Yearly Archives: 2013
NEXT MEETING: July 26, 2013Contra Costa's Climate Action Plan
Patrick Roche of our county’s Climate Action Group will describe steps our County is proposing in its effort to curb the emission of greenhouse gasses (GHC). The Plan identifies specific measures on how the County can achieve a GHG reduction target of 15% below baseline levels by the year 2020. It also proposes policies and actions to improve public health and provide additional community benefits, and lays the groundwork for achieving long-term greenhouse reduction goals for 2020 and 2035. For more information, see the County website page on its Climate Action Plan. MEETING OF July 19th 2013WelcomeWelcome, Invocation, Thought for the DayOur new lady President Liliane Koziol welcomed everyone to La Strada and started the meeting without the aid of the Rotary Bell. (Later this week, Liliane shared a few pictures of her official induction in Woodland, California, July 13th. She wasn’t alone.) The pledge was lead by Lesa McIntosh, a new scribe, without the aid of a flag; and the invocation was given by Herb Cole. The thought for the day was offered by yours truly, Alan Blavins: “No matter how hard you push the envelope, it will still be stationery.” Rotarians with GuestsDavid Keystone guest was Gerald Olivas. Sunshine ReportA card was circulated for signing and wishing Michelle Itagaki a fast recovery from her recent hip surgery. Announcements• Nick Despota asked everyone to complete the Flywheel survey, aimed at determing which sections are most frequently read. To date, only 12 Richmond Rotary members have taken the survey. Not a very strong showing. Please take a few minutes now to give us information that will help us tailor the Flywheel to your interests, and modify the scribing duties in ways that ensure members will volunteer to perform this club service in the future. [I second that! -Alan Blavins] If you haven’t taken the survey already, please do it now. • Alan Bear announced he is having a fund raising Poker Night August 16th at 6:00pm ($50 buy-in) all procides go towards John Nicol Scholarship Fund. Although 32 have signed up, there is still room for members wishing to go the A’s game and tailgate party on August 31st. Go A’s. • Josh Surowitz reminded everyone of our “The Mixer with the Chamber of Commerce” on Thursday August 8th ,5-7 at the Richmond Golf & Country Club. Recognitions• Doris Mitchell is having a birthday on the 20th. No number was mentioned. Happy and Sad Dollars• David Brown had sad dollars for the passing of his Temple’s cantor. But had happy dollars for his new “winged Rotary pin”. He is now a fully paid up member of The Flying Rotary’s. He was also happy about his recent trip to Alaska. • Jim Young had happy dollars for being able, through Skype, to talk to peace minded Rotarians all across the world. Norm’s NonsenseMama Stork, Papa Stork, and Baby Stork sat down to dinner and Mama said, “What did you do today, Papa?” PROGRAMElectric Power Generation in California
Our speaker was Bill Day, president of Longveiw Energy Associates. He is an engineer and an expert on co-generation, and the retired manager of General Electric’s co-gen manufacturing division. Bill began his talk by noting the sources of electric power in California. A few interesting facts: Electric Power Generation in California • California produces 70% of the electricity it uses • The rest is imported from the US Southwest (20%) and Pacific Northwest (10%) • Natural gas is the largest source of in-state power (45%) Technical challenges & Economic Challenges • 200,000 gigawatt-hours produced in-state • 32,000 miles of transmission lines Bill then went on to explain how gas and steam turbines create power for the grid using California’s Natural Gas source. Power is also produced in-state using all the sources available. These are: Wind, Solar, Small hydro, Large Hydro, Nuclear, Geothermal, Boimass and Coal. The goal is to produce 13,600 MW from wind and solar by 2020. (we need a little help from mother nature for this to happen. Let’s hope she keeps shinning on us) Challenges in Achieving 33% Renewables by 2020 California’s Main Challenge Ensure adequate electricity supplies while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 33% by 2020. The loading order to meet electricity demand: • Meet the demand – i.e. no blackouts • Energy efficiency • Renewable resources • Clean and efficient natural gas-fired power plants. Bill then pointed out that California’s Push for Renewable Energy Will Raise Prices which will cause many problems for the state’s competitiveness. A new report released by the Pacific Research Institute finds that California’s 33 percent renewable portfolio standard (RPS) will trigger a substantial rise in energy costs for the state by 2020. The report estimates that the mandate will cost California approximately $5 billion in 2020: $1 billion is transmission, $500 million is backup power and $3.5 billion is generating power through Non-hydroelectric Renewable Resources • The overall cost of the mandate will increase with consumption and it equates to an implicit tax of 27 percent • Compared with the United States, which includes