Villa Park CA Rotary Newsletter of January 20, 2011

The January 20, 2011 Newsletter has been published to the Villa Park Rotary website. A copy has been included below.

You may also read it on-line by visiting
http://www.RotaryClubofVillaPark.org/Newsletter.cfm

Rotary Club of Villa Park Newsletter

Earthquake Preparedness... Are You Ready For the Big One!!

Today's meeting began with an invocation by Marianne Koepnick who reminded us that we are all unique individuals and that we use these qualities as Rotarians to help others.  Steve Kawa led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Bryan Nash did the Rotary Four Way Test. We concluded with the singing of Woody Guthrie's This Land is Your Land.

Guests:

Ken Dunn

Marsha Leeg

Jim Dougherty

Birthdays:

Today is Jane McDonald's birthday- Happy Birthday Jane, send Jane a birthday message and we hope to see you back soon.

Announcements:

Linda Bartrom- Chair of Vocational Services gave us some upcoming dates to remember:

      Feb 3, 2011- Villa Park Rotary Singing Contest

            - so far we have 5 contestants who will sing songs of a classical or theatrical category.

            - all entrants must register by January 28th

          Contact Linda Bartrom-Olsen at  lbartrom@hotmail.com

       Feb. 10, 2011-  Villa Park Rotary Speech Contest

             This year's theme is " Building Communities, Bridging Continents"

             1st Prize- $100; 2nd- $50; 3rd- $25.

            Contact LInda Bartrom-Olsen at the above email address.

             Toastmaster Rules will be in effect; if you would like to be a judge contact Linda

        RYLA- Money is available for 4 students to attend in May

             We have 2 applicants so far

             Applications are available on-line at the District 5320 website.

             Applicants should be high school juniors.

Craig Beinlich- Club Service Chair- received kudos for last Thursday's Holiday Party.

Greg Mills- discussed the New Generations Committees goals to find a high school or college aged

          student who might want to be a Rotary Exchange Student.- Applications are available

          on-line at the District 5320 website or Contact Greg Mills or Lisa Stepanski.

           This is a great opportunity to experience different cultures and mindsets.

Nagy Ibrahim- discussed Paul Harris requirements- a $1000 donation.  Each member

          of the club is assessed $30 per quarter/ $120 per year  towards this award in their

           dues statement.

Happy Bucks:

Marsha Leeg reported that husband Jim had rotator cuff surgery yesterday, it was more complicated then initially assessed, but Jim came through with flying colors.  Sadly Marsha will be

            returning to her home in Nevada next week.

Lesslie Giacobbi pointed out how sharply dressed Bob Meyer was at today's meeting. Bob was 

          decked out in a blue suit with all his WWII medals on his left breast.

Jeannie Hankins donated a good-luck buck for Marianne Koepnick who is in the running to get a

         new job.

Steven Pollack let us know that Thursday Morning is his usual cycling day, but he chooses to

          come to Rotary instead.  With today's winds he's glad he's not riding.

Bob Meyer was happy to report his bladder cancer is gone. He's been battling the cancer since

           1989.

Bryan Nash attended a national Camp to Belong meeting and informed us that there are now

         10 camps nationwide.  500 kids have attended the camps and our Orange County Camp

          will host between 80-100 kids this summer.

Mark Schmidt attended the Million Dollar Dinner  and had a great time eating the 5 course dinner

          with wine selections for each course. Naturally he brought photos for us to view.

Milt Stamos paid to have Eric Sense report on a wild night he shared with Milt's son John

         at some local drinking establishments.  Milt reports it took his son 3 days to recover. 

         Does this count as a confession since Pastor Stan was listening intently?

Drawing - Bryan Nash drew an Ace, last week he drew a 2. 

Speaker: Polly Brown - OC Fire Authority Education Team

Topic: Earthquake Preparedness

Her message was simple and direct... Be ready for the big one, cause we're way overdue.

Every year in October the state holds its Great Shake Out Drill to prepare communities and

local services for the next big earthquake.  Over 300 top experts have contributed information

and expect an earthquake greater than 6 on the Richter Scale to come anytime.

Here are some facts to be aware of:

With an Earthquake of greater than 7.8 

            expect shaking to last upwards of 2 minutes

                        1800 deaths immediately

                         53,000 seriously injured

                         1500 buildings will collapse

                         1600 fires to break out

                          200,000 people to be stranded on one side of the San Andreas Fault

                             from where they reside

                          No water, power or phone service for hours, days, weeks or months

                          More than 250,000 people left homeless

                          $213 Billion in damages

                  Pretty Scary eh?

 Be Prepared!!  Simple things to do:

1. Create an Earthquake Kit- and keep it handy

   - Water- most important - 1 gallon/person/day for at least 3 days

           bottled water is best- change it every 6 months to insure freshness

   - Food- have easy to eat foods available that you like- Peanut butter

            change it out every 6 months

    - light source- flashlights- battery or hand cranked

             change out battery every 6 months

             have one flashlight per person

    - Radio- battery or hand-cranked- check Walmart

    - First Aid Kit- with a manual - change out every 1-2 years

    - Cash- at least a couple of hundred dollars in small bills and change.

    - Medications you require

    - Keep at least a half a tank of gas in your car

    - Plastic bags for waste or use pool water to flush the toilets.

    - Pet food or a crate to leave your pets in if you have to go to a shelter-leave enough

         food and water for several days plus your name and address on the crate

Keep the kit where you can get at it- closet, garage or shed.

Make up a backpack to keep in your car with water, food, something to read, flashlight

    its ok to pull over and wait out the earthquake in your car just get off bridges and

    and stay away from over passes.

If at home get under a table and hold on in case the table moves across the room or stand by an

    inside wall without big objects that might fall on you.

Secure furniture and water heaters with straps.

Next week's speaker: Mike Williams- The TV Business