Trust In Education

I will share the challenges we’ve faced  in providing aid to Afghan children and families since the Taliban gained control of the country in August 2021 and contrast that with the period before they were in charge.

The Afghans have recently been judged to be the poorest and unhappiest people in the world, which is understandable.  We have  been able to change the trajectory of well over a thousand lives, with the assistance of two program directors in Kabul who fear being arrested by the Taliban’s “morality police” for our efforts in educating Afghan girls.

Basically, I will cover what we have been able to do, what we are doing now and our plans for the future. What I’ve learned by providing aid in Afghanistan since 2005 is that the greatest rewards in life come from the impact we have on the lives of others.  

We celebrated Saint Patrick with a delicious Corned Beef lunch and a fantastic presentation by Bud McKinsey of his trials and successes providing education and life enhancing opportunities in Afghanistan.

Big SIR Hersh Brown welcomed the happy group and then provided updates on branch activities and events including an introduction of Steve Lundgaard a new applicant and the loss of two members Rob Miller and Robert Vazquez. We will miss them both! Finally, Ed Lynn was the lucky winner of the Attendance Award.

World Travel & Iceland

Our own SIR 54 member Bob Lawler was our speaker.  He and his wife came to this valley in1964 to start a 40-year career with GE Nuclear Energy.  He has been in 56 counties of the world and the continent of Antarctica.  Most recent travel has been a cruise ship which started in Iceland and ended in London.  His talk was not just be a “tourist picture report” on Iceland, but there was be a few such pictures. 

Big SIR Hersh Brown got things started with an update of activities. First the bad news, we had a moment of silence for Jack Byers who joined us in 2018 and passed earlier this month. We have enjoyed the rain, finally, and also activities updates from most of the active groups. We also have another Day Trip planned; watch the website for details.

Pierre is collecting Dues. If you have not paid, see Pierre.

We welcomed one guest Shawn ODaffer who recently retired from Google and Stanford. We hope to see Shawn again next month.

We then enjoyed a nice lunch with Ham or chicken. Another good job by the Three Flames. This was followed by an interesting presentation by SIR Bob Lawler. Bob went behind the scenes talking to the local people in Iceland and provided information never received on a normal tour. We, again, had internet problems so do not have a video of his presentation.

Alice Dang is a Community Engagement Specialist with the Alzheimer’s Association. Join with Alice and SIR Branch 54 for a presentation on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The discussion will include an overview on dementia and mild cognitive impairment, the ten warning signs to Alzheimer’s disease, early detection and diagnosis, treatment options, and caregiving. Resources available from the Alzheimer’s Association will also be shared.

For more information click: Alzheimer’s Association

Big SIR Hersh Brown gave a warm welcome and Happy New Year followed by branch news:

We had a moment of silence at our first luncheon of the year for three of our SIRS:  Richard Morgan, Alan Douglas and Warren Upton.   I just learned Warren passed away Dec. 25, and services are Monday  : FUNERAL MASS

Monday, January 13, 2025 10:00AM – 11:00AM

St. Frances Cabrini, 15333 Woodard Rd

San Jose, CA 9512

https://www.darlingfischer.com/obituaries/Warren-Eric-Upton?obId=34283927     

And while there is no local obit, most major news organizations have carried the story:  Warren Upton, the oldest living survivor of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the last remaining survivor of the USS Utah, has died. He was 105. (CBS) Warren joined SIR #54 in 1995.      

Services for Alan Douglas are Saturday:

Memorial Service for Alan Douglas

January 11, 2025

Lima Family Erickson Mortuary

710 Willow Street

San Jose, CA 95125

 Service will begin at 2:00, with a reception immediately following at the same site.Services for Richard Morgan were held in December – I got a note from his son:   Hersh, this is Mike Morgan, Rich’s son. I was just going to email the SIR group and let them know about dad, and saw this nice note. Thank you for that. He loved golf and the SIR group.

Rest in Peace Brothers until we meet down the road… /h

Let’s celebrate

Holiday Luncheon

Thursday, December 12, 2024 at Three Flames Restaurant.

This is a special time for all members, wives and guests to celebrate the holidays.

You’re encouraged, but not required to bring a guest. Just have fun!

We encourage wearing colorful holiday outfits for the occasion.

• 11 to 12, No-host cocktails
• 12 to 1 Lunch (Special Steak or Grilled Salmon) with salad, rolls.
  Potatoes, veggies, coffee and dessert.
• 1 to 1:30 Enjoy the seasons oldies & sing along with “The Irish
  Twins”; the group you loved dancing to last Christmas.
• All this for $45 /person including tax and tip.