the high cost energy markets of Alaska and Hawaii, California energy costs are already 53 percent higher. What can you do to meet coming higher electricity prices? • Rooftop solar panels can be profitable, if you have enough south-facing roof without obstructions • In 2011 Bill installed enough solar panels to reduce his external reliance on 50% of the kilowatt hours per month • This reduced his energy bill by 70% each month. • If electricity prices increase, he will save even more Bill then gave an example on how others have succeeded: • In April 2013, 52% of Germany’s electric power consumption was supplied from renewable sources • They kept the grid stable by making more than 100% of their electric power in-country, including a lot of coal-fueled plants. They exported most of the coal-fueled power. Summary • 70% of our electric power is produced in-state • Gas turbines are the largest source of in-state power production • The gas turbine industry can now respond quickly and efficiently to rapid fluctuations in power demand • CA’s challenges are to keep the grid stable and efficient, and coping with the high costs, of 33% renewables by 2020 • Watch out for higher electricity prices Bill’s presentation was followed by a sprited flow of questions and answers on the properties of household solar panels. The talk was not all hot air. It is a subject that affects all of us. - Alan Blavins, Rotating Scribe |
NEXT MEETING: July 19, 2013Co-Gen Electricity in California's Future
NOTE: This meeting will be held at La Strada Restaurant (map), not the Richmond Country Club. Our speaker will be Bill Day, president of Longview Energy Associates. Bill is an engineer and expert on co-generation and retired manager of General Electric’s co-gen manufacturing division. He will speak about the opportunity co-gen provides for the economic development of North America’s ‘new’ natural gas treasure trove. MEETING OF July 12, 2013WelcomeNew Richmond Rotary president, Liliane Koziol welcomed everyone to the Richmond Rotary Club! Red badger Gonzalo Ochoa led us in the pledge and Horace “Stoney” Stonework led us in a moment of silence for freedom, peace, and justice on earth. Herb Cole gave us the thought for the day – “always try to be helpful; if you see someone without a smile, give them yours.” Liliane announced that Ron Burton from the Norman, Oklahoma club is the new Rotary International president and that his theme for the year is “Engage Rotary, Change Lives”. The new district governor, Steven Lack, presented Liliane with a brand new 2013-14 banner. Liliane invited Stoney to the podium where she presented him with his new president-elect pin. Visiting RotariansWe were honored by the presence of the following visiting Rotarians:
Rotarians with GuestsOther guests included:
Liliane introduced this year’s board of directors. (The board meets the 3rd Thursday of each month.) The board members are:
Announcements• Poker night is scheduled for August 16th at 6:00 PM at the home of Alan Baer at 3001 Barkley Dr. in Richmond. It’s a $50 buy-in and all proceeds go to the John Nicol Scholarship Fund. Recognitions• Liliane gave a donation to the Rotary Foundation as one of her first acts as president. She rhetorically asked why it’s so important to donate? George Egan, financial wizard extraordinaire, immediately piped up saying, “because it’s tax deductible!” Happy and Sad Dollars
Norm’s NonsenseThe Prime Minister of Israel invited the Pope to play a game of golf, and since the Pope had no idea how to play, he convened the College of Cardinals to ask their advice. “Call Jack Nicklaus,” they suggested, “and let him play in your place. Tell the Prime Minister you’re sick or something.” Honored by His Holiness’s request, Nicklaus agreed to represent him on the links. The Pope, again on the advice of his staff, appointed him a Cardinal to make the arrangement seem more legitimate. “So how’d you do?” he asked eagerly when Nicklaus returned to the Vatican. “I came in second,” was the reply. PROGRAM"The International Side of Rotary," by Cliff Dochterman
Liliane introduced district governor, Steven Lack who wished everyone a Happy New (Rotary) Year and tipped his hat to Liliane as our new club president. He brought us a case of Rotary Adventure Beer from Chico where this year’s district conference will be held on October 18-20 and where 12,000 meal packets to feed 12,000 people will be assembled. He also encouraged us to participate in an upcoming raffle which will benefit both the Rotary Foundation and the individual clubs. He thanked the club for supporting the water project in Burkina Faso. This year’s project is to build a school with six classrooms for a village in Burkina Faso, a project entitled “Project Brighter Future”. Steven then went on to introduce our keynote speaker, Cliff Dochterman. He introduced Cliff as a “living legend, a real treasure in the world of Rotary”. Cliff has been a Rotarian for 50 years having originally joined the Berkeley Club. He went on to serve as the Rotary International president in 1992-93 during which time his theme was “Real Happiness is Helping Others”. He was educated at U.C. Berkeley and the University of the Pacific. Cliff began by telling us that he’d visited the Richmond club 45 years ago when he was district governor. He welcomed Liliane to her new post. His topic today is “The International Side of Rotary”. Rotary is the most international organization in the world – there are Rotary clubs in more countries than there are countries in the U.N., and there are over 34,000 clubs worldwide. Rotary may have been founded in Illinois, but it grew roots here in California where the second club was established in San Francisco, the third established as a joint club between Berkeley, Oakland, and Alameda, and the fourth in Los Angeles. U.S.