker this week is Frank Southern from the Irvine PD Emergency Response Team.

Frank is a 34-year resident of Irvine and last July retired from the Tustin Unified School District after 39 years of service. He began as a math teacher at Foothill High School. His last position was working at the District office where he was the Director of Student Services. He was also the Director of Curriculum and Director of Secondary Education for Tustin Unified.

He has been the State Administrator of the Year, OC Administrator of the Year (Pupil Services) and most recently, was presented the outstanding contribution to education award by the Orange County Department of Education.

Last August Frank was hired by the Irvine Police Department to facilitate the Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) Program.

As can be seen, Frank failed retirement…

Please join us on Wednesday to welcome Frank.

Great Art Matters - Laguna College of Art & Design

by Gillian Bradshaw

We were delighted to have three guests from the Laguna College of Art & Design (LCAD) to tell us about the programs they offer and how students benefit from the scholarships they receive, including the one from the Irvine Rotary club.

Tracy Hartman (Associate Director of Development) and James Miller (LCAD alumni, professional artist, and Admissions Counselor) gave us an overview of the college, courses offered, the student population, and the type of career these artists pursue.

The college, which is located in Laguna Canyon, was founded in 1961, and has a total of 420 students from many countries. A fully accredited, private, non-profit college, LCAD grants Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Drawing & Painting, Graphic Design, Illustration, Animation, and Game art, as well as a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting & Drawing.

Our scholarship recipient, Gemma Magdaluyo, a Senior majoring in Illustration and minoring in Drawing & Painting, shared some of her artwork, including an oil painting "La Boccaria" (butcher's shop), a pencil drawing "Monkey Man" (made up of jungle animals), and an wood panel painting illustration for a book she is writing "Girl with Antlers". Gemma plans to pursue a career in the publishing industry, focusing on book illustrations.

LCAD alumni have gone on to develop film featurettes, video games, cartoon animations for Disney, 3D computer modeling, comic books, websites and much more. The school participates in many exhibits and has a studio on site which can be visited any day except Sunday (in fact, tours are offered at 2 pm daily). In November every year Irvine Rotary club member Marla Noel hosts a candlelight exhibit at the Fairhaven Mausoleum where students' art is auctioned off partly as a fundraiser for LCAD (80% of students receive financial aid).

Learn more about LCAD at their website: www.lagunacollege.edu

Irvine Rotary Celebrates 20th Anniversary

By Gillian Bradshaw


DG Johrita Solari presents President Mody Gorsky with a 20-year rosette.

On Saturday, February 19, the Irvine Rotary Club became 20 years old! We celebrated in grand style at the classy Bistango restaurant in Irvine.

The event was well attended, with many people bringing their spouses/significant others, and also some guests/prospective members, and visitors from other Rotary clubs.

Our newest member Ken Carrell (and his wife Christin Anzell) was there, and it was great to see former members Dan Eisenbeicz and Julie O'Brien (with her daughter Erin), as well as charter (now honorary) members Warren Willard and Cap Peaslee (and his wife Gina). It was also nice that Mark Roy, President of the Anaheim Hills Rotary Club, and his friend Rhonda were able to join us too.

We were honored to have our District Governor, Johrita Solari (and her husband Bruce) in attendance - and were proud to receive a 20 Years of Service Rotary emblem for our club banner. Several Past District Governors came, including our founding DG George Grossman (and his wife Carlene), Price Shapiro (and his wife Debbie), who attends our meetings so often we think of him as a member, and of course Immediate Past DG, our very own Bret Gerdes (and his wife Natalie). We were also delighted to have our District Governor Elect, Greg Owen (and his wife Val). Thanks to all of them for helping to make this such a special event!

We were entertained by Rick Topping - with hair (in case any of the former members didn't recognize him), Woody Jones in his Steelers jacket (apparently hoping they'll win the Superbowl next year?!), and Julie Obrien's 3-year old daughter who asked Mody for a play date!

Thanks to Cisca Stellhorn and Mary Mar for the wonderful job they did arranging this fantastic evening! Also to Ray Sanford who ran our video program including the great videos that Randy Woods made for Gillian Bradshaw's demotion party, and our new club video orchestrated by our President Mody Gorsky.

Here's to the next 20 years for the Irvine Rotary Club and the wonderful "Service Above Self" that we provide!


Irvine Rotary Club Charter Members with Founding District Governor George Grossman and his wife Carlene.

2012-2013 Club President Selected

In true Rotary style, our club has selected Lucy Walther to be our President Elect Nominee, taking over the reins July 1st, 2012. We do this so that there is plenty of time to prepare and be able to hit the ground running!

Lucy is a Financial Advisor and partner in the firm Edward Jones Investments and has been a member of Rotary for a number of years.

She has enthusiastically encouraged us to give as much as we can in fundraisers (once raising $5,000 in 10 minutes for The Rotary Foundation), and always brings several guests to our events. She has also helped us renew our partnership with the City of Irvine and the Irvine Police Department — and we were delighted to host their first Public Safety Award at our February 2nd meeting.

