My sincere thanks to the City of Santa Clara for allowing me to be this year’s official tree lighter at our City’s Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony. It was one fantastic night for not only for me but also for my wife Gerri and my relatives and friends who were there that night. Melissa McKenzie’s article in the Weekly was exceptional; however, the reference regarding that I was a former City Fire Marshal was only partly correct. Although I did begin my fire service career with the City of Santa Clara, I actually retired as the Fire Marshal of the City of Daly City after a total of 29 years in the public sector of the fire service. This was followed with 11 years of service at Stanford University and subsequently retiring as their Fire Marshal. The reference as I being one of the founders of the Wutzit should be clarified as well. Six of us Wutzit Club Alumni were instrumental in reactivating the Wutzit Club Alumni Committee for the purpose to raise funds for the City of Santa Clara Walter E. Schmidt Youth Activity Center. To date, after 8 fundraising events, we have raised $25,000 for the Youth Activity Center. Our 9th fundraising event is scheduled for Saturday, January 24th, 2015 at Santa Clara American Legion Post 419.