-based Rotarians account for only one-third of all the Rotarians in the world. In the early days clubs typically engaged in local activities only, and one which nearly all Rotary clubs engaged in was working with handicapped children. Eventually, so many clubs were serving handicapped children on a local basis, that the project was unified and spun off into the Easter Seals program. In the 1960’s clubs began to look at the whole world as the “community” and U.S.-based clubs began collaborating with international clubs to do projects outside of the U.S. It was during this period that the Rotary Foundation began providing matching grants for these international projects. In 1966 the concept of “World Community Service” was developed and clubs were encouraged to link up with clubs abroad. But the biggest step by far was when an Australian RI president decided that Rotary International could and should do large projects that individual clubs or even groups of clubs could never do on their own. The RI leadership decided to submit a question to clubs around the globe – if you had a million dollars what would you do with it? The Philippine clubs replied that because they had a high rate of polio that they would vaccinate everyone in the Philippines in order to eradicate it. That’s when the polio eradication program was born. By 1987, RI had raised $240 million and partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO) with the vision to eradicate polio. In future years, other big projects were born including the “Gift of Life Program” which brought deformed and injured children to the U.S. for needed surgeries; the “Foot Program” which provided thousands of children low-cost prostheses; the “Hunger Plus” program which collects and distributes tons of dehydrated food to famine-plagued areas; a cataract surgery program; the “Wheelchair Foundation” providing over 200,000 wheelchairs to those who can’t walk; and various other projects that build schools and shelters, establish blood banks, provide microcredit to budding entrepreneurs, and help people to grow food. Cliff ended with a story about a call he got one day when he was RI president from a club president in Austria. The club president was asking for help with the refugees and chaos created by the civil war in Herzegovina. They needed everything – food, clothing, blankets, medicine. Within five weeks, Rotary worldwide raised $8 million, gathered the supplies and equipment, and transported them to the region via planes flown by Rotary pilots from Canada. The U.N. sent a letter thanking him and Rotary for having saved the lives of 100,000 people from starvation or freezing. As Cliff said, Rotary is more, so much more, than a weekly social event – someone somewhere is having a better life because each of us is a Rotarian. Lynn Martin- Your Roving Rotary Reporter |
NEXT MEETING: July 12, 2013Cliff Dochterman on the Rotary commitment to service
MEETING OF June 28, 2013WelcomeToday was Jim Young’s last meeting as President. The “lame duck”, so-to-speak, was forced to ring the bell twice to get everyone’s attention. Once that was accomplished, Mark Howe led us in the pledge of allegiance and Jim asked for a moment of silence for freedom, peace, and justice on earth—and the eradication of polio. Visiting RotariansWe were graced by the presence of visiting Rotarian Dudley Thompson from Oakland Club, #3. Rotarians with GuestsJim introduced his lovely wife Linda and his eldest son Zeb, both visiting with us today. Sunshine ReportJim announced the unexpected passing of Howard Cohen, Cantor at Temple Beth Hillel Chone. David Brown was not in attendance today due to his presence at the funeral. Announcements
RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAMRotary Peace Fellow, Dr. Lee-Anne Mulholland... and the Demotional RoastDr. Lee-Anne Mulholland, a Rotary Peace Fellow graduate from the Berkeley program, was today’s guest speaker. Dr. Mulholland is a barrister in Great Britain and practices law in California. Being a resident of Northern Ireland, Dr. Mulholland was closely involved in helping to end “The Troubles” that plagued the region for decades. Living through this turmoil, Dr. Mulholland’s parents taught her that she would never achieve justice through violence. Instead they stressed that people really listen to you only after you’ve earned their respect. Justice, she learned, comes through peaceful means, not through guns and bombs. The segregation of Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland made retaliation the rule and violence