NEXT MEETING: January 11, 2019

Melinda McCrary, Director of the Richmond Museum of History, will tell us how its exhibits in the year ahead can help us appreciate the years behind.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

At 12:30 pm, President Jerry Feagley opened the meeting. Mike Winter 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 was, “Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak!! “ ~ Albert Einstein

MEETING OF January 4, 2019

Welcome

We welcomed two guests: Paul Brown, Retiree from UPS (guest of Jim Findley); and Ryan Grady, Making Waves Academy (Guest of Jerry Feagley).

Recognitions and Happy and Sad Dollars

Ric Ambrose began with the recognition of a birthday:

Pam Jones. January 1st. Neville (aka Nigel to some of you) shares the same birthday and year!  His children gave them both a surprise birthday party,  celebrating the fateful coincidence with friends and family. Of special note, Pam’s son was born on January 2nd. In recognition, she made her annual Paul Harris Society contribution.

• Jon Lawlis gave $100 happy dollars to start the New Year.  He shared a wonderful present from Alan Blavins – a beautiful pencil drawing of his daughter and he from a photo taken over the holidays.  It was a great surprise!! Thanks Alan!!
• Nick Despota had happy dollars for the eventful month that December was. He was accepted into the training program for Public Guides at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The application process involved paperwork, an interview, and a dry-run in the galleries. Last month also brought the long-awaited visit from his daughter and husband, and his 3-year-old granddaughter, “now more like my daughter than my daughter.” The three of them, currently living in Ireland, stayed with Nick and Nel for 2-weeks, managing from the get-go to “create chaos from order. Happy to see them come and happy to see them go!” =)
• Connie Tritt had happy dollars for Oregon beating Michigan State!
• Herb Cole had happy dollars for one of the wildest months of his life in December.  They enjoyed a wedding in Hawaii, made a trip to Houston and then to Virginia to celebrate Christmas with his grandkids!  He kidded, “I’m tired”! Happy New Year!!
• Pierre Thompson had happy dollars for Rotary District/Foundation asking him to speak.
• Tamara Shiloh had happy dollars for celebrating her store’s first anniversary.  Also, Scholastic Books wants her to write some stories for them! Congrats, Tamara!!
• Alan Baer had happy dollars for a great trip up North with his family.  Also wanted to thank the bell ringers for another successful year!
• Ric Ambrose had happy dollars that his Oregon Ducks are moving up!  He expects to see Oregon play in the Championship next year!

PROGRAM

Fishing Around the World

Every year he and his son, Josh, take a fishing trip together somewhere in the world in the hunt of the river monsters.  Alan usually organizes all the details of these trips but this year he went online and found an interesting fishing trip in Bolivia.  When he asked the guy for pictures of the place they would be staying, he never got a response or photo, but finally the guy just sent him an airplane ticket.  So he and son took a chance and said let’s try it. They flew first to Santa Cruz, then to Trinidad, and then on a prop plane landing in a field in a very rural area in Northern Bolivia.  Upon arrival, they were met by guide and took their transport (a tractor and cart) to their accommodations, which at this point they were getting a bit worried about where they would be sleeping.  Their rooms were actually built not too long ago, and they shared a decent-sized clean room with two beds. Although the beds were the hardest beds they ever slept on! The area was very rural, lots of animals roaming around, no fences.

The people in this area were self-supporting, made their own bricks, homes had dirt floors, chickens coming and going!   Main income crop in the area are brazil nuts. The farmer who was the fishing tour guide owned 60 lakes.

The tour was made up of 8 people (four dads and four sons) and our guides. We missed the first day of fishing as American Airlines lost our luggage that contained our fishing gear.  But happily went out via tractor and got to do some fishing on a lake. Alan’s son caught the first Arapaima but it got away. They went to a second lake, where Alan caught an Arapaima that weighed about 200 lbs., approximately 4 feet long, on a 100-lb. test line.  Alan and two guides got in the water to hold up the fish for photo. Alan’s son later brought in his own Arapaima.

They traveled over several days via tractor through the forests to five different lakes and a river. They paddled their own boats. Caught large Catfish, Pacu, and the famed Arapaima. One lake had Pirana in it. One of the other fisherman, a teenager caught the biggest Arapaima of the trip — it took six men to hold it up for the photo.  All fish were released back into the wild. They did eat one small Arapaima and had BBQs in the forest every day. Also got to hear and see some very noisy Howler Monkeys!

It turned out to be a very nice trip! Alan and his son, Josh, may even go back!!!

And for those of you dying to know more about Arapaima, our scribe Darlene Quenville pulled up from the depths this information:

The Arapaima is one of the largest freshwater scaled fish in the world.  It is an air-breathing fish that lives in the rain forest rivers of South American’s Amazon Basin and nearby lakes and swamps.  These giant fish can reach 9 feet long and weigh up to 440 pounds. They have a wide, scaly, gray body and a tapered head.

Though arapaimas can stay underwater for 10 to 20 minutes, they tend to remain near the water’s surface, where they hunt and emerge often to breathe with a distinctive coughing noise.  They survive mainly on fish but are known to occasionally grab birds close to the water’s surface.

- Rotating Scribe Darlene Quenville