NEXT MEETING: February 28, 2014

Consul General of India, Honorable N. Parthasarathi

The Honorable N. Parthasarathi is the Consul General of India and is based in San Francisco. He’s a career diplomat by day and fiction writer by night. Among other things, he will tell us about his written work and how it has been inspired by the many lands he has been assigned to.

MEETING OF February 21, 2014

Welcome

President Liliane called the meeting to order at the Richmond Country Club. Cheryl Vaughn led the pledge of allegiance and Stoney Stonework asked for a moment of silence for freedom, peace, and justice on earth. Sid Chauvin offered this thought for the day: Remember there’s room at the top but not enough to just sit down.

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

• Jeff Mulvihill is a visiting Rotarian from the Redding Rotary Club.
• Jim Young’s guests were Linda (his wife), John Iwawaki (Escape Club), and Menbere Aklilu (Club member candidate). John oversees the Escape Club, which was started over 10 years ago at Lovonja DeJean Middle School. There are about 60 students in the Club, which typically meets once per week to plan a monthly day trip that provides memorable experiences which many of the young people don’t otherwise have the chance to become involved in (hiking, trips to the ocean and to the snow, etc.). Richmond Rotary helps support the Escape Club and Jon Lawlis usually forwards John’s excellent photos of Escape Club field trips to Richmond Rotary members.
• Alan Baer’s guest was Stephanie, his daughter.
• Tom Butt’s guest was his wife, Shirley (his “fact checker” for the meeting’s program presentation).

Special Events

• Club Secretary, Alan Baer, presided over the induction of Menbere Aklilu as a new member of Richmond Rotary. Congratulations and welcome, Menbere!
• Although recognized at the last meeting, Josh Surowitz received another round of applause as he was belatedly presented with his pin for a Paul Harris Fellow (Plus One).

Announcements

• President Liliane Koziol read some excerpts of a thank you note from Rotary 5160 District Governor, Steve Lack, who visited the Club on February 7. Steve applauded Richmond Rotary’s can-do attitude and obvious pride. He also congratulated the Club for having the largest number of new member inductions and Paul Harris Fellow recognitions that he’s ever seen at a single meeting.
• As noted on the Club’s calendar, Richmond Rotary will host a speech contest during the speaker program period on March 7. Some students from the Interact Club at Salesian High School will each deliver a 5-7 minute speech applying the ideas and principles of the Rotary 4-Way Test to this year’s topic theme: “What’s Life Without Adventure?” The Club winner will compete in a BARSHEEP area run-off. The area winner will then participate in the District 5160 finals in Vallejo on May 3. Jon Lawlis added some comments about the importance of this activity and why the March 7 meeting is not to be missed.
• On Friday, March 21, from 12-noon to 2:00pm, Chevron will host the Richmond Rotary Club for lunch and a facility tour. The Club will not meet at the Richmond Country Club that Friday. More specifics about the meet-up location at Chevron will follow shortly.
• The Golden Gate Fields Dollar Days event is coming around again on Sunday, March 30. This is a great opportunity for fun-filled volunteer service (minimum ten volunteers required), for which the Club Treasury receives a payment of $1,000 from Golden Gate Fields. More details to follow.

Recognitions

Happy and Sad Dollars

Norm’s Nonsense

A priest and a lawyer died and went to heaven on the same day, and St. Peter showed them both to their rooms. The lawyer’s room was extremely large and lavish, but the priest’s room was a little ten-by-ten cell with one window and a cot. The priest said, “St. Peter, I have spent my entire life serving God. Why do I get a crummy room and the lawyer gets the best room?”

St. Peter replied, “Well, we get thousands of priests up here, but this is the first lawyer we’ve ever had.”

PROGRAM

Tom's Excellent Adventure: Cuba

President Liliane introduced Tom Butt, who provided an informative PowerPoint presentation about a 10-day trip that he and others from our local area made last December to Cuba, including a stop in Regla, the Cuban Sister City of Richmond (a relationship established in 1999).

Here are some presentation highlights.

