CLUB 470 * DISTRICT 5160 * ORGANIZED APRIL 29, 1926 MEETING DATE: MARCH 25,2014
Today'sMeeting
President Les Engelmanncalled the meeting to order. PledgeofAllegiancewas lead bySean Kolb. Rotary Grace was lead byPast President (PP) Steve Venables.
Visiting Rotarians
Christy Simmons from Luna Vista
Guests of Rotarians
Tom Labrieintroduced President Les’ wife Gail.
Tim Petit was accompanied by his wife Nadine
Announcements
President Lesannounced that next week’s program is a'Club Assembly: further discussing the Visioning Project'
Christy Hayesreminded us of Rotarian contestant from the Luna Vista Club, Maribeth Villalobos, who attended last week. As a candidate in the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Sacramento Valley, “2014 Miss Bands for Boobs” fundraising competition she earned $131 on votes from our club. So, we passed the hat to help her cause. Christy provoked us by challenging us to better the morning club which raised $236. There is nothing like getting the competitive juices flowing. Then Christy chipped $100 of her own for the cause. That is a bellringer. Christy mentioned that someone, not sure who, didn’t think it was Christy herself, but could be a family member or loved one, is a 22 year breast cancer survivor. That has given Christy reason to support the cause.
To answer the concern of not enough social functions outside the meetings, Jim & Suzie McGibbon has invited all on the last Saturday of July (26th) to the McGibbons’ swimming party. It will be at their home. Bring family & kids. Details to follow. Put it on your calendars.
Board Meeting tomorrow evening, Wednesday, March 26th at President Les’ home at 5:30 PM, 200 Monte Vista Drive, Woodland. Discuss scholarships. If you want to know where the money goes, come on over.
The District 5160 Assembly is Saturday, May 3, 2014 in Vallejo. 8:30 to 2:00 pm. A working lunch will be served. Current & future Board member need to attend. Put it on your calendars. Details to follow. Visit the District website: E-mails were sent to all members by the District today. Unless someone takes the class we will have problems with grants next year.
The District 5160 Assembly is Saturday, May 3, 2014 in Vallejo. 8:30 to 2:00 pm. There is a working lunch to conclude the assembly. Current & future Board members are encouraged to attend. All Rotarians and especially new members are also welcome. Put it on your calendars. Visit the District website: E-mails were sent to all members by the District today with how to register.
Aniek Ramsey re-announced that the Famous Rotary Senior Barbeque will be held on May 6, 2014, which is a Tuesday, at Rotary Park at the Yolo County Fairgrounds, as usual. Some members are needed the evening before for food preparation. All Rotarians are expected to participate in this event. Sign-up sheets for job assignments will be on the lunch tables at upcoming meetings.
Dick Hoppin’s announcement was delivered by Pres Lesthat on April 24, 2014, Thursday evening, starting with cocktails at 5:30 there will be a Joint Social Meeting of All Three Woodland Rotary Clubs, (the Original Noon Club, Luna Vista, and Sunrise) at the Gibson House Museum on Gibson Road right smack dab here in Woodland. For the modest cost of $15 per person, you will receive a nice meal, with fun & games. Be there or be square. This is in lieu of our April 22 meeting, for which we will be dark. Bring family members & friends to this fun event.
President Les announced that on April 24, 2014, Thursday evening, starting with cocktails at 5:30 there will be a Joint Social Meeting of All Three Woodland Rotary Clubs, (the Original Noon Club, Luna Vista, and Sunrise) at the Gibson House Museum on Gibson Road right smack dab here in Woodland. For the modest cost of $15 per person, you will receive a nice meal, with fun & games. Be there or be square.
This is in Lieu of April 22 meeting. Dark here. Bring family members & friends.
Next Week’s Program is aClub Assembly to further discuss the Visioning Committee’s work. President Elect Clyde Brooker will talk about his approach to committee chair assignments, which is a little different than in the past. We will be given homework. The first issue we must grapple with is “what does our club stand for?”
PP Dona Mast requested of member’s whether anyone is aware of a building which might be donated for use to store the materials for the Pregnancy Support Group. Details were missed since members were a little noisy. See PP Dona if you are curious.
PP Gary reminded everyone that the Mystery Golf Trip is April 30th. Since some folks are going to be out of town, we need to work on filling up the bus. $100 per person is the estimated cost. PP Gary has not yet figured out the destination, and even if he had, he is not telling because it is one of those kinds of trips. But he has always planned a nice trip in the past, so we can expect more of the same.
Birthdays
None of those today.
Anniversaries
None of those today either.
