Yearly Archives: 2019
NEXT MEETING: May 17, 2019WASH in schools — The Honduras Project
Concord Rotary Club is the sponsor for a Honduras-based project that will upgrade water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) systems in that country. The project, hosted by the Tocoa Rotary Club in the Colon region of northeastern Honduras, will be underway for next 4 years. WASH in Schools was just awarded a second global grant to continue the work in additional schools. Five project components include water system upgrades, construction oversight by parent committees, data collection for evaluation, hygiene education for the students, and teacher education on incorporating WASH concepts into the curricula. MEETING OF May 10, 2019WelcomeAt 12:30 pm, President Jerry Feagley opened the meeting. Bob Dabney led us in the Pledge this week. Herb Cole did the invocation for peace, freedom and justice on earth. Sid’s thought for the day, “What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.” Jerry brought up that he and Jan Brown went to RotaCare this past Tuesday and had a tour of their facility. They do great work, are very organized, and get the most out of every donation to this great cause. Be sure to support the RotaCare Bowl-A-Thon. Hank Covell encouraged all of us to go to the Richmond Art Center and see the “Whale”!! It’s beautiful and an amazing piece of art to see. Ric Ambrose said a lot of reviews have been done on this exhibit in local papers. It is based on Moby Dick, in which some scholars have found a critique of capitalism. This 51’ long, 18’ high work certainly fits that description, illustrating the impacts of capitalism over the last century. Last day to see the work is Friday, May 17th, when there will be a closing celebration from 5 to 7 PM. It’s definitely worth a stop at the Richmond Art Center. Tamara Shiloh informed us that as of June 1st, she will be the sole owner of the Children’s Multi-Cultural Bookstore, in the Shops at Hilltop. Children’s activities will take place in the store every day during the summer, so bring your kids and grandkids She is looking for volunteers to work four hours time slots to help out. This is a great volunteer opportunity for our Rotarians and friends to have fun with kids. Visiting Rotarians and GuestsAaron Gobler, Albany Rotary Announcements
RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAMTeen Moms' Care Package DayDarlene Q gave instructions for our Teen Mom Packages to be put together today. A group of about seven Rotarians will be bringing the packages to the Teen Moms at Richmond High School on Tuesday, May 14th, at 10:45 AM. The Future of the Flywheel
Among other findings, the survey indicated that the majority of readers valued the Upcoming Program and the Announcements in the Flywheel over the other sections. The summary of the previous week’s program was the third most read part of the Flywheel. Nick explained that it is difficult to maintain the full schedule of scribes to insure that the Flywheel is published weekly and without interruption. For that reason, he proposed eliminating the Flywheel in its current form—a page on our website—and instead include only the Upcoming Program description and the Announcements in an HTML-formatted email that is sent out each week. This would entail less work since recording notes and rewriting them into finished text takes most scribes at least an hour. It became clear from the discussion that followed that members were reluctant to accept the proposal of the dramatically reduced Flywheel. After several minutes, this novel idea developed: At each meeting, members would be asked to pull a ball from a dark bag. The member that draws the uniquely-colored ball becomes the scribe for that meeting. He or she will record the meeting notes, then transcribe them into a Word document template at home (or during the meeting if an internet-connected laptop is available), and finally email the completed template to Nick for creating the Flywheel. A summary of that week’s program would not be included in the Flywheel (that being the most time-consuming part of the scribe’s task). Furthermore, if a member chooses to, he or she may pay an undetermined amount of money for another member to be the scribe. We put both proposals to a vote: either the Upcoming Program and Announcements email, or the randomly-chosen scribe Flywheel, minus the previous week’s program summary. The slimmed-down Flywheel would continue to be posted on this website. If you weren’t at this lively meeting, have a guess which proposal won. That’s right. - Rotating Scribe Darlene Quenville |
NEXT MEETING: May 10, 2019Teen Moms "Care Packages" Project
Special PresentationLast month Nick conducted a survey about our Club’s use of this website, and in particular, The Flywheel. Nearly half of our membership took the survey, a very good response. Drawing on the findings from the survey, this Friday Nick will present a plan for changes to The Flywheel and the means for inforing our members of upcoming speakers and events. Below is a teaser, showing the responses to one of our questions.