commonplace. This social climate fostered her interest in human rights, and lead Dr. Mulholland to law school at Queens University in Belfast, where she studied alongside students with opposing political views. In the city of Derry in 1972, the Catholic minority organized a peaceful civil rights march modeled after those in Berkeley. In response the government sent in war-hardened paratroopers who opened fire on the crowd, killing 13, including 7 teenagers. The events of “Bloody Sunday” lead thousands of otherwise peaceful citizens across the social spectrum to join the IRA, which openly espoused the use of violence. Because Britain refused to investigate the incident, many in Northern Ireland gave up hope for a peaceful resolution. After Dr. Mulholland graduated from law school, she was accepted to the Rotary Peace Fellow program, and attended UC Berkeley. Here she immersed herself in the legal dimensions of human rights. She was invited to join an international team established to investigate the events of Bloody Sunday. This work led her to interview top leaders of the IRA and Sinn Fein, numerous witnesses to the event, and Britain’s Prime Minister. The final report concluded that the marchers had been unarmed and peaceful, and that they were fired upon without provocation. This finding lead British prime minister, David Cameron, to make a formal apology on behalf of the United Kingdom. This act of sincere acknowledgement and apology opened the door to peace in Northern Ireland. Dr. Mulholland now works for a California law firm that tries human rights cases around the world. She praised the Rotary Peace Fellow program for the opportunity it gave her to help bring peace to her home, and for its contributions to peace around the world. But alas, as fascinating as Dr. Mulholland’s presentation was, she was unable to upstage… The Roast
Next exhibit: a faded photo of a young boy, face smeared with blueberries. Not a few in the group voiced other theories. Are those really blueberries on Jim’s young face (or is that “Jim Young’s face”?) Whatever. But given his shaky eating skills, the now-older Mr. Young was fitted with a bib. Befitting. Another exhibit truly astounded us: photos of train tunnels. A favorite stunt of the young Mr. Young was plastering himself against the sides of tunnels as trains zoomed past. Normal boyhood thrill-seeking — or missing gene? You decide. Revelations continued. Wizard Waller exposed Jim’s early aspirations as a guitarist and crooner, in honor of which Joe “Swampy” Bagley strum and sang an original musical interlude. The Wizard probed still deeper. Jim’s long (as in 6th-year senior) and illustrious career as a landscape architecture major at Cal Poly Pomona included a stint as student body president. This being the hippie era, the Wizard “illustrated” his story with the sight of Jim being topped by an Afro, crowned in a red bandana, and pasted with a Frank Zappa moustache. In the late 60s a branch of the Bank of America in Santa Barbara was burned. When students began pressuring Jim, the student body president, to close the Student Association accounts with the bank, Jim saw an opportunity. Plying his now familiar why-not attitude, Jim contacted the Chairman of BOA and urged him to “stop the war” if he didn’t want any more of his branches burned down. Then, in succession: a limo ride. Jim and Chairman share a fancy lunch. The Chairman testifies before Congress. And, perhaps suspiciously, the war ends. You connect the dots. Jim and bride Linda then moved to Berkeley. Unfortunately Jim failed to get into graduate school. But he did succeed in becoming the Student Relations officer at the U.C. Berkeley branch of the Bank of America. (Surprise, surprise.) So with heart-breaking sympathy, Swampy performed a somber tribute to Jim’s grad school disappointment. An volley of banker jokes followed. Jim’s year as Rotary President came to an end with accolades for his many achievements: the Lost Secrets of the Iron Triangle performances, Paul Harris awards for his family members, his efforts in the St. Louis-based Peace and Justice Network, and his leadership in aligning his presidential year with the Rotary’s Peace through Service theme. Congratulations and thanks for everything Jim! Lynn Martin- Your Roving Rotary Reporter |
NEXT MEETING: June 28, 2013Demotion: A time for exits and entrances
Jim is being way too harsh on himself. His tireless efforts helped lift Rotary’s profile many notches within our city. And of course the door swings both ways: as one soul happily steps out out another cautiously steps in. So with this meeting we welcome our new president, Liliane Koziol. MEETING OF June 21, 2013WelcomePresident Jim called the meeting to order, inviting Bob Dabney to lead the pledge of allegiance. Stoney requested a moment of silence for freedom, peace, and justice on earth. Jim then offered his Thought for the Day; “Let’s start enjoying all of this marvelous global warming we’ve been experiencing lately!” Jim then convened a Club Assembly to vote on the non-discrimination policy, previously distributed to the club membership. There being no questions, Bob Dabney moved and Michelle Itagaki seconded to approve the policy as presented. The voice vote garnered unanimous approval of the non-discrimination policy. Jim then put a question before the members as to their willingness to hold the August 30th meeting at the Richmond Museum, since the Richmond Country Club is already booked for a golf tournament that day. A straw vote registerd 15 ‘ayes’. The final location for the August 30th meeting will be announced later. Visiting RotariansCraig Dunbar from the Redding Club joined us today. Jim also recognized John Troughton, a long time Richmond Club member. Jim then closed the Club Assembly. Announcements