• These five words best describe Cuba: fascinating, friendly, safe, diverse, contrasts.
• Located in the Caribbean less than 100 miles from Florida, Cuba is an island about 800 miles long with a population of about 11 million people, two million of whom are in the capital city of Havana.
• Regla is actually a suburb, or perhaps more properly, a borough of Havana, and sits just across the harbor from the main city of Havana. Like Richmond, Regla has an industrial background, former shipyards, and a currently operating oil refinery, Cuba’s largest.
• While in Havana, the Richmond group, which included Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, met with families of “The Cuban Five”, intelligence officers who were captured in Florida in the 1990’s, convicted of espionage and other crimes, and imprisoned. The Cuban Five are seen as heroes in Cuba.
• A must-see in Havana is La Floridita, Ernest Hemingway’s favorite bar. There’s even a statue of Ernest just made for a Kodak moment.
• The Bucanero Brewing Company makes the two top selling Cuban beer brands, Cristal and Bucanero.
• There are a variety of rural and urban transportation options in Cuba, from horse-drawn mechanisms to jury-rigged military trucks turned into buses and, of course, walking. There are also the ubiquitous 1950s-era cars, many of them finely preserved and used as taxis. Hitch hiking is widespread.
• History is taken seriously throughout Cuba. Lots of Cuban cities have been celebrating 500-year anniversaries of their founding. Various building restorations are planned and/or underway everywhere. Historical artifacts are proudly displayed, including Castro’s boat that he used to travel from Mexico to Cuba in the 1950s to start the Revolution and the bulldozer used by Che Guevara in December 1959 to disrupt a rail line and isolate government forces near the city of Santa Clara (the conclusive victory against Batista’s forces).
• In a prominent museum in the City of Cienfuegos, south of Havana, there’s a Wall of Heroes. Located on the Wall next to a picture of Abraham Lincoln is a picture of Richmond Mayor McLaughlin, presumably due at least in part to her support for setting the imprisoned Cuban Five free.
• The once vibrant Cuban sugar industry is almost gone. About 90% of the island’s labor force works for the government in some capacity while receiving free medical care and education. There’s apparently talk of trying to reduce the government workforce to about 50% of the total (with the rest perhaps going into some kind of a developing private sector?). There’s a growing shortage of doctors, teachers, and other occupations. Many Cubans try to get into tourism, becoming guides who can earn tips from 2 million annual tourists.
• There are two currencies in use in Cuba. The “Peso” is the local currency, which is used for government worker wages, rent, buying groceries, etc. The “CUC” is the convertible currency, which foreigners can buy and sell. USA-bank credit cards or travelers checks are not accepted.

There’s a fair consensus that at least two significant happenings in Cuba’s current era have had lasting impacts (and they’re both still in effect): the Communist Revolution of 1959 and the American embargo of the early 1960s.

And there are no Rotary Clubs in Cuba.

NEXT MEETING: February 21, 2014

Tom's Excellent Adventure: Cuba

Club Member Tom Butt, recent recipient of the Governor’s Energizer Award, just came back from a trip to Cuba.  He will share with us visual highlights from his trip.

MEETING OF February 14, 2014

Welcome

President Liliane Koziol called the meeting to order at the Richmond Country Club. Herb Cole led the pledge of allegiance and Stoney Stonework asked for a moment of silence for freedom, peace, and justice on earth.

Sid Chauvin offered this thought for the day: “Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.” – Albert Einstein

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

Jeff Mulvihill visited us again as a Rotarian from the Redding Rotary Club.

Announcements

• George Egan announced that it would be nice to call Lesa McIntosh, who is recovering from a hip replacement.
• Henry Moe was delighted to announce the Crab Feed was a total success! Amongst the many key participants, Don Lau did a great job running the bar, as did Joe Bagley with the Kitchen.
• Prez Liliane reminded everyone that the Rotary dollar day at the track volunteer opportunity would be on March 30^th. More details to come…

Recognitions

Happy and Sad Dollars

Norm’s Nonsense

Yogi Berra Quotes
-“Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.”
-“When you come to a fork in the road, take it”
-“Baseball is 90% mental — the other half is physical.”

PROGRAM

Richmond Summer Youth Employment Program

We were fortunate to be joined by Jay Leonhardy, who coordinates the program through the YouthWORKS Division of the City of Richmond in collaboration with several community partners. The summer of 2014 marks the tenth year of the Richmond Summer Youth Employment Program, which provides youth, ages 15-21, the opportunity to work in a variety of local jobs to gain vital work experience and earn money.

