President Sandie Krutz rang the meeting to order at 7:30
The pledge of allegiance was lead by a leading Rotarian
The inspiration from Rich Mucci was several quotes from Lincoln, since this is Emancipation Day, celebrated in the District of Columbia in honor of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abe Lincoln.
“On the first day of January in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred sixty-three, all persons held as slaves, within any state, or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”
“I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper,” he declared. “If my name ever goes down into history it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it.”
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer.”
Bev Graham provided our warm up, asking each member to turn to a few neighbors and discuss whether they filed their taxes or got an extension. Many members expressed that they were too tired to continue the meeting after this.
Guests:
Our only guest today was Jose, the student from MET Academy who is shadowing Art Diaz for a few days. It was mentioned that that must be exhausting.
Announcements:
Wally Krutz encourages folks to volunteer for Rug Readers at Cali, since we need 3 readers for April 23rd. By doing so you will be demonstrating your community service.
Sandie reminded us that the Windsor Day Parade is May 4, and we need a few more balloon holders for the Rotary float balloon.
Sandie mentioned that the District 4-Way Fest Conference is May 17-19 at Peppermill in Reno. The link for registration is www.ismyrotaryclub.org/register4/index.cfm?EventID=77399340 .
Glenn Sugden announced that the First Robotic Rumble will occur with the 15+ age group from Cali, with 3 entries for the May 4 prejudge process. Also, Kambiz, the Physics instructor from WHS, will have entries from his AP class. Glenn will be publishing more information later.
Jack Hyde announced his resignation from coordinating the Summer Town Green Concerts Rotary Bar. He will be moving to the East Coast in mid-July. He proposed forming 5 teams, each taking 3 concerts, and got 4 “leaders” to head up the teams.
Sandie handed out Award to various members for working hard on the Lobster Feed, including but not limited to Jack, Carol, Michael, John L, Pam, Allen, and JB. Michael received a Spiderman Chia Pet as a special award.
Michael Juric presents a quick report on a number from the Lobster Feed, and the bottom line was $32K net proceeds produced, subject to later correction if more financial info comes in. This is down $12K from last year. But we actually provided $10K more for our target beneficiaries than last year – we had higher targets, and had less left over for other things, $6K. Attendance down 40 from last year, live auction $21K vs $31K last year, Silent $10.6K up $800. Full numbers can be obtained from Michael.
Michael made one observation that the selling of local vacation homes does not seem to work, and that we might consider trading our homes with other clubs, like Ashland, Oregon, to bring value to both clubs.
John Hackenburg point out that the selling of Flamingo Flockings earned $1,900 with no direct cost beyond participation by the members doing the act. Of course, now he needs participants to Flock things up.
The only fines paid this meeting were from Pam Moulton, who fell and hit her head recently. She was wearing a toupee to cover her bump. She said she had a hard time driving in this morning, and paid $5 for each red light she had to stop at, for a total of $50.
Presentation:
JB Leep introduced our presenter, Past President Steve Klick, who is a Certified Engineering Geologist, and a Certified Hydro-Geologist, with 15 years of experience in geologic and related projects. He is a graduate of CSU Chico, a noted Party School. He lived in Spain for 11 years, is married to Mapi, the famous local cake purveyor, and has two children.
Steve presented ”Engineers Without Borders – Sonoma County Professional chapter” and their projects in Pero to harvest purified rain water for drinking water along the Amazon of Peru near Iquitos. Windsor Rotary has made substantial contributions to this outreach.
Steve presented what it is like to go to the Iquitos area of Peru, travel on the Amazon river for hours to remote villages of 150 residents and install water systems that they can use for proper drinking water and improvement of their general health. His latest project was in Vista Allegre.
The systems have tanks, chlorine purification features, and carbon filters to provide hundreds of gallons of water daily for the residents. His group has installed 5 systems, and nearby residents have created 5 additional copies of the systems for other villages.
The construction is done by two groups. Steve participates in a first group, who installs the gutters and foundations. The second group comes in and installs the tanks and plumbing.
Steve revealed some pictures of government projects, such as a water tower and electric power lines that have been installed at great expense but are actually non-functional. They install pumps to pump water from the river, but the residents have no way to pay to run the pumps or maintain them or purify the water that comes from the river.
The system Steve and his co-workers install have been in operation for up to 5 years with simple and inexpensive maintenance by local water committee members. The residents in general have been amazed how much pure water and basic hygienic habits can improve their health on a day-to-day basis.
President Sandie rang the bell and ended the meeting at 8:33.