Recognition
PP Bob Moellerstarted off by calling for happy time. He declared his happiness to be here since he had his pacemaker installed. He was only able to pay $5 since medical bills put a serious dent in his purse.
President Elect Nominee Kris Kristensen was happy about a vacation in Oahu & the Big Island of Hawaii with his niece and her family. They did all of the tourist stuff because it was his niece’s families’ first time to the Sandwich Islands. They had a wonderful time.
PP Kevin and Lori Haarberg spent some time in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. PP Kevin read the splinter remotely as he relaxed poolside. Now that is putting the International in Rotary. Trouble was the roaming charges cost him almost as much as if he had flown back for the meeting.
PP Bob then turned to the theme of his recognition. President Obama will be in Brussels for the G8 summit (less one since Putin got the boot, does that make it G7?). How many persons in the group with the President? Laurie Ruizguessed 40 whichwas 860 short. Tabb Randolph guessed wrong on vehicles, which is 45 cars & 3 airplanes. Other Rotarians were asked the cost to Brussels which pays 10 million for 24 hours to host the summit. G7 summit, since Putin got booted.
Switching gears to March Madness, PP Bob asked when the NCAA tournament was first held. In 1940 answered Roger Dorris. Close, 1939. Tim Pettit and PP Jim Nolandid not know where. Oregon. Which school engaged in point shaving? Roy Holmes guessed wrong. It was in1950, City college of New York. Which was the first all black team? The 1966 Texas Westernteam. PP David Janeswas asked which School won the most times. He correctly answered UCLA 11 times. How many years did it take to do that was asked of PE Clyde Brooker. Answer 12 years. Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) was guessed by someone but turns out it was, Austin Carr in 1970.
The rabble was rousing so there was a call for Order in the House. PEN, Kris Kristensen’s cell phone rang. He had been trying to find help for PP Gary Wirth’scomputer connection problem. PEN Kris shouldn’t have gotten tagged for that act of heroism. PDG, Karl Diekmanwas asked which big school never won or has never even been in the tournament. Northwestern.
Then sensing his time was slipping away, for recognition not for his time on this earth, PP Bob suddenly declared that he was cutting it off to allow more time for the slide show. Many cheers rang out for a job well done.
Pres Lesthen balanced the karma by fining PPGary $5. for PEN Kris’ phone snafu, which was all in the effort to bail out PP Gary’s technical glitch.
Rags to Riches
Jim Taylor drew the lucky card and won a free lunch.
Today’s Program
Our ownPP Gary Wirth was speaker today giving us a visual program on 'Cave Art of Cro-magnon Man'. Several spouses and guests were present for this interesting program.
Before the meeting started there was a bit of a panic because PP Gary’s laptop would not connect with our projector. We need to remedy that so that these good programs can be presented. (Shouldn’t the club buy the necessary connecting cables to address each variety of computer whether apple, IBM, other PC, or whatever?).
With the assistance of PEN Kris and others, the problem was solved as Pres Les wiped the sweat off his brow. The show must go on, and it did.
A politically inappropriate remark involving gender started the show by PP Gary. He said that you need pictures to make sense of this stuff, his program, not the remark, since talking about it is not enough.
His program was the focus of a trip he took three months ago to Spain and France. Cro-Magnon followed Neanderthal and may be responsible for his eradication. Finds at the archeological site in Spain and one in the Georgia Republic, with the help of DNA, have provided major clues to human evolution. The theory now is that the chain of evolution is not as complex as previously thought. Species that died off did not so muchinterconnect with other species as previously thought.
PP Gary then presenteddigital photographs of prehistoric cave art. His trip started off near Santander about 50 miles west of Bilbao, Spain. The first site visited is an increasingly important site in the evolution of humans. The Cave of Altamira has produced a 1.4 million year old skull. Altamira is a cave in Spain famous for its Upper Paleolithiccave paintings featuring drawings and polychrome rock paintings of wild mammals and human hands.
Its special relevance comes from the fact that it was the first cave in which prehistoric cave paintings had been discovered. When the discovery was first made public in 1880, it led to a bitter public controversy between experts which continued into the early 20th century, as many of them did not believe prehistoric man had the intellectual capacity to produce any kind of artistic expression. The acknowledgement of the authenticity of the paintings, which finally came in 1902, changed forever the perception of prehistoric human beings. The cave with its paintings has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
There are four major sites where a trench line was cut by a railroad mining company which exposed caves and digs. La Trinchera is the name of the cut. Early man was all over this low mountain. The 1.4 million year old skull was pre-Cro-Magnon. It is thought that this is a new species. Excavation has been going on at this site for years. It is a well defined site. One of the named species is antecessor, which is pre-Neanderthal. A large hole in the fourth site to the south has resulted in many bodies being deposited and thus a large supply of remains. Animal bones are in the hole too. It is believed to be a ceremonial, spiritual or religious type site.