Big SIR, Hersh Brown, welcomed a spirited group to a Thanksgiving turkey lunch. He introduced our new Director, Charlie Raisor, and announced that, due to no new volunteers for leadership positions, all members in 2024 leadership and committee positions will continue in 2025. Rob Miller’s guest, Derek, was introduced and a good group of people signed up for the Day Trip to the Air Museum in Morgan Hill. We then learned, from Oliver Klink, the skill, perseverance and love required to become the World Class photographer documented in his book “Poetry in Motion”

Big SIR Hersh Brown welcomed a happy group of old, and some young, guys to a delicious Chicken Parmesan lunch. 78 percent of the branch showed up to catch up with old friends, learn about the upcoming Day Trip to the Air Museum in Morgan Hill and learn from, Jose Benitez, the opportunities provided by Sourcewise.

Bob Davis was introduced to the membership at the September luncheon. We lost one member, Glenn Avila, who moved out of the area. So our membership remains steady at 73. We need new members, so ask your neighbors and friends to join us in our many activities.

Bob is a young person looking to make new friends and join in activities. Bob likes to play golf, take Day Trips and make investments. We have activities that meet his interests. So, lets introduce him to our events.

Welcome Bob!

Our Big SIR Hersh Brown welcomed a happy group of old friends to a lunch of Chicken Parmigiana, Salad and rolls. We introduced a potential new member, Bob Davis, and a new member Steve Fulton. Then we had a ‘Wake Up’ and informative presentation on Life Under Nazi Rule by Irene Perbal a survivor of 5 years under the Nazi boot.

July 11 at Three Flames Restaurant was a special time for all members, wives and their guests to celebrate summer.  We had an Hawaiian theme with many people dressed for the occasion We enjoyed an Hawaiian band with Hawaiian dancers and dinned on Tri Tip steak and Salmon with all the trimmings. The music was lively and many joined in dancing (not hula). We ended with a raffle and a special, two week stay at the Sea Scape Resort, entry from Bruce Hodgin. Everyone had fun!

Our Big SIR John Knapp welcomed a happy group of old friends to a lunch of Meat Loaf Salad and rolls. We introduced a potential new member, Steve Fulton, and a visiting guest from Peru. Then we had an informative presentation on End Of Life planning and Hospice care. Watch the video; we learned a lot!

Our Big SIR John Knapp welcomed a bunch of old friends to a lunch of Shrimp Scampi, Salad and rolls. Unfortunately we lost three members this month and no recruits. we did have an interesting speaker that is trying to provide the ability for Elderly people to stay in their homes longer.

A nice April day with sun makes a lot of happy faces. Our Big SIR, John Knapp welcomed everyone with a nice lunch of Beef Kabobs, rice and mixed vegetables. He then introduced five new members and Jon Haveman made an interesting presentation on the Economics of Immigration. Finally, Chuck Moggia presented the next day trip to Morgan Hill to see exotic cars and Glenn Ando accepted the Attendance award.

Little SIR John Knapp started the meeting with thanks to the members that brought 5 guests and to Atsu who brought a new member! We enjoyed a very nice St. Patrick’s Day lunch of Corned Beef and Cabbage with potatoes, carrots, salad and rolls followed by an excellent presentation by “Big Daddy” Les Stuart (click his image to see the presentation). We learned about the Day Trip to the Water Treatment Plant and hiking opportunities. But most of all, we had a record turnout and everyone had fun!

Big SIR Larry Snapp kicked off the meeting with a reminder for everyone to bring in guests and new members. Our goal is to Increase membership from 72 to 101! Atsu Fujiyama was the first to bring a guest who submitted a membership app. John Knapp continued the training program. We had e a nice lunch of Chicken Breast, rice, vegetables and rolls. Ret. Capt. Tom Spink made an excellent presentation on the history of Moffett Field. Finally, Ron Gaumont won the Attendance Award!

January 11, 2024

Big SIR Larry Snapp kicked off the first meeting of the year with a plea for everyone to bring in guests and new members. Increase membership from 72 to 101! John Knapp laid out a training program to educate both current and new members. We had e a nice lunch of Beef Kabobs, rice, vegetables and rolls. Ex BR54 member Alan Baker made an excellent presentation on Network Security along with risks and prevention. finally, Steve Cornaglia won the Attendance Award!

Big SIR Larry Snapp chaired the best attended meeting of the year. We enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving lunch of turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, veggies along with salad and rolls. John Knapp, Nominating Chair, presented the Officer and director candidates for 2024, Pierre started collection of 2024 Dues and we had a great presentation by Bob Feldman of his, Joanne and Patties tour of Patagonia.

