Yearly Archives: 2020
NEXT MEETING: February 7, 2020Making Waves is making soccer happen at Hilltop
ANNOUNCEMENTSPierre Thompson announced Richmond Rotary’s Centennial launching of Rotary’s Four-Way Test student essay contest for Richmond-area high school students. (Details this flyer.) The three essay finalists will be invited to present their essay and receive their reward as our club program on Friday, March 27. This program will coincide with a visit from student ambassadors from Richmond’s Sister City of Shimada, Japan. April 4, 2020. If you haven’t done so already, please mark your calendar now. That’s the date of our our club’s Centennial Celebration. Here’s what we have planned. We’ve sent a Save the Date reminder to scores of longtime supporters of Richmond Rotary so plan to see some old friends and maybe make some new ones. WELCOMEJan Brown was out-of-town today so President-elect Stacey Street called the meeting to order. After an invocation to Consideration of Higher Things, and the Pledge of Allegiance, Stacey welcomed several guests and visitors from other clubs. We launched into Happy and Sad Dollars and, before any of us could settle into a postprandial sedation, Stacey introduced today’s speaker, Lisa Bowen, who shook us to attention with a startling finding. Read on. PROGRAM
But Lisa, who beat her own asthma with a process called breathing retraining, had a more important point. In urban areas such as ours, the air is contaminated with heavy loads of particulate matter. If we make a conscious effort to breathe through our noses rather than our mouths, the cilia and mucous in our nasal passages can filter out a good deal of that PM. This prevents harmful impacts on our lungs, and therefore enables better oxygenation of our blood. We can remain healthier. Lisa’s advice: Be mindful of your breathing and make a conscious effort to keep your mouth shut. (Yes, this will prove almost impossible for some of our members.) We should chew with our mouths closed (which our mothers always told us anyway) so we won’t be gulping air at the same time we’re swallowing. She had other tips but, possibly due to a shortage of oxygen to my brain, I’ve forgotten what they are. If you would like to learn more about defensive breathing, you may email Lisa Bowen.
-Nick Despota, Scribe for the Day MEETING OF January 31, 2020WelcomeAnnouncementsRecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAMDefensive Breathing
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NEXT MEETING: January 31, 2020Defensive Breathing: How To Keep Your Heart and Lungs Safe in Polluted and Smoky Air
Speaker Lisa Bowen is a local breathing coach who beat her own asthma with a process called breathing retraining, whose skills can also be applied to breathing optimally in a polluted environment. AnnouncementsThe monthly BARSHEEP gathering (that’s Rotary clubs of Berkeley, Albany, Richmond, San Pablo, Hercules, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Pinole), known as (ready for another acronym?) TGIFF, will take place this Friday, January 31. The Hercules Rotary Club will host the event at Craws and Claws Restaurant and Bar, 848 Willow Ave, Hercules (across from the Starbucks). Cost: $10 per person. Hercules Rotary will spring for the hors d’oeuvres. A Round of ThanksA big thank you to Richmond Rotary’s family of supporters who attended the Annual Crab Feed last Saturday! Special thanks go to Henry Moe, our Crab Feed Super-Organizer. Finally we must acknowledge an amazing army of helpers who came early to set up, tend bar, and clean up: Norm Lundberg, Don Lau, Brian Fay, Gerald Fay, Patrick Moe, Jim Findley, Sid Chauvin, the Herb Cole team. It takes a village to have fun, fellowship and a Crab Feed! MEETING OFWelcomeAnnouncementsRecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAM
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NEXT MEETING: January 24, 2020What does our District Attorney do?
MEETING OF January 24, 2020WelcomeWelcoming a packed house, President Jan Brown call the meeting to order. Pledge, invocation, and thoughts-for-the day were offered in the usual manner. Jan then asked our guests and visiting Rotarians to stand and introduce themselves. Among them were two visitors, we learned, who may soon be nominated as new members. No, we won’t tell you their names. Stay tuned. Announcements
RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAM
Beth Miller of Community Education Partners told us about an innovative program that brings together volunteer tutors and homeless and highly-mobile students. For these children, regular elementary school education is often insufficient since their regular attendance may difficult, owing to the family’s irregular living conditions. Beth invited any members who are interested in volunteering as tutors to contact here beth@cep.ngo, or 732 742-4506. Learn more at www.cep.ngo -Nick Despota, Scribe for the Day |
NEXT MEETING: January 17, 2020The Community Education Partnership
The Community Education Partners (CEP) has been providing academic support and mentoring to homeless and highly-mobile students in Richmond and beyond. CEP’s unique model brings trained volunteer tutors to where students live and learn, providing time and location flexibility. Volunteering for as little as an hour each week can have a tremendous impact on the academic progress and well-being of the Bay Area’s most vulnerable students. Learn more. ANNOUNCEMENTS
MEETING OFWelcomeAnnouncements
RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAM
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NEXT MEETING: January 10, 2020Business is Growing
Richard Treiber will update us on PowerPlant .an eighteen-acre cannabis production on Richmond’s North Shoreline. The facility will house forty-four greenhouses for cultivation by craft growers plus a manufacturing building. The complex will employ around 400 workers beginning in 2020. MEETING OF January 3, 2020WelcomePresident Jan opened the meeting, Simon Ellis led the pledge, Herb Cole asked for a moment of silence for peace, justice and freedom on Earth. Alan Blavins’ thought for the day was “to make mistakes is human, to blame someone for the mistakes is even more human. Visiting Rotarians and GuestsDon Lau’s guest was Dr John Tysell. Special EventsBrian Fay and Gerald Fay were both honored for their first Paul Harris and were pinned by past District Governor Brad Howard. Jon Lawlis stated that the two of them may be the 2nd fastest to getting a Paul Harris since he achieved his on the first day he became a Rotarian since Erle suggested that was the natural thing to do. Erle Brown gave his updated who am I. He joined Rotary as a Contractor and now is rated as retired. His favorite Rotary memory were the trips to Mexico to work on the wheelchair foundation. The looks on the faces of those getting a wheelchair left a lasting impression on him. Announcements
RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAM
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We’ll hear what for some will be an introduction and for others an update about the Hilltop Soccer Field that has been proposed by the Making Waves Foundation.
Ready for this one? People in the U.S. today are breathing about twice the volume of air than people did 75 years ago. We’re hyper-ventilating, declared breathing coach Lisa Bowen. This was determined through comparisons of control groups in medical research conducted over the decades. Hard to believe.
Air pollution is a growing threat to our health, especially in metro areas like the San Francisco Bay Area. Transportation, industry, and now, wildfires are key contributors to air pollution. This presentation will guide us on breathing safely, using the equipment we always have with us: our nose and mouth! It’s not always possible to wear a mask outdoors or run an air purifier indoors.
Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton will describe the work of the DA’s office. Its mission is to seek justice and enhance public safety by fairly, ethically, aggressively and efficiently prosecuting those who violate the law, and by working to prevent crime.
On January 17 and 18th, a Rotary Peace Conference will take place in Ontario, California (not Canada). Pierre Thompson assured us that it would be a great experience and this one would be easy to get to.