Meeting for the Week of Mar. 30th, 2015
This Meeting's Highlights
Speaker: Keith Marsh
Program: Being Part of a National Immunization Day (Polio Plus)
Meeting for the week of March 30th to April 5th, 2015
Greetings from President Rushton Hurley
Welcome! You've found your way to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley's meeting of the week of March 30th, 2015.We're a new Rotary club with plenty of new Rotarians, and this gives us the chance to celebrate the many wonderful pieces of the larger Rotary puzzle. Last week, Cecelia Babkirk introduced The Rotary Foundation to our members and guests, and this week, member Keith Marsh will describe his experience in one piece of one of the boldest parts of Rotary's 110-year history - the global, multi-billion dollar effort to eradicate polio from the planet.Along the way, you'll get a sense of what's important to those of us who launched this eclub, including our work to take the best of Rotary as it has been for decades, and combine the positive possibilities of the internet and new technologies to chart new avenues for service to others.It's good to have you with us. If you like what you see, please share our site with others, and join in whenever you wish!Guests, we welcome your comments, as well, and ask that you consider contributing the cost of a meal to the service projects our club is putting in motion. Feel free to use our donation system at the bottom of this page, or you can mail a check made out to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley to our treasurer: ℅ Allen Thompson, 13500 Cascade Ct., Bakersfield CA 93314.
Dues
Members, at long last we have our online payment system in place! What's that you just heard? That's the angelic choir as the sunlight breaks through the clouds. And there was great rejoicing. Log in and go to the dues page to handle your payment for the first half of 2015, if you haven't already sent Treasurer Allen a check.
Building Peace and Goodwill
One of the four pieces of the Four-Way Test is the question (of what we say and do), "Will it build goodwill and better friendships?"In the following video by Google promoting its search tools, the story of a long-lost friendship takes the viewers beyond a conflict that has raged for decades to a notably more inspiring place. In the first few days after Google released this video, "Reunion" got several million views, mostly from India and Pakistan, apparently. Why? Because people are moved by stories of friendship, and this story undoubtedly built some goodwill, too.
You'll learn more about India and Rotary's efforts to build goodwill and better friendships there in Member Keith Marsh's program later in this meeting!
Service Time
Members, make sure not to finish the meeting without sharing what have you done this last week (or since the last time you filled this out). Tell us anything that (a) was outside of the work for which you are paid, and (b) made the world a better place. Let us know by filling out this short survey.
Happenings
Happy Hour
This Friday, April 3rd, we will have a get-together at Harry's Hofbrau in San Jose (map). Folks will gather for food and/or drinks starting at 7:00, and someone from the club will be there until at least 8:30. This is an informal, social gig, and you are welcome to bring guests.
Charter Party
Sunday night a group of us gathered at the South Bay Yacht Club to celebrate the launch of our eclub. There was some kayaking, plenty of food, and loads of fun!Ten of us were there: Dean McCully, Stephen Zhou, Mitty Chang, Yvonne Kwan, Keith Marsh, Allen Thompson, Meg Taylor, Art Taylor, Heather Shaw, and me. Allen gets special kudos for driving four hours to be there! Additionally, Chris Cochrane connected from the Canadian boonies to wish the group well.District Governor Ed Jellen, District Governor-Elect Susan Valenta, and Past District Governor Joe Hamilton were also on hand to show their support, with Governor Ed passing on a letter from Rotary International President Gary Huang and the charter plaque.A special highlight of the evening came when we played the video made by seven members of the Rotary eClub of East Anglia, which we'll share with you here:
Justin's House
Last week we also took part in our first real service effort. Members of the club contributed items to the live and silent auctions, and seven of us (a quarter of the club) attended the dinner and auction event. A big thanks to those who contributed to auctions: Catherine Liu, Martin Fox, Shags Shagrin, Heather Shaw, Linda Tangren, Chris Cochrane, Allen Thompson, Gene Tognetti, Richard Knaags, and Rushton Hurley.Thanks also to the group that attended this event (Dean McCully (with Lisa Bickford and Nathan McCully), John Lozano, Mitty Chang, Stephen Zhou, Catherine Liu, Mahmood Khan, and Rushton Hurley), which everyone agreed was stunningly cool, particularly for a first-time try for a brand new nonprofit.
District Conference
Watch your email for our count for who will be at the District Conference. We hope to see you there!
Connecting
from PR Committee Member Meg TaylorAs an online club, it's a no-brainer for us to have a social media presence. So, now, you can find us on Twitter under the handle, @eclubsv. Please follow us! And provide your Twitter handle to Member Mark Dohn (mdohn@me.com) so the club can follow you. After all, that helps our traffic and awareness. Not on Twitter? Now could be the time to take the plunge.Soon, we will also be on Facebook and Instagram. In anticipation of those moves, please provide your Facebook profile and Instagram account name to Mark, as well.We look forward to following you – and being followed and "shared," too.
