Currents for November 30, 2023 (Nov 30, 2023)

Meeting Review

With the ringing of our Rotary bell, David Crandall welcomed us to the meeting
Richard Wallace led us in the 4-Way Test
Ernst played the piano, and we attempted to sing the Rotary Welcome Song and Bury Me Not on the Lone Praire.
David provided a historical moment:
- This date in history is when Ken Jennings reign on Jeopardy ended after 74 episodes.

From Wikipedia

The Final Jeopardy! category was Business & Industry, and the clue was, "Most of this firm's 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year." Jennings appeared perplexed during the time allowed to write a response, while Zerg finished her response quickly. Zerg responded correctly with "What is H&R Block?" and wagered $4,401 of her $10,000, giving her a $1 lead over Jennings with his response still to be revealed. Jennings incorrectly responded with "What is FedEx?" and lost the game with a final score of $8,799 after his $5,601 wager was deducted from his score. After his response was revealed to be incorrect, the audience audibly gasped, and Zerg appeared to be shocked after realizing that she won. Jennings was awarded $2,000 for his second-place finish, which gave him a final total of $2,522,700 for his Jeopardy! run. Zerg, whom Jennings called a "formidable opponent", finished in third place on the next show. The audience gave a standing ovation in honor of both contestants, and Alex Trebek called Zerg a "giant killer" as Jennings embraced her.

The Humor of the Day focused on airplanes
- What do you call a plane that flies backwards?
  - A receding airline

What has a nose but cannot spell?
- An airplane

A man calls the airline and asks how long will it take to fly from Lebanon to Boston.
- The agent responds, “just a moment" and the caller hung up.

We then enjoyed a hearty buffet lunch.
David Crandall introduced our speaker, Carl Gross. See story above.
Bill Secord presented our Kilton Library children’s book donation in honor of Carl Gross.

Your Place in the Universe by Jason Chin.

Explore the known Universe and consider its mind-boggling scale in this crisply illustrated, well-researched picture book from Caldecott Medalist Jason Chin. Winner of the Cook Prize!

Most eight-year-olds are about five times as tall as this book . . . but only half as tall as an ostrich, which is half as tall as a giraffe . . . twenty times smaller than a California Redwood! How do they compare to the tallest buildings? To Mt. Everest? To stars, galaxy clusters, and . . . the universe?

Jason Chin, the award-winning author and illustrator of Grand Canyon has once again found a way to make a complex subject--size, scale and almost unimaginable distance--accessible and understandable to readers of all ages. Meticulously researched and featuring the highly detailed artwork for which he is renowned, this is How Much is a Million for the new millenium, sure to be an immediate hit with kids looking for an engaging way to delve into perspective, astronomy, and astrophysics. Curious readers will love the extensive supplementary material included in the back of the back of the book.

Announcements
- We will collect money to give to the kitchen staff at Harvest Hill next week as our holiday gift for their service to us.
- We will do a food drive in January…date to be determined.
- Listen Holiday Helpers – Angela gave us an update and expressed thanks for our support of getting presents for our Listen families. We will gather on Tuesday, December 5^th at 1 PM to help organize all the holiday baskets that the Congregational Church next to the Lebanon Fire Department, 10 South Park Street. Our Lebanon Interactors will be joining us.
- Meeting plans for December:
  - Thursday, December 7^th will be a club business meeting.
  - Tuesday, December 12^th will be our holiday party and famous Yankee Swap at Quechee Inn, we will not meet on Thursday, December 14^th.
  - Thursday, December 21^st will be our piano recital with Ernst Oidtmann and his piano teacher, Annemieke McLane

Pianist Annemieke McLane was born in the Netherlands. She has studied classical piano and received degrees in Music Pedagogy and a Masters in Performance from the Conservatory in Zwolle, where she studied with Prof. Rudy de Heus and was awarded the conservatory’s ‘Student of the Year’ for “great intelligence in pedagogy and sensitivity as a performer in well-balanced programs”.

If you want to learn more about Ernst, go to https://portal.clubrunner.ca/1423/Stories/classification-talk-ernst-oidtmann

Consider buying a holiday gift for you!

Top Stitch Rotary Vests and Jackets

John Yacavone has arranged for members to order light and heavier weight jackets and vest for us to wear when doing service projects...for days when our tees shirts just aren't enough to keep us comfortable and warm.

If you click the link below, Top Stitch has created a special website for Lebanon Rotary Club members to order the following clothing items.

1. Men’s and Women’s light weight jackets

2. Men’s and Women’s fleece vests

3. Men’s and Women’s fleece jackets

All jackets and vests will have Rotary Logo and club name.

Here is the link for the store: https://rotarycluboflebanonapparel2022.itemorder.com/shop/home/

Just pick your item and follow the instructions for ordering. If you decide to pick up your item at Top Stitch located at 233 Mascoma Street Lebanon, NH 03766 there will be no charge for shipping, otherwise shipping will be charged. If you have any questions about your order please contact Cody at Top Stitch at 603-448-2931. Turn around time is 3.5 - 4 weeks. Once you place your order your order will be processed no waiting on other orders to be fulfilled.