March 21 2017-Rotary Forum

Pres. Greg Baker opened the meeting with his usual this day in history: Martin Luther King marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama on March 21, 1965; Dr. Jonas Salk announced the polio vaccine on March 26, 1953; and Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay closed on March 21, 1963.

Linda Osty announced that a Pismo Beach 5 Cities Rotary Foundation $40 per person benefit to fund the new trade scholarship will be held on May 5 at the Melodrama featuring Mark Twain’s Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Steve Curry reported that there’s only six weeks to go before the annual golf tournament. All of the major sponsors from last year have renewed. Eric Mund reported that 46 tee sponsors have signed up. Scott Astrosky reported that a Summer Sizzle meeting will be held in two weeks. Andrea Lueker stated that the Youth Literacy Program is well under way. Pres. Greg announced that District Governor Sandy Smith recommended Ginny Derek of Rotary Bakersfield East has an interest in joining our club and she will be attending our meeting next week. Connie O’Henley announced that the Interact club will hold a Bowl-A-Thon fundraiser on Friday, March 31 to raise money for their international project. Sandy Lubin won the raffle prize of $107 after Harlan Silva picked his number out of a hat

Fine master Jim Lewis fined Mark Olson for his March 2 club anniversary. Since Mark has been maxed out on his annual pledge, he agreed to pay a $28 instead of a spin-the-wheel $50 fine. Shannon Bowdey was fined $10 for her birthday.  Owen Schwaegerle was fined $10 for being late with his fine being paid by Mark Olson.

Jim Lewis introduced Jim as the retired history teacher from the Arroyo Grande High School and Interact advisor. Jim began by holding up a book he recently authored entitled “Patriot’s Graves” and asking the question: What has the Civil War to do with Arroyo Grande? He answered that by stating that a number of Arroyo Grande residents had been veterans from the Civil War. He then named a number of such veterans including Otis Smith, Bela Clinton Ide, Tom Whiteley, and Thomas Hodges. He started the research for his book by investigating headstones in the local cemeteries. He also used ancestry.com, officers’ reports, letters, diaries, and old newspapers, e.g., the Herald Recorder. A most valuable source was a Civil War veteran's diary.  Many children under 18 enlisted in the Civil War. One technique they used to avoid lying is writing 18 on slips of paper and putting it in their shoes, thus they were over 18. Approximately 620,000 northern and southern soldiers died as a result of the Civil War. Many of the veterans that came back had what would be termed today posttraumatic syndrome and nobody wanted to hear their wartime stories. He then gave a relevant slide show accompanied by banjo music of the era.

Linda Osty asked us to keep in mind: “Sgt. 1st Class Robert R. Boniface, 34, of San Luis Obispo who died March 19th, in Logar Province, Afghanistan.”