Call To Order - President Dudley Thompson
President Dudley Thompson called the 5,378th Civic Thursday meeting of the Rotary Club of Oakland meeting to order at 12:30 pm. He expressed the elated feelings of everyone enjoying the first in-person meeting in the California Ballroom in a number of months. In addition, more than 40 people attended the meeting via Zoom.
Thought For The Day - Jean Rains
Jean Rains presented the thought from Susan Felder: “Inspiration and imagination go hand in hand”.
President Dudley lead the group in the recitation of the Rotary Vision Statement.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
Past President and Past District Governor Ed Jellen introduced Richard Schwart, President of the San Francisco Chinatown Rotary Club. On line were Past-Presidents Jon Gresley and Gudrun Dybdal on vacation in Maui, and Past President Iris Brody Lopez, zooming in from Peoria, Arizona. Keith Uriarte introduced his guest in the Ballroom.
Announcements
International Women’s Day. President Dudley reminded everyone that District 5170’s celebration of International Women’s Day is scheduled for March 13th at the Rotary San Jose Summit Center. Oakland Rotary is one of five clubs invited to have a table there to showcase its projects. Volunteers are needed for the club’s table. Featured speaker is Zoom COO, Aparna Bawa.
Oakland Marathon and Running Festival. On Sunday, March 20th, the club will work at two of the water stops. Register on the Club calendar website https://www.oakland-rotary.org/calendar/events/2022-03-20/service-day-oa...Note the two water station locations available and make sure to include the Password for the one where you want be.
Bob Barth’s Letter to Rotary Magazine. Pres. Dudley called attention to Bob Barth’s letter to the editor in the March issue of Rotary. Bob urges Rotarians attending the International Convention in June to purchase certified carbon offsets for their travel. He describes how to determine the calculations. Bob also suggests that Rotary International should calculate the carbon footprint of the Convention and purchase offsets to minimize the footprint. What a positive way for RI to inaugurate its first year focusing on the Environment.
New Member Induction – Cathy Adams
Renia Webb introduced the Club newest member, Cathy “Kittie” Adams. She is President of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce. Two fun facts: she has a “crush” on Frazier and has to watch the show every night before retiring. She is also a lover of blues music. Welcome Cathy!
Pres. Dudley took the opportunity not only to present Cathy with her new membership badge and Rotary pin, but also to recent new members Jean Rains and Dawnn Hills. All three received the traditional standing ovation from everyone in the Ballroom.
Oakland Rotary Endowment Campaign
Leeann Alameda, president of the ORE Board of Directors, outlined the impact ORE makes. She spoke about progress to date ($50,000+ pledged) toward the goal of $100,000 and the impact made in the past few years. The campaign wraps up the end of March. Great job, Leeann! To pay online go to www.oakland-rotary.org/donate . Choose Oakland Rotary Endowment for your donation.
John Holmgren, KinderPrep Chair, picked it up from there to describe the impact Rotarians have on this pre-kindergarten program in the Oakland schools. While some of the activities have been on hiatus during the pandemic, such as volunteering in the classroom, chaperoning children on a field trip to Children’s Fairyland or the Oakland Zoo, and the summer book program for each child, others have continued. Classroom supplies, virtual science kits for students and a virtual library for those schools who are without libraries have been made available. Now that the children are back in the classrooms, John expects that a field trip may be doable this spring, and he indicated that volunteers will be needed to pack and delivering books for the summer book program, just like they did pre-pandemic.
Business Development Mixer
Jesse Schmidt, Business Committee Chair, announced the next Business Mixer will be Wednesday, March 23rd at Nido’s Backyard, 104 Oak Street, Oakland. It will be an all-outdoor event. Attendees need to register themselves and their guests in advance at https://www.oakland-rotary.org/calendar/events/2022-03-23/business-devel....
Speaker for the Day
David Stein introduced Park Williams, UCLA Professor in the Geology Department. Prof. Williams began his presentation showing a satellite photo taken on Sept 9, 2020 of the smoke layer inundating the entire coastal area of California. The current megadrought we are experiencing is 22 years long, and 2021 was drier than any other year in this period. Last year was also the driest in the past 121 years. He attributed this to 40% caused by humans and 60% caused by “bad luck” from nature.
The distribution of water across continents changes and life changes as well. He noted that the Sahara Desert, now an extremely dry area, was once a lush habitat. He also commented that at a depth of 60 feet in Lake Tahoe, a grinding stone used by Native Americans has been found dating back 6,000 years ago.
At this point 80% of available water in California is used by agriculture, much of it now being pulled in the Central Valley from ground water reserves, which will take many years to replenish. While solving droughts is not the mission of his group of scientists, he noted that humans need to use less water in the future, and also need to be more efficient in their uses. He mentioned desalinization plants, which have been on the state’s agenda for many decades. Cities can and should consider building and maintaining desalinization plants even though they are expensive.
Bellringers
Keith Giron rang the bell for Jean Rains.
Jean Rains rang the bell Dawnn Hills
Ces Butner and Joycie Mack rang the bell for Cathy Adams.
Jack McAboy rang the bell for Linda Hamilton.
Dudley Thompson, Fred Morse, Mary Rudser, Teresa Weyand, Sean Marx, Phil Holt, Linda Boessenecker, Karen Friedman, Mary Geong, Robert Kidd, Sheldon Crandall, Ed Jellen, Rick Baskin, Mike Bruck, Jason Wizelman, Ces Butner (7 rings), Elida Scola, Ruth Stroup, Joe Goralka, Daniel Cheng, Joycie Mack, Harold Lowe, Pat Williams, Georgia Richardson and Tim Limon (2) rang the bell for the Illustrious Seven.
Adjournment
President Dudley adjourned the meeting at 1:34 pm as he reminded us to Serve to Change Lives and Don’t Keep Rotary a Secret!
Next Meeting, March 17 – Eddie Muller – Living the Film Noir Life
C J Hirshfield announced next week’s meeting will feature Eddie Muller, bestselling author and host of Turner Classic Movies weekly "Noir Alley" as he discusses what drew him into cinematic shadows filled with diabolical dames and the cynical antiheroes who love them. The renowned “Czar of Noir” will talk about why this film genre still strikes a chord with today’s audiences. Plus, learn why Eddie has moved the 2022 edition of his Noir Festival to Oakland, after 20+ years in San Francisco.
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