THE ROTARY CLUB OF
LAS VEGAS WEST
VOLUME 2, NUMBER 2
T H E W E E K LY N E W S L E T T E R
FRIDAY, AUG. 28, 2009
Our newest member: DIST. GOV. TOM’S OFFICIAL VISIT TO HOME CLUB
JORGE SCHAPIRA
So why was Tom Novotny
wearing a suit and tie all of
a sudden? Could it be that
his round of club appear-
ances as district governor
Jorge Schapira requires a certain amount
Behind that wry smile, Jorge of sartorial elegance?
Schapira has a keen intelli-
gence, a warm spirit, and an Tom, a charter member of
adventurous background. The Rotary Club of Las Ve-
Jorge, born and raised in gas West, is governor of
Buenos Aires, comes to us by
District 5300 this Rotary
way of an Argentine GSE
team to Arkansas, and the year. As such, he is re-
Rotary Club of West Little quired to visit each club,
Rock.
report district doings and
He studied architecture at
the University of Buenos get the skinny on each
Aires and operated his own club’s performance.
architectural practice in the
city of Bariloche. Members who did not at- WHEN PIGS FLY: That day will probably come, Dist. Gov. Tom Novotny tells President Steve
In 2002, the New Genera- tend Tom’s command per- Segal, at the District Conference in June 2010 at the Green Valley Ranch. The Polio Pig will
tions Rotary Club of Bariloche formance will be glad to be ascendant at the conference. Novotny was making his official visit to our club.
chose him as a member of
the GSE team from District know we passed muster.
4930 to District 6150 sive report on what the club is membership about what it means
(Central and Northeast Ar- As DG, Tom sat in on the up to this year. to be a Rotarian and what being a
kansas).
board of directors meeting Rotarian means to him.
He moved to Little Rock after and heard a comprehen- Then he gave an emotional and
the trip and worked there for personal talk to the gathered Continued on Page 3
Cromwell Architects Engi-
neers for almost seven years.
In January, he joined Campo
Architects, first in New Or-
leans, and from May in Las What’s in a name? Would a stinking newsletter smell as sweet?
Vegas.
Did you think we were kidding? A ing newsletter. seriously folks, where are the seri-
Although Jorge had volun-
teered for Rotary since he couple of you did. But from the oth- ous suggestions?
ers — to continue the Shakespear- That was one of the more risible
was in Argentina, and was titles suggested. Some others: We need a name. We need it now.
generally involved with GSE ean theme: The rest is silence.
And we need you to christen this
in Arkansas, he wasn't in- We asked — hey, we’re still asking — Western Poop newly-launched ship.
ducted into Rotary until for suggestions to replace the tatter- Bestly of the Westly
2007, when he became a demalion The Weekly Newsletter as Whuzzup Out West Email us, please. Sensible sugges-
member of the West Little the name of the house orgn. The West is Yet to Come! tions only, please. To:
Rock club.
Newsletter? We don’t need no stink- All very amusing, to be sure. But webmaster@lasvegaswestrotary.org
He’s a member of the Ameri-
can Institute of Architects.
T H E W E E K LY N E W S L E T T E R Page 2
ROTARY ROARS INTO THE 21ST CENTURY
Do you know The Rotary
Club of Las Vegas West
has a Facebook page?
Brett Grant knows..
Do you even know what
Facebook is? No? Well get
with it, Granddad. Face- Facebook’s name stems gate on line to read RI
Book is the fastest- from the term for books stories, watch Rotary vid-
growing Internet social university administrators eos and engage in discus-
networking site. give out with the intent of sions with other members.
helping students get to
know each other better. Small wonder, then, that
. RI encourages individual
Users can join networks Rotarians to sign on to
organized by city, work- Facebook and join the “ At least a
place, school, region, or 21st century.