This valuable program focuses on providing services for the most educationally and economically disadvantaged youth, working with families with no more than 70% of the federal poverty guidelines income. As Jay had said, “Nothing in the world stops a bullet as fast as a job”. Through this important program, since 2005, over 200 youth have been provided with meaningful career path work experience.

NEXT MEETING: February 14, 2014

Richmond Summer Youth Employment Program

The summer of 2014 marks the tenth year of the Richmond Summer Youth Employment Program, which provides youth, ages 15-21, the opportunity to work in a variety of local jobs to gain vital work experience and earn money. Jay Leonhardy coordinates the program through the YouthWORKS Division of the City of Richmond in collaboration with several community partners. Jay will provide an historical recap of the program, its goals and objectives, its challenges and accomplishments, as well as its importance to each youth participant and to the community as a whole.

MEETING OF February 7, 2014

Welcome

President Liliane Koziol called the meeting to order at the Richmond Country Club. Herb Cole led the pledge of allegiance and Stoney Stonework asked for a moment of silence for freedom, peace, and justice on earth. Sid Chauvin offered this thought for the day: It’s better to give than receive – and besides, it’s tax deductible.

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

• Steve Lack is District Governor and a member of the Pleasant Hill Rotary Club.
• Fred Collignon is Assistant District Governor and a member of the Berkeley Rotary Club.
• Jeff Mulvihill is a visiting Rotarian from the Redding Rotary Club.
• Dominique Yancey is a visiting Rotarian from the San Ramon Valley Rotary Club.
• Ken Koziol is Liliane’s husband.
• Sam Kang is Stoney’s guest.
• Darlene Quinville is Jon Lawlis’ fiancé.
• Sister Mary Greenan from Salesian High School is the guest of Hank Covell.
• Richard Poe, Dana Stoehr, and Cheryl Vaughn are guests of Tom Butt.

Special Events

District Governor Steve Lack presided over a record number of new Club member inductions, special recognitions, and award presentations. He acknowledged it was the most he’s seen at any one meeting during his visits to District 5160 Clubs.

• The following new members were inducted into the Richmond Rotary Club: Sister Mary Greenan, Richard Poe, Dana Stoehr, and Cheryl Vaughn. Congratulations to all and welcome! Since it was a particularly special day for Cheryl, she was also treated to a remarkably on-key rendition of the Happy Birthday song.
• The following Paul Harris Fellows were recognized. Congratulations to all and thanks!
  • First Paul Harris: Ethan Heinrich.
  • Paul Harris Plus One: Alan Blavins, Rafael Madrigal, Doris Mitchell, Henry Moe, Markku Pelanne, and Josh Surowitz.
  • Paul Harris Plus Two: Sid Chauvin, Josh Genser, Liliane Koziol, and Norm Lundberg.
  • Paul Harris Plus Six: Pam Jones.
• Connie Tritt was presented the Energizer Award for her fine work as Rotary Foundation Chair for the Club.
• Tom Butt and Alan Blavins were also presented Energizer Awards for their can-do attitudes and service to Richmond Rotary.
• Henry Moe was presented the Unsung Hero Award for his many ongoing contributions to Club activities.

Announcements

The annual Richmond Rotary Crab Feed took place at Salesian High School on Saturday night, February 8. Many hearty souls braved the welcomed winter rains and enjoyed an evening of good crab and conversation. Thanks to Henry Moe for overall event coordination, Don Lau for bartending (Sid caught a last-minute flu bug), Joe Bagley for making things happen in the kitchen, Alan Baer for handling announcements and the auction, David Brown for collecting auction-item money, and to all others who contributed and participated.

Recognitions

Happy and Sad Dollars

Norm’s Nonsense

Government surveyors came to Ole’s farm to do some surveying. When they were through, they informed him, “We discovered your farm is not in Minnesota but is actually in Wisconsin!”

Ole replied: “That’s the best news I have heard in a long time. I just told my wife Lena this morning that I don’t think I can take another winter in Minnesota.”

PROGRAM

A visit from District Governor Steve Lack

Liliane introduced current Rotary District 5160 Governor, Steve Lack, who has been a member of the Rotary Club of Pleasant Hill since 2002.

