Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka

July 29, 2013 

Lunch Menu: Salad bar, fresh fruit, beef stroganoff, egg noodles, chicken Kiev, rolls, assorted desserts. 

The meeting was called to order at 12:27pm by Gregg Gardiner, standing in for President Ziggy, who is at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by John McBeth.

The Invocation was led by Bill McAuley.

Visiting Rotarians: Lee Cunningham of Cupertino Rotary Club was fined for not standing up when visiting Rotarians were called.

Guests of Rotarians:  Eric Bergel re-introduced Tonia our inbound Norwegian exchange student from two years ago who is now attending college in San Jose.  She was accompanied by her friend Eddie Clayton.     

Kathleen Cloney-Gardiner introduced her two guests; Sandy and Holly both teachers at Winship Middle School.

Announcements: Acting President Gregg asked all veterans of the Korean War to stand in recognition of the 60^th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the Korean War.  Bob Palmrose, Steve Beckman, and Dick Storre all received a round of applause.  

Carlton Nielsen said that host families are needed for our incoming exchange student Dan who is arriving from Vladivostok Russia on August 12^th.  The Williston’s have generously offered to be the first home family.  He added that Southwest and Old Town are also looking for host families.

Acting President Gregg asked everyone who had purchased a pie from Mindy Bussman to raise their hand.  Only one person raised their hand, so Acting President Gregg asked all other Rotarians to put $5 on the table. That money will go to Backpacks for Kids.  

Birthdays- Hank Pierson, Murl Harpham, Kurt Bartel all this week.  

Anniversaries: Burt and Susanne Campton are celebrating 37 “blissful” years, according to Bert Campton. Craig Hansen and Lisa Hansen (who are currently in Europe it was noted).  George and Gail Owren are celebrating their 49^th anniversary.  Tom and Karen McMurray. 

Cathy Cloney-Gardiner reported on the progress at Winship over the weekend.  A number of Rotarians and volunteers showed up to help.  A big thank you to all of the many Rotarians who pitched in.  They made significant progress.  Winship teachers, Sandy and Holly also commented on the event saying that the amount of help and donations they have received has left them speechless. 

Congratulations, Dave!

Acting President Gardiner asked all Rotarians that had traveled outside of Humboldt County in the last 60 days to stand up.  Over 30 Rotarians stood.  One by one each Rotarian detailed their adventures which resulted in fines ranging from a $25 credit for one to a $100 fine for Rotarian Dave Parris who had not only traveled but was recently married and had a daughter get married- he received a triple fine.   One table attempted to negotiate a group discount as everybody at the table had stood up.  The noble attempt failed and all received fines. 

The biggest fine of $200 was given to Gregg’s own wife Cathy for her recent visit to Cabos San Lucas as well as winning the first 22^nd District PTA Outstanding Administrator Award.  

Don Leonard then stood and squealed on his neighbor, Lisa Slack, who, as he put it, had one of the most interesting trips imaginable.  Lisa stood, threatening a personal visit to Don’s house in retaliation, and enthralled her audience with details regarding her trip to England, tours of Old Castles, and tour of Frankfurt, Germany and the surrounding countryside by motorcycle.  As Lisa put it, it was a fun, interesting and scary trip.  She also attended two Rotary meetings, including one in Salzburg where she was the sole woman amongst 30+ gentlemen.   

Spangler Raffle: Drawing 1: Nobody Claimed.  Drawing 2: Al Crnich won $10.

 Guest Speaker:  Steven Lafferty introduced our guest speaker, Chief Ken Woods of the Humboldt Bay Fire District.  He started off by telling us a little bit about himself.  He worked in the Bay area in fire protection for 25 years prior to coming to Humboldt County in 2008 as Chief of Humboldt No. 1 Fire Protection District.  In 2011 He was made Joint Chief of Humboldt Fire Protection District  and the Eureka Fire Department.  This consolidation had been discussed for over 60 years but it finally happened in 2011.  This district covers over 53 miles and serves 60,000 people.  There are 70 full time employees and 15 volunteers.  They average 5,700 calls a year. The majority of those calls are medical related.  Public assistance calls can range from helping somebody who has fallen out of bed and can’t get back in to a water pipe that has broken and more.