Rotary club. quarter of the
Facebook user Brett Grant What are you waiting for? membership
At least a quarter of the Click to www.facebook.com
membership of this club and see what it’s all
of this club
Facebook allows users to now has Facebook ac- about. now has
link friends and send them counts, as do a couple of
messages, and also to hundred Rotarians and One thing, though. Face-
Facebook
build personal profiles Rotaractors in Las Vegas. book can be so addicting accounts …”
that keep friends updated that some employers have
on events in users’ lives. Thousands of members banned it from the work-
around the world also use place to discourage em-
Since its founding, a scant the free site to stay in ployees from wasting time
six years ago, Facebook touch on Rotary matters. using it.
has grown to enormous
proportions. More than Rotary International itself Hey Brett, it’s a good thing
250 million people across has a Facebook page, no one’s doing that at your
the globe are participating where Rotarians from shop, right?
members. around the world congre-
BIENVENUE A LA VILLE DE MONTREAL
It means: Welcome to the city of Montreal. The
French-Canadian metropolis is the site for the
Rotary International convention in June, 2010.
Montréal. Canada’s second-largest city, is the
largest French-speaking city in the world out-
side of Paris. Brush up your Francais and regis-
ter early to get the best rates and accommoda-
tions. Click below pour la grande affaire.
http://www.rotary.org/en/Members/Events/
Convention/Pages/ridefault.aspx?housead
VOLUME 2, NUMBER 2 Page 3
MORE PICTURES FROM D.G. TOM’S VISIT
Right, Tom meets with
the club board of direc-
tors and his assistant
governors to examine
our mission and the way
we execute it. Bottom
left, Tom installs Jorge
Schapira as a member of
our club while President
Steve and Jon Reed,
Jorge’s beaming spon-
sor, gaze on approvingly.
Center, the powers that
be make Bernard Hunt a
new Paul Harris Fellow.
Tom works his magic on
the room.
Photographs by
BERNARD HUNT
and JORGE SCHAPIRA
DIST.GOV. TOM PAYS AN OFFICIAL VISIT Continued from Page 1
Tom admits he joined Rotary for Tom told two emotive stories that living on the streets of Las Ve- Through the help of Rotary, her
what he said was the wrong rea- affected his life. gas, was reunited with John parents came to this country and
son — wanting his then-company through the auspices of Rotary. later took their daughter home.
The first, well known to Las Ve-
to have a visible presence in his The reunion happened last year
gas West members, was the tale As part of his presentation. Tom
community. at a meeting of this club.
of the Wiser brothers, John and also welcomed a new member,
But in the years since, he said, Martin, separated for more than The second story was of a Tai- Jorge Schapira, and installed
Rotary has given more to him 40 years. wanese exchange student who Bernard Hunt as a Paul Harris
than he has given to Rotary. was severely injured in an acci- Fellow.
Martin, a homeless alcoholic,
dent in the United States.
T H E W E E K LY N E W S L E T T E R Page 4
THE ROTARY CLUB OF LAS VEGAS WEST
CANYON GATE COUNTRY CLUB,
2001 CANYON GATE DR.,
LAS VEGAS, NV 89117
Join us for lunch each Tuesday at 12:15 p.m.
Newsletter/web team: Bernard Hunt / Jon Reed / Jan Carlton / Steve Halvorson
Catch u
s on the
web These pages powered
www.la
svegas by our sponsors.
westrota
ry.org
BEST FRIENDS FOREVER?
Mark Twain famously
described golf as “a
good walk, spoiled.”
But Tom Lott describes
a day without golf as “a
good day, wasted.” The
world must be full of
photographs of Tom on
a golf course since
that’s where he spends
most of his time when
he isn’t manning the
ramparts at his UPS
Store, or attending
Rotary events. But we
thought we’d treat you
to this picture of Tom
and his golfing buddy
Jim Stafford, a friend
from Houston, gripping
and grinning at
Shadow Creek golf
course.
Photograph courtesy of Tom Lott