January 30, 2007

 

OPENING

President Bernie opened the meeting with his ever evolving Rotary challenge!  He asked Mike Turay to lead us in the Four-Way Test and then Gary Bosley to Pledge of Allegiance, followed by asking Bruce Johnson to open in prayer remembering our armed services personnel and their families, our Commander and Chief and our Congress and expressing thanks that Jim Jay was back with us after a four-way bypass.

 

 

                          

 

 

 

PROGRAM NEXT WEEK

February   6     Jay Shurman - Pension Protection Act  

 

 

CASTRO VALLEY ROTARY CLUB DISTINGUISHED STUDENT SERVICE AWARD

Redwood Christian High School senior Shannon Mickle received the Castro Valley Rotary Club Distinguished Student Service Award.  Shannon has played four years of varsity soccer, has sung in concert choir for four years, and attends Creekside Community Church in San Leandro.  Shannon was the Junior Cass Homecoming Princess last year and current serves are one of three student chaplains apointed by the high school administration.      Shannon is very active in community service handling child care for Wednesday night for Celebrate Recovery Program at her church, served three one-week summer camps for Joni and Friends–a program for physical and mental handicap; and spent the summer of 2006 in Nepal: five weeks in Nepal with the Royal Servants after spending ten days in Chicago for training before to Nepal.  While in Nepal, Shannon was one of thirty students and five adult leaders living in guest houses and working at a church, an orphanage, and a leper colony.  Shannon has earned a 3.4 grade point average.  She plans to attend BIOLA University in the fall and is considering a career in law enforcement.  She is the daughter of Greg and Linda Mickle of Castro Valley.  Congratulations, Shannon!

 

 

 

 

 

VISIT OUR NEW CLUB WEBSITE

Buy your advertisements NOW for our Web site!  See Mark Wodyka.  Visit www.castrovalleyrotary.org and poke around in it a little to get yourself familiar with it . . . lots of great info . . . thanks, Mark!  We will be positing Club announcements and promotions on our Web site, so please check it a couple of times a week.

 

 

SONG BY CETA (OR WHOMEVER ELSE SHE CHOOSES)

In recognition of our speaker and his topic today, Ceta led us in “Shoo Fly, Don’t Bother Me.”

 

 

                                                                                                                      

 

 

VISITING ROTARIANS AND GUESTS

Visitors today included Mohamed Salem, Wells Fargo Business Banking Specialist, and Linda Mickle, proud mother of our Distinguished Student Service Award recipient.

 

 

HELLO SONG

The Hello Song was led magnificently by the all-time great Sal Tedesco!

 

 

AFRICAN FACTOID(S) FOR THE DAY FROM OUR PRESIDENT

The Late Great Roman (23-79 A.D) officer and encyclopedist, author of the Natural history., Pliny the Elder Opined’ “There is always something new out of Africa”or in Latin….Ex Africa semper aliquid novi.

 

“Well today I want to bring you something ancient out of Africa. In the South African School system in the 1960, the syllabus was controlled by the Apartheid government, We were taught that indigenous Africans were just a bunch of savages until God sent Europeans to Africa to try to civilize the natives, a dauntless and frequently unappreciated task.

 

Later I took an elective course at the Univeristy of Cape Town in African History and I recall being mesmerized by our lecturer as the extent of stable ancient civilizations in Africa. This was of course remarkable, because it was not only an accomplishment for me to make it to a 8:30 class in the morning, but that I could focus at all….

 

Anyway, here are a few factoids about the Zimbabwe Ruins

 

The Great Zimbabwe Ruins

28 kilometres southeast of Masvingo stands the ruined city of a medieval African kingdom. The Monomotapa Empire (existing circa 1450 - 1629) ruled over an advanced African civilization, and included the present-day states of Zimbabwe (which derived its name from this ancient city) an Mozambique.

 

The Great Zimbabwe Ruins are some of the largest and most ancient structures in sub-Saharan Africa. Estimates are that the city housed as many as 18,000 inhabitants at its peak. Built entirely of stone, the main ruins span more than 7km.

 

The city walls were constructed using dry-stone techniques, with granite stones being carefully shaped for a precise fit. The story goes that the thirteenth century mambo king, was responsible for these famous mortarless walls. It was to him that the people paid tribute in stone and added bit-bit to the defensive structures.

 

The city consists of three distinct structural groups and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1986. The three complexes are: the Acropolis (or Hill Complex), the Valley Enclosures and the Great Enclosure.

 

The Acropolis on the hill was the royal enclosure. In all probably this structure was built first and there is evidence suggesting that it was occupied for three hundred years.

 

The most prominent portion is the Great Enclosure and speculation has it that this was the royal harem, a fact that makes the structure all the more impressive, even if only amorally so. This suggestions was also inserted to assist me in keeping our Rotarians attention today

The historical circumstances surrounding Great Zimbabwes abandonment and eventual ruin are vague, and opinion is divided on what actually happened. By the time settlers arrived in the nineteenth century, the bush had begun reclaiming the city.”

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Last call for “Light the Lights,” this Friday night at Redwood Chapel!  Tickets are $40 for adults and $10 for students.  Preferred seating and reception is $50.  The program will once again be at Redwood Chapel Community Church, 19300 Redwood Road, Castro Valley.  This year’s program will star the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir.  Purchase tickets online at www.cvartsfoundation.org or call 510-537-3335, ext. 1600 for other ticket information.

