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GOLD MEDAL ISSUEJULY 31, 2021
VOL. 2 NO. 5
NEW ROOM TABLE TALK
NEWS-NOTES-NONSENSE
Reminder-This Thursday is our bed building field trip. See below for details.
Wood River Levee District Executive Director Kevin Williams provided a fine tutorial on Thursday that we shall call Levee 101. He worked for the company who managed the levee reconstruction that began in 2008 and concluded in 2018 with a letter from the Corps of Engineers saying everything was good to go. In theory, the current levee should provide protection for everything up to a 500 year flood. Kevin's slide show covered a lot of the basics of levee design and protection. The original levee was established by Congress in 1938 and now is comprised of three segments. We found out that JohnP can sleep soundly knowing that he can still buy flood insurance and that GeorgeT used to provide insurance coverage for the district.
Applause and a standing-O for RobinK who has agreed to serve as our Prez Elect. Her nomination was approved unanimously.
There were 26 well behaved members in the house on Thursday who arrived to find our usual meeting room set up for a wedding ceremony, congrats to them! If you plan to join us next week we will probably still be in the room to the left. Knowing that, you can avoid WendellR's hard pivot/dance move when you arrive.
Early arrivals included RodC, MarkS and AllenH who was relieved that he completed his online continuing education program.
Don't forget to complete your Why Rotary? survey that you received from Prez Lindsey on Thursday.
PattiA and PaulH showed off their Electric Slide moves as they slid into the food line.
Prez Lindsey provided a brief update on board actions from last week: We will participate in the East Alton Soap Box Festival on September 11th. RhondaB has agreed to coordinate volunteers for crosswalk duties to protect the public from errant drivers as they race down Berkshire Hill. (Did you know that Frank Akers was the long time voice of the event?) We do need a driver for our sponsored car (they must be at least age 7 and meet a hight requirement). The tentative date for our Family Cookout is set for October 7th, there's no noon meeting that day. The October 15th EAWR vs Roxana
football game will mark the return of the Chili Supper. Who wants to chair the event??Donations were approved for the Boy Scouts ($300), the Ringering Golf tournament ($100) and Backed by the Badge return to school program ($100).
Prez Lindsey provided the back story on the Blessing Box located at the WR library. The box is designed to allow anyone to come and help themselves to the contents in line with their personal/family needs. Anyone may make a donation to the box, but please, no beans, canned or bag. Lindsey sez the beans just don't move (no pun intended.) Cash donations are also accepted. Put your food and/or hygiene products in the box any time.
The lunch buffet featured a glazed pork entree served with mixed veggies and smashed taters. Also available were rolls, salad and cupcakes.
MarkS reported that he has reached an agreement with the STL United Way to allow us to serve our five core zip codes with the Imagination Library program. There's still a couple of details to work out.
RobinK asked us if we have an interest in assisting the Vintage Voices program in Alton on the 1st Sunday or 2nd Saturday of October. We will need a pickup truck and handful of members to help set up and take down event signage on one of those days. We in??
LoriP reported that to date we have sold 209 out of 400 Baseball Mania tickets with a net of $1,328. Winning tickets are still available to sell.
MarkS and JoeS indicated that RandyN continues to undergo cancer treatment. He's still taking care of EA village business. Keep him in your prayers.
Birthday greetings go out to MikeK on August1st and ChrisL on August3rd.
AlanaY is celebrating her 10th anniversary as a Rotarian.
JoeS is not a fan of the Corps of Engineers but did have a nice Belk Park catfish story to tell.
Opening duties were handled by Prez Lindsey, RickH and RodneyD.
DaveA has shared a book with RickH containing bio's of WR club members. A brief looky -look revealed some vintage member photos. More to come...
Last to join the fun included JohnP, GeorgeT, BradP and PaulH.
The$27 jackpot went unclaimed by CherylM and BradP. Scooter CoryG won the scratch-off.
Ciao! Have a fine and dry weekend. Stay safe.
HOW HIGH'S THE WATER MAMA?
BOOKIN' IT
PLEASE DONATE
We will be assisting the Sleep in Heavenly Peace project THIS COMING THURSDAY (August 5th) making beds for kids. Put it on your calendar. We start with lunch at Julia's before departing for the workshop which is located on the road to the right of the College Av. Comfort Inn in Alton. You do not have to have any wood working skills to assist, just a willingness to help. Our session will last 2.5-3 hours. Come and help as long as you can.The charity began in 2012 when Twin Falls, Idaho resident Luke Mickelson made a bed for a neighbor boy for Christmas. Out of the leftover wood, Mickelson built a second bed and put it on Facebook. Soon he had multiple requests from folks in need of a bed and others eager to help him build more. 2% to 3% of U.S. children do not have a bed to sleep in, and children and youth services departments will not place a child in a home, even with a relative, without a bed for them. Most of the deliveries are to families headed by single parents, and the beds are for ages 3 to 17.
ALL THINGS TRIVIAL
A startup said that it built a cheap, long-lasting battery using one of the most common elements on earth. Which?
A-Potassium
B-sodium
C-Iron
D-Excuses
(Answer can be found at the end of the newsletter)
Today is National Avocado Day
Which U.S. state is closest to Africa?
Florida
Massachusetts
Maine
North Carolina
Ever wanted to swim from the U.S. to Africa? You might want to start on the Maine peninsula of Quoddy Head. Many people consider this point the easternmost point in the U.S., though technically that title belongs to Pochnoi Point, Alaska, because it lies east of the 180-degree longitude line. But no matter how you view east vs. west, Quoddy Head's quaint, little lighthouse is the closest point to Africa in the U.S., sitting about 3,154 miles from Africa.
Today in History-
781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: Sixth day of the seventh month of the first year of the Ten'o (天応) era).
