Written by Patrick Hart

 

Our president, Rich Schoeneman, presided over this week’s meeting, and we opened with a pledge and a prayer.

 

Rick Mittelman bragged that he has been married for 37 years and that he has recently taken a trip to Puerto Vargas where he had to confront a 12 foot crocodile who was attempting to block Rick from finishing his round of golf.

 

 

Tom Gore bragged that he had been vacationing for several weeks, and that after he froze his toes skiing in the snow, he had the good sense to seek out a warmer climate and moved on to Puerto Vargas. 

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Next week is the fifth Wednesday of the month, and following tradition, in lieu of a morning meeting, Rick Mittelman has arranged for an evening social event at Harbor Kitchen and Tap from 5:30 to 8:30.  There will be a cash bar, while the club will provide the appetizers.

 

The Rotary Minute this week discussed the district designated funds.

 

On Saturday April 23 our club will be cleaning Highway 137 between Butterfield and Milwaukee at 7:00 a.m.  We will need volunteers to help in this effort to save the planet.

 

On Saturday April 30 in another environmentally conscious project, which requires volunteers, the club will be collecting electronics for recycling from 10:00 to 1:00.  The electronics we collect will also benefit Blue Star in their efforts to help the disabled.

 

It is not too late to join the Polio Plus Society.  The Polio Plus Society is a Rotary campaign for members who pledge to contribute $100.00 a year to eradicate polio until this goal is achieved. Our club already has four members who have taken the pledge: Jeff Harger, Richard Schoeneman, Tom Stanczyk and Bill Taranowski.

 

Tuesday this week was World Water Day, and we were reminded that Rotary sponsors many projects to improve water quality around the globe, including a project which John McDonald is heavily involved in to improve sanitation and plumbing facilities at a school in Ecuador  

 

For Fun & Frolics this week Larry Neal conducted a chipping contest in which delegates from each table attempted to chip golf balls into a bucket.  Sadly there were no success stories, and I am just hoping that this event does not prove too hard on the self esteem of our members who participated.

 

This week Dennis Walker spoke to our club and attempted to educate us on crypto currency.  He focused mainly on Bitcoin which is the original and most widely used crypto currency, although there are numerous competing products. Crypto currency has now become widely used as a substitute for traditional money in certain financial transactions.

 

Mr. Walker became interested in crypto currency in 2016, when he had invented an electric vehicle range extender, and someone suggested that he look into the commodity as a possible source of financing for his invention.  He then became fascinated with the product and he says that one of its biggest advantages over dealing with banks for money, is that there are no delays.

 

No one knows the real name of the originator, or originators, of the Bitcoin concept, since he, she, or them only goes by a screenname. However, once the concept was released in 2008 lots of computer geeks stepped forward to help in its development, and the first Bitcoin was mined on January 3, 2009.   Mining is the term use for producing Bitcoins, although what the miners actually do is attempt to solve mathematical puzzles, in which the one who comes closest to being correct receives the next Bitcoin to be issued.  The puzzles are very complicated, and one of the criticisms of crypto currency is that the computers employed by the miners have to use so much electricity to crack the problem that the process has a detrimental effect on the environment.

 

 

 

After he wins the contest a miner can sell the Bitcoin and keep the proceeds.  The purchaser then can sell the Bitcoin he holds to anyone else who wants it.  The information on what Bitcoins are in existence are kept on a decentralized network of computers.  For a Bitcoin to be accepted as valid, it must be verified by the majority of computers on the network.  There is no central authority for Bitcoin, which stores all the information, and one of the arguments for crypto currency is that at least so far the lack of a central authority has made it impossible to hack.

 

If you want to buy crypto currency there are exchanges where you can purchase it, or you can buy it directly from a holder.  If you would like to invest in crypto currency Mr. Walker “suggests” that you consider a dollar value averaging formula, although he emphasizes that he is not a financial adviser, and he is not advising anyone how they should spend their money.

 

There is no regulation of crypto currency, but this month President Biden signed an executive order for Federal agencies to coordinate in an attempt to develop a regulatory framework for crypto currency.   For income tax purposes crypto currency is treated like any other asset.

 

   

This week we had $24.00 in the sure prize, and $264.00 in the progressive pot with 46 cards left.  Through careful strategizing Tony Collins managed to have his ticket pulled for both pots, although he did not quite solve the puzzle of how to pull the Ace of Spades out of the deck without looking. So the big money rolls over.

 

There is no morning meeting on March 30.  Since it is the fifth Wednesday we will have a social gathering that evening at Harbor Kitchen and Tap.

 

QUOTE FOR THE DAY:

"Once a new technology rolls over you, if you're not part of the steamroller, you're part of the road."    -  Stewart Brand