Zoom Meeting Notes from August 18, 2020

Images from the ‘Who Has the Best Virtual Background Contest’. Congratulations to our winner, Tina! Lisa's background was also great!

Meeting was held online via Zoom and called to order at 12:30pm by Andrew Stearns.

We had 60 Zoom participants.

Pledge of Allegiance was led by Andrew Stearns and presented along with a patriotic video.

Visiting Rotarians - None

Other Visitors – Juan Romero from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and David Karwowski introduced Jay Quibley.

Inspiration - Suzanne Boxer-Gassman provided a great inspiration that focused on humor.

Announcements

Andrew Stearns hosted the ‘Who Has the Best Virtual Background Contest’. Many members participated and in the end, the contest was won by Tina Orsi-Hartigan. Congratulations Tina!

Lydia Norcia representing the We Care Committee reminded us to let her know if anyone from the Club is in need.

Andrew Howard and David Hubbard gave updates on the local fires in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Lisa Norcia-Cheskin talked about the recent District 5170 Virtual Membership Seminar which was attended by a few of our members. The online seminar focused on ways clubs can increase their membership numbers.

Tina Orsi-Hartigan spoke about our donations of food to St. Luke’s. They did not need us this week because our donations have been so plentiful. She also updated us on the Shoe Drive. We collected and donated 446 pairs of shoes which helped surpass the goal.

Dick Konrad shared that the Volunteer Opportunity Committee will hold a Zoom meeting tomorrow (8/19/20) at 4:00pm. Everyone is welcome and you can contact Patti Van der Burg to get the link to the Zoom meeting.

Avis La Grone shared that the Seascape community has some gently used furniture to donate. It is free and anyone interested can contact Avis if you are interested.

Our First Thursday Happy Hour will be held on September 3rd from 5:30pm – 7:30pm at Campo de Bocce.

20 for 20

Doug Brent and his wife just adopted an 8 week old puppy. $20.

Dick Konrad donated $95 to the Scholarship Fund in honor of his older brother’s 95th birthday.

Mike Norcia donated $20 to the Scholarship Fund in honor of Paul Cosentino. Paul introduced the Norcia family to Rotary.

Nicholas Welzenbach and his family enjoyed a trip to Russian River. Everyone had a great time. $20.

Heidi Owens’ husband is fire captain and bulldozer operator. His bulldozer was overcome by flames during a recent fire and he made it through the flames unharmed. $20.

Hal Rosen decided to install a generator at his home in the Sierras. He got it all hooked up, but once they it turned it on they burned out a bunch of appliances due to a voltage difference. $40 to the Scholarship Fund.

Sarita thanked Tina Orsi-Hartigan and Patti & Erik Van der Burg. Sarita does not have air conditioning so they are going to help her install an indoor portable floor AC. $100 to the Scholarship Fund.

John Colwell recently had COVID and has recovered, he now has antibodies. He’s willing to donate his serum to any COVID affected Rotarians. $100 to the Scholarship Fund.

Suzanne Boxer-Gassman donated $20 because Len Smith is back to attending meetings and $20 in honor of Kirsten Bridge’s move from Red Badge to Blue Badge.

Presentation

Our speaker today was Juan Romero from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). Juan shared with us an overview of the BAAQMD mission and how and when it was created. He discussed their various responsibilities and the negative health impacts of air pollution. He also highlighted the main sources of air pollution in the Bay Area: On-road and other mobile sources in the summer and wood smoke in the winter. He covered their permitting and inspection programs as well as their public outreach programs. He finished with notification details for the public and data detailing the reduction in local air pollutants due to the COVID shutdown.