During lunch prior to the meeting, Rotarians and guests enjoyed listening to a variety of holiday music performed by the Rotary Brass, composed of Brad Burdick, Jack Louws, Greg Baker, Del VandeKerk, Doug Cole, John Dunne, and Don Anderson.
President Del opened the meeting welcoming visitors, guests and members. The “Best Rotary Brass Group in Bellingham” accompanied the members in singing "America the Beautiful." Megan Stanfield gave the invocation.
Announcements:
January 2, 2017 Rotary Meeting Cancelled:President Del reminded members that Monday, January 2, 2017 is an official holiday. Thus, the regular meeting of the Rotary Club of Bellingham initially scheduled to be held on this day is cancelled.
With great sadness, President Del announced the death of Dr. Ron Millard, former Club member and President of our Club in 1987. A moment of silence was held in tribute.
Bell Ringing:Jim Vos thanked those club members who participated in the Salvation Army Bell Ringing on Saturday. It was a cold day, and as Jim said, “It wasn’t as good as it could have been, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.”
Rotary Leadership Institute: A Rotary Leadership Institute is schedule for January 21, 2017 at the Best Western Skagit Valley Inn and Conference Center in Mount Vernon. Members interested in attending may register by following the link in the Tattler. Rotary will pay your tuition. Simply register and notify Sandee for reimbursement. Click open to register.
Vegas Night: The Club’s Vegas Night event is scheduled for Saturday evening, February 11. Tickets are available at the Mt Baker Theatre box office. This event will fund our new International Student Exchange and contribute to the Service Fund. The event is described on the Club’s web site and the committee is meeting to finalize additional details which he will present soon. Save the date of February 11, 2017 to attend at the Mount Baker Theatre. You can now go to our website at bellinghamrotary.org home page to get more information. The committee distributed Sponsorship Forms for anyone interested in being a Sponsor. Click here to view.
Mauri Ingram and Katherine Deets, Co-Chairpersons of the New Generations & Youth Committee are asking members to take the survey below. Your input will help us create opportunities that best fit Club members' preferences in supporting the children and youth in our community.
Youth Adventure in Leadership (YAIL): Each year, the Rotary Club of Bellingham sponsors students aged 15-17 with leadership skills or potential to attend YAIL. Katherine Deets reminded Rotarians that applications are due by December 30th. If you know someone who may be interested in attending, contact Katherine Deets at kdeets@chemlik.com or MauriIngram at mingram@whatcomcf.org .
Yail 2017 (Youth Adventures in Leadership) is fast approaching and we would like to bring your attention to the registration closure date of December 31, 2016 This is an exciting opportunity for all youth from the age of 15 to 17 to gain valuable leadership skills. Our website YAIL.ORG gives you a small insight into the weekend.
Youth finish the weekend exited and ready to conquer the world. This is a perfect opportunity to
introduce our youth to Rotary, so that that when they become young adults they may even consider membership. At the very least, they will know that Rotary exists and what it is.
Please do not wait. There is still time. Any youth you think might benefit from this weekend should be sponsored and registered. If there are any questions we will be happy to answer them.
The program starts at 4 pm Friday Jan 20 and finishes at Noon Jan 22.
THIS IS A TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY AND IN MANY CASES A LIFE CHANGING WEEKEND
REGISTER AT: YAIL.ORG - You register and then you will get a login to go back in and complete the application.... If you have any problem please contact one of us.
Interesting Note... There are no cell phones, cameras or any electronics allowed for the full time
the camp is on. That alone is life changing for many of our youth.
Election of Officers and Board Members: President Del announced the results of the election of officers and board members for the 2017-18 Rotary year as follows: President, Teri Treat; President-elect, Sandy McIntire; Vice-President and Program Chairman, Cathy Buckley; Treasurer, John Holtzheimer; and new board members Monty McAllister and Paula McCandlis.
Guests of Rotarians:
Tim Farris introduced Astronaut Pinky Nelson
Jan and D. C. brought Rachel Long with Access Property Management
Dominique Zervas introduced Hans Erchinger Davis, new Exec. Dir. of Light House Mission
John Moffat brought his son Danny, former Sehome Student of the Month
Presentations:
President Del presented a Paul Harris Award to Bob Sytsma. Congratulations Bob!
Program:
Club Member Arlie Norman introduced Melissa Rice, Geology and Physics Professor at Western Washington University who also works two days per week for NASA. The title of Dr. Rice’s presentation was “Cars on Mars: Driving NASA’s Rovers on the Red Planet.”
Dr. Rice indicated that in the 1950’s our vision of Mars was that it had some lichens, mosses, and vegetation.
The 1976 Viking 1 lander failed to find life on Mars. The Pathfinder lander found no evidence of water, organic material or life on Mars. In 1996, the Mars Global Surveyor landed on Mars and found abundant evidence of sedimentary rocks and signs that there was water in the past on Mars.
The Curiosity rover was launched in 2011 and landed on Mars in 2012. Dr. Rice is part of a team of about 100 people who make the plan as to what the rover is to do each day. Once the day’s plan is made, the plan is given to engineers who upload the plan to the rover. The rover then executes the full day plan. At the end of the day, the team members look what the rover did and assesses the data, including what went wrong. The presentation included wonderful photos taken on Mars by the Rover, including blue skies at sunset, red skies in the day, and the rover’s arm taking microscopic images the day before this presentation.
Dr. Rice also spoke about, “What’s Next?” There is a plan for Mars 2020, a multi-step plan to bring rocks from Mars to earth. This includes: (Step 1) Send a new rover to Mars to select the best rocks to be returned to earth; (Step 2) Pick up the rock samples, put the samples in containers and launch the containers into orbit around Mars; (Step 3) Send something to collect the containers and return them to earth, softly. The big question now is: Where to land on Mars to get the best information/rocks. The BIG GOAL: Get humans on the surface of Mars.
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