Pledge of Allegiance: Marilyn Orr in her spooky dark shades led us in our typical lock step recitation.
Thought for the Day: Mike Horwitz asked us to pray together silently in accord with our own individual beliefs:
- Let us be thankful for the food, one another and absent friends
- Let us be a source of hope for those in need and a contentment for those who are lonely
- Let us give gratitude for the opportunity to serve through Rotary
- Let the feelings of love, kindness and well directed yet gentle spirit always be reflected in our actions
Announcements:
- We received thankful letters from our scholarship recipients from May and June—Janella G. and Sheheda S.
- Please reserve for our Holiday Party, 11:30 on December 15 at Sapore Restaurant on Burlingame Avenue.Cheryl Fama is arranging and it costs $40.00.Feel free to bring one guest.You can pay at the door to avoid any finance charges.
- Don’t forget the Fun Fairies party, 6 PM, Thursday November 18 at 428 Occidental, San Mateo (Suzanne Juptner’s house.) This is a free(!) event with free(!) food and free(!) drinks and no pressure(!) to join any committee or donate any money!FREE!!,yesFREE!!Come and enjoy the Fellowship for FREE!! And you can bring a guest – for FREE!!
Post Mortem – there will be a gathering of club morticians to dissect the Golf Tournament—hey, we made some money! A new committee has been formed to look into our future tournaments to make them even better, where we will (hopefully) be together in person again—we miss the fellowship, food and humor after the golf!
Ray Larios, one of our newest members and a master beekeeper, is unfortunately moving to Saudi Arabia for a 2 year assignment with the Dept. of State. He will not be taking the bees with him but has arranged long term childcare. We will miss you Ray but wish you well on your new assignment. Come back and be a speaker on your experience.
Rotary Foundation – Bill Tiedeman gave a comprehensive update and overview of the Foundation, and asked all Rotarians to contribute on a yearly basis whatever you can afford. The Foundation money goes to support international Rotary efforts such as water, health and polio eradication projects around the world, creating goodwill. The money goes to the National Chapter, and half comes back in 3 years in the form of a grant to our club where we can decide how to use it. So far this year we have received $3,245 from 14 of our members. Once you reach $1,000 over the years, you will receive recognition as a Paul Harris fellow. Today, President Joe presented Bill Tiedeman with his +4 blue sapphire pin representing an overall lifetime donation of $5,000, and presented Emily Matthews with a +1 sapphire pin representing $2,000. Many of our current and past members have received multiple Paul Harris awards over the years.
Breakout Sessions -- Yes, we love those, but don’t you love it how it cuts you off in mid- sentence or mid-thought? We need a little song ditty 10 seconds before it ends, like Jeopardy so we can shut up in time.
Newscast – Actually, there was no news, but Fritz and Jennifer put up 10 words on the screen that had something to do with Veterans Day and asked what they reminded us of. Various items came up, including 9-pound Walkie-Talkies, Super Glue hairspray, Nelle Belle the Jeep, and Pierre’s Cargo Shorts.
Program:
Our own Christopher Ramirez, banker extraordinaire, presented a fascinating overview of Blockchain and Crypto Currency and included a 20-minute TED Talk video. Here are the main take-aways:
- Blockchain is the next generation of the Internet and could change the world by moving it from an internet of value to an internet of information.
- Blockchain could eliminate the intermediaries including banks, most businesses, and create better security and privacy for the user
- Better computing power and the potential for a diverse number of use cases.
- Bitcoin and the other crypto currencies are a child of the blockchain, where investors “own” the currency and trade directly to others through a trust protocol without intermediaries through a network of secure linkages with a chain of information that cannot be modified or manipulated.
- Miners of crypto currency and the blockchain system use huge amount of power and enormous processing power to make it work—not yet ecofriendly
- Investing in Crypto currency is an emotional investment that runs 24/7, unlike a business, and has huge swings in value—think Las Vegas.
- This new technological industry is not yet fully regulated. New regulation is developing with the user at the forefront for added security and protection against fraud.
Wow—this was an important presentation, and we should all bone up on this complicated current topic of Blockchain which could change our future before we know it. Just another example of how fast the world is changing around us and how much we all need to continue to educate ourselves and our children/grandchildren—or is it them who will educate us? Thanks Chris!
