Naugatuck Rotary - Naugatuck Rotary Newsletter

Bruce Steinway was acting Sergeant at Arms today. He received Happy Dollars from Jennifer Merrill, Chuck Beebe, Marcelo Martins, Jeanine LeVasseur and Juan Rodriguez.

Fines were given to Rebecca Zandvliet, Mike Elser, Duncan Stephens, Chuck Beebe, Dave Mulhall, Jeanine LeVasseur, Anne Butler, Jeff Chipokas, Laurie Yelding and John Ford.

The General Fine was for anyone that did not know the name of the river delta where the cyclone hit.

President Chuck Beebe handed out an update on our GSE team in Mexico. It is copies below:

Here is an update on our GSE team to Mexico....thought some of you might be interested in reading it. It most certainly underscores the value of this great program.

Dear District and Club Leaders,
We spent yesterday with DG Patiño and had such fun. We had a picnic at the local beach area that no tourist could ever find, called Boca de Tomates or mouth of tomatoes. Patiño is a great guy. He treated us to fresh out of the ocean fried fish, guacamole, fresh cheese, beans, chips, salsa, beer and more food than I can remember. The day before we were at a highend resort where we could have anything we wanted because a Rotarian owned the place and we were comped for everything. We´re currently staying at a hotel owned by the assistant governor. We´ve stayed at two hotels so far and it actually helped the girls bond better because they shared rooms and space. They´re a good team and representing our district well, I believe. Patiño said he was honored by our presence.

The Rotary presentations are going well. Four of us try Spanish and one in English. All very good and informative. Everyone seems to appreciate the effort and they especially enjoy the PowerPoint. The AGs have been very helpful in getting me names and phone numbers of people in the next town ... just in case there´s an emergency on the bus. We get off the bus sweaty and not looking so hot, but in some instances we´ve gone immediately to Rotary meetings, and somehow we look put together. Amazing.

It´s been fiesta week with Children´s Day and Worker´s Day being celebrated so we´ve had no Rotary business for a few days ... just free time alone and with Rotarians. And how great that the vacation occurred during the time we are in Puerto Vallarta ... excuse me for being overjoyed!!! We needed the break very much. This afternoon we head to Manzanillo. A little less than three quarters of the trip remains.

All of the girls have experienced something related to their vocation. We´re still hoping to see the judicial system in one of the communities to meet Amy´s needs. She has talked with some social workers. Annie had the opportunity to talk about HIV AIDS service, Gabriela has been inundated with art and architecture, and Anna has been immersed in services for the disabled. Our hosts have been beyond thoughtful. The guides at the facilities have been so engaged. I have been asked to find help in NJ for a young man with muscular dystrophy. Our contacts have valued our presence.

I´m looking forward to seeing Susan Hill and Ted Rose in Colima to rekindle our friendship and share the lifestyle of the people there. It´ll be different from most of what we have seen. If there´s some representation of the judicial system we can see, that would be the icing on the cake. The sugar cane fields will make a lasting impression. So far, despite the fatigue and trying to find the balance, it´s been truly rewarding. You would be proud of the four young women who are representing our District. I look forward to sharing our tour with you when we return. The girls will need about three weeks advance notice before they can attend a Rotary meeting to do the GSE program, but if we plan well, perhaps we can get the whole team to do programs at least for the four clubs that have sponsored us.

When we are doing Rotary business, I haven´t got the time for the blog and here in Vallarta where I´m at an internet cafe with no internet service in our hotel, I still don´t have time for the blog. So, this will have to do for now. Maybe in Colima, I can put it together for you. We head for the bus station in three hours, so for now, adios. And thank you for this opportunity to represent District 7980.
Yours in Service,
LB

**********Board of Director's meeting Thursday, May 8th at 5:00PM at NVSL **********

5/14 Bob Sutherland - Gene Burch from RTK Environmental Group. His topic will be indoor air quality, in specific, mold.
5/21 Jonathan Farmer (?Kim Crandall, Dominical Literacy Project)
5/28 Jane Walsh
6/4 Donna Warner
6/11 Deb Wheelahan
6/18 Laurie Yelding (?Mayor Bronko)
6/25 Annual Meeting
7/2 Rebecca Zandvliet
7/9 John Aresta
7/16 Brian Barrett
7/23 Chuck Beebe
7/30 Club Assembly

Duncan Stephens our speaker chair today introduced David Bjeralie a Hydrologist that monitors and measures water flow. He is very familiar with the Pomperaug River that flows through Woodbury. The river is 90 square miles and has all of the characteristics of the Connecticut River.

Water and the measurement of it can be done through of number of different ways - satellites, aerial photography, radar and lidar (light pulse). Imagery was taken of the earth's surface by the Space Shuttle and those images are used now especially for topography.

Water speed can be imaged by radar, much the same way police monitor the rate of speed of cars.

John Aresta, Peggy Dufresne, Jonathan Farmer, Jane Lobdell, Cathie Mauritz, Anthony Purcaro, John Roman, Michael Steir, Donna Warner