 

There are 5 stations in the district that are staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  They are an all risk district meaning they cover all calls.  Including traffic collisions, fines, medial response and of course fires.  They have specialized trained teams to handle special emergencies including a Hazardous Materials Team, Water Rescue team, certified space rescue (rescuers that have to work within a small space to rescue somebody).  

The City of Eureka Fire Department was formed in the 1800s and the Humboldt Bay Fire Department was formed in the 1920s.  This consolidation has taken the best of both departments and combined them, significantly lowering the overhead. 

The district's motto is printed on the new truck

The focus is on serving their community.  Examples of that are their Gift Card Program which enables them to leave a VISA Gift Card with  people who have been devastated by a house fire so that they can get clothes, shelter, etc. overnight while waiting for their insurance company to help. Another example was a young mother who was locked out of her house while her two small children were inside.  The firemen broke down the door to get in so she could quickly get to her children.  Then they went to the hardware store, purchased a new deadbolt and came back and installed it on her door.

They received a medical call to Target where a woman who was traveling through Eureka with her husband in their RV had a medical emergency.  The firemen took care of the woman, got her on the ambulance and to St. Joseph but they also made sure the husband was able to get to the hospital as well.   They helped him unhook his RV from his truck and personally escorted him to the hospital.

It’s important to them that they are responsive to the needs of the community in every way possible.   The discussion concluded with a few questions and a gift from Matthew Owen and Virginia Bass in the form of two bottles of wine.  One from Riverbend Cellars named Firehouse Red and another from Tillerman Winery appropriately named Hook and Ladder.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:17pm and we all took a field trip to the parking lot where we were wowed by the brand new, $1.1 million dollar Tiller fire truck.  This truck is so long it requires two drivers at all times….one on the front of the truck and one on the rear.  

Respectfully submitted,

Alicia Cox

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
July 22, 2013

Lunch:  Fried chicken, pot roast, mashed potatoes and carrot cake.
S&P:  1695

The meeting was called to order by President Ziggy on a gorgeous July day, three minutes late.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by me.

The invocation as led by Past President Carlton Nielsen.

Mindy Bussman and Steve Lafferty are selling raffle tickets for Backpacks for Kids.  $10 each or 12 for $100.  The prize is a $3,500 travel gift certificate from Dalianes Travel!  Second prize is a $500 gift certificate to Pierson's Building Center.  The drawing will be on August 30.  Please contact Mindy or Steve for a ticket.  The order form can also be found along the right and side of the Burl blog.

President Elect, Gregg Gardiner, made a great airplane joke.  He must have read last week's Burl and worked on some new material!  He also gave an update on the Winship Middle School field project.  Trenches for irrigation lines have been dug, SWOP crews have been moving brush, and sand has been delivered.  As the project price tag continues to climb, sponsors have been stepping up.  There is a work crew this weekend at the school.  President Elect Gardiner thanks everyone for their help and support.

FUN FACT:  The Elk's Lodge has a disco ball.

Lisa Corral visited our club, and is a prospective member.

Jim Sieler of Fortuna Rotary visited as well.

Maria Castillo visited our club as a guest of Mike Cunningham.  Bruce Smith's cousin from Prague attended as well.  Jeff Leonard suffered a short joke in introducing outbound exchange student, Ashley Bott.

Birthdays and Anniversaries are in the book, congratulations to all.

Past President Nielsen gave a historical brief on our Rotary Club from the 1940s.  Plenty of past presents have their descendants in the club, and despite WWII, there was good attendance and excellent programs.  Fines were raised in 1944 from $.25 to $1.00.  The Spengler Youth Raffle began int he 1940s.