Recognitions
Happy and Sad Dollars
Norm’s NonsenseNorm and Bonnie are on vacation, leaving us with the task of coming up with our own nonsense. Result: many thoughts, mostly mundane and unfunny. Hurry back, Norm! PROGRAMTeach for America
Tom Waller introduced our speaker of the day, Tyler Hester of Teach for America or TFA. Tyler was raised in Marin and holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Stanford. He worked for the federal Department of Education after which he was awarded a scholarship to attend Cambridge University in England, where he was awarded a second master’s degree. During his matriculation at Cambridge he became convinced that educational inequality is the civil rights issue of our day. Upon his return he taught English with TFA in southern California for two years and then came to the Bay Area with TFA to teach in Richmond. Tyler joined the TFA ‘corps’ in 2008 after finishing graduate school at Cambridge. He learned a great deal about educational inequity while he’d worked for the federal Department of Education and during his studies at Cambridge. He eventually came to the conclusion that TFA was doing something positive in classrooms all over the country and joined the group, originally teaching two years in a 7th grade English class in southern California. During that period he had the highest performing 7th graders in the history of the school district where he was teaching, but despite that record, he was laid off. Tyler said that once he began teaching his heart was changed. He became less ambitious for himself and more for the kids in his classroom. After being laid off, he came to the Bay Area and applied for a position with the West County Unified School District (WCCUSD) where he was hired and where he became motivated to help take his school from good to great. He said that Richmond is “bursting with potential” and that the students have tremendous capability. Tyler taught four years and then applied, as his parents had wished, to complete a doctoral degree. He was accepted to the doctoral program, but at the same time was offered the position to lead the West County TFA. Because of his passion for the project, he deferred his doctoral work and accepted the position with TFA. He told us that this is his dream job and that he loves it. He recounted the story of “Victor”, a 9th grader he taught in Richmond. Victor had not been assigned any homework since the 2nd grade; he had gang affiliations; and he wasn’t ready to meet the high expectations set by Tyler in the classroom. One day Victor said “I’m going to hit someone in the face so they’ll kick me out.” Tyler visited Victor along with his family and managed to keep him in school for a long until Victor was caught dealing drugs in the school bathroom and was expelled. Victor went to continuation school where he was shot at, and while in the act of trying to shoot back, was picked up by the police. Victor went to juvenile hall. Tyler stated that there are just “too many Victors” and that its those kids who motivate him to do this work. Tyler reported that in the U.S. if you’re poor you have only an 8% chance of graduating from college by the age of 24. Only 41% of third graders read at grade level and that if you’re not reading at grade level by the third grade, you are more likely to serve prison time. Despite ten years of consecutive academic improvement in WCCUSD, shockingly, only 2% of Richmond’s 9th grade algebra students are at grade level. TFA incorporates a specific theory of change that includes the basic principle of recruiting and developing outstanding and diverse leaders. TFA looks for people who already have a track record of excellence either professionally or in other aspects of their lives, and they support the corps teachers to do “big things” with their kids. If they can help their kids be successful by doing “big things”, the students will learn that they can personally aspire to more. Lastly, they try to get those who accomplish those “big things” in their classrooms to devote the rest of their life to the endeavor, not always by remaining in the classroom, but by supporting the endeavor in some way that moves it forward, politically, financially, educationally, or in some other fashion. This past year the program in Contra Costa County had 76 TFA teachers, 24 in West County schools, primarily the ones that are the hardest to staff. There are six full-time TFA administrative staff members who support the 76 teachers countywide. This year there are 10,000 corps members nationwide. Tyler believes that young people of his generation feel called to serve. He knows he has benefited from the entirely unearned privilege of being born to a good family and growing up in Marin County. He now wants to give something back. - Lynn Martin, Your Roving Rotary Reporter |
