Well 2026 is off to a fast start with January gone and February being a short month. Still, it was a good January with several great speakers.
Heath Rocha, Superintendent of Los Gatos Saratoga Union High School District, and a Red Badger gave us an update on our local high school district, which was the only district in the state to score all blue on the state dashboard. He also let us know that Saratoga High is showing amazing progress on the California Healthy Kids Survey, with students showing new highs in their connection to the school and other key metrics.
Michael Hirsh, Executive Director of South Bay Musical Theatre, provided us with lots of interesting information on how local theater operates and what it takes to do a show. It turns out that there are lots of challenges in bringing back old shows, beyond getting licensing approvals. Their next show is Little Women, which is playing now at the Saratoga Civic Theater.
Hector Estrada, Assistant Chief of Fire Prevention, Santa Clara County Fire Dept provided us with lots of tips on how to protect your home from wildfires and explained the new 0/5/10 guidelines. He talked about the three different ways fire can reach your home and how to protect against all of them
Kim Miller, Executive Director of Southwest YMCA and another club member, ended the month strong with a presentation letting us know all about the YMCA and the programs her location offers. I didn’t know that the YMCA is older than Rotary and invented several sports including basketball. The presentation ended with the whole club standing up and dancing to the Village People!
Things are only going to speed up in February, as we have several social events in addition to our regular meetings. This includes a District 5170 Bocce event and our annual Lunar New Year dinner, this year at the Grand Dynasty. With February 13th being DARK, we only have 3 speakers this month:
February 6: Sridhar Pursai (yes, DeAnna’s spouse), from Night Sky Photography Excursions — The Elements and Features of Night Sky Photography
February 20: Gene Zambetti, Saratoga Legacy Leader — Continuation of Saratoga History - Highway 85
February 23: Josh Barousse, co-Founder and co-CEO of San Jose Spotlight — The Need for Independent News Reporting in this Complex Times
I hope to see you at one of these upcoming meetings, or perhaps at one of our many clubs within the club, such as our walking groups, networking dinners, theater groups or other activities.
In Mike Nichols’ Oscar-winning 1967 film The Graduate, young Benjamin Braddock was given one word of advice regarding his business future: “Plastics!”.
Now, nearly sixty years later, that advice has come back to haunt us all. The world is awash in plastic waste. Microplastic particles pollute our food, our water, even our blood. It is estimated that ten million tons of plastic ends up in the ocean every year. And the problem is getting worse. Plastic production is expected to triple by 2060, according to the Global Plastics Outlook Database.
While we may feel we’re doing our part by putting plastics in our recycling bins, the sad truth is that only about ten per cent ever gets recycled. While worldwide action is needed to mitigate the crisis, Saratoga Rotarians Nancy Shih and Phil Young decided to act locally.
In April of 2025, the two kick-started a collection drive with the goal of collecting one thousand pounds of plastic waste over one year. By January, 2026, they announced that their lofty goal had been met in less than nine months.
“We were overwhelmed by the support we received,” said Young. “From the very first day, our Rotary Club members were enthusiastically stuffing our collection boxes to the brim”.
Rather than ending up in a landfill or worse, the plastic will be converted into durable outdoor decking and furniture by NextTrex, which will build a bench which the Rotary club will donate to the citizens of Saratoga. The bench, complete with plaque explaining the bench’s origin, will be installed near the Saratoga Community Center.
On Saturday morning, December 13, we celebrated the 30th annual Breakfast with Santa with Washington Elementary School in San Jose!
This wonderful event began as a program sponsored by the City of Saratoga and our Rotary Club. For many years, it was held in the Saratoga Community Center. For at least the last decade, the event has taken place in the multipurpose room at Washington; the room is decorated by the caring staff and volunteers.
For any of you not familiar with the program, the day starts with setting up the places on the tables for the students to have breakfast, unloading all the gift bags, and preparing for the facepainting. As the students start to arrive, we help them with breakfast and crafts at the tables. The arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus is the main event! After greeting the children at their tables, each child gets to go up and meet Santa and Mrs. Claus, get their photo taken, and receive a gift. While they wait their turn, they eat, do crafts, and have their faces painted. After everyone has had their picture with Santa, the caroling begins.
Write Valentine’s Day cards for seniors. Look for cards on the tables at our next meeting.
March
Annual Read Across America celebrating Dr Seuss’ birthday at Latimer Literacy- March 2. If you’d like to read to an elementary age class look for signups or contact Cathie Thermond
March is Save your Vision Month- we will collect gently used prescription glasses
April
At our April 24 meeting we will assemble kits to be donated
May
Save the date- District Day of Service- Rise Against Hunger is May 16
On going:
Park It Market- 1st, 3rd, and 5th Wednesdays from 10:15-11:30.
Lunar New Year, also often called Spring Festival, marks the start of a new year on the lunar calendar. Families gather for reunion meals, clean and decorate their homes with red and gold for good fortune, and share customs such as giving red envelopes to children, enjoying symbolic foods like dumplings and long noodles, and attending lion or dragon dances. In 2026, Lunar New Year begins on February 17 and welcomes the Year of the Horse, specifically the Fire Horse in the Chinese zodiac.
The Horse is often associated with energy, perseverance, and forward momentum, a fitting theme for a season centered on renewal and community. As Rotarians, it is a great time to learn about neighbors’ traditions, support local cultural events, and extend a warm greeting to those celebrating.
Our Club's Lunar New Year Celebration will be at the Grand Dynasty Restaurant on Thursday, February 19th.
By Terrance Hunter (President/Director, Empowering the Fatherless)
On Monday, December 22, at the invitation of the Santa Clara County Probation Department, I was privileged to represent Empowering the Fatherless (ETF) and to deliver a speech to juveniles serving time at the William F. James Ranch (The Boys Ranch) located in Morgan Hill.
It was an honor to share my life experiences with an audience of both young men and women, including the details of my 30-year prison sentence for a murder conviction. I expressed how my conviction and life sentence were a result of the decisions I had made for many years before my arrest. These young men and women displayed a high level of attentiveness and receptiveness to my message.
It’s great to see all of you here, awake, dressed, obviously well caffeinated and officially back for another Rotary year. I learned something interesting about this time of year. Early calendars only had 10 months, running from March to December, with the winter months being left uncounted. It was a dark time—cold, short days, little food, and people just huddled indoors. Being mostly agricultural people, there was little to do during this time.
So why not think about these months as extra time.
Time to plan. Time to reset. Time to renew yourself.
Focus on your health. Find a relaxing place to read a book—or three. Start your spring cleaning early. Binge watch that show you’ve been meaning to see or dive into a video game that takes hours just to get through one level. Since this is extra time, there’s no need to worry about whether it’s wasted or whether you weren’t productive enough or missed something.
And you may find that when you’re not stressed about everything you should be doing… you actually get more done.