Lucy is a member and past Chair of the City of Irvine’s Investments Advisory Committee, and has been the President of the Orange County Chapter of the National Association Investors Corporation, (NAIC). She has been a long-time member of the American Business Women’s Association, and served for six years on the boards of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce and the Irvine Senior Foundation. She has held several board positions with both her Rotary clubs, and is currently our Community Services director. As a member of Saddleback Church, Lucy has taught bible-based financial classes as part of Crown Ministry.

In July 2003, the City of Irvine and the Irvine Chamber of Commerce honored Lucy as the 2002 Irvine Citizen of the Year. This award served to highlight Lucy’s extensive volunteer efforts in support of her community.

Lucy has been a keynote and guest speaker on financial and motivational topics to numerous professional and business organizations, including American Business Women’s Association, the Orange County Administrators of Special Education, Rotary International and the Association of Convention Operations Management. She has appeared in many publications, including the Seniors Today News, Irvine World News, Orange County Register, Christian Science Monitor and American Careers Magazine.

Lucy was born in Evanston, Illinois, received her Bachelors in Business from Elmhurst College and her Masters in Management from Northwestern University. She obtained her CFP and AAMS from the College for Financial Planning in Denver. She considers herself blessed with a wonderful husband, Peter, and four children: Christopher, Philip, Katherine, and Natalie.

Lawrence White receives first Public Safety Award

We were honored to have the Chief of the Irvine Police Department, David Maggard, and several of his staff attend our meeting this week as part of a new partnership with the Irvine Rotary Club.

Today's award was presented to Lawrence White, a security officer at the Irvine Spectrum who helped to solve a well-publicized crime. He noticed an individual who looked "out of place" one night as the stores were closing. Upon questioning him he found he was the Assistant Manager of a store that engraved IPhones and other Apple equipment. Just to be certain, he followed him into the store, where the man clearly knew his way around - it seemed he was telling the truth. However, when hundreds of these devices were stolen a few days later, Mr. White immediately suspected this individual and called the police - sure enough he was the thief and they caught him red-handed!

Congratulations to Mr White, and thanks to his wife, the Irvine Police Safety Director, and the other member of the Police Department for attending and making this award so special.

Thanks to Lucy Walther for initiating this partnership as part of our commitment to help keep Irvine safe. A quarterly award will be given to individuals within the community who have helped prevent or solve a crime.

Great Lives Start Here

Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana

Robert Santana, Chief Professional Officer of the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana, shared many of the wonderful services the Club provides for children from low income, high risk neighborhoods in Santa Ana.

A safe haven is provided for children to do homework, participate in sports, and learn positive life skills from the dedicated staff. There is also a wellness clinic, and help for parents with translation, tax preparation, etc.

Founded in 1954, the Club has given over 70,000 children a chance at a better life and many have gone on to professional careers. There are now 7 locations serving over 1,000 children a day.

Robert is a native of Santa Ana, and after serving our country in the US Air Force, he returned home to impact the lives of young people in his community. He became a law enforcement officer and worked as a crime investigator, DARE officer, and crisis negotiator. He became a volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club to help children avoid getting into these terrible situations.

The Boys & Girls club is a not-for-profit organization and welcomes volunteers, donations, and assistance with fundraising. Thanks to Marla Noel, who is on their Board of Directors, we are proud to provide support for this wonderful organization to continue to improve the lives of so many children.

Please visist www.boysandgirlsclub for more information.

Armed Services YMCA at Camp Pendleton

Our speaker this week was Colonel George B. Brown III, USMC (Ret), the Executive Director for the Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA.

The Armed Services YMCA was founded in 1861 to help soldiers wounded in the Civil War. Since then it has expanded to provide support for Marine personnel on active duty around the world. At Camp Pendleton over 5,000 individuals (primarily enlistees) were supported during 2010. Their many programs include a preschool, after school programs, tutoring, help for new mothers, bikes and comfort quilts for children, transportation, help for the disabled, and various forms of financial support.

He thanked Irvine Rotary club for our support of their Secret Santa program which this year helped 955 families (and thanks to Rick Topping and Janet Wang and her son's Boy Scouts troop, we provided support for four of those families). Through Working Wardrobes (which we also support thanks to Al Rosenstein), they are able to provide gowns for the wives to attend military balls. They also appreciated Tim Wolin and others in our club who have provided home hospitality for those unable to be with their families at Thanksgiving. Our long-term support of their Wounded Warriors program was also recognized and appreciated (thanks Rick Topping!).

Colonel Brown graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1969, and entered active duty attending The Basic School at Quantico, VA followed by artillery training at Ft Sill, Oklahoma. Throughout his career as an artillery officer, Col Brown served in a variety of command and staff positions at the artillery firing battery, battalion, and regimental levels. He commanded two firing batteries and First Battalion, 11th Marines. His staff assignments include tours with Amphibious Group Two, Headquarters Marine Corps, Joint Staff, and the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. After completing 30 years of service, he retired from active duty as the Chief of Staff for Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia on July 1, 1999. Upon his retirement, he served the Marine Corps in a different capacity as the Membership Director for the Marine Corps Association in Quantico, VA until July 2002. In December, 2003, he assumed his current duties as the Executive Director for the Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA.