Posted by Kath Anderson on Jul 24, 2018

 
The Meeting of today coincided with the 49th anniversary of the landing on the moon. Jim Hartman gave us something to think about in his inspirational invocation. He graciously allowed us to print it for those of you who were unable to attend, and to remind those of us who did attend.
Thoughts by James Hartman
 
Today is the 49th anniversary of the moon landing. July 20, 1969: One Giant Leap for Mankind. This accomplishment was prompted by the challenge of President Kennedy to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. On the morning of July 16, astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins were propelled into space and into history.  Three days later the crew was in lunar orbit and at 10:56, 49 years ago today with more than a half billion people watching on television, Neil Armstrong climbed down the ladder and proclaimed “That is one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind”.
 
This event gave us hope and a feeling of peace. When the government and people are united, there is no limit to what can be accomplished. This is also true of our Rotary International and our own club. May we work together this year to ensure similar feelings of true accomplishment. The Apollo crew splashed down off Hawaii on July 24- they walked on the moon and returned safely home. A miracle pulled of by hundreds of thousand of people working together.
Visiting guests were introduced: John Pollen, David Henseler, our 66th assemblymember- Al Muratsuchi and his intern Jake Ridout, who is a local student.
 
Al Muratsuchi presented our club with a Thank you certificate for recognition of our commitment to education. 
Jonathan Udewitz esq. announced the next Wednesday Night Live (7/25/18) will be at El Pollo Inca- full meal and a first glass of wine include-- 6-8 pm.  Please use Club Runner.
 
David Henseler -cochair of the Southbay Beer and Wine Festival, presented Marc Mazorow, our president, with a check for $44,000.00 dollars.  Now we can contribute to projects with the district and Rotary International.
Our Speaker was none other than our past assistant governor, and wife of David Henseler, Karen Greenberg.  She has been working diligently on the Peruvian project and presented us with information on the next upcoming district humanitarian trip. Information will be soon available in a PDF form and can be accessed by our members. To follow is a little bit of info that may help you decide to join this exciting venture.
The Humanitarian trip to Peru is 4/3/2019-4/12/2019. The trip will take up to 140 people. Sign up early to secure your spot.  This trip was selected by our current governor, Joe Vazquez.
 
All the clubs have been asked to contribute fund to help pay for the grants. RI will also contribute to the global grants.
We are the only district that has an ongoing global grant. We are planning up to 11 global grants and 2 district grants. 7 Global Grants are in Lima. We will be in Lima, the capitol of Peru and the largest city in South America, from 4/3/19-4/8/19- we will try to visit most of those projects.
 
4/8-4/12/2019 -- there are 2 optional trips that run concurrently. The choice is either to Cusco/Machu Picchu OR the Peruvian Amazon.  The elevations of the Cusco/Machu Picchu trip runs from 9,000-11,000 feet in elevation. The Peruvian Amazon cruise is at sea level.  You will need to take elevation tolerance into consideration if you chose to visit the Cusco/Machu Picchu.   Also note that the Amazon cruise can only reserve 22 people, so if you are sure that Cusco and Machu Picchu will be too difficult, or if you have visited Machu Picchu and wish to see the Amazon, then make sure you get your name listed for the Amazon Cruise.
 
Karen discussed that there were several projects in Cusco that were being considered by the sponsoring clubs, and the trip to Cusco would give us a chance to see the result of those projects. PVP Rotary is sponsoring at least one of those projects.   The Amazon cruise does not have any projects to be viewed during that trip.
You will be receiving more information SOON, including the literature in PDF format.  The official sign-ups are only weeks away.  Final costs are still to be determined, negotiations with the travel agency are still in the works.
 
Next Friday is scheduled for a board meeting, 12:00 pm.  Bring your own lunch.