2024 OFFICERS

BIG SIR 1Q          Larry Snapp           

                  2Q             John Knapp              

                  3Q             Horace Hines            

                  4Q             Herschel Brown         

LITTLE SIR 1Q    John Knapp               

                     2Q   Horace Hines            

                     3Q   Herschel Brown        

                     4Q   Vacant

SECRETARY      Joe Lowry                 

ASST. SECT.       Vacant                                     

TREASURER      Pierre Garabedian      

ASST. TREASURER John Knapp          

2024 DIRECTORS

Marcel Tomassian                                                  

Glenn Darragh                                               

Joe Salamida                                    

Big SIR Larry Snapp presided over a very nice lunch of London Broil, Rice, Vegies and rolls. This was followed with an update on golf, Hiking and Day Trips. Art Andres provided an overview of the Greeter/Badge process and Ron Gaumont an overview of the Lunch Ticket process. Mike Popovich then introduced San Jose Mayor Matt Mahon who gave a great update on the state of San Jose and plans to make it better. Click on the Mayors image to vies his presentation.

Big SIR Larry Snapp was incapacitate with Covid so John Knapp stepped up and presided over a wonderful lunch of Chicken breast with Rice and caper gravy along with vegetables and rolls. We inducted a new member, Reza Mostafavi and Ken Walling gave a brief introduction to the website tools that can be used to learn about Branch Job Functions and Horace Hines gave a great presentation about his trip to Iceland.

John, Ken and Horace all voiced the need for a 2024 Big SIR, Little SIR, Asst. Sec., Asst. Treasurer and Directors along with Committee chairs. We Need Help!

 Let’s celebrate

And we did! The August luncheon was a real treat. We started with a happy hour attended by wives and friends getting reacquainted followed by a very good lunch of Tri-tip Steak and Salmon with salad, rolls, potatoes, veggies and cake and ice cream. We were then entertained by the Pila Ho ‘okani band and the Lei Nani Dancers. Great music and dance lead by our very own Art Andres. Click Art’s image for a video of the dancing.

Larry Snapp, Big SIR, started the meeting with the introduction of a possible new member, a very nice lunch of Salad, Rolls and Pasta with Italian sausage followed with the introduction of our new member Butch King. This was followed with a very interesting presentation by Jon Haveman on the possible impact of Autonomous Vehicles.

The Big Rooster watched over Big SIR Larry Snapp and Sec. Joe Lowry as we enjoyed a nice lunch of Chicken Breast, mushroom gravy, mixed vegetables and rice. Jim Kahn was not available so we had a bit of difficulty with the audio visible but Horace Hines made it work and we had an informative presentation from Wharn Bird on stair lifts for the infirm. Our committee chairs, Hengst, Tomassian, Belogolovsky and Darragh gave updates on SIR activities and their benefits. And best of all John Knapp and Ron Gaumont introduced two new members, Don Chase and Mike Thomas.

Big SIR Larry Snapp welcomed a happy group of SIR. We inducted two new members, Victor San Vicente and Don Chase. We also welcomed two guests Mike Thomas and Roger Blank. Our featured speaker, Dr. Jim Spohrer, made a great presentation on AI, the tools, future and risk. Go to the Speaker page and click on his image to view his presentation. We also enjoyed a nice lunch of meatloaf, vegies, salad and rolls.

Big SIR Larry Snapp welcomed a happy group of SIR’s by announcing the eliminations of all Covid restrictions. We welcomed two visitors, Victor San Vicente, who also presented us an application for membership, and Terrance Hunter our featured speaker in 2018. Terrance attended to hear Dr. Joseph Marshall’s presentation. We inducted a new member Mike Popovich, really enjoyed Dr. Marshall’s presentation and a lunch of Eggplant Parmesan with pasta, vegies, salad and rolls.

Alive & Free: The Prescription to End Violence and Change Lives

Dr. Joseph E. Marshall, Jr. is an author, lecturer, radio talk show host, and community activist. He is the founder of Alive & Free, an international violence prevention organization headquartered in San Francisco, the creator of the Alive & Free Movement and president of the Alive & Free Consortium-an organization dedicated to eliminating violence worldwide. Click To learn more about Dr. Marshal. To view his presentation click his image.

Our Big SIR, Larry Snapp, welcomed us to a delicious Irish lunch. Area 11 Representative,, Phil Thomas, helped us celebrated a Super Senior and a Senior Award. We introduced three new members and two guests. We had updates on Branch Activities and then learned all about Forensic Physics from Scott Perry.

Our Big SIR Larry Snapp kicked off the meeting by welcoming Branch 62 who joined us for a nice salmon lunch with rice, vegtables, rolls and salad. He then welcomed several guests and introduced two new members. We then enjoyed an informative presentation by Mike Potter about the valley’s water problems and solutions.