Stacy Lane returned from a vacation in Peru and Ecuador, which consisted primarily of retired ladies.  $50

Past President Dennis Hunter is retired, after a long tenure as VP of Marketing for Coast Central Credit Union.  Fishing, attending Giants games, and having fun cost him $50.

Past President Don Leonard spent three weeks at Black Butte Ranch in Oregon.  $50

GAMBLING INTERLUDE  (Spengler Raffle benefiting the Humboldt County Science Fair) $10 to Steve Allen and $10 to Walt Shimasaki.

Matthew Owen introduced our guest today, Casey Allen.  Casey is the head of the Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers Association, attempting to build a reef locally.  He was wearing a collared shirt covered with pictures of rockfish.  Very appropriate.  

The site for the proposed reef is about a mile off the jetty.  They anticipate using about 2000 triangular reef modules which they would drop in clusters to encourage habit.

Saltwater sport fishing is a $3 billion dollar a year business in California.

The regulatory issues are daunting, but they have hired an environmental consultant to help them navigate the regulatory process.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife does not have a dedicated staffer for the project, but Casey is hopeful they will be able to get the project through despite this.

HSU has an environmental impact class helping with the research.  They estimate it will be six more years before the project is completed on the current timeline.

Casey estimates that the cost of the project will be.....he never actually gave a number, but it should like it could be several million dollars.

There is some concern that the structures might be sanded in, but there's reasonable scientific evidence that the site they have chosen will not cause any meaningful problems.

HASA is an incorporated non-profit and you can look them up online at the Humboldt Tuna Club discussion board.

The guest was thanked, the library book was signed, and my last meeting as a member of this club ended early.  It's been a pleasure.

Respectfully submitted, 
John Harper

July 15 2013 Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka

July 15 meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka

The menu was Swiss steak in tomato sauce, corn, scalloped potatoes, salad bar, with apple crisp and cool whip for dessert.  The meeting was lightly attended.  Mike Messner gave the invocation.  The Elks Club had neglected to put out the flag, so Ziggy plucked one out of the flag array on the podium and held it up as David Tyson led us in the pledge.  Birthday boys were Gregg Gardiner and Fred Sunquist.  

John Bartholomew was recognized for being seen in Blue Lake wearing an “Old Crows” hat and Logger Bar T shirt. He said he was part of a group of guys who volunteered to do improvement projects in town.  Ziggy asked him if his group had been involved in the recent parade, and then fined him $50 for lining the Shriners up in front of a Brewery that was closed.  Dan Heinen was recognized for new granddaughter and Al Crnich was singled out for having left his badge on the table the last meeting.  Al said that he forgot things, like zipping up his fly.  Ziggy said it was better to forget to zip it up than zip it down.  We were all relieved when he changed the subject.   Tim Jones paid $50 to Rotary for his new son 9 pounds 10 ounces.  Keith Crossley made a generous donation of $1,000 to help refurbish Winship School.  

Our German Exchange Student Larissa recounted her experience on her recent trip through the West.  She and her fellow exchange students descended into the Grand Canyon without realizing that getting in was a lot easier than getting out.  They were so tired when they reached Las Vegas they couldn’t walk around, so they rented a limo.  They also visited Yosemite.  She flies back home to her parents on Sunday.  Outgoing exchange student Ashley is raising funds by dancing for tips at Gallagher’s Irish Pub on Thursdays.  Go see her, she’s an award winning clog dancer.  Ziggy reminded club members that if you don’t have the 14.50 lunch, you must pay $4 for coffee.  

