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Program for Friday October 24, 2003

Michael Becker

Michael Becker was a member of the Rotary 2003 GSE team that visited Vietnam. This is a story of how they communicated to the Vietnamese the mission of Rotary.

Door Duty: Jon Lawlis and Norm Lundberg

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Program for Friday October 31, 2003

Save Mount Diablo

Malcolm Sproul, Principal of the Point Richmond environmental firm LSA will talk about efforts to preserve the natural beauty of Mount Diablo in Contra Costa County.

Door Duty: Barry Gordon and Oscar Lugo

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Program of October 17, 2003

Drake Zimmerman

Our Speaker was deep selected for the program today. Prez Stoney and Werner created a scheme, writing to all of the 48 Rotary Clubs that have Richmond in their name. They suggested a joint project with these clubs, such as one focused on the eradication of malaria. In this process Stoney learned that Greg Zimmerman has taken the lead in this area and founded an organization "Rotarians Against Malaria".

Werner provided a gracious introduction of Greg. Greg described Rotary Model for attacking polio and measles. The model consists of raising money, buying vaccine, organizing the logistics of distribution for the vaccine, and then providing oversight/surveillance on the effectiveness of the program. Greg has implemented this same model to deal with malaria.

Malaria is the number one cause of death to children in many third world countries. It also is a factor in poverty - when adults are sick, or their children are sick, they don't go to work, plant the fields, etc. In many countries, 1 in 3 children don't survive to adulthood, and many of these deaths are due to malaria.

Rotarians Against Malaria(RAM) was started by clubs in Australia to prevent deaths in the Solomon Islands, New Hebrides and Vanuatu. Bill Gates recently donated $164 million to malaria eradication, $100 million of which will be used to develop a vaccine. But Rotarians provide a contribution that no one else can - applying business skills and expertise to fund raising and implementing an effective logistics program to get resources to the delivery point in third world countries.

The RAM project buys and distributes mosquito nets sprayed with a human safe insecticide. Malaria is spread by mosquitoes, but from one human to another. When children sleep inside these nets, their death rate can be reduced by 25%. This equates to about 1 million young lives saved each year. To help with this important program, checks can be made out to the Rotary International Foundation - marked for the Malaria Project.

Upcoming Speakers
11/07/03 Cornell Green (son of the great db for the Cowboys) talking about his dropout prevention and student motivation program at Peres.
11/14/03 Graham Hawks - Updates us on Deepspace.com
11/21/03 Berry Sue King - Precious Gems
11/28/03 No Meeting

Important Dates
11/07/03 Community Services Mtg Mira Vista 11:45-12:15
11/19/03 Peres Bedtime Story Night
11/28/03 No Meeting. Happy Turkey!
12/05/03 Holiday Auction and Club Elections
12/11/03 Holiday Party at Mira Vista CC
01/25/04 Annual Reno Train Trip
02/20/04 Help celebrate Rotary's 99th B'day
06/04/04 D-Day meeting on The Red Oak Victory

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Last Week
With not one empty seat at the Head Table, Prez Stoney rang the bell and asked Charlie Wong to lead the Pledge. The words flowed effortlessly, unlike the next event. Prez Stoney led the group in a chaotic rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" - between a misleading song sheet and tarnished memories, the outcome was less than symphonic. But say hey - it was fun.

Visiting Rotarians
Speaker for the day, Greg Zimmerman was introduced, representing the Rotary Club of Normal, Illinois.   Greg introduced his special guest, Lisa Tracy, a philanthropic coach - someday I'd like to be in need of such a coach.

Guests
George Egan then introduced his guest, financial manager Najeet Chahal. John Nicol introduced his repeat guest, Troy Taylor from the dealership.

Announcements
Werner Schwarz announced that David Ninomiya will start bone marrow transplant treatment very soon. He noted that David is in good spirits and much appreciates the cards and calls from his friends. Community Services Director Paul Hodgen stated he would personally carry raffle tickets for the District Conference in Dixon, which motivated yours truly to hand them over. Paul also provided a financial reminder for those of us who have pledged to sponsor a Peres classroom, but have yet to ante up.   Captain Herb had his $100 check for the Joanne Blum Polio Plus Challenge and was told to mail it to Erle Brown - it was noted that Erle is on an expensive vacation and can certainly use the money.

Sunshine Report
David Sunshine K. welcomed Don Hardison to the meeting - Don's first meeting since breaking his leg during the Rosie the Riveter/Red Oak Victory Workshop. Don reported he was delighted to be back - this was the second broken leg(the first occurred on the Red Oak Victory) he has worked through during the past 1 ½ years, and Enough is Enough.

Recognitions

Happy/Sad $$
Jon Lawlis reported on the rescheduled fishing trip with Fish Master David K. and Captain Herb Cole - Jon missed landing the monster sturgeon but has happy he took home a catfish.   Captain Herb provided a report on the liquor consumed during the adventure, and reported that David K. had shown himself to be a Master Baiter.

Raffle
Josh Genser won again. And with no bags of balls shenanigans, still pulled a white.


Semper Paratus

Where to Make Up
San Rafael   Monday       12:15 Seafood Peddler
Albany        Tuesday       12:30 Mira Vista G&CC
El Sobrante Tuesday       12:15 Joe's of El Sobrante
Berkeley     Wednesday 12:15 His Lordships
Hercules     Wednesday   7:15 am Hercules Senior Center
San Pablo   Wednesday 12:15 San Pablo Casino
El Cerrito    Thursday       12:15 Mira Vista G&CC
Pinole         Thursday      12:30 Outback Steak House
Vallejo        Thursday      12:15 World Holiday Inn

Door Duty Reminder
11/07/03 Paul Allen and George Alvarez
11/14/03 Jim Bates and Charles Belcher
11/21/03 Jim Cannon and Josh Genser
11/28/03 No Meeting
12/05/03 Dick King and Ken Leverich
12/12/03 Theodore Abreu and Charles Wong
12/19/03 Richard Alexander Father Nick