DIGITAL EDITION No. 176  May 18, 2016  EDITOR: Kris Anderson   PHOTOGRAPHER: Kris Anderson

Our Program for May 25th:

CLUB ASSEMBLY:
2020 SANTA ROSA ROTARY

OPENING CEREMONIES 

Past President David Brown is at the helm today!

 Pledge:  Ray Giampaoli

Invocation: Marnie Goldschlag with quotes on mountains

GUESTS

Kathy Burger, Elizabeth Link, Jeannette Perkins, Johann Scrimshine, Doug Lyons, Daphne Bradley and Steven Bucher

VISITING ROTARIANS

Scott Holder (Santa Rosa Sunrise), Bob Inter (Fisherman’s Wharf), Pam Davis (Sebastopol Sunrise) and Bob Hirsch (Sebastopol)

SUNSHINE REPORT

Ginny Cannon let us know that Ray Giampaoli is going in for neck fusion surgery.  Norm Owen’s beloved Beverly has a little bit of cancer that she needs to deal with!  Keep our Rotarian friends in your thoughts and prayers.  So good to see Jack Abercrombie is back.

RAFFLE

Sam McMillan had the right number, but did not pull the right marble.  The pot rolls over to next week.

GIRO BELLO UPDATE

Emily Harrington (dressed as a green Giro Bello fairy?) says our sponsorships are now up to $32,011.  She asked that we put out the word to all our contacts for sponsorships and riders.

NEW GEN PROJECT UPDATE

Julia Parranto along with a few other Rotarians took 28 foster kids, ages 8 -12, out to Armstrong Woods with 25 of the New Gen students.  They played games, hiked and had a barbeque.  One boy stated, “This was the best day of my life!”  Sounds like the program is off to a good start!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mark Burchill:  Rotary Means Business is back in action and has meetings scheduled into the Fall.  There is a meeting this week at Liberty Door in Cotati on May 19^th

Andrea Geary:  The Bocce Tournament is June 11^th.  Pam Davis from Santa Rosa Sunrise was here to let us know they intend to win this year.  Them is fighting words!

Elizabeth Karbousky: There will be a social on June 9^th at Franchetti’s Kitchen.

Diane Moresi:  Help is needed on Friday and Saturday this week for the Rose Parade

Don McMillan: He thanked last week’s volunteers and asked for more volunteers for this Sunday to man a rest stop in Tomales Bay for the Petaluma club from  7:30 to 2:30.

Ray Giampaoli: He introduced the incoming and outgoing presidents of the Cardinal Newman Interact Club, Daphne Bradley and Steven Bucher.

Rick Allen was recognized for going to Palm Beach Florida.  Seems he injured himself there.  He said he would like to be a Giro Bello sponsor and would donate the money in the name of Dan Bornstein who he thinks is an awfully great guy!

PROGRAM

Scott Holder:  One Year After the Earthquake in Nepal

Scott was fortunate to be in Lukla, Nepal on the day of the earthquake last year.  He would have been at the basecamp, but a cough sent him back to Lukla for a rest.  He might not have survived the earthquake had he been healthy.

A little information about Sherpas.  Their first name is always the day of the week they are born on.  They often use a westernize middle name and the last name is always Sherpa.  They are an ethic group and have a higher red blood cell count than other people in the world.  That is what you get for living at 15,000 feet!  The youngest Sherpa to reach the top of Everest was 13; the oldest 81.

Lukla Airport is only 1729 feet long and is at 10,000 feet.  It looks like the planes drop right off the mountain at takeoff.  It is 39 miles from Lukla to the base camp.

The quality of construction in Nepal is really bad as well as the pollution and traffic.  Scott showed us pictures he took before the earthquake and after the earthquake.

On the way to the base camp they stayed in the villages of Phaking, Namche Bazaar, Thyboche, and Dingboche.  Along the way they had at least two blessing by the local lama.  A blessing is not a simple prayer.  It is a 3-5 hour long ritual.

Once to the base camp they had daily avalanches.  They had to practice up and down the mountain to hone their skills.  A day can go from -30 degrees to 40 degrees in a 24 hour period.

After the earthquake hit, Scott stayed in Lukla and Katmandu to help with relief efforts.  He could speak English and he is a pilot so his services were invaluable.  You might remember the articles written in the Press Democrat last year.

A question was asked about the cleanliness of Everest.  Scott said it is pretty clean because the Sherpas are paid for the trash they take down the mountain AND all those who wish to climb Everest have to pay a deposit of $10,000.  If the amount of stuff you take up to the mountain is not the same as when you return, you do not get your deposit back.