 

Ziggy then called up David Tyson to introduce our program, Betty Chinn , head of the Betty Kwan Chinn Homeless Foundation, which is about to open a day center for the homeless in a building located at 133 7^th Street in Eureka.  Betty Chinn has been helping the homeless for over 30 years.  It is her passion, because she has experienced homelessness first hand.  Her parents were physicians in China, and spoke out against the regime.  They were jailed, and Betty found herself living on the streets at age 7.  Two years later she was sent to a work camp. When the authorities discovered that her mother was a American citizen they released her and sent her to the U.S.  She landed with $20 in her pocket, and went to live with her sister in Seattle.  When she started her arranged marriage, she spoke no English and her husband spoke no Chinese.   She learned English, she says, by watching Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street.  

She started out by feeding the homeless out of her home, and with the help of others and her own determination gradually increased her activities.  In 2012 she and her army of volunteers served 292,000 meals, provided 4,680 showers to 486 people, handed out over 7,600 items of clothing, purchased 246 bus tickets to send 267 adults and children home to their families (no one has returned) placed 23 individuals and 31 families in permanent housing, and spoke to 72 schools and community groups.

Rex Bohn talked about the homeless he had met.  They were local people raised here who might be just 3 months out of a paycheck.  Some have mental problems.  He said that no one moves here just to get a free peanut butter sandwich for lunch every day.  

The new center will provide street outreach, case management, life-skills workshops, Mental Health services, a learning center, transitional housing, a commercial kitchen, and a kids program.  The philosophy of the center is that everyone deserves the opportunity to change their life.  Every person has a unique path, and every person should be treated with dignity, compassion and respect.  After giving Betty her book to sign, Ziggy remembered that he hadn’t done the raffle yet.  I guess 20 years on the Spengler Raffle committee didn’t help him.

Submitted by Hank Ingham

July 8 2013 Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka

Lunch: Meatloaf, green beans, salad bar pasta Alfredo,chocolate cake S&P 500: 1640.  

Our second semi permanent meeting at the Elk's Lodge was called to order on a beautiful sunny Eureka day by President Ziggy Ziegenfuss. 

Ziggy rings the bell

The microphone continues to put off a pleasant, echoing, high-pitched whine throughout the meeting.  Richard Whittaker led the Pledge of Allegiance.  

Lisa Slack invocates.  She was
fined $50

Lisa Slack led the invocation.  President Ziggy's phone rang right before the Pledge. He fined himself $30.  Past President Jim Davis introduced guest Kathy Smith, president of College of the Redwoods.  Matthew Owen introduced the exchange kids.  Bruce Smith introduced his daughter Nicky, and his cousin Saboudeed Masimoff.  Carlton Nielsen introduced a past exchange student from Denmark.  Jason Eads introduced Scott Icanitch, an intern at his law office.  Birthdays and anniversaries are in the book, congratulations to all.  

Matt Messner learns he's on
the clean-up committee

New Rotary directories came out today. Please review at your leisure and find out which club committees you've been added to. You might have duties you aren't even aware of. I did!  Lisa Slack just returned from six weeks in Europe. $50.  

Our exchange students

Our local outbound exchange students came to the front and discussed where they are going on exchange. Italy, Thailand, Sweden and Hungary. Sounds like a lot of fun, enjoy guys.  There was a vote on table linens for an extra $1. It didn't pass. Paper placemats will continue to rule the day.  Carol Riche went on a cruise in Scandinavia. $50.  

GAMBLING INTERLUDE (Spengler Raffle for the Science Fair) $10 Bruce Emad $10 Dale Warmuth.  

President Elect Gregg Gardiner introduced today's speaker. He made at least one joke that got no laughs. No worries Gregg, happens to me every day.  

Our speaker today is our fellow Rotarian 

Dr. Fred Van Vleck

Dr. Fred VanVleck, Superintendent of Eureka City Schools.  Dr. VanVleck polled the room on their belief that our youth have employment opportunities to stay in the community. A little less than half the room raised their hands.  Dr. VanVleck agrees with the minority, that our youth have opportunities to stay and thrive in our community.  

