rev newsletter head 7-17
April 2, 2010  
Reporter: Cal Lee                 Editor:  Dominic Porrino          Photographer: Tom Black
 
 
President: John Fazel, 2009 - 2010          

 
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY  
 
Brought to you by our baby barrister, Dominic Porrino: "The pessimist complains about the world.  The optimist expects it to change.  The realist adjusts the sails."   
 
REALISTIC, POLITICAL THOUGHTS 
  
Brought to you by our Prez, and in the spirit of hazing Mr. Burke for his recent announcement to run for Congress: "I want to marry a nice, sweet girl who just completed her prison sentence for abandoning her illegitimate kid.  My problem is, my dad sells drugs, my mother died in an asylum of syphilitic insanity, my two sisters are hookers, and my older brother is awaiting trial for killing his girlfriend's husband.  My younger brother is a U.S. congressman.  Should I tell my future bride the awful truth about my younger brother?"
 
GUESTS
 
Rotarians: John Moulthrop (or is he really a guest?)
                  Tony Sloan, Orinda
                  Margo Dutton, Bayshore, and CEO of Rehabilitation Services of Northern California
 
Others:      Miriam Worsham, don't call her Yeager
                  Chloe Johnson, Gillett's pride and joy
                  Tommy Verne, new president of InterAct
 
BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE BELGIAN CONTINGENT
 
                   Brieve, Aymeric's father
                   Christiane, Aymeric's mother
                   Quentin, Aymeric's slightly younger brother
                   Valentine, Aymeric's girlfriend
           
Brieve expressed his gratitude for Aymeric's experience here.  He knows everything is going well because Aymeric said so. 
 
Somehow a box of delectable Belgian chocolates found its way around the room.  Even more amazingly, Brieve was the raffle winner, fresh proof that the game of marbles is rigged. But we all knew this, right?
 
It was a real pleasure to meet the family, and we know they will have a delightful time seeing California, guided by Aymeric the expert.  Aymeric is probably tempted to take them to Hawaii also, judging from the pictures he showed of his recent sojourn there.  He learned the ukelele, put on war paint, and brought back a makeup banner.  We'll see if they make it to that   paradise.
 
ALL KINDS OF RECOGNITIONS
 
Well, Don Reichert took the opportunity presented by Gwen's birthday, and ran wild.  He recognized himself as Senior Member of the club. He recalled as how, simply by sitting next to them at strategic times, he invited into the club eventual members Skip McCowan, Alice Mayn, and Ward Proescher.  This last one was a shrewd move, as Ward hosted the Reicherts in Las Vegas for this birthday of Gwen's.  Don donated $100 to the Paul Harris Foundation.  Somehow another $20 was extracted for good measure.
 
Paul Fillinger told all that Ray Welles has come charging out of retirement to be associate pastor at Hillcrest United Church of Christ in Pleasant Hill, as elder administrator.  He's now putting in 40 hours per month.  This seemed to give a good indication of what his recognition amount should be, but the Prez uncharacteristically never got to that point, perhaps saving his own soul in the process.  
 
mark 6-12Dan Garfin 3-12-10Mark Roberts and Dan Garfin, without knowing it, cerebrated their first Rotarian anniversaries, this milestone costing each $10.  Chuck Yeager has put in a dozen years, which of course cost him four times as much. (Anyone have a calculator?)
 
CELEBRATIONS FOR LATER IN THE DAY
 
Skip McCowan is still begging for wine.  His target for this week was 10 elegant bottles, and he got only six.  John Moulthrop, who's only a semi-member at this juncture, put full-fledged members to shame with a $100 contribution.  This extracted $30 from the shameful Prez. It's all for the Motorama, and Krysten Laine gave a gentle hint by again passing around a signup list for fancy shirts.
 
Another guy who knows something about wine and celebrations, Gillett Johnson, reminded that the annual benefit for Las Trampas is April 25 at Lafayette Park Hotel.  The winner of the big-ticket drawing gets a cool 10 grand.  It's a great cause supported in part by our club.  Another signup sheet went around, but there's plenty of room left on it.
 
Don't know whether the bocce tournament will feature wine and celebration, but Bob Heinen announced that we won't find out for a while.  The other clubs were petrified to learn they'd be facing LSR, so the event has been postponed to June.
 
Presumably no wine was involved, but certainly celebration was.  Mehrnaz Ahrar, president of Acalanes High School Interact, e-mailed that the dance for Haiti relief was a big success, generating a net of $2,250.  She expressed thanks to Rotarian chaperones.
 
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CAN BE FUN
 
Today's speaker, Eric Brink, is a Shell Chemical Earthwatch manager at Martinez.  He goes a lot of other places.
 
The Earthwatch event is usually a two-week expedition to a remote and more or less comfortable non-Shell research station.  A team of six to 10 helps a scientist collect a large amount of research data in a short time.  The location generally is an environmentally sensitive area, often wetlands, coastal areas, or an area with big climate change.  Last year's journeys included Kenya, Brazil, Ecuador and Malaysia.  
 
The latest trip was to the Arctic edge of Canada, the primary goal being to quantify impact of climate change on northern ecosystems.  This was near Mackenzie in the Northwest Territories, accessible only by flying in.  The lodge there is open from June to August, and is superbly run.  The team studied microclimate, permafrost and soil The weather there changes extremely quickly.  Field tasks include measuring the permafrost by boring down to the ice.  If permafrost melts, such gases as nitrogen are significantly release, impacting the air.    
 
Eric, of course, showed slides, which he admitted do not do justice to the stunning scenes.  They did, however, show some of the work being done, and indicated the fellowship which existed during the trip.  The hiking there is great.  The scene is only slightly marred by the Canol pipeline and road, built during World War II to supposedly defend against the Japanese, which left a bunch of abandoned drums, pipelines, and general mess.  Another issue, he said, may be trophy hunters .
 
But generally the trips are a great experience.  Anyone can go, although Shell pays only for its own employees.  The cost for the Canadian trip was about $5,000 for two weeks, $2,000 of that representing plane fare.  The next trips are to Belarus and Puerto Rico.  If you are interested in Shell Chemical Earthwatch, Eric Brink is at 10 Mococo Road, Martinez 94553, phone 313-8687.
 
Wouldn't you know, Don Reichert has been with Earthwatch for 25 years.  He was originally recruited as a photographer and mountain climber for a trip to Peru.  Needless to say, he was and is enthusiastic.  
 
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: A LESSON IN BELGIAN NAMES  
 
And finally, something brand new for you all.  Your editorial staff offers you a behind the scenes image of your reporting staff hard at work after the meeting.  Our diligent reporter, Cal Lee, affirms the spelling of Aymeric's family names for this very newsletter.  One only can imagine that he has this much attention to detail in his own law practice.  
 
CALENDAR
 
Friday, April 9, Reading Faces To Understand People
 
Friday, April 16, James Boquin
 
Friday, April 23, Supervisor Gayle Uilkima
 
Friday, April 30, Brother Ron Gallagher of St. Mary's
TGITLFOTM, Agatha Sue and Cal Lee
 
Friday, May 7, Amy Janah, Founder of Samasource
 

Friday May 14, Amy Maggiore, Shelter Inc.

 
Saturday, May 22, Lafayette Percola Paint Project 
 
Friday, May 30, Expose yourself, Dan Garfin
TGITLFOTM, Glenda and Paul Fillinger

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