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Meeting Minutes for
February
2009
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Feb 4
Feb 11 Feb 18
Feb 25
Club Meeting February 4
Minutes to be published soon...
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Club Meeting February 11
ROTARY CLUB MINUTES,
Catonsville Sunrise –
February 11, 2009
Cal Oren gave an
inspiration, Rosemary Wright
provided a Rotary moment.
Pres. Cal Oren opened the
meeting.
Guests included charter
guest Alan and Magbool
Waseem, a Lahore, India
native and former Pakistan
bureaucrat, a long time
Rotarian around the world,
invited by George Brookhart.
17 members were present.
Announcements:
• Dictionary Project: George
Brookhart discussed plans to
distribute dictionaries to
Arbutus (Feb. 24, 1:00),
Relay (Feb. 26, 9:00) and
Riverview (April 3)
Elementary Schools.
Volunteers are needed.
• Guest Bartending: George
also discussed plans for
this event coming up at
Dmitri’s.
• Unwanted Gift Auction:
Mark your calendars (and
clean out your closets) for
the February 25 meeting.
• 5K race: Eric Lamb said
the club needs $1,000 to
make a commitment to Charm
City for management of the
race to get started. The big
current need is for sponsors
and sponsorship money. Bruce
Siddons said the club should
approach Walmart for
contributions, who has the
money to give at this time
of year, but it should be
someone besides himself
because of his connection to
Sam’s Club. We could expect
to get at least $2,000.
Happy Dollars:
• Brent Tolbert-Smith gave
dollars in appreciation of
the Chinese New Year of the
ox and said it was a very
good year to buy California
real estate.
• Alan Ray gave dollars in
appreciation of the life of
Joe Loverde’s mother, the
Dictionary Project and the
coming fundraiser for
Grassroots, a crisis
intervention center.
• Bill Lorenz gave dollars
in appreciation of the locks
in Rosemary Wright’s house
and offered tickets to the
Baltimore Symphony Saturday
at the Meyerhoff in
Baltimore.
• Karen Paris gave dollars
in honor of the Catonsville
High School speech team,
which is ranked #1 in
Maryland and going soon to
the nationals competition
(See Denzel Washington in
the movie, “The Great
Debate”, a great movie on
this subject)
• Tom Medicus gave dollars
to commemorate a hike at
White Sands Missile Range
and the contribution Hilton
Flowers will make to the
Children’s Home for each
purchase for Valentine’s Day
(are my red tulips in yet,
Tom?).
• Bruce Siddons gave dollars
in appreciation of Sam’s
Club’s continued success in
business volume and profit
under his stewardship, going
from a volume of $60 million
to $92 million.
• Bruce VanderVort gave
dollars in appreciation of
the contributions to the
Children’s Home being made
by Hilton Flowers and the
May 2 Children’s Home Walk.
Speaker: George Brookhart on
the Current State of the
Real Estate Market in
Catonsville
George said that Catonsville
had not been badly affected
by the national financial
crisis, that house prices
have declined, by 10 to 15%,
but not to the extent
reported in many other
markets.
Some reasons he gave for
this are the relative
protection of jobs in the
Catonsville area with many
people working for
government, service-related
and high-tech jobs.
George discussed the
difference between the
expectations and perceptions
of buyers and sellers. He
feels many people have been
frightened by sensational
reports publicized by news
media that focus on the
national scene. Factors in
house price include
location, condition and the
local market.
Housing loan rates are
currently ranging between
4.75 and 5.5% for a fixed 30
year mortgage. For those who
lack enough money to make a
down payment qualifying for
a conventional mortgage, FHA
financing is becoming more
attractive, even though it
is 1% above the private
market rate, which requires
only 3-1/2% from the buyer.
Many buyers have unrealistic
expectations, assuming that
an offer 30% below the
asking price will be
accepted.
50-50: Bruce VanderVort won
the drawing.
The meeting was closed by
Pres. Cal Oren
Many thanks to Karen Paris
for substituting on the
Minutes for yours truly
while I was enduring the
hardships of the beaches in
San Diego and corn bread and
cracklings in Alabama in
January!!! (and for giving
everyone in the club a break
from me)
Submitted by Brent
Tolbert-Smith, Scribbler
2-13-09
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Club Meeting February 18
ROTARY CLUB MINUTES, Catonsville
Sunrise – February 18, 2009
Steve Arum was greeter
Larry Aaronson gave an
inspiration. Steve Arum also
provided a Rotary moment
concerning his old Iowa City
Rotary Club
Pres. Cal Oren opened the
meeting.
18 members were present.
Announcements:
• Guest Bartending: February 26
at Dimitri’s (George Brookhart)
• Bani Cow: Rosemary Wright
circulated a picture of the cow
our club purchased for the cow
project of the Bani Rotary Club
in the Dominican Republic (looks
like a dairy breed crossed
between maybe a Chorelais and a
Guernsey).
• 5k Walk/Run: Bruce Siddons
gave a progress update. Karen
Paris reported there is interest
by BCCC in sponsoring the race.
Cal Oren reported that Charm
City run management was looking
at the possibility of routing a
10K run on the Catonsville
campus.
• Unwanted gift auction: Bring
all your unwanted gifts to the
meeting on Feb. 25 to auction
off.