1492 – The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.
1498 – On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.
1588 – The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.
1790 – The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
1964 – Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes.
1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
2012 – Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Sourced from the Make-Up and Banner newsletters
Late-July 2009
The WR board approved donations of $250 to both the Girls Scouts and Junior Achievement.
The EA board approved a $125 donation to the Teen pregnancy Center.
The WR board approved a joint purchase with the Bethalto and EA clubs of a fitness machine for Teen Parenting Services of MadisonCounty.
JohnP told the WR members that the Mouse Derby raised $3,600.
Jason Osborn picked up his scholarship check at the EA meeting.
SteveD covered the details of the WR Halloween Parade.
AllenH fined all EA members not sporting a Rotary pin.
PattiA spoke to the WR club about the Rotary Trivia Night.
JoeS was recognized for his recent birthday.
GeorgeT told the WR members about the Rotary Golf Scramble.
Congrats were offered to CoryG at the EA meeting on the birth of his son on the 21st.
LeonardB was responsible for organizing the greeters and program chairpersons for each meeting.
The EA board would sponsor a car in the Soap Box Derby.
ScottL brought the WR club up to speed regarding the scholarship program.
LoriP missed her opportunity to claim the $136 50-50 jackpot at the EA meeting.
Dick Bell told the WR members about the Rotary Shelter at Belk Park and the history of "Ole' Blue", the repurposed milk container used to collect fines. (It made a brief appearance at a couple of
Riverbend East meetings a few months back and then mysteriously disappeared.)
DATELINE:RI
MOBILE SCREENING PREVENTS SPREAD OF COVID-19
Byung Woo Kim stands by the mobile screening center. The bus travels to those who suspect they have COVID-19 to perform tests, minimizing their exposure to others.
By Byung Woo Kim, past president of the Rotary Club of Cheongju-Musim, South Korea
My Rotary club has been working on more than one global grant project every year. When we were planning an initiative this year, we were seeing a high rate of COVID-19 cases. At that time, the government’s guidelines required that those suspected of having COVID should be tested at their nearest screening center. But as they travel from their home to the screening center using public transportation, they come in contact with multiple people and risk infecting still others in the hospital performing the screening.
We envisioned a mobile screening center, the COVID Screening Bus, that can go to people who suspect they may have the virus and perform tests. It was a way to stop the spread of the virus and protect healthcare institutions while delivering timely emergency care.
To be eligible for Rotary global grants, you must meet a number of requirements including having an international partner. Since 2014, my club has established a sisterhood relationship with the Rotary Club of Pingtung South, Taiwan, in District 3510 and we have partnered with them on international service projects. We naturally thought of this club to be our international partner on this project.
It was also a bit of a challenge for our club to run a $40,000 project alone. Fortunately, seven Rotary clubs in our district and Cheongju region joined together to help with promotion and funding.
Hyosung Hospital, the cooperating organization, was also an important partner. Other clubs in District 3740 have provided medical and quarantine equipment to general hospitals in downtown Cheongju through district and global grants. At that time, Hyosung Hospital had not yet received support from other clubs, and we could see they had a high level of understanding and appreciation of Rotary when we met with officials. We have been in constant contact with the hospital staff working together to ensure everything went smoothly.
Since the bus was delivered in March, we have performed 266 exams through 10 June. Chang-Jin Oh, chair of the Hyosung Hospital, thanked Rotary at a ceremony christening the bus. “Rotary's leadership and service spirit are leading the way in helping to protect the health and well-being of the local population” I was also happy and honored to be able to help provide medical care to my neighbors.
Global grants require effort, but they are well worth it. My advice to other clubs is to not be discouraged but to prepare your documentation, community assessment, and sustainability analysis in a step-by-step fashion. You can reach out to the Rotary Foundation grant officer for help and a pre-review. When my club saw how we were helping people with our project, I got an indescribable feeling in my heart.
AND I QUOTE
"A study of economics usually reveals that the best time to buy anything is last year."-Marty Allen
"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."-Confucius
"After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backward and in high heels."-Ann Richards
"Life is not a spectator sport."-Jackie Robinson
SMILE
From Flathead County (Montana) Sheriff’s and Kalispell Police Reports
Someone stole a license plate from a trailer in the last six months.
A dog had a cut on its butt
Someone who lost her cat was advised animal control treats cats as “free spirits.”
Someone dropped garbage off at the landfill
A Helena officer passed along information that a potential caller from Olney had been asking about how to dissolve bones.
Six piggies returned home.
A tied up dog was crying.
A dog was chasing some geese.
A woman felt that a kenneled dog with water and shade was stressed out.
A pigmy goat was attacked by a pit bull.
Someone was concerned that the security at a festival was illegal.
A caller reported their son’s girlfriend stole a cat.
Parking at the rodeo was bad.
A trailer full of hay caught fire.
BY THE NUMBERS
The fifth-busiest airport in the world is now in Charlotte, N.C., it hosted more June flights than Los Angeles International or Beijing Capital International-Cirium
By 2024 60% of the data used by AI (artificial intelligence) and analytics projects will be synthetically generated-Gartner Inc.
The average selling price for a used car with between 100,000 and 110,000 miles on it was $16,489 in June, up from $12,626 a year ago-Edmunds.com
A National Bureau of Economic Research study of more than three million workers’ anonymized email and calendar data in 2020 showed the average workday lengthened by 48 minutes and the number of meetings increased by 13% after the pandemic’s onset.
50% of consumers ages 18-24 reported having a new perspective on managing their mental health, compared with 28% of people ages 57-75-Ernst & Young
The volume of electric-powered lawn equipment that North American manufacturers shipped rose from about 9 million units in 2015 to over 16 million in 2020
We will be assisting the Sleep in Heavenly Peace project 
