Charlie called the meeting to order, Frank lead us in the Pledge and Julie lead the Reflection
Christine won the 50/50, but no Joker
Bob Campbell, fellow Rotarian, was our guest speaker
Membership Update
We watched Part 2 of the video Different Types of Memberships. These include Young Professionals, Seasonal, and others.
Frank gave us an interesting statistic - our club had almost 80% attendance last year. Good Job All!
General Topics
Rennie was in the hospital again, but is back home now. He is barely walking, but is getting good care at home.
Raffle Calendars are now available for sale. Our goal is to sell a minimum of 10 each. When selling, emphasis the terrific odds of winning, and that buyers can really help the community by purchasing a calendar. SELL, SELL SELL!
The "Stuff" A Bear (Build A Bear) event was a huge success! The winning poster incorporated all aspects of our club, including flower boxes, pancakes, and dictionaries. The winner used his Visa card to take a less-fortunate friend to Apex fun center. Very thoughtful, and just the type of person we are really happy they won.
The second place winner's poster had the theme of "raining peace", another Rotary theme. And interestingly, this was the first time ever that Build A Bear held an offsite event.
The dinner to celebrate the success of the Breakfast for the Bands will be held at Brady's on Tuesday January 21. It's $30 per person, and significant others are encouraged to attend as well as members.
Johnny mentioned that for the Guatemala trip, Rotary International has requested the volunteers bring school supplies and stuffed animals. Louise has several toys left over from the hospital donation project that she will give to Johnny to bring.
The District Assembly will be held in Leominster this year, at the Doubletree Hotel. There will be new member and other training workshops to attend. This is a wonderful opportunity for everyone, especially considering the Leominster location. The date is April 18, 2020. You can register online at rotary7910.org
Time to start thinking Spring! The flower box project is just around the corner so we will begin early to send out letters with invoices and due dates.
Guest Speaker
Bob Campbell - Onics
Bob is with Onics, an exciting new clean energy company that "cleans up dirty electricity". Their target customers are large manufacturing companies, hospitals, and schools that utilize a lot of electricity in their daily operations. Huge savings and efficiencies can be realized when using the filters provided by Onics.
Examples of their customers are Fitchburg State University, which has a $2.7mm annual electric bill, and Lahey Hospital in Concord. Several local municipalities are also very interested in using the filters, which are installed on every electrical panel at the facilities.
A few cool facts about electricity
1. Electricity travels at 6,696,000 miles per hour.
2. Electricity plays an important role in the way your heart functions. Muscle cells in the heart are contracted by electricity that runs through your body.
Electrocardiogram (ECG) machines are used in hospitals to measure the electricity flowing through a patient’s heart, displaying a line that spikes with every heartbeat.
3. What’s a Volt? A unit of electric force, measuring the potential strength of current.
4. The typical lightning bolt packs 100 million volts.
5. The average taser emits 50,000 volts.
6. A spark of static electricity can measure up to 3,000 volts.
7. Electric eels can produce shocks of 500 volts or more.
8. Coal is the world’s biggest source of energy for producing electricity. How does it work?
Coal is burned in furnaces that boil water. The resulting steam from that boiling water spins turbines that are attached to generators or transformers.
9. Fossil fuels are the largest source of electricity, but wind, water and the sun can also produce it.
10. The first successful electric car was built in 1891 by American inventor William Morrison.
11. Benjamin Franklin didn’t discover electricity, but he did prove that lightning is a form of electricity.
Thanks to his revolutionary lightning-rod invention during the 18th century, electricity was understood better than ever before.
12. Ever wondered why birds that sit on power lines don’t get electrocuted? If a bird sits on only one power line it’s safe. If the bird touches any part of its body to another line, it creates a circuit, causing electrocution.
