25 January Program
Program
Mariners’ Musings
Joe Valinoti and Larry Walker
Joe and Larry were shipmates on the USS Robert K. Huntington (DD-781) during 1972 and 1973.
USS Robert K. Huntington (DD-781), an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, was named for Robert Kingsbury Huntington, a naval aviator and member of Torpedo Squadron 8. The entire squadron was lost during the Battle of Midway.
Some milestones in the career of this destroyer:
-Builder: Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle
-Laid down: 29 February 1944
-Launched: 5 December 1944
-Commissioned: 3 March 1945
-Decommissioned & Struck: 31 October 1973
-Fate: to Venezuelan Navy, 31 October 1973 (renamed Falcon)
Joe, a member of ORC since February 1999, is retired from a VW, Audi and Porsche repair shop which he owned and operated for 32 years. He has two sons and four grandchildren. He and wife Paula live in Oriental where they both enjoy sailing. Larry Walker came on board as an ORC member in February 2000. He owns and operates World Wide Marine Training, Inc. Larry has two daughters. He enjoys boating, sailing, music and travel.
Club News
-Hugh Midyette reported that tent rentals are taking a winter break. Hugh expects the rental business to perk up during the In-Water Oriental Boat Show, scheduled for 16-18 April. The next scheduled tent rental will be 1 May 2010.
-President John notified members that the Annual Assembly for District 7720 will also take place on the 16th April weekend. Festivities this year are planned for the Williamsburg Hospitality House and Conference Center Williamsburg, Virginia.
-Partner’s Night…15 February. President John has requested members bring photographs of ourselves and our cuties when we were young.
-Warren Funk notified members that the Club has donated 3,378 pounds of food to the Pamlico County Fishes and Loaves Projects.
-Amanda Moore, recognized by the ORC as one of Pamlico County’s ten outstanding scholars in 2009, received a full scholarship from Appalachian State University. Amanda’s current GPA is a 4.0!
Earthquake Update
District 7020, which includes Haiti, has flown in 55 planes filled with more than 50,000 pounds of medical equipment and supplies into the cities of Pignon and Port-de-Paix to bypass logistical problems in the hard-hit capital of Port-au-Prince. Rotary had an incredible infrastructure established before the quake, which has made our relief efforts very effective,” says Dick McCombe, past district governor and Haiti liaison chair. “We’re flying in supplies through backdoor channels and doing things a lot of agencies can’t do.” The district’s Haiti Task Force, set up two years ago to administer all financial aid to the nation, is working with local clubs to deliver aid to Port-au-Prince and those who have taken refuge in the countryside. McCombe says Rotary was in a good position to help in Haiti, with 33 projects already underway to provide water, sanitation, medical care, and education. Clubs in the district have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for short- and long-term recovery. “Rotarians are incredibly generous and are doing what needs to be done,” says McCombe. (RI website, updated 1/22)
- As president of the Rotary Club of Houston, it had been Michelle Bohreer’s dream to travel to Haiti and conduct a service project to improve the lives of children there On 12 January, 45 minutes into a weeklong trip to Port-au-Prince to do just that, the dream quickly spiraled into a nightmare. For the rest of the story check out RI’s website.
For an insightful interview with Bill Gates check out The Daily Beast 1/25. Gates terms his philanthropic philosophy as venture philanthropy…investing in innovative, yet risky social programs. “If we project what the world will be like 10 years from now without innovation in health, education, energy, or food, the picture is quite bleak,” he writes in the annual letter, imagining a future in which even many Americans can’t afford to send their children to good colleges or get access to cutting-edge medicine, and rising energy costs and food shortages widen the gap between the rich and poor across the globe. “However, I am optimistic that innovations will allow us to avoid these bleak outcomes.”
