Your Weekly Get Up & Go has been Updated

     Today’s meeting was held in the upstairs room at the Odd Fellows Hall for the Student of the Month recognition.  Despite the larger room, all seats were full and there was standing room only for later arrivals.  At the “Skunk Island” table, Bud Harmon had set up a nice memorial with a picture and Rotary badge of Dick Morrissey at the seat that he had so often occupied before passing away last week.  After much visiting by the many present, with Dave Morse (the elder) at the piano, President Manny Carbahal rang the bell at 7:10 am to start the meeting.  This was followed by singing of “Smile” and “America the Beautiful.”  Then, President Manny welcomed the many parents and students to our meeting and introduced Will Portello, substituting for Nancy Storm, to oversee the Student of the Month presentations.

     Will began by calling students to their seats on the stage, then he described Rotary and the Student of the Month program to assembled parents and teachers.  Will Brown from Davis Senior High School was up first, and began with a tribute to Dick Morrissey.  He then introduced teachers who described reasons for student nominations.  Davis School for Independent Study and King High School were represented by Michele Flowers, and Scott Bell and Susan Kirby moderated for Da Vinci Charter High School.  Terms used to describe today’s student honorees included:  kind, optimistic, inspiring, front-and-center, hard-working, taking care of business, helping others, strong work ethics, growth and maturity, dedicated, modest, and strong.  It is clear that the future will be in good hands.

     In closing, Will Portello thanked parents and teachers for a job well done then instructed teachers to line up along the east wall to congratulate students as they filed out.  However, being new at this, Will neglected to mention that students should wait for pictures.  Luckily, Jim Belenis headed them off at the door.  Finally, Will told parents that they could stay for the remainder of the meeting, and President Manny called for a short recess while parents, teachers, and students departed.

     President Manny had to ring the bell again to bring the meeting back to order.  His first order of business was to honor Dick Morrissey with a moment of silence.  Dick will be truly missed by all (you can read about his inspiring life and love of Rotary here).  Next was a call for the introduction of guests, of which there were several.  But introductions were quick and could not be heard, so the recorder cannot give names.  This was followed by announcements.  Roy Kroener described a scholarship for Davis High School students and reminded all present of the Rotary gathering for the women’s basketball game at UCD in February.  Marc Thompson (or was it Mitch?)discussed the upcoming Community Services Committee meeting.  Then Chuck Snipes told us that this year’s Trivia Night will be held on March 4 from 7 to 10 pm at the Davis Senior Center.  Finally, President Manny recommended that everyone possible should attend the upcoming Davis Chamber of Commerce installation where Rotarian extraordinaire Gretchen Peralta will be recognized for her many community contributions.

     At this point, President Manny gave Sergeant Rick Stromberg four minutes to collect happy bucks.  Jonathan Clay was happy to get tickets from Bob Poppenga.  Gretchen Peralta was very happy to have watched videos with Meaghan Likes and Bob (more time for explanation might have been interesting).  Arnie Wolf was glad about a nice trip to the East Coast.  Tim Daleiden was happy that the Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys.  Meaghan Likes was thankful for the pep talk from Lori Raineri about the new scooter.  Vanessa (Mommy Elf) Errecarte wanted to give thanks for her friendship with Dick Morrissey. Brodie Hamilton was happy about having another birthday on December 29 and was especially pleased to have a new grandchild.  Finally, acting on his authority as Sergeant, Rick levied a $5 fine on all present who had attended previous Presidential Swearing-In Ceremonies.

     Next, President Manny introduced Jeff Davids to give a short program about his work with Smart Phones 4 Water in Nepal, which lies between China and India and includes most of the Himalaya Mountains.  Jeff related that he is working in the Kathmandu Valley where rainfall is seasonal and groundwater is used during the dry season, but is severely mismanaged as is waste disposal through the area streams.  This area is climatically, ethnically, and linguistically diverse.  Data is needed to quantify problems and develop solutions.  Providing data through research, education, and employment is the primary mission of Smart Phones for Water, which employs local residents to take measurements of rainfall, using Coke bottle gauges, and to report groundwater levels.  Questions and comments by Bill Kopper, Chuck Snipes, Jonathan Clay, and David Copp prompted Jeff to explain that knowing precipitation, change in groundwater levels, discharge measurements in streams, and estimates of evapotranspiration allows calculation of water balance and consumptive use.  This information can be used by government agencies and individuals to plan for water use and management. Learn more about Jeff's cause here. At this point, President Manny stepped in because the meeting was close to going over time.

    In the draw-of-the-day, John Reed won a free breakfast.  To close, President Manny announced that next week’s speaker will be Jim Les, who will be telling us about the UCD basketball program.