MEETING OF March 291h, 2019WelcomePresident Jerry welcomed everyone to the “friendly Richmond Rotary Club”. Sid’s thought for our day was “Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” (Mark Twain). Announcements
RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAM
Our speaker was Thomas Hall of the Water Emergency Transit Authority (WETA). He used a powerpoint presentation to explain the details of the various vessels operating within his organization’s authority. There are 5 routes currently serving the Bay Area plus the ballpark route. Those 5 routes are 1) Alameda Oakland, 2) Vallejo, 3) Harbor Bay, 4) South San Francisco, 5) Richmond. They also serve in emergencies as needed. There are 14 vessels in their current fleet. There are 3 emergency centers in the Bay Area. Ridership has increased from 1.5 million in 2012 to just under 3 million in 2018. So, they have just about doubled their ridership in the 6 years since they started. They have big plans for fleet expansion. There are three vessels under construction – the Vela (2019), Lyra (2020) and the Pyxis (2018). In addition, there are 5 new boats since 2017. Those are the Hydrus, Cetus, Argo, Carina and Pyxis. The Pyxis is a 400 passenger vessel and can travel up to 28 knots. A recent survey gave more information on the topic of Why People Ride the Ferry gave these results with the most popular reason first:
They just finished a capital project in process called the Richmond Project. They have received $20 million from State Proposition 1 and Measure J. The funds were used to design, demolish and assemble the Richmond kayak launch. Here are some details about the Service Operations at the facility. They operate on a $4.4 Million annual budget. They are funded through Measure J and the Fare Box. There are currently 4 peak hour commute trips and 2 reverse commute direction trips. They hope to expand to weekend service soon. The trip time averages about 35 minutes and adult fares are $9 except with a clipper card that lowers the one-way fare to $6.75. Most of their vessels travel at 50% capacity. Efforts are currently under way to connect the Richmond Ferry to the new Warriors’ stadium in Mission Bay. The organization had projected 450 Daily boardings by the end of year 1 but they are already at 658 boardings per day. Their website is www.Sanfranciscobayferry.com. - Connie Tritt, Rotating Scribe |
NEXT MEETING: May 3, 2019Richmond Ferry Service
MEETING OFWelcomePast President Extraordinaire Connie Tritt (filling in for President Jerry) called the meeting to order and asked Henry Moe to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Herb Cole led a silent prayer for peace, freedom and justice on earth. “Thoughtful” Sid Chauvin had this to share: “By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he’s too old to go anywhere!” (by Billy Crystal) Announcements
RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAMHow SparkPoint is helping young people prosper
SparkPoint’s mission is to partner with agencies to empower individuals and families to become financially sustainable and advocates for themselves, and for social change, since it currently takes three jobs to maintain self-sufficiency in our county. SparkPoint Contra Costa is a collective impact collaborative strategy with 19 partner organizations including Brighter Beginnings, Community Housing Development Corporation, Shelter Inc, Stride Center and the Contra Costa Workforce Board. Richmond Community Foundation is the co-lead agency for the program, in tandem with the County. SparkPoint clients work one-on-one with a coach who helps to identify goals, develop a step-by-step action plan, and keep clients on track. SparkPoint services focus on three key elements of financial stability and prosperity: managing credit, increasing income and building assets. SparkPoint Contra Costa currently has 3000+ clients, and more than half have reported progress in at least one of the key areas they track. To learn more, visit Spark Point’s information page on the Richmond Community Foundation website. Stacey Street, Rotating Scribe |
NEXT MEETING: April 26, 2019SparkPoint
MEETING OF April 19, 2019WelcomeAt 12:30 pm, President Jerry Feagley opened the meeting and welcomed members and their guests. Pam Jones led us in the Pledge this week. Herb Cole did the invocation for peace, freedom and justice on earth. No thought for the day – Sid was absent. Visiting Rotarians and GuestsVisiting our club was Steve Kirby, of the Hercules Rodeo Club. Steve was also our speaker Bob Dabney brought his daughter was as a guest. We apologize for not recording her name. Announcements
RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAMRotary International Projects
