By: Hermann Welm
President Kathy Gailey, “The African Queen,” called the meeting to order, reminding us that the R.I. President is John F. Germ and his theme for the year is “Rotary Serving Humanity.”
Our Greeter, Julie Fiedler, led us in the Salute to the Flag and gave us her Thought for the Day, by Maya Angelou: “People will forget what you’ve said; they’ll forget what you did; they will not forget how you made them feel.” Julie then spoke about her work as an attorney specializing in Elder Law.
PP Don Jones then led the group in the singing a Patriotic Song, “My Country Tis of Thee.”
Visiting Rotarians: Michelle Lee, formerly of our club, and now with the Dougherty Valley/San Ramon club.
Other Visitors: Joyce Castro, from the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District, and an Honorary Rotarian.
Announcements:
PP Gary Sloan presented Michelle Lee with a check to cover the sponsorship of one Cal High student, Christine Hernandez, to attend the American Legion’s Girl’s State Convention in Sacramento. This program is available to high school juniors and teaches them about local, regional and state government.
PP Dennis Harvey, Membership Chair, reminded all to invite friends and colleagues to attend a Rotary meeting so as to introduce them to the program.
Dennis also reminded us that the Smoke Alarm Project is scheduled for April 22nd; we still need a few volunteers for the morning-long work party.
Nina Voss noted that we need to start gathering auction items for this year’s Online Auction for Education. The Run for Education will be held quite early, namely October 1st, so everything needs to be moved up accordingly.
Kathy Gailey advised that the District will once again be holding a Bocce Ball Competition on May 20th. The club will look into entering a team.
In his Rotary Moment, PP Ray Giles noted that there are about 800 million people on this planet that live on less than $2.00 per day and that The Rotary Foundation is working hard to support efforts that will have an impact on this poverty. One of the programs mentioned are the Micro Loans that help set up people in small businesses so they can support themselves and their families.
Ray also reported that Marv Remmich has been awarded his Sapphire Pin plus One for his contributions to The Rotary Foundation.
Paula Gross mentioned that the Interactors at Cal High are proceeding with the assembly of 65 Homeless Care Kits. They each cost about $3.00, so they would welcome financial contributions to achieve their goal (which has now been set at 100 kits). These will be distributed at the Rotary-hosted lunch for the homeless, in Walnut Creek, on April 26th.
Good News/Fine Free: PP John Tatum mentioned that they have sold their home to Honorary Rotarian, Alex Mehran, Jr. and family, and have purchased another house in the Diablo community. He noted, upon questioning, that it WILL be big enough to host a Rotary Christmas Party!
PP Guy Greco read a short report out of People Magazine, by actress Archie Panjabi, where she spoke about her participation in the End Polio Now campaign in New Delhi. Panjabi has been a Rotary International Ambassador since 2011.
Mike Conklin -- yes, he still belongs to this club !!! -- noted that he had a high-ranking General visiting his Sentinels of Freedom office and his advance party of four security personnel went thru quite an extensive inspection, including checking out the medical services available at the San Ramon Regional Medical Center. Since Gary Sloan was out of the office that day, that facility passed muster!
PP Steve Wilcox noted that Sharon is feeling better and thanked all who have sent their good wishes!
Election of Officers for 2017/18: Trotted out by President-Elect Lucky Sandhu for public scrutiny were:
John Millich -- President Elect
Julie Fiedler -- Secretary
Jeff Disch -- Treasurer (for “one more year”)
Naim Katiby -- Sergeant at Arms
Dennis Harvey -- Membership
Patti Hennigan -- Club Administration
Marv Remmich -- Programs
Karen McNamara -- Community Service
Colette Lay -- Youth Service
Edgardo Carrillo -- Vocational Service
Mark Hornstra -- Public Relations
Gary Sloan -- Club Foundation
Guy Greco -- International Service, and last but not least
Kathy Gailey -- Past President
There were no other nominations from the floor, so the new Board was voted in by voice acclaimation!
Program: Marv Remmich introduced Kit Ohlman of the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District (aka “Central San”) who spoke about the District’s mission of collecting, treating and disposing of waste water for about 481,000 residents in Central County; an area of about 145 square miles. The District processes an average of 32 million gallons per day!
The proce
ss begins with collection, starting at the curb of residences, using 1,500 miles of sewer pipe. The diameter of these pipes are from 4 inches at the curb, to 8-1/2 feet at the plant in Martinez! The most frequent problems encountered with these pipes are blockages caused by (1) root intrusion, (2) congealed grease caused by misguided disposal of cooking residue down the kitchen drain; and (3) an accumulation of “flushables.” It was here that Kit reminded us that “toilets are NOT garbage cans!”
Much of the sewage moves by way of gravity flow -- generally downhill to Martinez -- however the District also operates 19 pump stations to lift the flow back up from deep sumps and/or to push it over ridges that intervene.
The treatment plant will process the raw sewage through several steps, the first of which is a bar screen to remove solids. It is then sent on to “primary” treatment which is essentially a sedimentation basin. Further processing then cleans it sufficiently to allow it to be sent on to the outflow point on the Carquinez Bay, near the railroad bridge. About 600 million gallons per year -- roughly 20 days worth of sewage -- go through two additional stages to turn it into recycled water which can be used for non-potable uses such as landscape irrigation.
The District also operates a household hazardous waste (“HHW”) collection station in Martinez where residents of their service area can dispose, free of charge, item such as fluorescent tubes, grease, oil, batteries, paint, and various waste chemicals. The disposal of excess or out-of-date medication is handled at every police station in the service area; they should NOT be flushed or disposed of with the trash.
One last reminder: if you have a sewage overflow situation, call 925-933-0990 for an immediate response tam, 24/7. However, if the cause of the problem is in your line (house to curb) the cost of repair will be borne by you.
Raffle: The Greeter’s Gift -- a bottle of good wine -- was won by Dennis Harvey, who also won the opportunity to draw that elusive gold marble from the bag. He drew “Blue” and everyone felt very bad for him. But he got another $10.00 cash. The prize next week will be $140.00!