He went through the last year’s accomplishments. No teacher layoffs, opening Winship, a 19:1 ratio of students to teachers at the elementary level, and moving students into their neighborhood schools.  Contracts are settled with teachers, locker rooms at Eureka High have been updated, and custodial and instructional standards are being standardized across the district. Those two are only tangentially related.  They've applied for grants, partnered with HSU on teacher curriculum, allowed enrollment at school sites, built a PR campaign, adopted Google as their cloud platform. There was more stuff too.  

ALARMING FACT: The population of Eureka grew by 1,000 from 2000 to 2012. The students in Eureka City Schools dropped by over 40%.  Fred has been gone from Humboldt County for 20 years, and he came back because he believes in our community.  The school board has 22 defined goals for the next several years in their strategic plan. Contact him or a school board member for a copy of the goals statement.  Fred discussed some of the negotiations with the teachers union. The union is asking for just over a 15% raise for the most senior teachers by length of service. The district is currently offering across the board 3% raises. Expect some modest disagreements over this negotiating point going forward.  

Dr. VanVleck thanked our club and the community for our help in the project at Winship Middle School. Q&A  I asked why Winship was reopening with the long-term loss of students in the district. Fred explained that essentially the district closed too many schools over the past decade, causing severe overcrowding in the primary schools. Fred recommended Winship reopen to deal with this overcrowding.  Penmanship and handwriting have been eliminated. You'll just need to get a smartphone and learn about emoticons. LOL!  Ask your grandkids.  

Counseling at Eureka High has been a hot button issue, so the job was restructured to ensure that good communication and counseling is provided to students and clearly telegraphed to parents.  Ebooks? It's a state-level decision. Call/email/bribe your local congressman.  Music programs? They make the cut. The school is focused on offering them.  Auto shop? Not next year, there's not enough enrollment past the introductory level.  Comparing our educational system with other nations? The measurement metrics aren't comparing apples to apples. There's a new assessment standard going into effect for 48 of 50 states. We'll get back to you in a decade or so with the results.  The guest was thanked, the library book was signed, and the meeting ended on time.

Respectfully Submitted,
John Harper

July 1 2013 Eureka Rotary Meeting

Burl 7/1/2013

This meeting was the first in the 90^th year of Eureka Rotary, and the venue has changed.  Now we meet at the Elk’s Club on Herrick Avenue.  The Lunch charge was  only $14, and the meal consisted of breaded cutlets, pork, mixed vegetables, rice with slivered almonds, a nice salad bar and a slice of chocolate pie for dessert. 

Greg Pierson gives Nancy five.

Nancy Dean rang the bell as her last official duty as president.  She called on Tom Shallert for the pledge, and John Gierek Jr. for the invocation.  She thanked the members of her board of directors.

Nancy's crew

Present were Keith Crossley, Eric Bergel, and Greg Bowen, and each got a gift.  She also thanked Secretary Dan Heinen and sergeant at arms Dale Warmuth.  Greg Pierson then presented her with the past president’s pin and badge.  She then gave “Ziggy” Ziegenfuss his president’s pin.

Ziggy gets his president's pin

 Ziggy announced that Gregg Gardiner was the new president-elect.  John Harper, Alicia Cox and Mike Downey got director’s pins.  President Ziegenfuss announced the theme of his year “Honor the past, enter the future with the keys to success”. Will the new slogan fit on the cover of the Roster?  We’ll find out in a week.  His first order of business was to reduce annual dues by $80.  He then said those who paid their dues would get a free t-shirt.  He promised more off site meetings, closer scrutiny of attendance, and more world service projects.  “We’re going to make this one heck of a year, and have fun doing it!” 

Dan Kadurna

Dave Dillon presented a special guest, Dan Kadurna.  He was a former Rotary exchange student who we sent to Brazil.  He thanked Rotary and said the experience helped him get into West Point.  He flew helicopters for a while, then retired to go to work  for Aflac in Valparaiso Indiana.  Gregg Gardiner then came up to announce an urgent project. 