NEXT MEETING: June 21, 2013Teach for America
Since Teach For America (TFA) started in 1990, nearly 33,000 TFA teachers have taught more than 3 million children nationwide. TFA’s mission is to contribute to the elimination of educational inequity by helping ensure that children growing up in low-income communities get an excellent education. TFA recruits committed recent college graduates and professionals of all backgrounds to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools, trains and develops the teachers so they have an immediate positive impact on their students, and then fosters the leadership of TFA alumni as they continue to deepen their impact as educational leaders and advocates. Come learn more about Teach For America, including its contributions in the West Contra Costa Unified School District, where about 80 TFA teachers come to work in classrooms each day. MEETING OF June 14, 2013WelcomeJoey Bags led us in the pledge today, and George Egan asked the club for a moment of silence for “Peace and Freedom on Earth”. Sid’s thought for the day was ”If you never try you will never know” Sunshine & Rotarians with Guests
Club AssemblyThe President will convene a brief Club Assembly for a one-item voice vote on a recommendation of the Board of Directors. The recommendation is to adopt an amendment to add a Non-discrimination Clause to the Club’s By-Laws. The adoption of this amendment will position the Club more favorably when it applies for future grants from non-profits that require their applicants to have such clauses. “The Rotary Club of Richmond, Inc., admits members of any race, color, religion, national and ethnic origin, gender, gender identity, sexual preference, marital status and age to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to members of the club. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national and ethnic origin gender, gender identity, sexual preference, marital status nor age in its administration, policies, admissions, programs, and other activities.”
Announcements
Recognitions
Happy and Sad Dollars
Norm’s NonsenseMore ponderisms … PROGRAM
Captain Martin McNair was introduced by Tom Waller, a fellow Navy officer. Martin was commissioned in 1962 at the Officer Candidate School in Newport Rhode Island. He was a member of Class 29 – Underwater demolition Team. Martin explained how Draper Kaufman became the first Navy Seal. He briefly reviewed what are, for some, well-known aspects of the Navy Seal training program:
Draper Kaufman, the father of the Navy Seals, was one of those who did make the cut, but his eyesight was poor; he failed the physical and was denied entry to the elite group. So off he went to Europe at the height of WWII where he worked as an ambulance driver until he was captured by the Germans in France. In a prisoner exchange Draper was returned to England, where he was taught to disarm unexploded bombs in London, a very important and dangerous job that nobody wanted to do. When Draper returned home some time afterward to see his father, a friend of his father, a Navy Admiral, was visiting. Draper told the admiral his story. At about this time a Marine assault force in the Pacific had lost many men when their landing craft hit a reef, which the Marines thought was the shore. When they jumped from the craft many were drowned in the deep water. As a consequence the Navy decided to employ a phalanx of divers to chart near shore waters before any beach assault and use explosives to create a path through the reefs. To the Admiral, Draper with his invaluable explosive handling skills was the perfect candidate to implement this new strategy. He was readmitted to the Navy, when an underwater demolition team training facility was created in Fort Pierce, Florida. This became the Navy Seals. The Navy Seal teams grew from these modest beginnings. Today there are 2,000 people in the Navy Seal program under the command of a 4-star Admiral. Mark Howe, Rotating Scribe |
We learned many things about our very own Jim Young, as Tom “Merlin” Waller conjured up the past. The Merlin began by inviting us to ponder the mystery of Jim’s straw hat. We were all invited to assist by donning our own straw hats, thoughtfully distributed by the Merlin’s assistants, Don Lau and Alan Baer.
This Friday the Club bids a fond farewell to current president Jim Young. Or as Jim himself put it, “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!”
On March 1st, we learned about the value of storytelling in children’s lives from Jean Ellisen, our guest speaker that day. Inspired, our club donated money to support a field trip for an elementary school class to the Annual Bay Area Storytelling Festival. Unfortunately the class was unable to attract a chaperone in time for the excursion. So in lieu of the trip, Jean used the money to support a Teen Poetry Slam—a new addition to the Festival. Last week Jean sent along pictures and a warm appreciation.