• Frederick Road Follies: The
club may sponsor this event and
possibly sell some product
(i.e., ice cream, hot dogs,
beer) (Cal Oren)
• Dictionary Project: Volunteers
are set for February 24
distribution. Members are
invited to remain after the
meeting today to label
dictionaries for the coming
distributions (George
Brookhart).
Happy Dollars:
• Larry Aaronson: Gave a dollar
in appreciation for the
impersonation of the Statue of
Liberty in front of Tom Medicus’
flower shop, Hilton Flowers.
• Rosemary Wright: Gave a dollar
in appreciation of the help for
home owners in the new American
Revitalization and Reinvestment
Act signed by President Obama on
Feb. 17.
• Tom Medicus: Gave a dollar in
anticipation of his upcoming
visit to see his grandson in
South Carolina and the dubious
honor of an invitation to help a
friend out on a wedding there.
• Cal Oren: Gave a dollar in
appreciation for his house
guests, his mother-in-law and
her fiancée, a long time family
friend whose grief counseling
blossomed into romance (no doubt
an effective antidote for grief,
but not one that can be used too
often, perhaps).
• Larry Aaronson: Gave another
dollar in honor of the coming
8th year of the Women’s Expo at
BCCC, featuring over 180
exhibits, on March 7 & 8. It has
raised $100,000 in scholarships
for BCCC students.
Speaker: Jean Allert, The
Samaritan Women
Ms Allert, a previous speaker,
is spearheading the development
of the Samaritan Women
Residence, intended as a
Christian transitional program
for women in recovery on 19
acres at 602 South Chapel Gate
Lane in Baltimore. She came
today to speak about the
Community Garden her
organization is starting on 3
acres at the home, which has the
support of various
organizations, including the
Maryland Master Gardeners and
Parks and People. RICA, a
Maryland state facility next
door for emotionally disturbed
youth, will use the garden for a
horticulture project. Ms Allert
was soliciting garden tool
contributions of all types and
volunteers to work in the
garden. The center also plans to
use a wood lot at the back of
the 19-acre property for
scouting and other community
woodland projects.
Ms. Allert announced that the
first planting of the Community
Garden was scheduled for
February 28 (presumably peas,
spinach and other greens like
collards and turnips, maybe
potatoes – traditional local
first planting date is St.
Patrick’s Day).
50-50: Ed Holzman won the
drawing.
The meeting was closed by Pres.
Cal Oren
Submitted by Brent
Tolbert-Smith, Scribbler
2-19-09
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Club Meeting February 25
ROTARY CLUB MINUTES, Catonsville
Sunrise – February 25, 2009
Eric Lamb was greeter
Steve Arum gave an inspiration.
Eric Lamb also contributed a
Rotary Moment concerning a
marathon sponsored by a Taiwan
Rotary club
Pres. Cal Oren opened the
meeting.
18 members were present.
Happy Dollars:
• Brent Tolbert-Smith gave
dollars in appreciation of the
day he spent with his son last
week and to share pictures he
brought along showing his latest
work on his farm house in
Cumberland.
• Larry Aaronson gave dollars in
note of recent forensic experts
who supported Judge Souder’s
decision regarding fingerprint
evidence in a recent celebrated
court case and in memory of the
passing of Richard Hiteshew’s
brother.
• Joe Loverde gave dollars in
appreciation of his daughter’s
recent promotion to section
chief at Social Security, a
rapid rise, and for a New York
Times advertisement for polio
eradication.
• George Brookhart gave a dollar
to note his real estate venture
has become a sole
proprietorship.
• Tom Medicus gave dollars to
note an adventure with his
grandson and in appreciation of
the Dictionary Project
distribution in which he
participated last week.
• Jonathan Zawacki gave a dollar
to relate the first ski trip
with his daughter (aged 4).
• Steve Arum gave a dollar to
note the alternative Bull Roast
he held at his house with his
tennis group.
Club Business:
• CEAN – John Monck discussed
recent developments at CEAN, the
Catonsville Emergency Assistance
Network, or food ministry, in
difficult times.
• 5K Race – Bruce Siddons said
that a table publicizing the
race will be staffed at the
Women’s Exposition at the
community college in Catonsville
in March. The Club should
approach Walmart for sponsorship
funds. There will be a meeting
Friday regarding the Club’s
partnership with the community
college in Catonsville for the
race. Eric Lamb discussed the
possibility of making the race a
10K race. Cal Oren discussed the
decision to award 25% of the
race profits to the scholarship
fund of the community college in
Catonsville, with the
expectation that the college
will actively promote race
participation among faculty,
staff and students (as well as
providing facilities).
Program: Unwanted Gift Auction.
An auction of unwanted gifts
contributed by members was held,
run by that veteran auctioneer
Bruce VanderVort. Thanks to John
Monck, Rosemary Wright, Cal
Oren, Brent Tolbert-Smith, Bill
Lorenz, Jonathan Zawacki, Chuck
Gailunas, Russ Witzke, Eric
Lamb, Steve Arum, Tom Medicus
and others(?) who paid a total
of $200 (according to Cal Oren)
for auction items, which will go
to the Lazarus Caucus for the
homeless.
50-50: Larry Aaronson won the
drawing.
The meeting was closed by Pres.
Cal Oren
Submitted by Brent
Tolbert-Smith, Scribbler
2-26-09
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