President Kelly Ricker opened our 2nd virtual meeting of May this morning. There were many smiling Rotarian faces and two guests. One guest was our Past District Governor of District 5240 and friend, Sandy Schwartz. She attended because she said, “I missed you so I joined your meeting”. Our second guest was our speaker, Sarah Robinson, and you’ll read more about her below.
Roger Ridley presented our Moment in History with historical events from 1846 – 1968. Here are a few highlights:
1846: US declares war on Mexico
1934: Dust Bowl Storm occurred
1940: Winston Churchill first speech to Parliament, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat”
1950: Diners Club created the first credit card
1958: Velcro was trademarked
1968: Reggie Jackson had struck out 2,000 times
For our Rotary Minute, Ed Harris provided some interesting details about a Rotary tradition from the publication title, The ABC’s of Rotary. https://clubrunner.blob.core.windows.net/00000003068/en-ca/files/homepage/abc-s-of-rotary/abcsofrotary.pdf Ed shared with us the tradition of using first names or nicknames, rather than formally addressing someone as Mr., Ms., doctor, etc. Sometimes in the Asian countries, nicknames have been used. Such as in the case where a Rotarian whose business was the manufacture of chemical gases and his nickname, “Oxygen”. Or a Rotarian in the lumber business whose nickname was, “Trees”.
Ed suggests some nicknames for a few of our members: Judy being in the fair food concession business could be called, My Fair Lady; George being a scientist could be called, Standard Deviation; Odell being retired from the CIA could be called, CYA and Lee being in the trail management business could be called, Transcendental. Fun stuff Ed! Thanks
Our speaker, Sarah Robinson, joined us today to share about a wonderful program called ShelterBox.
A little bit about Sharah: She is the Director of Development of ShelterBox USA, Rotary International’s project partner in disaster relief. She has a love for service and finds ways to help others, as a community volunteer and through her non-profit career. Sharah is on the boards of The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History and the Rotary Club of Albuquerque Rio Grande, where she is immediate past president and a member of the Paul Harris Society.
There is much to share about the worthy cause, but not enough space here. So, I’ll provide just a brief overview with a link to the ShelterBox website. ShelterBox provides temporary shelters and basic equipment to people throughout the world whose homes have been destroyed by natural disasters or conflict. They respond within 24 – 48 hours bringing shelter kits to the needy. Shelter kits include items such as tents, cooking equipment, solar lights, water filters and basic tools. For more information see their website: https://www.shelterboxusa.org/home-page/meet-the-team/sarah-robinson-shelterboxusa-250px/
Thank you, Sarah, for attending our virtual meeting and making us aware of ShelterBox. We hope to see you in person at a future meeting.