The Meeting Opening The meeting was called to order by Past President Eric Hoiland, at BCCC.  Eric asked John Bohanon to lead the pledge, which he did.  Jim Patterson then presented the invocation.   Larry Bradley was asked to led us in a song.  He led us in singing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game.”

President Elect Peggi Koehler offered Rotary T-Shirts for sale.  Contact her to order your t-shirt.  They will be great to wear at the Harvest Festival.  The cost to members will probably be in the area of $22-$25.  The actual cost is somewhat more, but the club will pick up the rest.

She also announced that she will be attending the District Conference on April 26-28 and the Spring Assembly North at Shasta College in Redding on April; 6^th. 

Larry Bradley announce that they have found another location for Camp Royal, so it can now be held in June, not the end of August, after school had started. 

He also indicated that they will be selecting the students attending Camp Venture, shortly.

We will also be contributing to the Durham Parade, which will be held on May 11^th.

Introduction of Visitors 

Larry Bradley introduced the parents of our Student of the Month for March, Mike and Rose Wilson.  Wade Wilson, our Student of the Month had not yet arrived.

He also introduced Daryl Polk’s program for the night, Rob Doornbos.

Recognitions

Jessica Thorpe was recognized for her birthday, but refused to disclose her age.  However, she contributed $50.  We sang “Happy Birthday” to her.

Mike Wacker was recognized for his birthday and also contributed $50.  We sang “Happy Birthday” to him.

Next Meetings

The next meeting will be April 9^th.  It will not be at the BCCC.  It will be at the Chico Elks Lodge beginning at 5:30 pm.  It will be a joint meeting of the 4 local clubs, hosted by Chico Rotary.   Since it is on our regular meeting night it will be our meeting for theweek.  The Club will pick up the cost of the dinner for members.  If you bring a guest, your cost for the guest will be $22.  Let President Glenn know if you are coming and if you are going to bring a guest.

The following meeting will be on April 23^rd.  Steve Plume will present the program at the BCCC.

Then on April 30^th, we will have a club social at Marigold Marketplace in Durham.  It is Kolocated at 2500 Durham-Dayton Hwy #8, Durham, CA 95938

We will hear from Kelly, the owner, about her business model and what she's brought to thecommunity. We will have beer & wine available for purchase, and dinner will be provided from a host of her local vendors.  An invitation and RSVP info will be coming out soon.

Students of the Month

Larry Bradley introduce Student of the Month  for March, Wade Wilson.  Wade spoke to us about the many things he has done, including being Student Body President this year, his attendance at Camp Royal, his involvement in Interact and much more.  Larry presented him with a plague.

    

Tonight’s Meeting Program

Daryl Polk introduced Rob Doornbos, Founder and CEO of Weather Tools, Inc.  Weather Tools, Inc. prepares The California Annual Precipitation (CAP) report, which was developed by Rob.  This is not a daily weather report, but rather a prediction of the total precipitation expected for the year, which is issued at the beginning of winter for farmers and water managers.  It is not a prediction of when, in the winter, the precipitation will fall, but the total expected for the year.

Until now, a reliable water year precipitation forecast for California has not existed. During the first week of November, CAP forecasts the total precipitation for California’s water year (Oct 1-Sept 30) – almost a full year in advance.

This statistical model provides two critical pieces of information:

Whether it will be an “above” or “below” normal water year.

A definitive range of precipitation amounts, in 20% ranges relative to normal: >40% below normal (BN), 20-40% BN, 0-20% BN, 0-20% above normal (AN), 20-40% AN, or >40% AN.

Once the data is analyzed and predictions are made for the water year, the forecast doesn’t change. Customers are not left chasing a fluctuating prediction and can make informed, water-related decisions months in advance.

CAP forecasts have successfully verified every year – 7 years in a row. No other California precipitation forecast has come close to doing the same.

For all the responsibilities a water manager has, the primary input is precipitation. The CAP forecast helps water managers anticipate risk and make operational decisions. With an accurate water year precipitation forecast, state reservoirs can be more effectively managed. Monthly precipitation updates and reservoir status can assist in positioning resources ahead of time to enable a moreinformed level of water management, in both drought and flood.

Membership

Bring guests who you think you can interest in becoming a member.  Your dinner and your guest’s dinner will be paid for by the Club.  Also, bring a guest to one of our occasional social gatherings.

Go to the following Rotary International web site for information on membership development:  https://my.rotary.org/en/learning-reference/learn-topic/membership .  From this website there is access to membership development and other related information.

The Rotary Foundation Donations

You can make a difference in this world by helping people in need. Your gift can do some great things, from supplying filters that clean people’s drinking water to empowering local entrepreneurs to grow through business development training.

The Rotary Foundation will use your gift to fund the life-changing work of Rotary members who provide sustainable solutions to their communities’ most pressing needs. But we need help from people like you who will take action and give the gift of Rotary to make these projects possible.