Steve Kirby presented an excellent slide show about his trip to Columbia. There he visited various school projects, where, with Rotary assistance, the schools have been provided needed supplies and materials. The people were very hospitable, and the accommodations, the food and the drink were all very good. There trip schedule allowed plenty of time for parties and tours. Steve talked about issues with the Internet and cell phone, the result of the fact there are no IT people to keep the technology up and running. He said there about seven Rotary clubs in Colombia. Steve told us about the upcoming visit from Shimada, Japan representatives. Shimada is the sister city of Richmond. The visit was a result of a meeting and agreement between the mayor of Shimada and Richmond back in the 70’s. He suggested that we apply for a national grant and send a group of representatives from BARSHEEP to Shimada in October for about a week or two. He said the grant covers hotel, airfare, and registration. Information about applying for the grant may be available now. Steve urged us to get more involved in Rotary International and visit some of the other countries needing assistance. He recommended BARSHEEP also send representatives to assist with the coming projects in Kenya and Colombia again. Tamara Shiloh, “Rotating Scribe” |
NEXT MEETING: April 19, 2019Rotary’s International Service Opportunities
MEETING OF April 12, 2019WelcomeAt 12:30 pm, President Jerry Feagley opened the meeting. Pam Jones led us in the Pledge this week. Herb Cole did the invocation for peace, freedom and justice on earth. As Sid was absent, there was no thought for the day. We missed you, Sid. Josh Genser brought up last Saturday’s work project at Harbour-8 Park where they made protective barriers around the oak trees. Thanks to all those who participated: Josh, Jerry, Tamara, Felix, Darlene D., Norm, Jan and Byron. Great pics on the Rotary site. And to those who did not attend……raspberries to you!! =) Jerry informed us that Henry Moe asked if the Club would be willing to assist the Salesian Interact President to attend the Reno Convention in May. The cost would be $547.00 to cover the conference fees, room, etc. Many Rotarians offered donations sufficient to cover it, or very close. We thank all who volunteered to chip in for their generosity. Announcements
RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAM
Darlene Drapkin introduced our speaker, Amanda Elliott, Executive Director of Richmond Main Street Initiative. The organization is dedicated to commercial revitalization of the Downtown Richmond area and to improve the image of the Downtown area. It is part of National Main Streets throughout the nation. In 2012, business improvement district was started. They get funding from the commercial businesses in the area. Most of the funding goes towards cleaning and maintenance. In 2009, streetscaping was provided on Harbour Way and Macdonald Avenue. In 2010, streetscaping was also provided on Nevin Avenue. Training and Workshops to potential business owners, such as “Finance Your Business” being offered April 24th, 6:00-8:00 pm. Lots of free Community Events – June thru September outdoor events include:
There was $16 million in private and public investment in the downtown area last year. Richmond Main Street is now located in the Downtown Richmond Visitor Center. There is currently an RFP for a Richmond-themed store. We have put art in some of the vacant downtown storefront windows. Have worked with the youth in the area – 39 kids participated in Youth Entrepreneur Day. 12th & Macdonald Project (2 blocks) – 256 unit of homes initially, with a total of 600 housing units and potential 60,000 sf in retail space. Community is much more engaged. Taste of Richmond Event coming up, too — May 18th at Riggers Loft Wine Company (2 – 6 pm). For more details, look up www.RichmondMainStreet.org. - Rotating Scribe Darlene Quenville |
Nick Despota presented the results of a survey on the Flywheel and our website usage that we participated in last month. (
Come to our Annual Richmond Rotary Teen Moms Care Package project to give encouragement to young mothers to stay in school and complete their education. This project is a collaborative effort of quilt makers (the Linus Project), Burt’s Bees baby products, and Rotarians, who write notes of encouragement. Wel’l pack the bags with the blankets, books and personal care products for mom and baby.
Today’s Scribe introduced the day’s speaker, her colleague Meghan Cadmus, Site Coordinator for SparkPoint Contra Costa-West. Meghan came to SparkPoint after working in tandem with the regional SparkPoint program during her employment with the United Way Bay Area. Meghan provided an overview of SparkPoint Contra Costa, focusing on work in West County.
