Granite Chips

 

July 1, 2015

 

We opened the meeting at the usual “on-the-dot” time with “American the Beautiful” accompanied this week with the sound of organ music; the pledge followed and then an eloquent grace was delivered by Caroline. Dick offered a Happy Dollar for the excellent performance of the Rotabarrians at the

Changeover Dinner. After the unusual soup and the usual sandwiches and cookies, we sang “Home on the Range” with gusto and, in honor of the 3^rd rainiest June on record, “Singing in the Rain,” not so gusto or good. Carl then read some announcements, including many thanks to those who made the Changeover Dinner a success: Sue for running the meeting and the prep work involved; Dick and the Rotabarrians (Caroline, Liane Carol, Bertil, Jack, Ron and Tom); Bertil, Sue and Jim for helping with the invitations and programs; Carol for Chips; Joe for the prayers; and district officers Marilyn Bedell and Jay Polimeno. He also announced that we were 3^rd in the district for Foundation giving for 2014-2015 and thanked Ted for doing a great job as Foundation Chair. Ted asked Ron to come forward to receive a Paul Harris plus seven. Here Ron is receiving his award.

 

Sue gave the Secretary’s Report which consisted of her intent to defer announcing birthdays and anniversaries until next week because of the small crowd. No objections were voiced and so her intentions became reality. Caroline offered two Happy Dollars; one for the U.S. soccer team victory over Germany; and the other for her twin boys turning 12.

The next order of business was the induction of Rebecca Duranleau. Karl,her sponsor, presented her to Jim who conducted the induction ceremony. Karl presented the Rotary member pin and Jim presented a kit which included a membership certificate and a badge. Rebecca was welcomed warmly by those assembled.

 

Caroline introduced our speaker for the day, Rick Stevens. He was born in Burlington, grew up in Shelburne and attended Champlain Valley Union High School. He has held several jobs including paper delivery, shipping and receiving, gas attendant, automobile service manager and salesman, and Sales Manager for Applied Graphics. In 2004 he started Pure Water Technology: A company dedicated to the reduction of carbon footprint, providing healthier drinking water and reducing costs in the workplace. He spoke of various aspects of water filtration. One type of filtration is the municipal water plant whose mission is to purify water safe enough to drink. He talked about dissolved solids (aluminum, mercury, iron, etc.) and their effects on the body. The EPA sets the acceptable levels of these solids for drinking water. He also spoke of various filters, carbon being the most common. He talked about the problems with bottled water, including the fact that as a petroleum product, the bottle does not reduce the carbon footprint.  After a brief discussion of water softeners, he gave Karl “kudos” for the way he installed his water softener system, by-passing the kitchen sink. His company focuses on under the counter systems and he emphasized that the mission of his company is to reduce the carbon footprint and to bring healthy drinking water to the workplace.

                 Rick Stevens

 

Dick had the winning raffle ticket. $5, but no white ball.