Soon-to-be-President Chuck stood in for Actual President Brad today and began the meeting with a reminder to all who haven’t filled out the Rotary survey to please do.
Don Anderson led us in song, and Doug Cole provided the Invocation.
Announcements:
BOARD MEETING CANCELLED & RESCHEDULED
For those who were planning on attending the Rotary Board of Directors meeting today, it has been cancelled because of lack of a quorum; the meeting is tentatively rescheduled to next Thursday, April 16 at 4:30 at the Dorothy Haggen Building, 3rd floor.
ROTARY CRUISE
Marty Haines informed us that there were Rotary Cruise signup sheets on the tables. Doing the cruise a little differently this year, the Club will charter the Salish Sea Tour boat and take us out to Sucia Island for a picnic lunch. There are only 40 seats, so don’t delay! First come, first served! The Cruise is set for May 18 and costs $75 per person which includes lunch.
NEW SOCIAL
Catherine Riordan, representing the Social Fellowship Committee, offered up a new kind of fun Rotary event for us. This one is intended to get members who are available on Saturdays, and who like to cook. Catherine is providing the venue (her kitchen) for a community “let’s make pasta” event, or more specifically, “let’s make Capellacci di Zucca”, a pumpkin or squash filled ravioli-type dish. We will also make a salad using special “locally sourced” olive oil. Due to space constraints, 10 people will be the limit. Reserve your spot before April 16 by emailing Catherine or texting her at 360.383.7400.
The event takes place Saturday, April 18. Cooking starts at 3pm, sampling at 5pm.
It is time to sign-up to attend RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards). If you have a candidate between the ages of 18-30 please contact Nathan Twining and Megan Stanfield for information. The dates are April 23rd to 26th, 2015 at a large, retreat acreage in Washington State off Mt. Baker Hwy. Our club has budgeted to send 3 students.
The District Conference will be held at Tulalip Resort and Casino April 30 – May 3. Registration information is available on our club website or with Sandee.
If you wish to update your membership information or picture, see Sandee for an instruction sheet or give her the information.
Each member should have received an e-mail survey from the District or Sandee. Please take a few minutes to respond when a board member calls and also complete the e-mail survey. Click Here for the Link if you did not receive it. Also let Sandee know if you did not receive the survey from her earlier.
Guests of Rotarians
Andrew Evans introduced Barb Demorest with Knitted Knockers Organization
Pam Kiesner introduced J. Gordon and Tisha Nash with Geo Engineers. She also introduced her husband, Kenn. Happy Birthday Kenn!!
Dewey Desler brought Whatcom County Executive Jack Louws.
Bruce Clawson brought former member, Mark Simpson.
Presentations:
Andrew Evans presented a Service Fund check to Barb Demarest and her Knitted Knockers charity. A breast cancer survivor herself, Barb said the Knockers, knitted out of soft yarn, are a wonderful alternative for women who have had a mastectomy. Samples of the Knockers were on some of the tables – women grabbed them up right away, the gentlemen…well it appeared as though some felt that the Knocker might bite them. Barb thanked our Club for providing funds to purchase yarn so the Knockers can be given to women at no cost.
Pam Kiesner and Peter Theisen presented a gift and many thanks to Tisha Nash, who provided tech support for the online Tattler for several years, beginning the year Kathy Hughes was president. She has continued to do this for us for four years, even though she is not a Rotarian. Thank you for your service above self, Tisha!
Program:
Dan McShane gave an interesting geological presentation on a new tool for mapping landslides and reading landscapes. The tool is known as LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and is revolutionizing the way geologists can explore land masses, looking for potential problems, e.g., Oso, and also see what has happened in the past.
Lasers are fired at the ground from a plane flying above. The lasers are able to identify much more definitively what is going on with the topography. Dan said that this tool has found that the Oso area has more potential slides for the future based on data recorded by LIDAR. He also talked about Whatcom County landslides, and there have been quite a few – just not any on the scale of Oso. Kendall had a large one, and through LIDAR it has been discovered that Kendall is also on a fault line. There was another incident at Nugent's Corner where two homes were taken out by the Nooksack River. LIDAR shows that the clay banks of the river collapsed.
Dan said that there was a landslide on Church Mountain 2,400 years ago that was the third largest in Washington State since the Ice Age.
Local geologists are concerned about landslide potential in VanZandt. LIDAR shows an eerie resemblance to Oso. The County received praise from Dan for working to get its citizens out of harms way.
He ended his presentation with a quote from Will Durant in 1946: “Civilization exists by geological consent, and is subject to change without notice”. Dan disagrees, however, saying that the ability to measure the landscape, and see the potential dangers that exist, gives geology a little less control.
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