Escondido Sunrise Rotary; “EcoLife Brings Conservation Practices to the World”… March 28, 2019…
President Dave led the meeting…
Past President Dave Casey led the pledge to our nation’s flag…
Club Secretary Chris Miller offered an invocation and an update on Past President John Masson’s surgery recovery…
… Prayers are requested to continue for John and his family…
Visitors and Guests:
Dan Cummins a guest of Past President Rich Aeling; Dan will be helping out on the Mexicali project
Andy Aeling, Past President Rich’s cousin; also a Mexicali volunteer
Barb Fiorina, Past President Tony Criss’ guest and our speaker today…
Marie Schwab, John’s better half…
Welcome to all the guests!!
Birthdays:
March 31: Donna Aeling; Rich will treat her to a wonderful birthday gift after her hard work in Mexicali… So generous, Rich…
Anniversaries:
March 28: Past President Jeff and Kathy Johnson, 32 years… Congratulations!!
Rotary Anniversaries:
None this week
Dates to Remember:
March 28-31: Rotary Project in Mexicali
30: District Training Assembly
April 12-14: RYLA
27: Rotary at Work Day; more details to come…
30: Rotary Foundation Gala
Reminders:
Spring Flower Baskets are available as a fund-raising project of the East Rotary Club… Cost is $30 and they will be delivered to our Club on the Thursday before Mother’s Day…Funds raised will provide support for Police and Fire Cadet programs in Escondido…
The Highway 78 Club is hosting their Mariachi Festival at the California Center for the Arts on April 14… cost is $100 for a VIP reception and the concert; concert only tix are from $25-$50 …
Rotarians Having Fun, and Doing Great Things for Groups in Need:
A Sunrise Rotary presence at the recent San Diego Gulls Game… Tina Pope snagged a Gulls Tee Shirt….
Past President Barry and Lee Baker were in the Houston area; Barry even made a call at George H.W. Bush’s Oval Office Desk… And Barry brought President Dave some ‘Alamo Crackers’…
High Fives and Announcements:
President Dave shared a few notes including; a thank you from Past President Nick Barnett for the flowers honoring the memory of his father, Chuck; an announcement that the Palomar Health abuse program will be conducting their ‘Pinwheel Event’ on April 5, honoring victims of abuse; He also announced that Randy Furtado was leaving Sunrise Rotary, Randy, you’ll be missed; and to send along notes to Past President John Masson, he enjoys hearing from all of us as he recovers from surgery…
Past President and Foundation Chair Kevin Svetich encouraged all of us to continue our strong support for the Rotary Foundation; Kevin Presented Past President Jim Ponder with his 8th Paul Harris Fellow Award… Congratulations Jim, and thanks for your wonderful generosity…
Jim also share some ‘tribute items’ for President Dave from his recent travels; there always seems to be some micro brew product brought down the hill from Mammoth…
Past President Constance Larsen was recently in Norway… Missed the northern lights, and fortunately the big storm that ruined some cruise vacations… She brought the Prez his own little Troll…
Program:
Past President Mark Hoekstra introduced Barb Fiorina, representing ECOLIFE Conservation… Barb leads the marketing and development efforts for the not-for-profit organization based in Escondido. Their international efforts focus on sustainable food systems, effective cooking systems to preserve forests and indigenous peoples’ health, and operate an Aquaponics Innovation Center.
Barb Fiorina addressing Sunrise Rotarians…
A major focus of ECOLIFE is to improve methods of cooking over open flame. Many indigenous peoples cook indoors using open flame which creates critical air quality issues for the families. Current methods also use excessive amounts of wood, causing ongoing depletion of rain forest assets.
This photo shows the open flame cooking methods currently used, and the impacts on indoor air quality…
The stoves developed by ECOLIFE can be provided for a cost of $150 and are installed by local individuals in the areas of need. The stoves use less wood, reduced interior air quality hazards and enable local people to be paid for installing the stoves…
This photo depicts the new stove installed….
Much of the focus of the stove project is in Moralia, Mexico, a United Nations natural preserve area to protect Monarch Butterfly habitat.
Aquaponics involves the use of an integrated system to grow vegetables without soil, and the make the most effective use of water resources. Another major effort of ECOLIFE is to educate K-12 students on water conservation and ecological concerns.
ECOLIFECONSERVATION.ORG is their website…
Barb Firoina pictured with President Dave…
Escondido Sunrise sent a number of people to Mexicali to provide some support for the community along with members of the Calafia Rotary Club of Mexicali...
Next Week’s Program:
Mexicali Project Review…
OpportunityDrawing:
Grand Prize: $511; Past President Mark Hoekstra… Sorry Mark, better luck next time…
Lunch Money: $23.00… And, the winner is… Bill Dopp…
