After a hearty greeting by our stand-in greeters, Past Present
Neil Walker and President Elect Nominee
Ron Nelms, Past President
Gina Hayden called the meeting to order. The invocation was provided
by Shaun Kelly and the flag salute was led by
Pete Leveroni. Past President
Neil led us in singing God Bless America. Most of us seemed to have left our best singing voices at home.
Sandy Magley would have introduced visiting Rotarians but there were none present. There were, however, two guests in attendance.
Pat Thompson introduced his lovely daughter, Laurel. Pat was quick to say that in addition to being beautiful, she is smart and single. President Kay’s guest was
Renee Goodwin with Johnson Controls. There were no Rotary anniversaries to report. There were, however, two birthdays:
Samy Abiaoui celebrated his birthday February 7
th and honorary member,
Ward Wyatt, celebrated his 1
st birthday February 9
th.
Past President Gina changed things up a bit when it came to Happy Spots and Recognition. She went from table to table selecting a member to “rat out” someone at their table. Past President Jackie reported that Pat Thompson has a new knee and is doing great. That was worthy of a $7 fine for his seven weeks of recovery. Past President Mike Stepanovich was fined $10 for not ratting out anyone at his table. Past President Gina paused a bit to ask the female members present if Pat Thompson should be fined for pimping his daughter since he made a point of telling us his daughter’s marital status. A $20 fine sounded good. However, Past President Neil agreed to pay $2 of Pat’s fine since he was his sponsor. Dan Johnson was fined $25 for divulging Pat’s daughter’s age.
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At
Shaun Kelly’s table
Jeff Haynes indicated he recently attended a Condor’s game and picked up a puck for President
Kay. (President's note - this particular game was on Rotary Night! Those that attended had a grand time. Pres Kay had fun being goofy on the ice with the other club presidents and Assistant Governors)) No fine for
Jeff.
Greg Desme was fined $15 for his $125 Super Bowl win. At
Adoree’s table she announced that the Mendiburu Foundation is having an annual fundraiser. Purchase candy from Dewar’s on
California Avenue and funds will go to the Foundation. Wonderful cause so no fine was imposed.
Jeff Bell indicated he and his wife spent a week in Belize and brought back a “bug.” Ill or not, the trip was worth a $7 fine.
Past President Neil said items for the Past President raffle on Charter Night are still needed. Bring items to the February 15th meeting. Ed O’Donnell reminded everyone that PRLS (Practical Relevant Leadership Skills) will occur March 10-12. Cheryl Scott, Vocational Service Chair, asked from nominations for the Above and Beyond Award. Nominations are due by February 22nd.
Leslie VoVilla introduced our speaker, Rob Duchow. Rob is the public affairs manager for SoCal Gas. The title of his presentation was Game Changer: “How Natural Gas can Transfer California’s Energy Future.” He spoke of two challenges in California – the Federal Clean Air Act’s mandate to reduce smog 50%-60% over the next 20 years and the California climate go
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als to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80% of 1990 levels by 2050. 80% of our region’s smog and 40% of greenhouse emissions come from our freeways. Big rigs, cargo ships, and trains are the worst. New natural gas engines are the game changer. Near zero natural gas engines reduce NOx emission by 90% and GHG emissions by 80%. Natural gas technology is transferable to ships and
trains. 58% of methane emissions come from agriculture (cows and green waste). Renewable natural gas convert green waste from dairies, farms, and landfills and it is believed this could power 2-3 million homes. The Kern County Cluster, composed of 16 dairy farms, pool their waste and could displace 1.5 – 2.5 million DGEs per year with an ultra low carbon intensity. Companies such as CR&R in Perris, Ca. and Wonderful Farms in the central valley are converting waste and producing electricity from natural gas. Natural gas is the answer!
As the meeting wrapped up, Ed O’Donnell won the drawing for $67. Past President Gina’s name was drawn for the 100 PHF points.
We left the meeting with this quote: “Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.”
See you February 15th!
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Nine BBRC'ers and friend met after the February 1 meeting to give very special dictionaries (with pictures!) to every third grader at Fremont Elementary School. Suffice it to 
say, the classrooms were disrupted after each child received a dictionary with their name in it. Thanks to Denise Haynes and Michele McClure for coordinating and making this happen. Others visiting the rooms and making the children's day included Ed O'Donnell, Ron Nelms, Kay Pitts, and Craig Holland.