Gregg and Kathy Gardiner

Winship School is reopening and needs refurbishment.  280 6^th and 7^th grade students are coming this fall.   It needs Sports equipment, musical instruments, reseeding and leveling the playground, fixing the pot holes on the basketball court, and repairing the gymnasium scoreboard.  It’s a $100,000 project.  They have 7,000 plus 13,000 for musical instruments.  It all needs to be done before August when football camp starts.  Should be a Piece of cake.  Contact Gregg or Kathy Cloney Gardiner if you would like to contribute. 

The Elks Club

Ziggy then promised us that the meetings would all end at 1:30 pm or before, and let us all go at 1:15pm.  It was a promising start to our 90^th year.

They're pinned

Submitted by PP Hank Ingham

Meeting 45 June 24 2013

Meeting Of The Rotary Club Of Eureka June 24, 2013

This was the 45^th and final meeting for Rotary Year 2012-2013.  Past President Greg Pierson presided over the meeting so that a proper debunking of outgoing President Nancy Dean could take place.  As Greg further stated, “We want to properly celebrate your reign.” The meeting was held at the Wharfinger, but please note that starting next week our Monday meetings will be held at the Elks Lodge until further notice. Our flag salute this week was led by Rotarian Bob Palmrose. Bob’s not a member of our club, but he has better attendance here than his own club.

In keeping with the theme of our meeting, our own Greg Williston gave the invocation, which in honor of outgoing President Dean he promised to “KEEP IT SHORT”, which he did and which she is.  We had visiting guest of Rotarian Davis Wells, Mr. Mark Carter of the same named Carter Hotel.  Jay Hockaday also invited Channel 2 Meteorologist, Cecelia Reeves.  Hmm…weather predictions…the end of President Dean’s “rain”…I wondered, why is she here?

We had no visiting Rotarians and no Exchange Students with us this week.  Something must have RAINED on their parade!  We had three visiting Rotaract Members who clearly were not going to let any RAIN keep them from coming, Carly Robbins, Clark Swan, and Jessica (sorry, I did not get her last name).  ^th, Aaron Tilch on June 21^st, and Bruce Rupp on June 22^nd.  Wedding anniversaries announced were Rena & Dean Christiansen on June 24^th, Fred & Linda Sundquist, Jr., on June 24^th, Jill & John Bartholomew on June 27^th, Greg Gardiner & Kathy Cloney-Gardiner on June 28^th, Larona & Daniel Farnum on June 28^th, and John & Melina Harper on June 29^th.  There were no Rotary anniversaries this week.  Announcements for the week included the following: Our Exchange students Larissa & Bibi are seeking a ride to San Francisco this Saturday, June 29^th. They are on their way to a “Western Safari” outing that will include stops in Los Angeles, Arizona, the Grand Canyon, Nevada and then back.  If any is heading south, please give them a call.  Backpacks for Kids fundraiser is still on the front burner! The winner will be selected Aug. 30th. Tickets are $10 each or packs of 12 tickets can be had for $100.  First prize is a $3500 Vacation Getaway, and second prize is a Pierson’s Gift Certificate!  Outgoing President Nancy Dean spent time prior to the meeting handing out rain sticks to all members who had not received one over the last year.  Nancy you did an AWESOME job over the last year – three hip-hip-hurrahs and one “short” “rain” dance for Nancy!! 

Our incoming President Donald “Ziggy” Ziegenfuss starts the 2013-2014 Rotary Year next Monday, July 1^st, at the Elks Club. Come share in his first week as President!  We had two winners for the Spengler “Science Fair” Raffle Tickets – Ziggy won $10 which he promptly donated to Backpacks for Kids and one of our student guests got the other $10 prize.  Finally we got to the hotly anticipated debunking of President Nancy Dean.  In preparation for the debunking

Greg Pierson gallantly offered a bright yellow rain jacket with hood and gloves…after all, come rain or shine, we wanted Nancy to be prepared.  So, onto the debunking:  Jill MacDonald came up first and announced that after careful deliberation the debunking would be “gender neutral”. 

