A Trip to India with Kaitlyn Nicholas
With lovely late summer weather hanging on, a happy group of Sunrise Rotarians gathered this morning for our weekly meeting.
The meeting started with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Greg Johnson. The invocation was given by Marshall Delano, who quoted both the Roman poet Horace and William Shakespeare in reminding us how important it is that we seize our opportunities.
President Susan Hay Cramer told us she saw Bill St. John yesterday and reported that he is doing OK following his tonsillectomy. Bill asked Susan to say hello to us all. Our thoughts are with you, Bill!
Sergeant at Arms David Bardwick introduced visiting Rotarian Eric Clemmensen of the Noon Club and guests Heidi Heitmann (Kara McCarthy), Carolyn Prinzing, who joined Carl and their guest Eva Fernandez (exchange student from Spain); Agustina (exchange student from Argentina) and Delila, a member of the Sentinel Interact club.
David's weekly dose of humor started with him offering that if you are 59 or older, these things came to be after you were born: TV, polio shots, panty hose, dishwashers, etc. Sensing from the crowd that perhaps the humor just wasn't that, David switched to his pirate joke, and the crowd drew more appreciative.
Announcements:
Bobby Clay announced that the Service Committee would meet following the regular meeting. He also circulated the dictionary project signup sheets for the away-at-moose-hunting-camp Jim Clark.
Greg Johnson announced that the talent committee for the WWR would meet following the regular meeting. He said there is great energy around this event from the club, and thanked Chris Warden for his work on sponsorships. Greg said that Jodi Marshall will be providing piano accompaniment for the show. Greg said that help is needed now for efforts in marketing/ticket sales and with the pre and post-show receptions. The show is October 23rd-please see Julie McFarland soon if you can help with either marketing or the receptions.
Ramey Kodadek reminded all of the member and prospective member social at Finn & Porter that evening from 5:30 to 7:30.
Trevor Lewis reminded all that the highway cleanup effort is scheduled September 26th. We'll meet at the Press Box at 7am. Many have signed up, and the sheet was once again circulated.
Susan Cramer announced that volunteers are needed (or she'll appoint some!) to attend the Peace Park celebration at the end of September and the District Assembly in Great Falls October 23rd and 24th. Please contact Susan to offer your help!
Rusty Lockner then helped auction off two tickets to this weekend's Griz football game, courtesy of Susan Muralt. Gordie Campbell was the winning bidder at $40, which goes to the club cookie jar. THANK YOU to both Gordie and Susan!
COOKIES: Susan Cramer paid her cookie IOUs to David Bardwick (wedding anniversary) and John Wells (induction to MSR). Others receiving cookies: Darko Butorac, celebrating one year as a Sunrise Rotarian; Susan Muralt, for twice donating her Griz football tickets for auction; Gordie Campbell, for buying the tickets; and Chris Warden, for his work on WWR sponsorships. Susan still has an IOU for a cookie to Peg Novotny in celebration of her birthday.
Bob Brown announced that he'd recently spoken with Charlie Han who is coming back to the US from China, this time to be Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of South Florida. Bob said Charlie has been embraced by Rotarians in the area, and he'll be speaking to all three Tampa-area clubs.
Our Classification Talk was provided by Trevor Lewis, who said he's been a Missoula Sunrise Rotarian for .3 years. He was invited to join by Margot and said he wanted to join us to be a part of our service projects. Trevor is a business banker at Wells Fargo, and said he enjoys helping people achieve their dreams. He moved from Albuquerque to Missoula a year ago to be near the rivers and mountains, and he commented that the people here are so nice and actually let you in while driving! Trevor's family is in New Mexico and he has a girlfriend here. As for pets, Trevor recently bought a house, and with it came a fish tank. He said his 7 pets have now become 5. Trevor believes his strongest character trait is loyalty and trustworthiness, which goes back to the Four Way Test. Trevor likes to raft, kayak, ski, golf, cook, read and play guitar. Trevor said he thinks he's the youngest Sunrise Rotarian, and asked if anyone were 81.that is the year he was born, that is! Susan Cramer thanked Trevor and told us he also donates a great deal of time and energy to United Way and to Big Brothers and Sisters. And, Trevor has earned, and was then awarded, his blue badge! Congratulations, Trevor.
Susan Cramer then began the introduction to our program and speaker, Kaitlyn Nicholas. Kaitlyn has completed a Rotary exchange to India. An impressive young woman, Kaitlyn has played the violin for 7 years and the piano for 12 years. She is planning a career in medicine AND she's only 16! Eric Clemmensen of the Noon Club told us Kaitlyn is the first Montana exchange student to India and largely due to her trip the exchange program has gained exposure and grown. Eric shared that not long after Kaitlyn arrived in India, her brother was tragically killed in a motorcycle crash here in Montana. Due to the help of many Rotarians, including Sunrise Rotarians, Kaitlyn was able to return to the US and later return to India and complete her exchange. Eric thanked everyone who helped and welcomed Kaitlyn to the podium.
Kaitlyn presented a wonderful program full of information, stories and photos. She shared that her exchange began in July, and following her return to the US for a time, she returned to India from September to March. Kaitlyn shared some details about India: the 2008 estimated population was 1,147,995,904; the capital is New Delhi; the currency is the rupee (about 43 rupees to $1); 80.5% of the population is Hindu, 13.5% Muslim and the other 6% are various religions.
Kaitlyn spent most her time in the Orissa state, in a "small city" of about 500,000. During her trip she lived with 5 different host families. Kaitlyn shared photos of her host families and told us about her trip. She said that festivals are a constant in India, and the September/October timeframe brings almost a festival a day. She said they got out of school A LOT during that time. We saw photos of the festival of Divali (the festival of lights) which Kaitlyn said was very popular with its lights and fireworks. We also saw photos of the festival of Holi, the celebration of color held in March.
Kaitlyn attended a yoga camp at 4:30am-with thousands of people and lots of big bugs! She said that she had excellent fruit while in India, and ate up to 4 bananas a day. Kaitlyn said that dancing and the game of cricket are very popular in India. Kaitlyn shared that November was a month of weddings-several per day. She said 90% of the marriages are arranged, and each ceremony is grand, with beautiful clothes, jewelry, and lots of rich food. The wedding ceremony is a 3-day affair-dancing, washing of the bride's feet, henna applications, more dancing, gifts, eating and more eating, and walks around a fire by the bride and groom (seven times, each representing a promise to each other).
In December Kaitlyn took a RYLA trip to a youth hostel on the Bay of Bengal. She also spoke at a Rotary conference. Kaitlyn said she spent a fun Christmas in Puri, an area famous for its beaches.
Kaitlyn was asked whether she had issues with language. She said that at school some English was spoken, at home the native language to the area/state was used, and that she also got to know/understand some Hindi. Asked about the pollution, Kaitlyn said that it was very bad in Calcutta. She said that largely due to a steel plant near her city the days were overcast but it was mostly clear at night.
Following this wonderful presentation, we closed the meeting with a recitation of the Four Way Test, and a reminder from Susan that the future of Rotary is in our hands.