Prez Jody opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and John P. led us in song.

Thought for the Day: “Study nature, love nature, ___ nature. It will never fail you.”

Guests: Robert Roche, chef at Hill House Inn, and Jaime Buckner, manager of Hill House Inn. We also welcomed Bill Lemos, today’s speaker.

Happy Dollars:
– Ray is happy to celebrate 20 years on coast. “I guess I’m staying…”
– Guenter is happy there is new evidence for water on Mars. He shared two pictures. He says this makes it interesting to plan on sending humans to Mars. It takes 7-8 months to get there; the orbital period is two years; then it would take 7-8 months to return. A big challenge!
– Gary is happy that he had a good night at poker table…
– Liliana is happy so many people gave happy dollars!
– Richard is happy to be moving into Susan’s house… cheers to a happy couple!
– John C. is happy that $200K has been collected by Clear Lake Rotary for fire victim relief, including $1000 from our club and $200 from his workplace, North Coast Family Health Center.

Announcements:
We will vote on our proposed bylaws updates at our 10/22/15 regular meeting. Please review bylaws sent out via email by Harold; anyone can make recommendations for changes, and those changes must be approved by the Board before going to the club’s general vote. Harold has made recommendations approved by the Board; on 10/22 we’ll vote on these proposed changes.

On 10/15/15 (next week) there will be a special meeting to host our District Governor; it is important that all members attend! There will be a special Board meeting prior to this meeting, beginning at 10:30 a.m. at St. Anthony’s. The meeting with the District Governor Erin Dunn begins at 12:00 noon at St. Anthony’s, and she is sure to run a great meeting!

Our guests Jaime and Robert were here to talk about our club’s move back to Hill House Inn, beginning Nov 12, which is the 2nd Thursday of the month. Jaime will send out an email asking for our lunch preferences, and she asks that we reply to her at jbuckner@mcn.org. We used to do 15 hot meals, 8-10 salads, plus soup and sandwiches (the sandwiches often went uneaten…). She and Robert want to accurately plan what our minimum quantities will be, and what style of service we’d like. This move back to the Hill House will save our club money and give us an ocean view again!

John P. has contacted Reach Life Flight Service about group discounts for Rotary members. We may qualify for discounted memberships under the Chamber of Commerce group rate as well, or a Rotary group rate. He encourages everyone to join both Reach and CalStar.

Donna announced the Health and Wellness Fair on 10/17/15 at MCDH. There is a walk/run in the morning, and free health screenings.

Kathleen and Donna went to the Interact Club last week; Kathleen will be the rep to attend their bi-weekly meetings. About 8 Interact members will help with the run/walk.

Jerry announced that we will have a Rotary special event on Dec. 3, to see a play at Mendocino Theater – $25/ticket – we bought out the theater! All Rotarians are expected to buy a couple of tickets ($50 per Rotarian). The play is called The Last Five Years, a light and enjoyable show appropriate for families.

Today’s Program:
Donna introduced Bill Lemos, here to speak about our local oceans. Finemaster questions:

  • Our CA Marine Regions Protection Act was established in 1999.
  • In N CA there are 27 protected marine areas.
  • There are no signs or buoys marking the boundaries of the marine protection areas; you’re supposed to know where the boundaries are by geographic markers.
  • A fish that floats along side kelp beds is the ocean sunfish or opa. Weighs in between 160 – 600 pounds, and looks like a flat disk with two fins…

Bill Lemos is a long time resident of the Mendocino Coast, and has been a teacher here. He’s employed by the NRDC. The goal of the Marine Protection Act is a healthy ocean.

oceanhealthindex.org – check out this website to see how we’re doing with our ocean health.

The Global Ocean Commission Assessment has shown that there is a lot of pressure on marine resources. Technological advances are a problem in terms of protecting these resources (we are drilling deeper, have larger vessels, etc.). Pollution is at unprecedented levels, and ocean acidification is changing ocean habitats very rapidly, due to fast absorption of CO2 into the ocean’s waters. Poor governance of the oceans is another problem leading to declining fish stocks, biodiversity and habitat loss.

On the west coast of the US we spend over $520,000,000 each year to combat litter and marine debris.

CA passed the Marine Protection Areas (MPAs) Act in 1999. About 16% of the CA coastal waters are protected by this. Bill showed photos of interpretive signs posted at Big River, Navarro River and Pt. Cabrillo Lightstation, Little River, Ten Mile River and a few other locations, which explain the MPAs.

The Mendocino MPA Collaborative has annual conferences, and includes members of all 14 CA coastal counties. They do information and education, research and monitoring, and enforcement. They are educating all the local enforcement agencies of the boundaries and exclusions in each of the MPAs. They are also doing lots of Geocaching — try to find the underwater parks geocaches!

Bill talked of the many partners and grant projects involved in the ocean health activities going on throughout the MPAs.