Bulletins - 2007 - 11/28/2007
This
Week's Bulletin Was Written
By Jenny K. Goodman
Mel Gallegos provided the invocation today reminding us that we all have something to be thankful for. Linda Jalving optimistically lead us in singing, "You are my Sunshine."
Jonathon Stone had to hurry through the fines and brags today but did manage to make a couple of people dig into their pockets.
Several guests were welcomed.
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Reminder that the District Council Meeting is next Tuesday, Dec. 4th. Sign up on the District website.
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Remember to bring your gifts for the Responsibility Project to the December 5th meeting.
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The Rotary Holiday Party will be December 19th at the Coronado Senior Community Center.
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Karen Green was introduced as the next chair of the Spring Fundraiser Committee. January 8th is the first committee meeting. This is a good red badge participation opportunity. The Spring Fundraiser will be May 10th so mark your calendar.
 Armando Gallegos was finally inducted as a new member. I think Armando has almost earned his blue badge as he has been coming so long already! His sponsor, Jeff Hogue, seemed stunned when asked to say a word about his high school friend. Note to sponsors-be ready at the induction ceremony! We are looking forward to getting to know Armando. His ready smile is certainly a harbinger of the great member his going to be.
 One of our favorite presentations is to give away some year end money to worthy organizations. This week we were able to present a $3K check to the Tomorrow Project to further assist them in helping to break the cycle of poverty that many women find themselves in after leaving abusive situations. Keep up the good work ladies.
Mike Lewis, the ethanol man, introduced our first speaker, Andrew McCalister of the California Center for Solar Energy. Although a computer glitch delayed the start of the presentation, Scott Carr saved the day and got the computer program up and running. Remember speakers, always have a back-up plan if your equipment fails! Andrew gave us a very good overview of the solar energy market. Solar has increased 250 fold since 2000 and is one of the few growth industries worldwide. The California Solar Initiative allows existing residential and commercial consumers get up to 25% off the cost of installing solar energy. The incentives offered by this initiative are higher at the beginning as the market is getting jump-started but the incentives are weaned off over time as the cost of solar energy starts coming down due to increased demand. The key for maximizing your investment in solar energy is to get in early. There are many reasons to go solar including stablizing your energy costs as energy costs continue to climb and improving the reliability of our energy system which is aided by solar consumers. Contact CCSE to get started at www.energycenter.org or 1-866-SDENERGY.
Our second speaker, Sue Reynolds, the CEO of Community Housing Works, did a fantastic job of pushing through her presentation even though we were a little short on time. Community Housing Works recently completed work on the first apartment building powered completely by solar. Not only was this project energy efficient, it was designed as affordable housing for families earning 21-40K per year. Community Housing Works offers a first buyers mortgage program and also provides follow up assistance to ensure the families are getting the training they need to manage the financial aspects of home ownership and break the cycle of poverty. Affordable housing necessitates stable energy costs and reduces the risk of the project. The roofs in the project are solar tiles that feed into the existing energy grid and actually provides energy to the system when solar generates excess energy which is typically in the summer when demand is at its greatest. Other green considerations included the orientation of the buildings, insulation, energy star appliances and windows, water conservation, recycling and no-emission materials in the buildings. The project is providing an excellent blueprint not only for developers to replicate in other projects, but also a blueprint for planners and city officials. Fantastic project and presentation.
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