Escondido Sunrise Rotary; Meeting to Serve our Community via Zoom; and “Venice Italy; the City of Enchantment or Environmental Challenges…” July 30, 2020
Editor’s Note…
As we all try to conduct our professional pursuits in new ways, it’s appropriate to remind ourselves of who we are as a Serving Organization… Our accomplishments, our fellowship and the reminder of our many successes is valuable as we await the time we can gather together again…
So, we met via Zoom… On August 6… Sunrise Rotary members talking about service and connecting through fellowship in new ways…
President Chris opened the meeting… Even with a gavel and a bell… 24 Sunrise Rotarians joined the Zoom meeting…
President Chris Miller led the pledge to our nation’s Flag…
Past President, Jim Ponder offered an invocation…
Guests and Visitors:
Ralph Tavares’ wife Silvana and his son were guests… Along with Past President Brian’s bride, Nancy…
Now, some Sunrise Rotary member milestones…
Birthdays:
August 9: Kirk Henson
10: Past President, Tony Criss
Anniversaries:
July 31: Past President Barry and Lee Baker… Celebrating 50 years!! Congratulations from all of us!!
Barry and Lee are pictured on their wedding day… and at Bryce Canyon on an anniversary trip…
August 11: Past President Rich and Donna Aeling… Congratulations!!
Rotary Anniversaries:
Past President Kelly Mayberry, 11 years… Congratulations Kelly, it’s great serving our community with you…
Sunrise Rotarians Having Fun…
From last week’s meeting… Sergeant at Arms Gloria Lefler and her friend Corey at the San Diego Zoo…
Past President Mike Muehl and his son Chris landing some beautiful Blue Fin Tuna off the San Diego coast… Mike said the tuna were running so great they hardly had to work to ‘knock ‘em down’…
Past President and Foundation Chair Kevin Svetich on his annual ‘Guy Trip’… This year to Pismo Beach… Kevin has been allowed to join this group annually for 28 years… What are they missing about Kevin?? They also enjoyed some paint ball ‘combat’ in San Luis Obispo…
Past President Bob Burson’s newest grandson, Parker James Burson… Congrats to Mom and Dad and too Gramma and Gramps!!
Keep your ‘fun’ photos coming to President Chris…
Sunrise Rotarians Serving, and Announcements:
President Chris shared a number of announcements regarding events taking place within District 5340…
District 5340 Governor to Host Zoom meeting with Past RI Chair, John Germ…
President Chris sent an announcement regarding District 5340 Governor Steve Weitzen hosting a meeting via Zoom with Past Rotary International President and Chair of the Rotary Foundation, John Germ… The virtual meeting will be on Wednesday August 12 at 4:00 PM… Check Chris’ email for the Zoom link…
District Governor Nominations:
The opportunity to nominate a District leader for service as a future District Governor is open now…
District Grants Committee to Meet:
President Chris announced an upcoming meeting of the Grants Committee on August 10… This is an opportunity for our grant opportunities to be realized.
District Governor, Steve Weitzen will attend our Sunrise Rotary meeting on September 17… Plan on attending via Zoom!!
Rotary Foundation Year-end Report:
Past President and Foundation Chair, Kevin Svetich reported on Escondido Sunrise’s successful support of the Foundation during the past year. Escondido Sunrise was third in District 5340 in per capita annual giving. Kevin encouraged members to become Paul Harris Sustaining Members with a simple gift of $85 per month… Treasurer Bob Burson sent an email recently and will bill you each month… To join in at this point in the Rotary year, it would be $112 per month…
Kevin Svetich sharing the good news of Sunrise Rotary’s Foundation giving for last year…
High Fives:
Past President Jack Anderson announced that Denise Wieme, wife of Past President Norm Wieme (1989-90), passed away recently…
Program:
Ralph Tavares introduced our guest, Furio Barzon, joining us from Venice Italy.
Ralph Tavares introducing our guest speaker, Furio Barzon…
Furio is active in the professional engineering and design community in the Venice area, and is part of the coordinating group working on the Italian Green New Deal…
As he began, he spoke about the proximity of Venice to the Dolomites, and that it’s location has been designated a UNESCO protected environmental area.
Furio Barzo speaking to Sunrise Rotarians...
He spoke about the sensitive environmental issues impacting Venice, which uniquely is built on land within a major lagoon… Issues that have affected the city include periodic high tides resulting in major flooding, and the impact of significant increases in tourism due primarily to the influx of cruise ships in recent years.
The high-tide flooding has resulted in significant damage to the antiquities in the city…
The development of a tidal control system that is a series of check-dams operated by an inflatable air system… The design is effective, however numerous time delays have taken place in the construction of the project, mostly due to governmental corruption… It’s apparent some of the ‘bad guys’ are going to jail…
The recent influx of cruise ships has brought many tourists… The economic benefit has been the driving force… However, the seemingly uncontrolled access of the ships has caused significant human overcrowding in the city. Coordination between the city government and the port authority is a constant battle…
The size impact alone of the cruise ships on the downtown port is an issue…
Actual photo of a cruise ship docked in Venice...
And, the huge influx of cruise ship passengers overwhelms the city center and its famous Piazza San Marco…
The goal of the Green New Deal proposition is to balance the economy, the environment and the appropriate power of democratic institutions…
Next Week’s Meeting:
Our program is presented by “Feeding San Diego”…
The next meeting will be via Zoom on Thursday August 13…
Support for our Escondido Community …
Our great community and the success of its businesses is all of our responsibilities… Support the businesses that are doing all they can to survive during this challenging time… Take out some chow… Be ready to support them when the economy begins working again…
The ‘Giving Arch’ on Grand Avenue and Centre City Parkway reminds us that Escondido is a caring, giving community…
To all; be safe and be well…. God Bless those men and women that carry the load at our medical facilities, and God Bless the first responders… May our governmental leaders be wise, thoughtful and smart as this pandemic is overtaken by our hard work and collective support…
Online Meetings:
Technical Support for Online Meetings:
Our on-line meetings continue to be technically managed by Richard Agnew… Thanks for that Richard… And, Richard is prepared to support all of our attempts at joining the on-line meetings… Look for his email with details and links to log on to the upcoming Zoom meetings…
Watch for emails defining the next online meeting. The system works fine, dependent upon your technical support available through your PC or laptop…
SEE YOU SOON… ON LINE OR IN PERSON….. Next meeting; Thursday August 13; 7:30 AM… Check Richard Agnew’s email for the Zoom Link…
