GVN Rotary Bulletin – 1-8-15
Flag: Don Fetheroff Invocation: Marie Valencia America, the Beautiful: Elaine Bern
Guest of the Club: Jason Lassen is again visiting our club and we look forward to inducting him into the club. Jason came prepared to make balloon animals for all the children at our Christmas party and the kids loved them - as did several of the adults!
Announcements:
The club presented the Club Foundation with a check for $1,300.00 coming as $1,200.00 from the club treasury and another $100.00 that Paul Davis had contributed to the Club Foundation. Razi is celebrating the marriage of his oldest son who has now only one more year to go for his MD degree with a gift of $100.00 to the Club Foundation. Wynne thanked Razi for bringing his whole “clan” to the Christmas party last month.
The Super Bowl will be on Feb. 1st, so the club will be taking sign-ups to win our won special “Super Bowl” - at only $20.00 per chance.
Our next big fund-raiser will be April 2nd at the Odyssey Restaurant in the evening. We will be dark that week at noon. We plan at least 120 guests, but may have 150 or more and will be raising funds for the Track Meet and Christmas Lives as well as to be able to give donations to the Airport Young Achievers’ Program, the YMCA, and all the other organizations that we have been supporting. The same people who supported us last year in the track meet are again offering to sponsor.
The Young Achievers’’ Program is March 20th.
The Board meeting will be next Wednesday evening at 6:00 pm at Wynne’s home.
PROGRAM:
Rich introduced Diana Sanchez, Public Relations and Community Director of the Van Nuys Airport. She pointed out the street improvements on Balboa that will help open the 30 acre area where there will be a prop aircraft museum and storage for the many prop airplanes. The tenants are paying for these improvements.
And, now Van Nuys Airport will have a customs agent that will be “on call” to be able to process international traffic. That will be good for bypassing LAX and simplifying travel in this area. Planes can then fly in from Mexico where Signature will have special facilities to process international flights. This is the only “general” airport in this area to have this ability. Maguire sold 1.7 million feet of space to Signature which has sublet to many clients. There are about 12,000 jobs related to this airport.
The largest planes to land are 747s and all are private planes. They are NOT passenger planes. There is a 4,000 foot runway for prop planes and an 8,000 foot runway for jets. The golf course is airport property and serves as a buffer zone for the planes.
The National Business Association promotes business at the airport. Aviation Career Day brings 1,400 High School Students to learn about careers in aviation. Besides flying planes, there is a staff photographer, financial work and also legal teams.
On March 26th the Young Achievers’ Day brings in Teachers and students and our Rotary Club provides some scholarships. In July there is Aviation Day Camp for 25 selected Junior High School students. The area is too built up now to continue the air show that once was a feature. But they do provide limited tours for groups that have busses.
There is no service to Palmdale now and no construction is planned. LAX is now the second busiest airport in the nation. Ontario Airport is down 4 million passengers just now and Ontario wants to buy the airport from LAX.
RAFFLE:
506 was the lucky number that Alice held and won the 50/50 drawing of $40.00.
