So in early 2003, she and a couple of friends began organizing a new club in Los Gatos. There was already a Rotary Club that met in the afternoon, but they wanted to make sure people who worked elsewhere in Silicon Valley could attend. A breakfast club was mentioned, and they began recruiting.

"I went to [Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Co. owner] Teri Hope and I said, 'We're gonna start this club and you're going to join,' " Perry says. "Teri said, 'I don't do that kind of thing,' and I just twisted her arm and said, 'This is going to be great--you'll love it.' "

Two years, an official charter, some awards and several successful events later, other members of the Los Gatos Morning Rotary Club agree with her. Would they be showing up to weekly meetings at 7:30 a.m. if they didn't?

Perry was the first president and now serves as chairwoman of the club's foundation, which awards scholarships and other charitable grants. Her successor, current president John Curtis, will hand over the gavel to marketing professional Darrell Monda in July.

"Our goals are to have fellowship, have fun, give back to the community and also to do things that make this world a better place," Curtis says.

The club started with 23 members in the spring of 2003 and was chartered in October of that year. During its first year, it earned a district award for being the best new club with fewer than 50 members.

Curtis, director of the Los Gatos Parks and Public Works Department, was president of a Rotary Club in Southern California in the 1990s. He and Monda are two of only about 10 club members (there are now more than 50 total) with previous experience in the organization. The others were all recruits. As a result, there is a younger energy to the club than those that started decades ago.

"We only have one retired member: a guy that transferred in from Richmond," Monda says. "We've got a few people that could retire but they don't because they're still really active. Our demographic is quite a bit different than the typical Rotary Club because we fit the demographic of Silicon Valley rather than the demographic of Omaha, Neb."

The kind of energy Perry used in recruiting Hope and other friends is the same she used to get support for the club's early activities. Hope herself was planning to start "Jazz on the Plazz," the free weekly summer concert series in the Los Gatos Town Plaza, but knew she needed support from a nonprofit agency. When the Morning Rotary Club took on that role, Perry started handing out event T-shirts and hats to friends who became the volunteers that made it happen.

"That initial project built a core enthusiasm," she says. "We dubbed our club a promoter of arts and music in town."

Monda says the afternoon Rotary Club already sponsors many of the other organizations and programs in town and does a good job of it.

"We didn't want to duplicate that effort," he said. "But there was a drastic need for somebody to really take on art, including music, and so we did that."

Since then, the organization held the "Plein Air" outdoor painting event and formed a partnership with local painter Thomas Kinkade.

"This particular club has deemed as their charter the cultural exploration and enhancement of Los Gatos," says Sandy Decker, a charter member and former town councilwoman. "They have committed themselves to considering, if not sponsoring, anything that enhances the cultural excellence of Los Gatos."

According to Decker, that excellence starts with youth. The club has provided monetary support to the Los Gatos High School Theater Improvement Project. The club takes a cut from the sales of two Los Gatos scenes Kinkade has painted (one of the downtown and one of the high school), which it in turn donates to the theater project.

Members of the club regularly speak at NOVA, an alternative program for Los Gatos­Saratoga Joint Union High School District students. In addition, the club has donated funds to purchase DJ and musical equipment used by students wishing to create their own music.

Decker says fostering creativity among children has unfortunately taken a backseat to other priorities in schools.

"With budgets the way they are, it's very difficult for kids to come together and experience something like this--that's expensive merchandise," she says. "Here, kids can make their own music. They can do something like this collectively."

Still, the morning Rotary Club's efforts do extend beyond culture and art. Members even reach beyond the borders of the United States. With a sister club in Seoul, South Korea, and participation in many Rotary International programs, club members learn about and respond to global needs. They recently raised nearly $10,000 to purchase water purification pumps for Sri Lankan residents hit by the December 2004 tsunami.

The club does work close to home, too. Members spent two weekends this year painting, cleaning and restoring rooms in a Hubbel Way house that served for many years as home of the Los Gatos­Saratoga Senior Clubhouse. The West Valley Federated Women's Club of Los Gatos now operates the building, but the interior had been neglected and needed serious rehabilitation.

"I happen to know Darrell Monda and I just asked him if he thought that their club would be interested in doing some of the work," says Adu Bagley, the women's club president. "Next thing I know, this is one of their major projects. They've just done a wonderful job. This is a miracle as far as we're concerned."

Curtis says he always has willing volunteers to work on such projects.

"As I ask for help to do something or other, the hands go up," he says. "It's amazing to watch. And that's not typical of every club in the land."

Nicky Wu has only been in the club since last year, but he is already the treasurer. Usually, club members serve for several years before becoming officers.

A frequent international traveler, Wu says he has sat in--"made up," in Rotary lingo--with many clubs in different countries, and he still believes the Los Gatos Morning Rotary Club is the best in the world.

"People like John and Darrell, they have been with Rotary many years," he says. "They bring in the experience that they have ... and then combine it with the new spirit of the people that have not been in Rotary before but want to help the community. So the new members come in very happy and they really will do anything to try to help."

As Wu says, there is an energetic spirit that permeates the club--even at its Wednesday pre-workday meetings.

"People come to the morning breakfast and they say, 'Oh my gosh, people bounce into this meeting,' " Perry says. "We actually had one visitor say that. People were even showing up early and everyone was very spirited as they came in."

Decker says that although it has serious goals, the club tries not to take itself too seriously.

"There's a real penchant about having fun," she says. "We make it really clear that if you're not ready to have fun, maybe there's another club for you."

Even the fun has brought the club acclaim.

"Last summer, all the clubs were invited to do some tailgating at an A's game where money was being raised to send kids to a leadership camp," Curtis says. "This Rotary Club got what was called at that time the 'Big Kahuna' award because we had the best tailgate."

From the beginning, Monda wanted an image to represent the club. Rotarian and artist Dave Tripp developed the Morning Rotary "Cool Cat," a wild feline mascot with dark glasses and a saxophone.

"We branded ourselves as the stray cats of Los Gatos, the cool cats united," Monda said. "We created this cat ... and that's been our image. No other Rotary Club that I know of has used branding to build membership."

Perry also attributes the morning Rotary's success to the team of dedicated individuals who were willing to carry out her original vision and work side by side, regardless of gender, to make things happen in town.

"We've got really strong men who work well with women," Perry says. "I would have kicked anybody in the knees who didn't. As a result, our membership has grown. We're off the charts. We did the Jazz on the Plazz before we got the club chartered, thanks to Teri and thanks to Sandy. How do you not want those women in your club?"

And if Perry wants someone in the club, it doesn't matter whether he or she wants to join.

"You'll love it," she'll tell them.

If current members are to be believed, she's probably right.

For more information about the Los Gatos Morning Rotary Club, visit www.lgmorningrotary.org.