The View – 8/21/14

Next week: David Cummings will talk to us about economics — specifically, the dollar as reserve currency.

Prez John Cottle opened the meeting with the pledge of allegiance.

Wilma Tucker shared a Thought For the Day: “There is no pleasure in having nothing to do.  The joy is in having lots to do, and not doing it!”

Our guest today is John Hewitt, artist and emergency room physician, who will also be our speaker today.

Happy Dollars!

• Brandt is happy that he has finally recruited a new CPA into his business. Congrats!!
  

  Brandt shares his happy news!

• John C. is very happy about the success of our fundraising golf tournament. Many thanks to Jennifer!
• Jennifer is extremely happy that the golf tournament is over!  Also, she is celebrating a new nephew (Cohen?), 9.5 lbs, healthy and so is his mom!
• Guenter happily spent a weekend with his wife and friends in Napa.

There is no Sunshine Report today, since everyone is healthy and/or recuperating well.  Hooray!

Announcements

• Our Golf Tournament on 8/16/14 raised approximately $5200, greatly exceeding past successes. Again, many thanks to Jennifer Bosma and Kira Meade for their organizing talents and energies!  It wouldn’t have happened without you two!
• Rotary Foundation report: a draft MOU regarding Rotary Park is expected from Mendocino County next week; this will have to be reviewed by the Mendocino Board of Supervisors in September.  We are also looking at an alternate arrangement that might be possible with the Sewer District Board.  Rotary Park will be the topic of discussion at our regular meeting on 9/4/14. Please be there if you can!  Prez John will use the ‘flipchart method’ to run the meeting, and we will gather members’ ideas on what we really want to accomplish with our Rotary Park project.
• An in-depth discussion was held about lunch coverage for our regular weekly meetings. Two primary options were discussed, and the majority vote went to Option One:  members must RSVP by 9am on the day of the meeting if they are NOT going to be able to attend; RSVPs shall be sent to MendocinoRotary@gmail.com.  Also, please RSVP if you are bringing a guest, so that the right amount of food will be prepared.  If members do not RSVP and do not attend, they will need to pay $15 for the previous week’s lunch that was prepared for them. This should help us avoid the problem of having too much or too little food at our meetings.
  

  Kathleen participates in the RSVP discussion.

  

  John shares his thoughts.

  

  Frank adds to the discussion.

Our Program

John Hewitt, watercolorist, shares information about the upcoming Paint Out.

John Hewitt, watercolor painter and emergency room physician, was here to talk to us about art — specifically the Mendocino Open Paint Out: a Plein Air Festival, which he is helping to spearhead with the Mendocino Art Center.  Some highlights from John’s talk include:

• This is the second annual Mendocino Open Paint Out, which is an event that combines famous artists and amateurs in a five-day event — this year it will be September 8-13, 2014.  About 71 artists participate in the event, and they (and the many spectators) come from points near and far!
• This promises to be a major economic driver for our community.  In other communities where similar events are well established, paint out events can bring as many as 12,000 visitors (Crested Butte, CO) and more than a million dollars in tourist revenues (Easton, Maryland).  There are more than 50 towns across the US putting on paint outs, and we have one of the top 10 locations for landscape art!
• All paint out events are free and open to the public, and you have the opportunity to watch celebrity and amateur artists paint in the open air.  There are daily celebrity artist demonstrations, and community lunches at the Mendocino Art Center.
• On Saturday, September 13, there is a Quick Draw Competition, with public voting for the best paintings — which are available for sale!
• Sixty percent of the art sales’ proceeds go back to the artist — a very high percentage for this type of event!  It is a fantastic fundraiser for the Mendocino Art Center, and also generates significant tourist revenues throughout the community.
• For more information, go to MendocinoArtCenter.org/pleinair.

Thank you, John Hewitt, for sharing photos and stories from last year’s event.  It looks promising, and fun!

This week’s Raffle Winners were Jennifer and Ray — no jokers were drawn, so the pot continues to grow!