MARCH 10th MEETING-COURTESY AWARDS/INDUCTIONS

On March 10, the Courtesy Awards committee will be presenting awards to several outstanding individuals in our community.  Among others, learn about how one individual gave up his Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to insure that carpets could be well cleaned.  And how the extra ordinary service of another lead to almost 130,000 page views and "likes" from all over the world after his good deed was reported on a blog. 

ROTARACT NEEDS OUR HELP FOR HYGIENE DRIVE

The Rotaract Club would like our help in collecting items for the hygiene drive below. We will collect them at the March 10 Rotary meeting.  The most urgently needed items are laundry detergent, dish soap, paper towels, toilet paper, feminine care products, shampoo, diapers, baby wipes, liquid soap, unscented deodorant, soft toothbrushes (adult and child sized), and toothpaste.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

·         Rotary Shines is looking for bottles of wine for the cork pull.  If you are interested in donating a bottle please bring to the meeting and give to Megan Klubertanz or Amy Flanders.  Value should be around $20/bottle.

·         District Conference is May 15-17 here in Appleton at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel.  A flyer is attached with details.

·         SAMP Packing- The board has decided to suspend our SAMP program for 6 months.  During this time a task force will be created to look further into this program and see how it can be improved. 

·         On March 2^nd the movie PILOT ERROR will be showing at the Appleton East Marcus Cinema.  Screenings are at 4 pm and 7 pm.  Pilot Error was filmed on location in Milwaukee and Appleton.  The Emmy award winning composer Garth Neustadter was a graduate from Lawrence University.  Our Foreign Exchange student, Flora Prada, also has a small cameo in the film.  Tickets can be purchased at marcustheatres.com.

AMERICA'S ENERGY FUTURE - DR. WINSTON PORTER

Dr. Porter is a chemical engineer (University of Texas and U.C. Berkeley) whose early experience included management of Bechtel Corporation’s environmental department, and later the master plan for the $30 billion Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia.  He later served as an assistant administrator of the EPA with national responsibility for Superfund and other waste management programs.  Currently, he is an independent consultant specializing in the energy and environmental sectors.  He is based in Savannah, Georgia. Dr. J. Winston Porter summarized the current U. S. energy situation, including oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy, as well as renewables such as wind, solar, and biomass. He then described the very rapid increase in shale gas and oil production by “fracking.” Finally, he outlined “America’s energy future,” based on key technical and policy factors.  American Energy Usage is: 40% Electric power, 28% Transportation, 21% Industrial and 11% Residential and Commercial.  From the 1970s to today, our demand is leveling out.  The US demand is not growing exponentially like it once was.  We are doing things to lessen the amount of energy we need.  China and India are rising, similar to the U.S pre 1970s as they industrialize a bit more.  The good news for U.S Energy is that we lead the world in oil and gas production, thanks mainly to hydraulic fracturing, prices for energy are dropping, air emissions are decreasing and renewables are increasing.  The key to U.S. Energy issues are the future of renewable energy, rapid shale gas and oil increases, proposed clean power plan and oil and gasoline price reductions.  A positive thing about wind and solar energy are they are renewable and the costs and technology are improving.  The negative things are they need large amounts of land and require back-up power.  As far as the Clean Power Plan, thanks to shale gas, reduction is already 15%.  Each state has a target emission level and Wisconsin is 34%.  To improve America’s Energy Future we need to increase global market for U.S. energy, renewables need advanced batteries, we need to develop cleaner coal, steadily improve energy efficiencies and we need to use all our energy tools. 

MARCH 3RD MEETING-SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS

Shen Yun is coming to Appleton's Performing Arts Center on March 3 and 4th.  On March 3rd, Tim Gebhart will be here to explain what Shen Yun is about and its mission to revive classical Chinese dance and culture. A hallmark of Shen Yun is its unique philosophy behind success in the arts. They hold a belief that to show outward beauty, one must first have inner beauty. Audience members are often moved to tears watching Shen Yun.

ROTARY SHINES APRIL 17TH, 2015 AT FOX BANQUETS

This year’s beneficiaries will be:

Polio Plus Program

United Way Fox Cities PATH (Providing Access to Healing) for students program

Project Bharati: Rehabilitation and Empowerment for Girls Rescued Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence

Here are the Sponsors so far:

Presenting Sponsor                 Community First Credit Union

Supporting Sponsors               Associated Bank

Barb Merry

Bassett Mechanical

BOLDT

Goodwill Industries

Nicolet National Bank

Schenck

Friend Sponsors                      American National Bank

                                                             Curt Detjen Family Fund

                                                 Wichmann Funeral Home

                                                            Fiduciary Partners

                                                            Herrling Clark

                                                            Esker and Associates

                                                            Jeff Werner

ANNOUNCEMENTS

·         Rotary Shines is looking for bottles of wine for the cork pull.  If you are interested in donating a bottle please bring to the meeting and give to Megan Klubertanz or Amy Flanders.  Value should be around $20/bottle.

·         District Conference is May 15-17 here in Appleton at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel.  Great events are planned and the cost to attend is only $15.00.  Sign up by going to the district website http://www.ridistrict6220.org/.  Click on registration tab on the right hand side.