ThenPP Gary presented a picture of the evolutionary scale or tree. It showed the different branches of evolution of these creatures. A mock up of two skulls was shown with the big difference in skulls between Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons being quite obvious despite their similarities. Brains are the same size but in humans the skulls go upward in the front part of the brain, which is where logic and reasoning is located. That part is sloped in Neanderthals.
PP Gary then showed us another site in Spain. Habitation caves were shown near cave art locations. One has to hike to get into the caves and then only by permission since the entrances to the caves are closed off by iron railings to protect them. Artwork at this site was located in group of tress on the side of a mountain. Artwork in this area of Spain is different than cave art elsewhere. Here the art is made with dots which are all red. Is this early pointillism perhaps, or pre-Picasso? So close are the dots that they make lines and the art is outlines of animals. PP Gary used photos out of books or online because photos and flashes are not permitted to protect the cave art. The animal outlines are pretty amazing. He showed us a horse with the same techniques of dotting outlines. One of the two most famous caves in the world was shown. A quarry has been set up with a wonderful museum, where an exact replica of a cave wall of Altamira is depicted in amazing detail down to the cracks and all in the ceiling. He showed us the most famous bison cave art, which goes to about 18,000 BC. There limestone ceiling features of the rock are incorporated into the animal figure depicted. The bison is exactly the shape of the rock bulge. The artists used existing cracks or bulges. Ochre and minerals and vegetables were used for coloring.
These were probably done by three or four folks at the most, because the styles were so similar. Most of the unarticulated ones were dots and that is just the style. These folks didn’t have practice paintings. There is no evidence of redoing or blacking out bad drafts.
PP Gary then showed us some views of the transition to France. First there was a stop at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, a Frank Gehry masterpiece. Check it out:
PP Gary went on this cave art trip with Pres Les and Gail Engelmann
In France the first cave visited had not paintings but very nice etchings in the rock. This was from 28,000 years BC. Many were of deer and horses. No tusks were on the bison. This is near the town of Gourdon, France. A new museum there has over a million articles. It is quite a collection. PP Gary & the Engelmanns stayed in the Cro-Magnon Hotel. The cave is where the name came from, Magnon being the name of the landowner and cro means cave in French. (See you learn something). There are many sites in the area, so this is a good central location for a cave art tour. The art is from 25,000 to 10,000 years BC.
Another site is north of the Pyrenees Mountains, near Pamplona. Most of these sites are clustered around Northern Spain and Southern France. It is a verysmall area where all of these cave paintings are found.
One piece of artwork found in one cave by American students doing an educational digof a ram figure. A little venus carving was displayed. That brought some guffaws from the more Neanderthalianamongst us.
The old museum and the new one were shown. Now there are new ways to show the epochs of man. They are no longer displayed as the connected branches of a tree. They are unconnected and shown more like bar charts running in parallel lines starting and ending at different times.
The archeological remains known as Lucy was mentioned at last week’s program. That comes from a site in the Republic of Georgia and is an equally important site. There a 450000 BC remains has been identified as actually being part of Homo Sapiens Sapiens, pre-modern human species. Experts are beginning to think that differences in found remains are not as different as previously believed and many may be actually the same species.
Species identified include:
Homo Antecessor.
Homo Heidelbergensis.
Homo Neanderthal.
Homo Sapiens Ssapines.
And finally Homo Sapiens, or us.
PP Gary showed us the work of a French woman who made model mock ups from 45,000 BC depicting pre-modern humans using actual bones sizes and shapes to craft a form of Homo that was very lifelike.
PP Gary opined that experts don’t know when skin color went from dark to lighter. It does keep getting lighter and lighter as species went north into Europe. He thought the example depicted by the model was too light because latin populations are generally darker complexion than Scandinavians for example.
Suddenly PP Gary got a five minute warning with only 25% of his program having been presented. He showed us an etching of a female figure with the vulva depicted because he professed to likethem. Yes, the figures and their parts. He paused a moment on that artifact photo.
The cave painters used lamps that did not make smoke. Thus caves are not blackened or smoke stained.
At the Pech Merle cave art was depicted in monochrome. One big panel about 15 feet long had dot art of horses with very small heads. T1he rock itself was shaped like a horse’s head.