Granite Chips May 11, 2011
A good sized group sang the song, said the pledge and then listened to F. Leo offer grace, accompanied by his musical cellphone. (more later)
Roy offered a Happy Dollar – he & wife Elizabeth just returned from a trip to Virginia, where they attended their grandson’s first communion. Roy then talked about the photo in Sunday’s Times Argus that showed the recent Zoombathon – a dance event that raised money for polio eradication. He said the photo caption said they were raising money to eliminate polio in Vermont, and the organizer of the event has been inundated with phone calls ever since. Michael gave a Happy Dollar. He said the photo and caption were part of a test to see if people were still reading the newspaper, and apparently they are.
President Claire said there will be a board meeting next week before the regular Rotary meeting. Board members should plan on arriving around 11:00 AM.
P. Claire called for the secretary report, but said our secretary is somewhere in the world. Karl said Sue is in California. Elizabeth said she thought Sue was on Las Vegas. Anyway, she’s not here to introduce our guests:
- Bill Thompson, District Governor
- Fran Thompson, Mrs. District Governor
- Marcia Hoffman, Assistant District Governor-Elect
- Judy Peterson, prospective new member
- Elizabeth Somaini, wife of Roy
DG Bill said President Claire is a jewel, but also admitted that she can be a thorn at times. Bill was here to present the Club with a Presidential Citation. In addition, Bill presented Roy (surprise, Roy!) with a Rotary International Club Builder Award. Roy said if he has known he would be receiving such important recognition, he would have shaved and worn long pants. At the end of the meeting, Bill said Roy’s award was the only Club Builder Award given in our district. Well done, Roy!
Mario gave a Happy Dollar because their daughter is visiting from New Mexico. He also reminded everyone about the car raffle (you may have noticed the spiffy car in the parking lot). Mario said F. Leo has agreed to buy a ticket. Prez Claire said if she wins the car, she’ll leave it to F. Leo in her will.
Leo offered a Happy Dollar because he’s not burying anybody today, so was able to make the meeting. He offered another Happy Dollar because of P. Claire’s generosity (see above paragraph).
Guest Marcia offered a Happy Dollar – she’s pleased to be here, and we’ll see a lot of her, as her term as ADG is for 3 years. She offered a second Happy Dollar because her husband, who is a minister, has the same ring tone as F. Leo.
Joe introduced our guest speaker while Bob passed out dessert. Our speaker today is Howard Schaffer from the Ethan Allen Institute. Howard presented a copy of the book “Power to Save the World” as a present to the Club. He spoke about what Vermont wants for energy: to protect the environment and have a clean source of energy. Electricity accounts for about 1/3 of Vermont’s energy consumption. Recently Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) produced a report on how to increase efficiencies in homes, and Howard said Vermont’s electricity resources are good until 2012, after which the state will need to depend on the grid or other energy options, including wind, solar, a little hydro, coal & oil. The energy debate needs to focus on the creation of a transition plan.
Howard said Vermont Yankee is safe and produces about 670 megawatts. He said tritium is not very dangerous, and showed an exit sign you can order online that it lit by tritium – more than has ever leaked out of Vermont Yankee. Howard said the legislative consensus report shows that closing VTY would cause the loss of 1,300 jobs, and have a direct financial impact on the state. Howard said there is no perfect energy; that everything needs to be maintained.
Judy asked about risk & trust, and Howard said there is risk from all energy sources. He said risk needs to be taken into consideration with how often problems happen. Marcia said she is concerned about spent fuel rods and what to do with the waste. Howard said they do what nature does – store it underground. He said there is more radiation in the Earth’s crust than will ever be created by Man. He said rods can be reprocessed to get the usable materials out, and that France is doing such reprocessing. Howard said there have been organizations trying to close VTY down since before it was built. He said some of the problems have been created by Entergy (the owners of VTY), who have not communicated well, nor spent enough on maintenance.
Howard drew the winning raffle ticket, which was held by Lucille.