With his Indiana Jones attire and accompanying background music coupled with more than ample enthusiasm, Steve made it clear that his main theme this year as District Governor is to encourage everyone to celebrate Rotary as an “Adventure in Service”.

Steve saluted Richmond Rotary for its startup in 1920 as the second Club in District 5160. He reminded us of the early days of Rotary when Paul Harris, in February 1905, convened a dinner in Chicago with three buddies and said, “Let’s start a business fellowship.” The service component was added and Rotary began decades of growth.

Today, more than one million Rotarians around the world gather regularly for camaraderie and planning/implementing service activities. Broadly speaking, Rotary has six primary areas of focus: promoting peace, preventing diseases, providing access to clean water and sanitation, enhancing maternal and child health, improving basic education and literacy, and helping communities develop.

The update on Polio Plus is that, despite a few isolated outbreaks in Syria and Somalia, the persistence of new polio cases (less than 300 total now) in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan is still expected to be halted by 2015. With the required three years of monitoring for no new cases, the hope is that the year 2018 can see the declaration of polio eradication from planet earth. Since the first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979, Rotarians have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars and helped immunize more than 2 billion children against polio in 122 countries. As Steve would say, what an amazing adventure!

Steve brought a nice energy to the meeting. When mixed in with numerous new members and award recognitions, it was easy to leave for the weekend as a proud Rotarian.

NEXT MEETING: February 7, 2014

Our District Governor, new members, and new Paul Harris fellows

On Friday we welcome Rotary District Governor Steve Lack to our meeting. We’re eager to hear what Steve has to tell us about Rotary’s opportunities in our region and beyond.

But on this day we will also be inducting 6 new members to our ranks. And if that isn’t reason enough to celebrate, twelve current members will receive Paul Harris awards.

Congratulations to all!

MEETING OF February 1, 2014

Welcome

• Last chance! If you want to dig into the seasonal bounty of the Pacific with your Rotary, pals, get your tickets now. The Crab Feed is this Saturday, February 8^th at Salesian High School. Get you tickets from Erle Brown and your money ($40 per ticket) to David Brown. This year the event will again feature a live auction. Therefore, please consider bringing an item for the auction block. Download flyer.
• BARSHEEP will have a special happy hour on Valentine’s Day at La Revoluccion from 5-7 PM.
• International Club President, Ron Burton, will be visiting the area on March 30^th for a district event. Everyone is encouraged to attend.
• Liliane met with the Soroptimists recently and they are open to our two clubs collaborating on projects and attending each other’s meetings. Specific dates for this exchange will be announced later.
• District 5160 Governor, Steve Lack, will be visiting our club on February 7^th. He will be inducting a number of new members and awarding several Paul Harris Fellows.
• Liliane thanked all those involved in coordinating the RotoCare clinic’s food preparation and delivery program.

Announcements

President, Liliane Koziol, welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order. The pledge was said and Herb Cole led us in a moment of silence for peace, freedom, and justice on earth. Sid’s wise words for the day were “enjoy your days and your life because life is a journey to be savored.”

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

Rotarians Jeff Mulvihill from the Redding club and Mac Lingo from Berkeley (also today’s speaker) were visiting with us today.

Recognitions

Happy and Sad Dollars

Norm’s Nonsense

A man had 50-yard-line tickets for the Super Bowl. As he sat down, he noticed the seat next to him was empty. He asked the man on the other side of the empty seat whether anyone was sitting there.
“Well, actually the seat belongs to me. I was supposed to come with my wife, but she passed away. This will be the first Super Bowl we haven’t been together since we married in 1967.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. But couldn’t you find someone else — a friend or relative, or even a neighbor to take the seat?”
“No, they’re all at the funeral.”

PROGRAM

Mac Lingo, Berkeley Rotarian and today’s speaker, told us about his experiences and insights working with inmates at San Quentin prison. Mac began teaching math to inmates at the West County Sheriff’s Detention Center in Pinole and quickly expanded his work to prisoners at San Quentin.

