PVP Rotarians showed their support of foster kids at this year's Foster the Love event. Marco Mendoza, Paul Klose and David Rowe assembled skateboards and decorated duffel bags for kids whose lives have extra, often difficult challenges. The need for these duffel bags is that when they often have to move from home to home they are given trash bags to tote their limited belongings. The bags are just a small message that there are people out there that they do not know, like Rotarians, who do care.
Our club will be making a donation to help continue these important efforts.
Our speaker last week, fellow Rotarian Lee Stacy of the Burbank Sunrise Rotary Club, is a retired V.P. of Operations from the aerospace industry. Along the way he joined a fellow co-worker and the co-worker's brother in a venture to grow California Pistachios. It was fascinating to learn how they are grown and harvested. In September of each year, Lee calls upon a local harvester to come and get the pistachios-the method? In one aisle adjacent to the row of trees is a machine that uses an arm to shake the tree, while in the next aisle there is a machine to capture the pistachios that have been shaken free. Ownership of the drupes, not nuts, (a seed surrounded by a fleshy fruit) changes hands in mid-air as they fly from the tree to the capturing truck.
Another fact is that 1.1 gallons of water are required to produce ONE pistachio. This compares to the almond that takes 2.8 gallons, and walnuts that use up 12 gallons!
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Lee Stacy with PDG's Greg O'Brien and Rick Mendoza
While many PVP Rotarians support The Rotary Foundation [International] with extra donations, all of us do through our dues. Built into our monthly dues is a small donation that adds up to $100 per member every year!
The Paul Harris Society is a meaningful way that your difference can become YOUR DIFFERENCE. A commitment to donating $1000 per year brings you into this special group. Learn more at:
Cindy Ingraham Keefer is the artist who created the Celestial Globe, a massive and monumental bronze sculpture installed permanently in Gravity's Stairway at Griffith Observatory in January 2026. The 800-pound bronze sphere that is over 4 foot in diameter draws inspiration from the Farnese Atlas, a second-century Roman sculpture, and features 46 classical constellations cast in bronze. The work offers visitors a striking encounter with the ancient origins of astronomy and the enduring human effort to understand the sky, and rotates to allow viewers to observe how the ancients imagined the heavens turning in Atlas's grip. Realized in close collaboration with structural engineers, fabricators, and Observatory leadership, the Celestial Globe stands as Griffith Observatory's first major new exhibit in nearly two decades and will be experienced by more than 1.5 million annual visitors.
Cindy has been working in bronze for over 15 years working upon commission creating mostly dedication sculptures. She is a multi-disciplinary artist who also supports fashion designers in downtown LA. The Portuguese Bend is her home that she shares with her 2 doodles, dozens of peacocks and her husband, Tom Keefer.
