“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” ― Lao Tzu 

 

“Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right’. Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.” ― Napoleon Hill 

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the erudite Mary Hodson)

 

District Governor Larry Howell will be at our July 20 meeting.   Please stand when he is introduced.

There will be a club assembly on July 27.  Bring your ideas and party hats.

 

Contact Michelle to sign up for the Habitat for Humanity service opportunity.   We will be helping from 8 AM to 3:30 PM on July 22.

 

Champaign Rotary will hold their annual golf outing and corn roast on July 31.

 

Baxter’s will host a Rotary Appreciation Night from 4-7 PM on August 15.

 

CU Sunrise will have a Slow Ride social starting at 5:30 PM on August 31.   BYOB

 

Ed Perry shared that a Charter member of CU Sunrise, Walter Franke, recently passed away.   Walt was the founding dean of the School of Labor and Industrial Relations, now LER.

 

 

PROGRAM

 

Phyllis introduced Dr. Leslie Looney, the new chair of the Astronomy Department.   He explained the upcoming total solar eclipse and why we in Illinois will have a unique opportunity to experience it.

With undergraduate degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics from the University of South Florida, Dr. Looney worked one year at the Kennedy Space Center as part of the data processing system group lunching space shuttles.  With that experience, he started working on his PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Maryland.   He took a staff scientist position at the Max Planck Institute for space physics near Munich.  It was there that he saw his first solar eclipse and was “hooked” on the experience.

 

The sun is 400 times bigger than our moon but it is also exactly 400 times further away.   Every 18 months, the moon lines up directly between the earth and sun.  However, totality is just a 70 mile swath.  This year, the “sweet spot” for viewing is in Southern IL.   

CU will experience the eclipse between 11:50 AM and 1:20 PM on August 21.  Here the sun will be 93% blocked.   But three or so hours South of here, it will be totally blocked. However, due to weather, there will be just a 60% chance of observing it.  The U of I is the only school in Illinois with an Astronomy Dept. but  over 50 astronomers from all over will be meeting up at Goreville City Park, off 157, to observe the eclipse.   At the height, there will be total darkness.

Dr. Looney emphasized that looking at the eclipse with the naked eye will cause permanent blindness and regular sunglasses are not sufficient to prevent it.   He gave away special glasses that can be used for viewing and said these should be readily available for purchase closer to August 21.

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  July 20th July 27th Aug 3rd Aug 10th
Introductions John McDaniel Phyllis Mischo Scott Paceley Robb Patton
Invocation Reuben Chambers Ethan Chew Paul Conforti Diana Dummitt
Greeters John McDaniel Phyllis Mischo Scott Paceley Robb Patton
Ed Perry Tod Satterthwaite Angie Schoonover Jen Shelby
Song Leader Robb Patton Allan Penwell Ed Perry Tod Satterthwaite
Notetaker Lintner Conforti Perry Penwell
Decker Weeding LaCharite Hodson Penwell Shelby
Next Weekend        
Decker Garden LaCharite Van Buren Van Buren Perry
Watering        

—

 

 

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

July 20th – District Governor’s visit

July 27th – Club Assembly

August 3rd – TBD (Tom)

August 10th – Kenny Chumbley, author of The Green Children, Literary Classics Book Award Finalist (Mary & Jen)

August 17th – Jen Shelby will discuss what’s next for Shatterglass

August 24th – TBD (Tod)

August 31st – TBD (Social)

September 7th – First Followers (Ethan)

September 14th – Belegarth Medieval Combat Society (Ethan) (Meeting in Savoy Room)

September 21st – TBD

September 28th – TBD