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Highlights of 2009 25th Anniversary BBQ

Great turnout! Around 150 alumni and friends came out to celebrate 25 years of LSR;

Great time was had by all – friendships were renewed and networking accomplished, met new friends and new graduates;

Watch the slide show

Perfect warm weather;

The addition of delightful music from Mary Bates’ iPod selection;

35 valuable raffle items generously donated by alumni and coordinated Bob Parker and Shari Sbrazza raised $1300 to support LSRAA;

$2200 scholarships donated each to LSR and TLT = 4.5 LSR scholarships + TLT, solicited by Bob Parker;

Distribution of brand new directories delivered by Mary Bates and researched by entire Board of Directors;

Custom LSR Anniversary pens & wine glasses given as gifts to alumni-thanks to Mary Bates and Hans Dippel;

PA system so we could actually hear the program; picked up, set up and returned by Mary Bates;

All American menu planned and prepared by Bob Parker and Shari Sbrazza;

Alumni and local politicians Sue Gorin, Mayor of Santa Rosa, and Shirley Zane, County Supervisor, acknowledged;

Paul Schwartz recognized as an LSR founder;

Special help from Mike Arendt (set up), Billy Coughlin (grilling), Janice Marzlin (raffle sales), and Jim Sexton (grilling) made the event flow smoothly;

Groovy nametags designed and assembled by Lisa Hemenway;

Attendees generously donated about two barrels worth of food to the Salvation Army, which sent a van and crew at the request of Madeleine Keegan O’Connell;

Set-up, coordination, and clean-up by entire board and some guests;

Re-election of board officers after a great year of accomplishments:
Mary Bates, President, Rita Alonso, VP, Lisa Hemenway, Treasurer, Joan Demitz, Secretary;

Recognition of our President’s dedication, diplomacy, cheer and leadership which resulted in the following accomplishments last year:
• Creating board goals at the beginning of the year and accomplishing all of them;
• Organizing dates for all 4 events at the beginning of the year to allow better event planning, posting dates on website and newsletters;
• Bringing in a new board member;
• Big effort to update the Graduate Directory to contain accurate contact info for graduates;
• Direction in financing and budgeting
• Replacing our bookkeeping system;
• Hiring a new assistant to assist with newsletters and admin tasks;
• Hiring a book keeper to enter all financials into Quick Books;
• Writing and distributing newsletters;
• Replacing the out-dated website with a functional, interactive website;
• Managing and writing Virtual Response emails and postcards as a cost-effective and timely way to stay in touch;
• Coordinating communication with the Chamber of Commerce;
• Contributing to the Mike Hauser Algebra Academy;
• Adding fun new elements to the spring golf tournament and BBQ;
• Putting all the pieces in place to cost effectively communicate with alumni without need for paper newsletters;
• Building team spirit on the board.

2 replies on “Highlights of 2009 25th Anniversary BBQ”

You couldn’t ask for a lovelier kickoff to summer than the after-work picnic that brought about 150 Leadership Santa Rosa grads and other guests to Saralee’s Vineyard to laugh, sip, munch and celebrate the 25th anniversary of LSR.

The weather on June 17 was postcard perfect, allowing the hardiest of the revelers to linger nearly to dusk in Saralee and Rich Kunde’s private park in the vineyards.

Highlights of the celebration of LSR’s first quarter-century include;

● The magnificent array of Sonoma County vintages on the share-a-bottle wine table

● LSRAA board member Chris Rosell’s barbecued oysters.

● The almost Carnavalian ID necklaces created by the board’s Lisa Hemenway.

● The two barrels of nutritious, non-perishable foods donated by LSRAA members to the Salvation Army.

● The movable feast of conversation beneath the gracious oaks.

● The anniversary gifts – attractive and practical LSRAA wine glasses and pens – that were arranged by board members Hans Dippel, Bob Parker and Mary Bates.

● The enthusiastic acknowledgement of commercial real estate broker and community leader Paul Schwartz as one of the founders of LSR.

● The classic American picnic spread by board members Parker and Shari Sbrazza.

● The festive ID necklaces created by the board’s Lisa Hemenway.

● The cheerful, indispensable help of LSR alumni Mike Arendt, Billy Coughlin, Janice Marzlin and Jim Sexton.

● The musical accompaniment by LSRAA President Mary Bates’ iPod.

The after-dinner raffle dispensed 35 treasures and brought in about $1,300 to LSRAA, which exists to serve and unify the community of LSR grads – a darned good club to be in – and provide scholarship assistance to both LSR and Tomorrow’s Leaders Today (TLT).

Bob Parker presented checks for $2,200 to the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, which operates LSR, and to TLT. The money will go to adults and high-school juniors who are accepted into LSR or TLT and need some help with the tuition.

Mary Bates and the LSRAA board invited all LSRAA members to take a copy of the newly printed Alumni Directory, an invaluable resource and one of the major benefits of membership.

The happy crowd voted to re-elect the alumni association board’s current officers:
Mary Bates, president; Rita Alonso, vice president; Lisa Hemenway, treasurer, and Joan Demitz, secretary.

The anniversary picnic was also a celebration of all the LSR Alumni Association has achieved under Mary Bates’ leadership since the ’08 picnic. Among the accomplishments:

● A new, more functional and interactive Website at http://www.lsraa.org

● Fun, new elements to the LSRAA’s May golf tournament, a tribute to late LSR grad and LSRAA board member Dick Osborn.

● A thoroughly enjoyable and well-attended new year reception for LSR grads at the Sonoma County Museum.

● The extensively updated LSRAA Graduate Directory.

● Gifts by LSRAA members to the Algebra Academy created by late Chamber of Commerce President Mike Hauser.

● Improved communications with LSRAA Alumni Association members.

● Improved bookkeeping practices for the Association.

Thanks to everyone who came to the picnic, and everyone who helped out. If you haven’t yet joined or renewed your membership to LSRAA, please do. LSR lasted only a year, but we can sustain the friendships and beneficial community forever.

Thanks again to all who attended the 25th Anniversary All-American BBQ, and a special thanks to all who generously contributed to the Raffle and Sponsorship. From this one event, LSRAA raised enough funds to donate $4,400 towards LSR and TLT’s scholarships. We hope you had a good time and made your LSRAA friendships stronger!

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