Hank Ingham wanted us to know that some careful analysis of all past Presidents had been done, and Nancy had proved to be the 2^nd tallest female President, the 2^nd shortest President, the President with the 2^nd highest approval rating, and only the 2^nd best weather prognosticator. A coin flip was more accurate.  However, not to let this drizzle of 2^nd best rain on her parade, Hank also announced that Nancy was actually first in one very vital category – she is the FIRST President named Nancy!  Tom Schallert also wanted us to all be aware of how she was viewed as head of the local National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offices.  The following comments where shared by her co-workers.  Her vision was described as “partly cloudy”, and her demeanor as a “cold front, with a hot interior”.  As for her management style, it is universally accepted that she is “scattered & occluded”.  Finally, while her attitudes were often “turbulent”, she always “treated Rotarians as fair weather friends”. 

Former President Carlton Nielsen also had a list of the top 17 accomplishments as President, which included among other things: #17 that she was in charge of the weather (though there were clear questions as to her accuracy), #11 that she was the first President to make sure that Board Meetings always ended on time (where were you off to after that?!), #10 she had successfully corralled over 30 volunteers for various projects over the year (“don’t worry, it will only take a few minutes…”), #7 she is the only Rotarian with a Prius, #6 that her email address is unfailingly treated as spam, #5 she is lovingly referred to as “Mama Dean” by our Rotaract club, #4 she was instrumental in seeing that Franco’s family was helped every step of the way after his injury, #2 she is unbeatable at arm wrestling, and #1 the threat that was always hanging over us like a dark storm cloud, “don’t make me bring out the really big rain stick!!  Nancy Dean, a formidable thunderhead, ready to deal out rain and lightning – we love you Nancy! You have been an awesome President. Thank you!!! 

Cecelia Reeves, our guest meteorologist from News Channel 3, had some choice observations about Nancy.  People had always told her that Nancy was short, but she didn’t realize how SHORT she really was.  Based on her own experience with NOAA, Cecelia was amazed at the casual “sweaters and Birkenstock” dress code Nancy allows in her office, and it’s been clear that “showers are optional” at NOAA.

Birthdays for this week included George Owren and Richard Whitaker on July 19

John Gierek had a particularly amusing take on the scientific processes Nancy and NOAA use.  As John reported, NOAA is a government agency that goes back to the mid-1800s, and even at that time they used rigorous scientific methodology.  In fact, they had one of the first government computing systems, which is now fondly referred to as the “Lady Luck NOAA Computer”. 

This system was quite sophisticated, and used two highly technical tools – a coin and a chart.  In this process the computer operator would first engage with the coin, vigorously flipping it into the air, and then making careful observations as to what side of the coin it landed on. 

Once the side of the coin was ascertained, then the highly trained operator would refer to the region specific chart to determine what the predicted daily weather would be.  Even though this first computer was highly sophisticated, it’s predictive power was only 50:50  -- still that was pretty good back in the 1870s.  Then there was big breakthrough in technology in the mid-20^th century.  With its sharper pin-point accuracy this new computer was referred to as DART.  No longer hobbled by the inferior coin methodology, this new technology allowed the operator to utilize a finely honed tool, the “dart”, which the operator would then direct to the chart. Now, in this case, the chart had also been greatly improved – rather than relying on a binary selection paradigm, it allowed a trinary focusing tool. Now the operator could not only predict, “rain” or “shine”, but other conditions like “fog” could be identified. Of course, as before, the charts used by the DART system could also be customized to the local area – so places in the Midwest, for example, might have “lightning” or “cyclone” added to their predictive models.  Finally we come to the present, and this was also a leap forward in technology, and it one that President Nancy has teased us with over the last year.  This most magnificent jump in technology is referred to as the Hoover Atmospheric Technology, or HAT for short.  This new technology is cutting edge, and allows for a very fine gradation of predictive power.  In this case all the possible weather outcomes are identified and entered onto special “slips of paper”.  These are then introduced into the HAT system, which the operator can now query.  Once the proper query and verbal commands are made the operator can reach into the HAT system and withdraw the predicted outcome.  Now the real beauty of this system is that operator can use their own judgment to override the original HAT prediction, making additional queries to the system until the desired prediction is reached.  Once the desired outcome is reached, the operator can then instruct the system to display the prediction on the front display of the HAT system.  Having watched President Nancy use this system over the last year at our weekly meetings, I think we can all bow in amazement at the wondrous job Nancy is producing at NOAA, and we definitely are very thankful that she’s shared the outcomes of these to us every Monday.  THANK YOU NANCY!! 

