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By: Hermann Welm President John “Copy Cat” Milich opened the meeting by reminding us that the R.I. President is Barry Rassin, of the Bahamas, and his theme for the year is “Be the Inspiration!” Our Greeter, Edgardo Carrillo, lead us in the Salute to the Flag. His Thought for the Day was: “Life is not a rehearsal; life is for real. So, live it!” The duet of Jones & Thelen then led us in a rousing rendition of the Patriotic Song, “God Bless America!” Visiting Rotarians: None. Other Visitors: Patricia Snowden, of Sunrise Senior Living, San Ramon. Our Speaker, Yulla-May Nicolas, of Alliance for Smiles. Announcements: Brent Tucker reminded us of Friday’s Holiday Party, at Terri’s home in Danville. He will once again have a driver shuttle us up to the house but also handed out a map of some additional parking higher up on his access road. PE Colette Lay noted that Foundation Grant Training will be held Saturday, January 19th, from 9 to 4. This will be the only one and is required if the club is intending to submit a Grant request. Contact Colette. Colette also reminded us that this year’s Rotary International Meeting will be held in Hamburg, Germany, from June 1 thru the 6th. Reduced cost, “early bird,” registrations will expire very soon, so get on with it! Several members are already signed up to attend. Horace Crawford thanked the club for having contributed 55 gift cards for the homeless at Walnut Creek’s Trinity Center. More are always welcome (Safeway or Target are excellent choices). Horace is also working with a clean-up effort at Paradise. They are arriving with buckets to assist residents searching thru the burned debris for any personal items that they might find. Edgardo will be collecting checks, made out the “The Salvation Army,” at tomorrow’s Holiday Party. This Scribe once again noted that the season for Tree and Heavy Brush Trimming is between November and December each year; the latest it can be done without endangering nesting wildlife -- think mommy and her babies -- is early January. So if you are planning on this, do NOT wait until the spring; that is the absolutely WORST time to do it! Dr. Bill Harlan announced that his son, “The Sergeant,” has been promoted by the State of Alaska to Acting Director of the Labor Standards and Safety organization. Since he got this position just prior to the large earthquake they recently experienced, his first major assignment will be to have every single elevator in the State inspected for safety; all six of them (as some un-named insurance company owner called out)! AN UPDATE on Geoff Johnson: he has moved; his new phone number is 408-733-1856. More on him at a future meeting! Good News/Fine Free: None. Recognitions: Stacy Litteral, for her husband’s birthday; Cathie Richardson, for her birthday (yesterday); Edgardo, for Elizabeth’s anniversary; Jerry Marrs, for Dana’s recent birthday (which they celebrated at a nude beach with a Guns&Roses theme, called “Buns and Toeses!” This admission by Jerry MIGHT have been a joke!) The Rotary Foundation Moment: PP Ray Giles once again spoke about the great work that the Rotary Foundation is doing; last year’s expenditures totaled $260 million! He recognized two new Paul Harris Fellows, Stacy Litteral and Norbert Walz. He also presented Marv Remmich with his Sapphire, Paul Harris +5 pin, and Don Jones with his three-Ruby Paul Harris +8 pin! Congratulations, and thanks, to each of you! Program: Marv Remmich introduced Yulla-May Nicolas, Program coordinator for the Alliance for Smiles. She indicated that her organization was started in 2004 by the Rotary Club of San Francisco, the Number 2 club, founded in 1908, two years after the Number 1 Club in Chicago. The Alliance for Smiles is volunteer-driven, with only three staff members. They send missions into the developing world to surgically repair cleft lips and cleft palates. Both are malformations of the mouth which will cause the individual serious problems throughout their life. In addition to the expected social, emotional and behavioral problems due to ridicule, bullying and isolation, they suffer from sucking problems as babies, middle ear infection, hearing loss, dental problems and speech impediments, if their defects are not repaired at an early age. The sooner repairs are done the more normal the person’s life will be.  The organization sends out volunteer missions several times a year -- they are now shooting for one per month -- to one of 15 countries that has the medical infrastructure to support the procedures that their dentists, pediatricians, surgeons, anesthesiologists, dental hygienists and nurses need. While there, they also train local medical teams in performing these surgeries. Each mission consists of about 15 medical and 5 non-medical volunteers, who stay in country for two weeks, supported by the local Rotary clubs and hospitals that have the resources for these efforts. Often those resources have to be sent out by the organization prior to the mission’s arrival. The perform their magic on from 70 to 100 patients over a 10-day period. Typically about 120 to 150 potential candidates are identified ahead of time, but various physical problems, such as illness or malnutrition, will reduce the number that can actually be treated. Follow-up procedures which are essential to the success of the operations, as well as dealing with those that could not be worked on in the earlier trip, are handled by a subsequent mission. In the past 15 years, the roughly 1,000 volunteers of the Alliance for Smiles have conducted 82 missions and have treated about 7,600 patients! Raffle: The Greeter’s Gift of $20.00 was won by Jeff Disch. The chance of drawing the gold marble was won by Cathie Richardson, but she drew a blue marble, so next week the prize will be $60.00! Next Week’s Program: An update from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Our Greeter will be Garth Riopelle (a drawing will be held to see who can come closest to guessing his time of arrival!) |
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