El Cerrito Rotary: The Wheel September 10, 2009

El Cerrito Rotary

The Wheel

Editors:  Gary Buffon & John Ferguson Jr.

Week of September 10^th   

(www.rotary5160.org)

www.elcerritorotary.org

President Tracy welcomed us to the friendly El Cerrito Rotary Club.  Sonya led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Kanti provided the thought for the day.

Introduction of guests and Visiting Rotarians: 

Past Pres Jack introduced our visiting Rotarian Jon Vicars of Berkeley Rotary.

4-Way Test presenter:  Joe gave us the 4 Way Test by using the four items from a business perspective.

Announcements:

Þ    Karen announced the Solano stroll that is this Sunday.  The Albany Chamber is looking for some volunteer help if anyone is interested

Þ    Lee reminded us that as Rotary Foundation person he is looking to get 100 percent participation and do it by Jan 21^st when our District Gov visits the club.  He will be reminding us to make our contribution.  Beat him to it and bring a check for $100 and give it to him.

Þ    Jack read a post card from Ksusha and then passed it around for all to see.

Þ    Blaine gave us an update on the blood drive on Sept 26.  Karen let us know you can register for a blood donation by going to our club website and selecting the blood drive link.  Visit www.elcerritorotary.org and make it happen.

Þ    Tracy told us about the success of the concession stand at the Swim Center.

Happy dollars:  Mark S told us about the El Cerrito Chamber mixer at El Cerrito Royale on 16^th and then told us all about the Scottish games and the importance of some of the clan names, especially the Farquharson clan and their reputation for fist fighting and romance. Ilhami had a happy dollar to ask if the mixer is shaken or stirred.  Jane is happy about the Richmond Chamber mixer and the Interact Club for being willing to help with the Home Front Festival on Oct 3^rd.  Jon Vicars is happy he got the A/V equip to work for today’s guest speaker.  Michael C is $5 happy for our Rotarians and getting things done with them.  Tracy is $10 happy for the great Interact Club and how action oriented they are.  Sil is $10 happy about spending a weekend in San Luis Obispo with his three sons.

Sgt at Arms Nancy:  Did recognitions using food and libation trivia.  The lucky Rotarians recognized  today were Jane, Lee, Don and Mark F.

Today’s Program: 

Jon Vicars introduced Dr. Jay Neufeld who is currently a dept head at Children’s Hospital in Oakland.  In September of 2001 Dr. Jay was at the NYU Med Center and because of his position became the head of the Disaster Relief Center after the 9/11/2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.  He gave us a very sobering and inspiration presentation about the 9/11 attach and how it changed thousands of people’s lives and also change our nation.  We were taken step by step on the chronology of his experience of the attack and the resulting response by the city to the disaster.  We were provided pictures and maps which showed the locations of the important locations, one of which is the NYU Medical Center which is about three miles from ground zero.  The central focus of the presentation was the challenges and solutions in dealing with victim remains.  There were thousands of parts of human remains that were retrieved and carefully catalogued and used to identify the individuals.  Unfortunately, many remains are still unidentified.  A number of techniques were developed to identify remains. 

This was an excellent presentation and was delivered by a professional who was on site and shared with us an understanding of the factors and results of the worst attack on the US and how it was handled.  Thanks to Nobuko for getting Dr Jay to speak to us.

Dr Jay Neufeld MD tells us about 9/11/01 and his involvement

Today’s Lottery Winner: Michal C won the raffle and drew a cats-eye marble so he went home with a bottle of wine. Next week the pot is $85.

Thought for Week:

It is only from the belief of the goodness and wisdom of a supreme being, that our calamities can be borne in the manner which becomes a man.

--Henry Mackenzie