Newsletter March 18, 2008

Newsletter March 18, 2008

Today we were all moving slowly; folks just "dribbled in" (to quote Evie).  Denise was back from Hollywood with tales to tell.

 

Phuoc greeted "The Greatest Club in Berkeley" and called us all to attention.  BobR led us in "GBA"; Evie thanked God for the wonderful weather and asked Him to make us stonger as we do our service work.  Duane had been overseeing the Ticket Table and continued to do so in his precise manner of tossing the money into a pile.  Good luck Stand-In SecJohnP in making that pile balance.

 

VC was missing (later the scribe discovered she was home babysitting the "greatest" grandkid), so it was a bit quiet…until Linda accepted the gauntlet tossed by PrezPhuoc and personally and single handedly livened up our group and the meeting.  VC you have competition!

 

Oh, and there was Frank (aka Respected Past Lt Governor) trying to sneak in a bit late, but he was caught and tossed a dollar into the Fine Fine Box; a Fine Fine Box that immediately became his responsibility.

 

CircleKJoe took the podium and announced this was his last meeting as "chair" and the last general meeting of the officer board was Tuesday evening.  A new slate of officers will soon appear.  Monday and Tuesday of next week they will be working at an HIV charity home that is relocating to San Francisco (and these dedicated kids are taking time from Spring Break to do this!).  District Convention is March 27-29 in Santa Clara.  Alex and Cheriz and Vijay and Linda rounded out the CircleK contingent.

 

Standing-in-for-SecJack, JohnP announced the Kiwanis Club of Berkeley's Annual Meeting on April 8.  This Annual Meeting will also include a Kiwanis Club of Berkeley Foundation meeting.

 

 

 

 

The Foundation part will include:

--Review of Foundation Status

--Voting for By-Laws change

--Voting for 3 Directors

            Duane Leonard, Director/President

            Jeffrey Egeberg, Director

            Tamara Paradis, Director

Additional nominations (in writing) are solicited.  Contact JohnP or Duane before March 28.

 

Activity Updates and Reports were many and varied:

--RIF had a successful distribution last week

--Scholarships are coming in; deadline March 28

--Scholarship awards' luncheon May 27

--St Patrick's Day Feast last Sunday was yummy and fun

--Rumor has it (now the scribe might have misunderstood) that Duane is looking into a "shooting range" social (social?)

--Debra updated us on the collecting of tennis balls (more are needed) to distribute to elementary school classrooms (to put on legs of chairs and desks, thus quieting the room)

--Sandy reminded us of the Cook Tacos and Cookies for YEAH, March 22 from 6-9 (1744 University Ave)

--Phuc is working on the One Day Project slated for April 5

--Board meeting the evening of March 18

--Interclubs:  2 completed--DCM with Phuoc, Bill, Frank, Roberta and VC; and Berkeley High with Denise, Frank, CircleK'ers and Oakland Tech advisor

--At the recent MidYear Convention we received an Honorary Mention for our Interclub participation

--Linda will be proposing a fun quilting project for service work

--Blood Drive at Berkeley High, March 27, 9-3.

 

Phuoc noted two upcoming anniversaries:  BC and VC; Denise, who put money in the Fine Fine Box to note her marital bliss.  (The scribe will not note who immediately asked her how one manages to find marital bliss!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy/Sad dollars were many and involved:

--Linda is happy for a trip to Tahoe with 7 grandkids, a cruise to Sicily for Hubby's birthday and for Sharon Hale's legacy of sewing machines and fabric

--Evie happy to have her foot plastered… (that was it, that is all she said)

--Tamara happy for all the help and assistance for the St Pat's Feast:  Duane/Adele cooking, VC and BC for the yummy desserts, Duane bringing the beer/wine; Duane coming up early to drag tables up flights of stairs; Duane staying late and dragging tables and chairs down flights of stairs; Phuoc also for staying late and dragging tables/chairs, and George too for the same.  Oh, a special thank you for the CircleK dish washers extraordinaire

--JohnP happy SecJack will soon be back and he will be off garbage duty…

--Phuoc was happy for The Feast and for MikeS returning to the Bay Area

--Sandy sad to miss The Feast, but happy to be at Frank's concert

--Frank happy for the wonderful concert he played in

--BobR for recently working with high school kids from the coastal areas.

 

Phuoc then gave a St. Patrick's Day quiz.  Some of the answers were:

--26 chiefs of police

--Gracey Allen

--Market Street

--All Gallic words

 

Denise had the honor of introducing the speakers (Madhvi Venkatesh, Tu Tran, David Liang, Heejae Kang) from the UC Berkeley Chapter of Engineering World Health (EWH). Their charter is to meet the healthcare technology needs of the world's poorest.

 

EWH was founded in 2001; the Berkeley chapter is just a year old.  They harness the energy and expertise of collegiate engineering programs, especially in bioengineering, to improve underprivileged hospitals in developing nations.  They design, build, deliver, and repair equipment, as well as teaching folks how to use these machines.

 

This summer they will focus on Tanzania and Costa Rica.  They will spend a month learning the language and training on the equipment.  Month two will be working in assigned hospitals installing and repairing equipment and training folks.  At the end, all participants will get together for two days to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and discuss possible improvements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current projects include an electrosurgical Unit tester—they want to build 50.  This device tests other equipment to make sure it is working correctly.  A portable non-electric refrigerator is also in the design stage.

 

The Berkeley chapter also wants to take their expertise to Richmond and Skyline high, giving the kids hands on lab experience in integrated circuits and design.

 

Their talk was fascinating and the work they are doing, in so many areas, is noteworthy.

 

Joe was called upon to lead us in the Pledge.

 

We had a fun and wild and happy and enlightening Tuesday meeting:  just what Kiwanis is all about!

 

 

 

 

 

Please Note

The following are the proposed By-Laws changes for the Foundation, to be voted on April 8.

 

Article II  Membership Meetings  Section One

--The annual meeting…..shall be held (delete "the third Tuesday of October of each year") and replace with "a Tuesday in April each year".

 

Article VI Election of Officers and Directors

--Officers...will be elected annually…at their first meeting (delete "of each calendar year") and replace with "following an Annual Membership Meeting"…

 

 

                                    (Respectfully submitted: tjp)

 

 

 

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