ARE YOU ON THE LIST? 

Scary Thought from Mark

A rather frightening Thought for the Day from Mark Roberts as a president who will arrive in a little over one short year: "I haven't the slightest idea how to change people, but still I keep a long list of prospective candidates just in case I should ever figure it out."  (Mark blames David Sedaris for this one.)

VISITING ROTARIANS

Alicia Cragholm - Lafayette noon club - Still on the guest list? 

GUESTS OF OTHER PERSUASIONS

Mariam Worsham, retired First Lady;        

George Figone, her neighbor, Raffle winner & second time guest 

Jim Marggraff, The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword

Ray, Alex's friend

Mark Larks - an ambush of paperwork awaited him

OCCASIONS 

Amazing how people with things to celebrate, who should be happy,

seem to sneak away from our little meetings.  Don't think we'll forget, Dan Garfin and Tay Wheeler, because we are waiting for you.

Ken Kosich, brave enough to face the music, knows how to celebrate.  He and Patti celebrated by flying to Ireland for a week, and the gods were smiling because it never rained.  If this is how they celebrate their 31^st,

what will they do on their 50^th?  Anyhow, Ken ponied up $100 for Patti's Paul Harris and $20 for the club, thereby showing a little favoritism.

Gary Fulchler, he of the longest red badge, in observance of his induction to this menagerie two years ago, said nothing, and therefore got by with the basic no-frills $20.

MOTORING TOWARD THE RAMA 

Krysten lays down the law

43 days to go, said grand poobah Krysten Laine.  Her announcement that Linda McCowan will be in charge of decorating got a standing O, almost.  The field is more than half full.  A couple of needs: some 10 x 10 canopies on the day of the exhibit, and 32 bottles of wine for centerpieces which Krysten's buddy Rene will create.  No fair stealing from the ring-toss wine.

Buddy Burke passed around an exemplar of a handmade Motorama shirt to be sold in the Swag Tent, to see if it gets a passing grade.  As happens with most things that are passed around, no definite conclusion was reached.

NON-MOTORAMA 

Hays leads the Home Team expansion!

There actually are a few other things happening. 

Hays Englehart, on behalf of Joe Bettencourt, announced the next Home Team project will be on Saturday May 14th at 8:00 in the ayem, and there will be guests from other clubs who will be subjected to training so they can get their own clubs on the Home Team bandwagon.

Brad Davis, still the spirit of the Garden Park Apartments, announced a Grade School Grad Day Luau there on Thursday June 6th.  This would be a great boost to these kids' self-esteem as well as a lot of fun.

Mark Roberts revealed a June 15^th date for the Three-Quarter Century Club luncheon which was the brainchild of John Fazel.  It will again be held at Orinda Community Church (Frank's Church).  A lot of role models among those folks.  And there are glamorous jobs available such as setup, cleanup, and chicken-chopping.

SPRING FEVER 

Spring break has to be a student's Heaven.  At least that's what it looked like in Arianne's pictures.  Disneyland, starring Mickey Mouse and the Peruvian band Alturas.  Santa Cruz.  The Prom.  Cake for the 17th Birthday, which was a Bolivian Earth-Day cake.  Easter family party.  Golden Gate Bridge.  Rock concert.  You have to feel sorry for anyone who has to go back to school after all that.

PROGRAM: CALSTAR WILL SAVE YOU 

Program Chair Walter Nelson had just been presented his return-to-the-club badge ID'ing him as "Walt".  You'd think he'd have taken the hint and made the introduction brief, but he was done in by a small dose of The Curse.  Manfully he held down the fort through Brad Davis's harassing questions about whether we'd hear the speaker this morning, and finally the technology cooperated and "Walt" was off the hook.

Ross Fay is and has been the regional director and everything else at CALSTAR, mnemonic for California Shock Trauma Air Rescue, a non-profit organization.

He gave a bit of history.  EMS helicopters originated in the Korea days (Bell-47), and evolved through Vietnam (the Huey) up to today's UH-60 (a version of Blackhawk). 

The big concern for trauma rescue is The Golden Hour.  If the injured can get care within one hour, the chances of recovery - or staying alive - are 'way better.  CALSTAR is the key to delivering the injured to that care within one hour.  The importance of this is illustrated by the fact that trauma is the leading cause of death for people under age 44.

CALSTAR was founded in 1983 as a non-profit.  It covers Northern and Central California.  (In Southern California the air rescue is handled by local law enforcement departments.)  It gives rapid transport, excellent patient care by a staff of RNs, and uncompromised safety.  In 27 years and over 40,000 patient transports, there have been no accidents except for one training accident by a military guy who got a bit carried away.

The types of helicopters used are the MD-902 with a 200 mile range and average 150 mph, the BO-105 with 150 range and 140 mph, and the Cessna 421 Golden Eagle for the long-range work.  The MD-902 runs a cool $6 million, and can take two patients.  There are two flight nurses, each with five years' experience in critical care.  (Not to diss the competition, but the competition doesn't have a nursing staff with these qualifications.) 

CALSTAR is big into community education, including a mock crash program for high school, and Ronald McDonald.

CALSTAR now rotates with REACH at Buchanan Field.  You may have seen those red REACH copters buzzing your house from time to time.

The average transport costs in the range of $20 to $25,000.  As a hedge against this, CALSTAR has an annual membership program of $40/person or $45/family.  You never know.  And you may actually be covered in other states as well, since there is reciprocity through the organization Association of Air Medical Membership Programs (AAMMP).  If you didn't pick up one of the pamphlets at the meeting, you can hit www.calstar.org.

Ken Thomas, you left us too early!  You could have told Ross a story or two.