 

BIG REMINDER:  Bar-B-Que is March 3 at San Leandro Boys and Girls Club . . . more info to follow!  Contact Chair Bill Jarvis for information about an upcoming meeting at bill@bwcmtg.com . . . and see Carol Wikle for tickets at carol_wikle@ml.com . . .  Tickets are $30 each . . . At the direction of President Bernie, ten tickets were given to each CV Rotarian to sell . . . this event will be as successful as the support it receives by our Club . . . please look for auction items and sell those tickets :-).

 

 

REPEAT OF ANNOUNCEMENTS PREVIOUSLY MADE

 

Our Club Speech Meet will be February 20 . . . Area Rotary Speech Meet is March 27 at our Club . . . District Speech Meet is during the District Conference . . . more info to follow!

 

There are multiple opportunities remaining for overseas service this year with District 5170: March 12-20, 2007 to Djibouti and Kenya, Africa (Project inauguration and Kenya Safari Experience); Late April-Early May 2007 to Istanbul, Turkey (Project inauguration and travel experience); PLUS the trip to Rwanda (see Kim’s announcement above)!  For more information, please contact Cecelia Babkirk, Foundation Travel Chair District 5170, at cbabkirk@gmail.com . . .

 

Rotary District Conference 5170 is April 20-22 in Monterey . . . save the dates . . . more information to follow soon!

 

 

RECOGNITTIONS

$82      Max Morris (just because he is a nice guy)

$20      Jim Fitzpatrick - birthday

$20      Rod Dickson - birthday

$20      Bill Jarvis - he and Lia are going to be parents in six months!

$20      President Bernie

 

 

PROGRAM

Dan Wilson of the Alameda County Vector Control spoke on West Nile Virus in a most informative presentation.  West Nile virus is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito, and can infect people, horses, many types of birds, and some other animals. Most people who become infected with West Nile virus will have either no symptoms or only mild ones. On rare occasions, West Nile virus infection can result in a severe and sometimes fatal illness known as West Nile encephalitis (an inflammation of the brain). The risk of severe disease is higher for persons 50 years of age and older. There is no evidence to suggest that West Nile virus can be spread from person to person or from animal to person. Mosquitoes spread this disease from bird to bird, and other animals (like humans) are dead-end hosts to the disease, which means we do not participate in the transmission cycle, except to become ill when infected.

The best protection from this disease is effective mosquito control, combined with surveillance for WNV's introduction. California has one of the best mosquito control programs in the country and we are actively coordinating with the State in the "Dead Bird Surveillance Program." The program is based on the fact that birds are the reservoir for this disease and some birds (crows, ravens, jays and others) are very sensitive to the virus and die rapidly from it's effects. These "sentinel" birds can give us warning when West Nile Virus enters the disease reservoir population in our state. We are collecting and submitting suitable specimens for testing by the State program. Along with press releases designed to inform the public, we are coordinating with other local organizations in this surveillance effort. Combined with the existing "sentinel chicken monitoring program" that our regional Mosquito Control District's utilize to monitor fowl for other encephalitis diseases already existing in California, we have a good start with our integrated vector management schema.

West Nile Virus Preparation In Alameda County?

    The Department of Health Services received a CDC grant to prepare for introduction of West Nile Virus (WNV) into California. The DHS Vector Borne Disease Section, based in Berkeley, has formed a comm.-unication network with the Alameda County Mosquito Abatement District, the Alameda County Vector Control Services District, and The Rabies Surveillance Group (Animal Control Agencies, Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation, and Sulphur Creek).

The key DHS information numbers and sites are {http://westnile.ca.gov} and {1-877-WNV-BIRD (1 - 877-968-2473)}.

The Vector Control District {(510) 567-6800; 1-800-832-8678; 1-800-233-6309}, and the Mosquito Abatement District {(510) 783-7744} will be following state guidelines for screening calls from the public regarding dead birds. If the dead bird meets the criteria set by DHS, ACVCS District or ACMAD staff will be picking up the animal and either shipping or delivering it to a DHS approved lab for testing. The requesting party will be called with the testing results when the analysis is complete.

Additional information can be found at our web page (ACVCSD.org). Currently we are preparing to post a West Nile Virus brochure for the public as well as a list of precautions the individual can take to protect him/her self. We are well ahead of the other western states in preparation for this newly introduced disease, and will continue the effort to minimize exposure to West Nile Virus for the citizens of Alameda County.

Alameda County's Vector Control West Nile Virus Preparedness Page is located at http://www.acvcsd.org/west_niles_virus/information.htm  

For current information for California please click on this link. http://www.westnile.ca.gov/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SEARCH FOR THE CORRECT MARBLE   

 

Jeff Thompson’s name was drawn with $67 at stake and 17 marbles in the sack . . . . reached into it and . . . won . . . $5.00 . . .  Congratulations!

 

 

FUTURE PROGRAMS

February 13     Roland Williams - Highlights from Humanitarian Mission Trips

February 20     CV Rotary Club Speech Contest

February 27     Jim Fitzpatrick: Inside Your Castro Valley Schools.

March 27         Area Speech Contest - hosted by CV Rotary!

 

 

See you next week!