Newsletter - Archive  Jan 13, 2010

print this page

P.O. Box 620700                                                   Riki Intner                                                                   Dave Hyman 

Woodside CA 94062-0700                                District Governor                                                       Club President

                                                      http://wpvrotary.org                                          

Regular Meeting                                                                                   January 13th 2010

7:30 AM - 8:30 AM Wednesday with breakfast by Encore Performance Catering, fellowship, project updates and an interesting speaker from the community.  The last Wednesday of some months we meet at 6:00pm at a local restaurant for hors d'oeuvres and a no host bar and meeting new people.  Please check our website calendar for details. 

Morning meetings:  Guild Hall, Woodside Village Church, 3154 Woodside Road, Woodside, California  Guests are not only welcome but encouraged!

This Week's Program:  Christmas and New Years and beyond in Central and South America  Your wandering newsletter editor, Joan Fuetsch, will some photos of the holidays in Guatemala and also the top of Machu Picchu in Peru as experienced during last week's Rotary meeting.

Last  Week's Program:   (courtesy of Last Week Editor, Dean Babcock)

Dr. Sheldon Briner, our speaker, was introduced by Dean Babcock, a long time friend and neighbor.  Sheldon is Chairman of the Portola Valley Geologic Safety Committee and a technical authority on earthquake geology in the Western U.S.  His Ph. D. dissertation was on prediction of earthquakes on the San Andreas fault.  He has received many honors for his work.  He has published more than 50 technical papers and a book on the use of magnetometers in subterranean searching that has over 800,000 copies in print.  Sheldon received his B.S.,M.S. and Ph. D. in Geophysics  from Stanford.

Sheldon’s talk ranged from plate tectonics and the “Ring of Fire ”to the characteristics of strike/slip and subduction faults.  He described the trace of the San Andreas fault as it wanders through Portola Valley and Woodside.

Sheldon has a keen sense of humor and once proposed an ordinance for Portola Valley that would prohibit earthquakes.  He wore a button that he invented, and furnished to P.V. council members, that said “Caveat Tremblor” with a replica of the seismograph record of the 1906 SFO earthquake.  He has designed many seismometers, one is in his basement, another in the new Portola Valley Library.  Sheldon graciously answered many questions from members and guests and assured them all that the San Andreas fault is not done yet.

Next Week's Program:  Riley's Place

Wendy Mattes will tell us about Riley's Place  a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of children on the San Francisco Peninsula experiencing chronic or life threatening health problems and/or challenging family situations such as homelessness.  Riley's Place shares the NCEFT facility in Woodside.  Check out their website for more information:  http://www.rileys-place.org/

Coming Events:

Next Board Meeting:  Tuesday, February 2nd, 7:30am, Church Library 

Rotary Means Business:  Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010, 5:30 pm Encore Performance Catering

5150 District Assembly:  Saturday, March 27th 2010, Redwood High School, Larkspur

District Conference:  San Francisco, April 16-17, 2010, www.rotary5150.org

Announcements:   Have you had a look at the Rotary International website lately for what is going on in Rotary's world?  www.rotary.org   How about finding out about what is going on in the district?  www.rotary5150.org