At the end of dinner there wasn't a grilled steak or piece of salmon left. Thanks to Chuck White for not only arranging this great "Steak Fry" but also for lending BMR the community room in his office complex at Newbury Industrial Park for the meeting. Fred Bemberg won the coin toss for the bottle of wine.
Several guests were introduced: Chris (Ralph Hurd's grandson); BMR charter member John Rose and his guest Louise; Curt Johnson, good friend of Tom Blair; former BMR member Phil Prosser; and Tom and Fran Bayless. Dick Hills told a joke about four men and a woman at the Vatican in St. Peter's Square. The woman won the "can you top this " contest.
Motorcycle Run: Dan reported that everything is coming together. "Be there at 7:30 a.m." he reminded everyone. We all need to be at the Harrington Mall in Middlefield Village to set up for the Motorcycle Run. Dan said that the route the motorcyclists will be taking, beginning at 10:00 a.m., will go from west to east through the Veterans' Memorial. It will also include a turn around the square in Burton Village. Total length of the route is 62 miles. Between presales and sponsorships we have taken in $3000.
Preregistrations number 21. Chuck White sent out 150 letters to businesses requesting they become a sponsor of the ride. Dan explained that most motorcycle riders will register on the day of the event. Fred Bemberg is in charge of the food for the picnic pavilions in Hambden Park where the ride will end.
Jodie reminded everyone that if they hadn't responded to the Changeover Banquet invitation, please do it NOW. The Banquet is next week during Wednesday's meeting. It will be held at Adam Hall on E. Washington Street in Auburn Township.
Brian Brockway reminded everyone to let him know if they plan to attend the Captains' baseball game on July 27th. Call or e-mail Brian for tickets, which are $7. An all-you-can-eat ticket is a bit more ($9.00).
NEW MEMBER INDUCTION: Sponsored by Tom Buckles, Mark Zakrzewski was inducted as the newest member of Burton-Middlefield Rotary Club. His classification is: Geologist. Mark and his wife Elaine are residents of Newbury Township. Sponsor Tom Buckles.
New Members Proposal: Former Rotary District 6630 Governor Fran Bayless and her husband Tom have moved from Cleveland to South Russell Village. They would like to transfer their Rotary Club membership to Burton-Middlefield Club. They have been proposed to and approved by the board of Directors for membership in BMR.
John Hurd's son in law Chris Zaumeyer was also proposed to and approved by the board of Directors for membership to the club. Sponsor Ralph Hurd.
Program: Patagonia Four and a Half Years Later---
This was our program the previous week. Following is a summary of Kimberly Berls' excellent presentation on the most recent developments in Project Patagonia.
Background: The RC of Burton-Middlefield, RC of Nahuel Huapi in Bariloche Argentina and the Patagonia Project completed the third $25,000 computer lab installation in rural Patagonia Argentina schools. As with the first two projects, this one was funded by the two RC partners and generous matching grants from D6630, D4930 and the Rotary Foundation. In addition, the RC of Chesterland, RC Mentor, and the RC of Cleveland also aided in funding the first project. In the last five years Project Patagonia staffers have installed $75,000 of computer equipment in remote rural schools in Patagonia Argentina.
Bob Johnson introduced Kimberly Berls, a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and President of Project Patagonia. With three other Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars: Tanner Wells, Vice-President of Technology; Emily Pierce, Vice-President of Development; and Christopher Tepper, Vice-President of Finance, Kimberly headed their effort to provide remote rural schools in the province of Rio Negro in Argentina with computer labs. The computers provide both teachers and students with information to improve their teaching and educational skills and make it possible for the students to attend high school. To date attending high school has been almost impossible for the students of this region because they did not have access to the knowledge needed to reach that level. Elementary school is grades one through eight. High school is grades nine through 12. Also, because they are so far away from any city, they must live away from home to attend high school. Due to the cost of room and board as well as school expenses, the families of Patagonia could not afford to provide their children such an opportunity.
Kimberly explained the building of the first computer lab. She stressed that they always partner with a teacher in the school that wants a computer lab. Each Ambassadorial Scholar raised $1000 and they built the first lab almost five years ago.
Somehow word got around, in spite of the very "Lord of the Rings" terrain, and the Project Patagonia leaders found themselves with 20 requests from 20 schools for computer labs. With three grants they have built 20 labs in 20 schools in very rural areas.
One of the first challenges in the installation of a computer lab is finding the school. A four hour drive in the mountains is to be expected and flat tires are a common occurrence. Once arrangements are made with the school and a partner teacher who is computer literate is selected, the computer equipment is installed and a short training session is held. School populations range in size from eight to 110 but most schools average 40 students. Certain rules are mandatory: No eating or drinking at the computer, no touching the computer screen and always close the CD entry door. All the computers have an encyclopedia and training installed in them.
The computer labs do not just benefit the students, Kimberly said. They also benefit the community. For example they assist nurses from the rural health district. The people these labs serve are an indigenous minority. Some ride horses to school. Some walk two hours to get to school. Employment opportunities are limited: Work for the large ranches, subsistence farming or goat herding.
The computers are powered by solar panels and now remote high school attendance is possible. Each computer costs $550 and is bought in Argentina. It has four gigabytes of RAM and uses Windows XP.
For the people of Patagonia, the computers are a huge step in progress. "The kids learn so fast," said Kimberly. She said that there is an increase in students going to high school and college and also an interest in technology related jobs. Also the Argentine government is now seeing the possibilities shown them by Project Patagonia and is participating in adopting this program.
Kimberly shared the attention that the opening of each lab receives from government and local dignitaries who attend an elaborate ceremony and a party afterwards in which everyone in the school community joins.
Finally Kimberly listed Patagonia Project's goals: First, Aguada de Guerra, the very first school to receive a computer lab, is due for an upgrade and a rebuilding of its lab. Second, Install one or two new labs and Third, Concentrate on building up labs. For more information on this BMR international project, go to the web site: www.ProjectPatagonia.org.