NEXT MEETING: January 6, 2017

The Contribution of the B-52 to National Security

This talk provides a pictorial and verbal description of the B-52 Stratofortress, including its development and evolution over the decades. Its usefulness in crises such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, Viet Nam, and the Gulf War will be described. If time allows, George Sakaldasis, Deputy Director for Military and Nuclear Affairs in the National Security Office at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), will describe the time when the bomber and tanker force was taken off nuclear alert as a normal course of business, as directed by the President. Listeners will gain an appreciation for a weapon system that has stood the test of time and will continue to contribute to the security of the country for the foreseeable future.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• No meeting on Friday, Dec. 30th
• Friday, Jan. 6th is first meeting of New Year.
• Josh thanked the many people who had participated in the auction and announced that we had raised $36,000
• Dave Brown announced that we had received a donation of $3,000 from Norm Lundberg.
• Dave then passed the basket around for a special gift to the country club restaurant staff who have been so hard working and helpful.
• Jan Brown announced that Parchester Village had not received any toys out of the toy drive this year. The basket was passed around again for donations. Norm Lundberg announced that he would match all toy donations from his gift to the club.

Of the 400 bikes given away last Saturday at the Richmond/El Cerrito Firefighters’ Annual Toy Program more than 250 of them were the result of donations by Richmond Rotary, its membership and friends of the club!!! 

Thanks to all who helped make a lot of kids happy 🙂

MEETING OF December 16, 2016

Welcome

Josh Surowitz called the meeting to order and asked Tom Butt to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. In Sid’s absence all those present had to provide their own wisdom

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

Darlene Quenville graced the proceedings as a guest of Jon Lawlis

Recognitions and Happy and Sad Dollars

• Henry Moe had a reason to be happy and sad. His truck was stolen from the Salesian campus but was recovered.
• Jan Brown expressed sorrow over the death of her nephew and the fact that her aged mother was ill but still fighting. She is also sad to have missed so many meetings because she has been occupied dealing with these issues.
• George Egan was happy to be able to attend Rotary meetings on a regular basis.

PROGRAM

Club Assembly

As traditional, the last program of the year featured a discussion of club financial matters and a chance for members to express their interest in speaker topics, programs and social events. Josh Surowitz moderated the discussion and presented the year-end financial report. He noted in particular that the club had donated $12,500 for bikes. The discussion then turned to programs. Some members expressed disinterest in speakers from nonprofits while others commented that these were central to the club’s activities. Felix would like to see more hands-on activities, and Alan Blavins commented that NIAD is always in need of help. Jan mentioned that she comes to Rotary to be better informed and loves book related programs. Wally suggested field trips to local businesses as a way to recruit new members. Josh and others encouraged him to pursue the idea and said that this was something that had been done long ago but had fallen aside for lack of a person motivated to take charge. The meeting concluded with a discussion of possible group trips. Reno and South Tahoe were both suggested.

 

– David Cole, Rotating Editor