Thought for the Day: Jerry Winges mentioned it was Earth Day (all day) and passed on some thoughts regarding Earth Day and Teamwork. A few excerpts:
“Earth Day reminds us that the strongest force on the planet is people united for a purpose. Alone we can make a difference, but together we can create change that lasts. Rotary’s greatest strength is in collective action, and Earth Day is a reminder that Rotary’s power isn’t in numbers — it’s in unity.”
“Teamwork is Rotary’s greatest currency; with it, we can buy a better future for someone who needs it. A Rotary project succeeds not because one person cares, but because many refuse not to.”
Visitors: Terri Bosch, CALL Primrose
Sunshine Report
Sad news that Jonnie Dukes’ mother passed away after a series of strokes.
Delia Montano gave an update on the health status of her son, who has been in a coma for 2 years. He is out of intensive care and back in the regular hospital ward. He remains in a vegetative state but is able to open his eyes.
Your prayers and good wishes for both families are needed and welcome.
Burlingame & Hillsborough’s Got Talent Report:
Jerry Winges, co-chair, gave thanks to all the committee members and donors who made this event possible:
Nimisha Melag: Co-chair, publicity, graphics, the web site, organizing sponsors, and her muscle in the cleanup operation!
Jennifer Pence: Ran the fund-a-need, organized the raffle, helped with publicity, finding and getting sponsorships, setting up, cleanup, and much more!
Christine Krolik: Finding, signing up, monitoring and organizing all the performers—and her wonderful emcee talents held the show together!
Bob Doerr: lined up 15 (!) restaurants, organized all the food, set it up, managed the BHS students who served, did major kitchen clean up and washing all those large pans. All this, plus arranging for the red carpet, trips to the storage shed, and more!
Marilyn Orr: Her major help in all aspects of the event including ticket sales, accounting, website, sponsors, and her muscle in setup and cleanup!
Raul and Karina, came all the way from Brentwood! They designed, purchased the decorations, blew up and set up all the balloons, table centerpieces and made the whole room and entry elegant!
Adam Feder: bartending, set-up and cleanup!
Bret and Allison: manning the entry table and checking in performers!
Individual Sponsorships: Bobba family, Dan Conway, Lage Andersen, Doug and Robin, Jerry and Charlene, Alden, Jeff and Christine, Jennifer and Adam, Al Royse, Cary Koh!
Fund-a-need donors: Mark Johnson, Fritz, Marilyn, Al Royse, Cheryl Fama, Jerry Winges, Paul Watermulder, Bobba and at least 7 other guests!
Jennifer Pence summarized the great results of the talent event:
Largest attendance ever – almost 140!
Largest talent show – 20 performers!
Largest net fundraiser for BGT so far – about $17,000!
Most number of people attending without any Rotary affiliation—just community folks who really enjoyed themselves, with some sending thank you emails!
Announcements:
Jennifer Pence announced continuing mock interviews for AVID students at Burlingame High School on April 23rd and April 30th, requiring at least 8 volunteers per date. There is also an Awards Ceremony at CSM on May 8 including those students who received scholarships from our Make a Difference Fund.
Burlingame Parks and Rec is holding “You Belong Burlingame” at the new Town Square this Saturday, April 25th from 11am-2pm. This is a community networking celebration showing neighbors all the different clubs and activities available in our town. We will have a table with information about Rotary and our Club. We have 5 volunteers but could use more to spread the word.
See Doug Person for information on the District 5150 Celebration event to be held May 2 at the Westin Hotel-SF Airport.
Marilyn Orr needs High Gear writers—we really need volunteers to help produce this valuable communication vital to keeping our Club members informed and engaged. This is so much simpler now that we use AI to transcribe the meeting, and is largely a cut and paste exercise. Please consider volunteering, even if you agree to do only one or two issues. You just need to paste together the summary, and Marilyn does the rest!
Jennifer Pence previewed upcoming speakers—a great lineup, so please try to attend as many lunch meetings as possible—we need you there!
Check Presentation:
Fritz Brauner presented Terri Bosch, the Board Chair of CALL Primrose, with a check for $9,000 from our service fund to support this important food pantry. Terri thanked the Club and gave some startling statistics about the state of hunger in Burlingame—approximately 36% of kids in the Burlingame schools are eligible for food assistance and due to Federal and other cutbacks of programs more people are going hungry.
Program
Pete Wanger (rhymes with danger!) introduced our speaker, Carol Ford. Carol is a private pilot and is President of the California Pilots Association and former president of the San Carlos Airport Association. She started flying when she was younger and trained at 2 small airports that are now closed. Hence, she spoke about the value and need to preserve small airports, not just for recreational flying, but for many more important reasons. Here are some of the points she made:
Airports are targets of cities and developers who see a lot of nice “vacant” land that is little used and could be developed as housing. This is what has happened to many small airports including where the current Tesla plant is in the East Bay
She related a story about her contact with Larry Ellison years ago, and his help with the Pilot Association to limit the height of the then proposed 150’ high Electronic Arts buildings to 100’.
Carol got interested in land use and referred to the California Land Use Handbook which has saved small airports; it limits heights and uses that can be built within certain distances from airports. If there were no small airports in the Bay Area, small planes would have to use SFO or OAK, which would cause chaos and conflict with large commercial aircraft, resulting in long waiting times for takeoffs and landings as well as safety concerns.
Small airports are lifelines for rural communities. She cited the need for delivery of supplies and staging of firefighting planes and helicopters close to active fires.
Carol showed pictures of the latest new electric aircraft from Joby and Archer Aviation which are in development and test flights. These are vertical take-off and landing craft, are quiet and are the future for local commuters. They will need small airports to survive and serve for small hops and connections to work places and major airports.
One problem is that the Cal-Trans Division of Aeronautics is supposed to support the small airports but is holding approximately $200 million . Some small rural airports survive only on firefighting fees and they do not have adequate funds for maintenance. San Carlos on the other hand has income from landing fees, hanger fees and some commercial lease rents and is better off financially.
Another major reason to preserve rural and small airports is the need for air ambulances and emergency transportation to hospitals for victims of accidents. It is the only lifeline connection to trauma centers when a disaster or major injury occurs.
Pete Wanger wrapped up the talk with the following definitions for the typical private pilot:
A good landing is when you can walk away from it!
A great landing is when you can use the plane again!
The Peninsula Health District is partnering with Blue Zones to conduct an Ignite Assessment—a research-based effort to understand our community’s well-being and readiness for lasting change. Inspired by the world’s longest-lived populations, Blue Zones uses proven strategies to improve health, lower costs, and enhance quality of life. This phase focuses on listening—engaging residents and leaders to uncover strengths, gaps, and opportunities. Join us to learn how this work could shape a healthier future for San Mateo County.
