Newsletter - Archive  Jun 2, 2010

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P.O. Box 620700                                                   Riki Intner                                                                   Dave Hyman 

Woodside CA 94062-0700                                District Governor                                                       Club President

                                                      http://wpvrotary.org                                          

Regular Meeting                                                                                            June 2nd 2010

7:30 AM - 8:30 AM Wednesday with breakfast by Encore Performance Catering, fellowship, project updates and an interesting speaker from the community.  Guild Hall, Woodside Village Church, 3154 Woodside Road, Woodside, California  Guests are not only welcome but encouraged!

This Week's Program:  You and Your Ballot 

Ken Broome will introduce Kathy Armstrong, Voter Service Director of the League of Women Voters of South San Mateo County, who will discuss the pros and cons of the June ballot measures. 

Last  Week's Program:  (courtesty of Last Week Editor, Dean Babcock)  President David Hyman introduced Donna Baranski-Walker and her colleague Monica to bring us up to date on activities of Rebuilding Alliance (RA). They have been working together for five years. Monica delivered the first part of the talk and Donna repeated her words.  Monica says they work well together and she enjoys the work. Monica uses software donated by Rotary clubs to arrange Donna’s busy schedule of visits and talks, spreading the word about RA.  This is Donna’s 53^rdtalk to a Rotary club. She recently met with the President of her alma mater, MIT, and talked about the progress and plans for RA. An article about the talk appeared in the NY Times, was translated into Iraqi and published in newspapers in the Near East. It told how RA is trying to bring people together by rebuilding together.  Their vision is a just and lasting peace between Israel and their neighbors. RA’s focus now is El Aqaba. They have been able to overcome the obstructive permit process and get construction underway in only 3 months. Donna showed us many pictures of the rebuilding operations and reminded us “It takes a village to rebuild a village.”

Next Week's Program:  Photos by Your Roving Newsletter Editor  It might be India in 2009 or Xolsacamlja, Guatemala in May or this year of this weekend's wedding in St. Bart's Church in the city of London (not mine, but a good friend's)  Come and see for yourself. 

Club News: Guatemala gets hammered again.  Thursday night there was a volcanic eruption coating the capital and the airport in up to 3" of sand, rocks and black sludge.  Almost immediately a tropical storm came out of nowhere and dropped up to 30" (that would be inches) of rain in about 36 hours.  Drains were clogged by the volcano residue and, once again, the poor lost their lives, their homes, their possessions and their newly planted crops.  Per the government on Tuesday morning the country has suffered the following: 

150,149 people evacuated to 383 shelters

100 people missing

21 people wounded

152 people dead (this number is rising almost hourly)

5,459 houses at risk

11,333 houses damaged

73 highways damaged or otherwise impassable

18 major bridges have collapsed

The number of affected people is rising as communication is re-established with rural communities.  The most urgent need is for food, clean water, medical supplies and seeds to plant crops.  Tax deductible donations may be directed to Vamos Adelante (www.vamosadelante.org) which is a well-known 501(c)(3) that provides the basics to the very poor. 

Coming Events:

Next Board Meeting:  Tuesday, July 6th, 7:30am, Church Library

Rotary Means Business:  Wednesday, June 2nd, 5:30pm Encore Performance Catering (note:  Rotarian, Don Horsley, candidate for County Supervisor, will be in attendance).

Rotary International Convention:  June 20th - 23rd, Montreal

Taste of Woodside: Sunday, September 19th, 4-8pm

Announcements:  Keep up with what is happening worldwide with Rotary by visiting the www.rotary.org website.  Have a look at the district website www.rotary5150.org to read the district newsletter and see what is going on within the district.