Money Matters
from Treasurer Allen Thompson
Greetings, fellow eClub of Silicon Valley Rotarians! Here is your treasurer's report for the week.Good news!! Our bank account is finally opened and we're ready to go! You may have noticed we now have an online payment system for donations and we also have one for our membership dues. Members who want to pay their dues online should go to https://dev-siliconvalleyrotary.pantheonsite.io/dues/. While you're there you'll also be given an opportunity to make a donation to The Rotary Foundation.We also have our Donations and Happy Dollars online payment system up and running. Members and Guests, please feel free to donate Happy Dollars for your memorable occasions and leave us a note in that comments section telling what your Happy Dollars are for.Best wishes, and yours in Service to Rotary!
A Little Humor
The New TeacherA former sergeant in the Marine Corps took a new job as a high school teacher. Just before the school year started, however, he injured his back, and was required to wear a plaster cast around the upper part of his body. Fortunately, the cast fit under his shirt and wasn't noticeable.On the first day of class, he found himself assigned to the toughest students in the school. The smart punks, having already heard the new teacher was a former Marine, were leery of him and he knew they would be testing his discipline in the classroom.Walking confidently into the rowdy classroom, the new teacher opened the window wide and sat down at his desk. When a strong breeze made his tie flap, he picked up a stapler and stapled the tie to his chest.Dead silence... the rest of the year went very smoothly.
The World of Rotary
Rotarians around the world have found all sorts of ways to raise awareness and funding for the Polio Plus effort to eradicate this terrible disease. See how these people Down Under made something great happen at the time of Rotary International's Convention in Sydney last year:
The Power of Images
Club camera guru and this week's program presenter Keith Marsh shares another great shot of California. As he tells us, "The Bristlecone Pines are located in the White Mountains east of Bishop, California, at an elevation of 11,000 ft. They are the oldest living things on Earth, at up to 5000 years. But this pales in comparison to the age of the light coming from some parts of the Milky Way where many of the stars are many millions of light years away from Earth."This photo took two exposures about 3 hours apart. The foreground with the tree was taken just after sunset. The night sky with the Milky Way was taken about midnight as a 30-second exposure. Several hours of work in Photoshop was required to merge the two images."Beautiful stuff, Keith!
Selected Comments from Last Week
We love reading your comments! If for any reason you can't (or won't) leave us something via the Disqus system, below, you are welcome to send your thoughts via email to President Rushton at rushton@gmail.com.Last week's program on The Rotary Foundation, along with the thoughts shared in the video and other pieces, elicited some great comments. Here are some of them:
member Shags Shagrin (California, USA)Great information from every segment of the meeting!
member John Lozano (California, USA)Thanks, Cecelia, for the background and funding information. I'm happy we have someone with your experience joining in our Hangouts. Also, thanks for your continued support of outreach programs in places like Guatemala; your energy and support is very much appreciated.member Chris Cochrane (Ontario, Canada)Thank you. Finally some of the fog about the foundation is lifting. Its bureaucracy can be mind-boggling, so thank God there's someone who can help us navigate it.
member Mitty Chang (California, USA)Thanks, Cecelia, for educating us about all the great Rotary Foundation programs!
member Lisa Highfill (California, USA)I recently saw a speaker at a conference share the Speaking exchange program and was so moved by it. In so many ways it signifies the kinds of projects I am most interested in - connecting people to fulfill a need. I love that it is about the partners doing filling that need - not just participating. Thank you, Cecelia, for more wonderful examples and stories about what it means to be a Rotarian. The series of programs has been eye-opening in my Rotarian education.
member Martin Fox (California, USA)Love the CNA speaking exchange - brilliant! I had tears in my eyes during and after watching the video. Thank you to Cecelia for a very educational program on the Rotary Foundation. Great stuff :-)
guest François Tessier (Quebec, Canada)Absolute great meeting this week!! The CNA Speaking exchange program video was very inspiring and, thank you to Cecilia for your kind explanation about what The Rotary Foundation is about. As a "Wannabe" Rotarian, I am learning more and more every week about the movement. And it really connects to my values.
This Week's Program
Last week we were treated to an overview of the efforts of The Rotary Foundation from Cecelia Babkirk. Those of you who are new to Rotary were hopefully profoundly inspired seeing the amazing work being done.This week's presenter, Keith Marsh, lives in Marin County north of San Francisco. He has had three decades of perfect attendance in Rotary, and also served as president of the Rotary Club of Mission San Rafael some years ago.You already know Keith as the guy who has provided so many powerful photos for our weekly meetings, giving us wonderful views of places in and near Silicon Valley.Today you will learn about the premier program of The Rotary Foundation, Polio Plus. In the 1980s, Rotarians worldwide mobilized to gather the resources needed to eradicate polio, contributing not just money, but people to go into the far reaches of the world to immunize children from this terrible disease. The story is a powerful one, creating many life-changing moments for Rotarians, too.Keith, the podium is yours!
You can learn much more about Rotary's work to end polio at this website, and you are welcome to donate to help with the final stages of this effort.To take another look at Keith's photos from India, take a look here.
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