Next we heard from three of our Rotaract Club members – Carly Robbins (former Rotaract President), Clark Swan (current Rotaract District Representative”), and Jessica (sorry, no last name given).  These Rotaract members first met Nancy in 2009, and they report how amazing Nancy has been.  Nancy has attended a majority of the Rotaract meetings since it started, and through her help and guidance our Rotaract Club has now won the Rotaract of the Year award in our District for the last two years.  Amazing job!  So, how has Nancy gotten such participation, engagement and commitment from these future Rotarians? Well the surprise answer, the dark secret, was revealed for all to hear.

Nancy has been giving Paul Harris Fellow buttons to all Rotaract President!!  Ye gads!! Is this bribery!? Moreover, even the young daughter of one of those present was given one of these buttons!!  So, is this why she goes to so many of their meetings? Is this why she answers their emails and phone calls so promptly? Sometimes within 20 minutes or less!  All kidding aside, these Rotaract members clearly love Nancy, who they fondly refer to as Mama Dean.  Hugs and affirmations of affection follow!  Nancy, we too applaud your amazing effort with Rotaract.  You are definitely an inspiration!!   Hank Ingham followed up with his annual PowerPoint debunking presentation.  As so many before him have done, he reminds us of how Nancy “comes up short”. Then he launches into a very convincing conspiracy theory around Nancy’s success. First, he reminds us of her “stool”, as that’s something we should definitely look into more carefully.  Then there’s those mysterious “rain stick” she’s been handing out.  There must be some deeper hypnotizing affect to their gentle drizzling sounds.  Most significantly there is the stovepipe hat she wears.  We musn’t forget that both President Nancy & President Lincoln wore stovepipe hats. More importantly, they were both born in a year starting with the number “1”.  Next there is the question of busts – both of them have them, Lincoln has one in Washington, DC, and Nancy always has hers close by.  Finally notice the great similarity between the famous Lincoln Logs, and Nancy’s rain stick. Now seriously, we ask you – is this merely a coincidence, or is something more sinister afoot. Think about it!  Getting close to meetings end, Greg Pierson wanted to reiterate how you, Nancy, “stuck it to us (with rain sticks) all year long”.  In reply we collected a number of suggestions of how we might repay you.  Suggestions included bread sticks, yard sticks, fish sticks, regular sticks, painted sticks, pretzel sticks, make-up sticks, lip sticks and even drum sticks.  In the end, the only thing that truly made sense was RAIN STICK, but not one of the “SHORT” ones you’ve been giving to us all year long.  So, we decided to give you, Nancy, a rainstick that was bigger than you!  We hope you find it’s soothing sounds a pleasant reminder of all we’ve put up with! Again, we love you Nancy!  Not willing to let matters lie, Nancy informed us that we had missed a couple of key points. In her professional careers, for example, we forgot to mention two very powerful tools she uses: a CRYSTAL BALL and a MAGIC EIGHT BALL…both of which have been instrumental in her success. In closing she also wanted to gracefully thank the Rotaract, the Wharfinger for letting us use their space, the lunch crew we’ve been getting tasty meals from, and all of us in Rotary too. Thank you Nancy!  With that, the meeting was adjourned.

Presented in Rotary Service by Bruce Smith