Co-President Charlie opened the meeting with the pledge and grace by Mikel Hoffman. Today’s guests were Pat Brennan, Blair Mathias, Barbara Walters, and Barbara Leun.

 

Thanks From St. Paul’s – Barbara Walters expressed many thanks for our club’s support of the food distribution program at St. Paul’s Reformed Church in North Babylon.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

 

 

New Member Welcomed – Past President Gus Fishel officially welcomed our newest member Jason Tewes to the Babylon Rotary Club. Jason is the Director of Development, Suffolk County Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and transferring his Rotary membership from the Rotary Club of the Bronx – Welcome Jason!

 

 

October Food Drive – Our next food drive will be held this weekend,  10/13 & 10/14. If you can help for a couple of hours on either day, please contact Chris Cunningham (chris.cnnnghm@g,ail.com) NOW.

 

BACCA Gala – The Babylon Citizen’s Council on the Arts will hold its Annual Harvest Moon Gala on Thursday, October 25th. If you would like a seat at the BRC table, please contact Charlie Spencer (Charles.spencer@dignitymemorial.com) NOW.

 

Rotary Leadership Institute – All who aspire to a club leadership role, want to learn more about Rotary, and/or would like to interface with interesting Rotarians from many other clubs, are encouraged to attend the next session of the Rotary Leadership Institute, to be held at the Melville Marriott on Saturday, October 27th. The BRC will pay your registration fee for this rewarding, all-day event. To register, go to www.rlinea.org; indicate that you will pay by check, and get your check from Treasurer Chris Cunningham before the event.

 

 

New BRC Fundraiser– A “Dog Walk” fundraiser is being explored by the board. Early speculation calls for a sponsored event next April in Heckscher State Park; stay tuned for details. If you have any ideas about new fundraisers, please contact Scott or Charlie asap.

 

Holiday Gifts – We will be collecting holiday gifts for the disadvantaged folks at the Madonna Heights facility in Dix Hills. Megan Noble has offered to coordinate the effort again this year. As before, you can purchase gifts yourself, or Megan will shop for you. If you prefer the latter, get your check to Megan no later than mid-November so that we can deliver the gifts to the SCO Family of Services by early-December.

 

Food Shopping – Scott Lockwood will be organizing another food shopping run to Restaurant Depot with several reps from local food pantries and soup kitchens. If you’d like to join the group next month, please contact Scott asap. We will also purchase several hundred Thanksgiving turkeys next month, partly with funds from a District grant.

 

Holiday Party – Our Annual Holiday Party will be held at the home of Kelly and Scott Lockwood on Friday, December 7th; details to follow.

 

BRC Donations – The board approved donations to the Babylon Village Youth Project, Beacon House (General Needs), and WAVES (Wheelchairs and Veterans Enjoying Summer).

 

 

Scott Lockwood gave a slide presentation on the 2015 trip he took to Iceland with his son Mason.

 

Scott described a fascinating, ten-day experience as he and Mason drove a camper van along the Ring Road around Iceland. An excellent way to travel since beautiful, full-service campgrounds abound, with one in almost every town along the route.

 

Iceland is a small island, about the size of Kentucky. It’s sparsely populated, with a population about equal to that of the Town of Islip.

 

The landscape was continually changing and stunning, with magnificent rivers and waterfalls seemingly everywhere in the countryside.

 

The island is volcanically and geologically active. Scott described vast expanses of old lava and ash fields, punctuated by massive glaciers, glacial ponds and geothermal pools. Buildings are heated and electricity supplied from several geothermal plants. Low energy costs are however offset by the high price of most imported goods.

 

Sheep are everywhere on unfenced pastures and in towns, as are, naturally, an abundance of wool products for sale.

 

Scott and Mason took an interesting boat trip on a deep water fjord where they were surrounded by hundreds of humpback whales. They also spent some time in the capital city Reykjavik, a trendy, cosmopolitan city, home to about two thirds of the country’s citizens.

 

 

Not Scott’s words nor mine, but an Ode to Iceland by Peter Gordon that seems to sum up what many travelers sense about this unusual and glorious place

 

 

At our next regular meeting on Wednesday, October 17th, we’ll hear from Danielle Melfi about a “Simple Little Detail” fundraiser.