The key role of the prison system is to keep dangerous people away from society at large, but the U.S. has the highest percentage of its citizens incarcerated of any country in the world. Russia, one of the other highest, has 492 persons per 100,000 locked up versus 794 per 100,000 in the U.S.

One of the things Mac observed firsthand is that the prisoners change over time in ways that are profound and redeeming and that because of this, some could be safely released, saving the state money. It costs approximately $50K per year to keep a prisoner locked up.

San Quentin is unique in that it has the highest quality educational programs of any jail or prison in the state offering everything from bachelor’s programs to yoga, meditation, and theater classes. Inmates range from 16 years to the very old and most are not white but people of color. Most with whom he’s worked never had a father figure in their lives, something that Mac and other volunteers working in the prison help them to overcome.

NEXT MEETING: February 1, 2014

Reflections on San Quentin Prison by a volunteer

Mac Lingo has spent the proverbial 10,000 hours involved with corporate computer  and accounting systems.  He’s also studied at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, spent a lot of time sitting in meditation retreats, and has a been a glider pilot and blue water sailor.

About 6 years ago Mac began volunteering as a  math teacher at the West County (Sheriff’s) Detention Center in Pinole.  He found he had an ability to reach those to whom he was supposed to be teaching math, but on a deeper and more fundamental level. This has has led him into working at San Quentin.  Mac will share some impressions of his time there as a volunteer

MEETING OF January 24th 2014

Welcome

In the absence of our president, Alan Baer presided over the meeting. Our guest speaker did not appear so Alan got to show off his skills as an improviser. Quite good, actually.

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

We again welcomed Jeff Mulvihill, a refugee of the Redding Rotary. We note that Jeff has been to more meetings than some of our members. He better join.

Tom Butt introduced a bevy of guests at his table, and more guests occupied other tables. They included Cheryl Vaughn, Richard Poe, Kun Kun Poe with baby Antoyo, Dana Stoehr, Alonzo Robinson, Clarence Van Hook. We apologize if we missed any one.

Announcements

• The Rotary Crab Feed on February 8^th at Salesian High School. Get you tickets from Erle Brown and your money ($40 per ticket) to David Brown. Live auction items welcome. Download flyer.
• Director Steve Snyder extended an invitation to dinner with Rotary International President Ron D. Burton. The dinner will be held at the Double Tree Hilton Hotel on March 30th 2014. $55.00 per person. There is a special room rate of $89.00.
• BARSHEEP (the acronym for the 7 clubs scattered across west Contra Costa County) is having a gathering, “Thank Goodness It’s Valentine’s Day”
  on Friday, Febuary 14th 2014. 5-7pm at La Revolucion Bar & Grill (Hilltop Mall).
• District Governor Steve Lack visits our club on Febuary 7th.2014. This should be a good meeting.

Recognitions

Happy and Sad Dollars

Norm’s Nonsense

These questions and answers are from the days when Hollywood Squares game show responses were spontaneous.

Q: If you’re going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be?
A: Charley Weaver: “Three days of steady drinking should do it.”

Q: Can boys join the Camp Fire Girls?
A: Marty Allen: “Only after lights out.”

Q: You’ve been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or woman?
A: Don Knotts: “That’s what’s been keeping me awake.

PROGRAM

Substituting for our scheduled speaker, Stony stepped up with a brief summary of what is happening in Pakistan.

Three polio workers have been killed in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, a day after authorities began a new vaccination drive. Reports say gunmen opened fire in the Quaymabad area, killing one man and two women who were administering polio drops. The attack is the latest in a series targeting polio teams in the country, which has claimed 32 lives to date. No group has claimed responsibility, but the Taliban oppose schemes, which they see as a cover for international espionage.

Pakistan is one of only three counties (Nigeria and Afghanistan are the other two) where polio remains endemic and is on the rise, due in part to this militant resistance.

India this month declared itself polio-free, three years after its latest reported case—a landmark in the global battle against the disease. This achievement is largely due to a massive and sustained vaccination campaign.

This latest attack comes one day after the health authorities in Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, began to inoculate 7.6 million children as part of a nation wide vaccination campaign

In Stoney’s opinion, the media coverage of the campaign to eradicate polio gives too much credit to the Bill Gates Foundation, and too little to Rotary International, which has raised 1.5 billion dollars. Rotary deserves much better press.