When every Rotarian gives every year, no challenge is too great for us to make a difference. The minimum gift to The Rotary Foundation is $25.00.   An annual $100.00 gift is a sustaining member.  Once your donations accumulate to $1,000 you become a Paul Harris Fellow.

If you have any questions ask Steve Heithecker.

It is possible to learn more about The Rotary Foundation on the Rotary web site. 

Your gift can be made online or by sending Jessica Thorpe a check made out to The Rotary Foundation to Durham Rotary, P.O. Box 383, Durham, California 95958.

Must Be Present to Win Drawing:

Steve Plume drew Steve Heithecker’s name.  Steve was not present to win.

Eric then closed the meeting.

________________________________________________________________

From District 5160

Spring Assembly: North – April 6, Redding

Field of Rotary Dreams 2023-24 District Conference – April 26-28, Sacramento

RI Convention Social – May 26, Singapore

District 5160 Awards & Installation – June 13, Davis

World Peace Conference – January 24-26, 2025, Rohnert Park (Sonoma Wine Country)

_______________________________________________________________ri

From Rotary International

Rotary project supplying clean water to Zimbabwean villages brings wide-ranging benefits

By Etelka Lehoczky

Nobody takes water for granted in Zimbabwe, least of all the residents of Musekiwa and Mushaki. Located about 160 kilometers (99 miles) from the capital of Harare, the two villages have been drastically affected by the country’s water shortage. Until recently, many residents walked five kilometers (three miles) or more to find water every day.

“They were getting some water from open wells, some from rivers,” says Trymore Tafadzwa Kabanda, a councilor for Mushaki.

That changed when two Rotary clubs thousands of miles apart decided to collaborate on a grant-funded project. Members of the Rotary Club of Saint Helena, California, USA, learned about the villages’ situation in 2020 from a guest speaker whose wife had grown up in the area. They found out about the devastating effects climate change has had on rainfall in rural Zimbabwe, where more than 90% of households depend on agriculture for their main livelihood. Zimbabwe’s rainfall patterns have become highly variable in the last two decades. The rainy season used to last from October to March; now it sometimes starts as late as December.

“They had a horrendous water problem,” says John Muhlner, a past president of the Saint Helena club. “Women, for the most part, werewalking miles every day to bring water back to their homes. Often they would go and wouldn’t find water, or maybe the water they found would be contaminated.”

The Saint Helena Rotarians contacted the Rotary Club of Harare CBD, Harare,Zimbabwe, which conducted a community assessment. After that, the clubs raised funds and applied for a Rotary Foundation global grant. The US$82,000 projec tplan was to dig two wells, install solar-powered pumps and a water piping system, train residents to maintain the equipment, and conduct an educationalcampaign about the importance of hygiene.

Although the project seemed straightforward, it took more than a year to complete. The first barrier was a predictable one: bureaucracy.

“It is quite important that you approach the various government offices to get the necessary approvals before you start a project,” says Antony Matsika, a past president of the Harare club. “We had to go through four levels of approvals:the provincial development coordinator, the district development coordinator, the rural district council, and – lastly, maybe, but still important – the chief of the area. If we didn’t go through those different stakeholders, we were not going to succeed in doing the project.”

Once work was underway, the clubs encountered a problem they didn’t anticipate: Oneof the wells they dug didn’t strike water.

Workers dig a well in the village of Mushaki, Murehwa District, Zimbabwe]

Courtesy of Constancia Bosha

“In Zimbabwe, you can contract for drilling one of two ways. One is to tell the contractor where to drill, and if nothing comes out of the hole, you’re responsible for the cost of drilling somewhere else,” says Dan Balfe, a member of the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa, California, USA, who also worked on the project. “We should have contracted for a wet hole, which is to say, they would guarantee to drill a hole that had water. We learned a lesson there. As a result, we had to do another phase of fundraising.”

Ultimately, the villages did get their water. Now the Saint Helena and Harare clubs are planning a second grant-funded project to help two more villages in the region. But there’s still a need for many more such initiatives. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.4 million people die each year because of inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities. Access to clean water affects everyone – often in surprising ways.

“Water touches on all of Rotary’s areas of focus,” says Mary Beth Growney Selene, chair of the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Rotary Action Group. “Children are not being pulled away from school to go fetch water in a local river. Parents don’t have to spend time fetching water, so they can be more productive economically. People aren’t as susceptible to waterborne diseases. ‘It all starts with water,’ is what wesay.”

That was certainly the case in Mushaki and Musekiwa. “Now, most of the villagers don’t have to go more than a few meters to fetch water,”Kabanda says. “Also, diseases like cholera are prevented.”

Kabanda and the Rotary members believe the new wells shielded people in Mushaki and Musekiwa from a recent outbreak of cholera, which can be caused by a bacterium in brackish river water. A hospital in the area said there hadn’t been any cases of cholera from the two villages, Matsika says.

“Our conclusion is that it is probably because of our project – because of the supply of clean water.”