MEETING OF MARCH 22, 2001 By Dick Blanding
"The New Stone Age"? One could hardly imagine a less likely title for our program today. But more on that later.
Mike Schneider kicked off the meeting with half a verse of Smile, in honor of UCLA's being included in the Sweet Sixteen. Steve Anderson later remarked that Stanford was also in this elite group, but he couldn't go see the game because his 13-year-old daughter was being recognized for being an Honor Student at St. Francis that evening. Good choice, Steve.
Dick Blanding, local irisarian, proclaimed Spring and presented Pres. Ginny with a bouquet of tiny iris. An announcement was relayed from Shelley Potvin, to be sure you have returned your Art Show Volunteer form, or you'll be assigned to the horse cleanup brigade. Dick Henning told about a new opportunity for Rotary families or singles to go on a safari in Africa, from August 28 to Sept. 6.
Several members were honored for having birthdays again this year. Jean H. mentioned a big open house on April 7 at the YMCA to celebrate groundbreaking for a new gym. Dan O'Donnell told about hearing the premier playing of the famous hit tune, "My Dot com is Come and Gone", by our own Rick Glaze, on nationwide radio. Can the stretched limo and entourage be far behind?
The speaker today was John Giovanola, Manager of Community Affairs for what used to be called Kaiser Permanente Cement, but which now has a new name: Hanson Permanente Cement. He told the fascinating tale of the old fashioned American industrialist, Henry J. Kaiser, who founded so many companies over his career. He came West in the roaring 20's, and built Hoover dam and Bonneville dam, among other projects. When he lost the bidding to build the Shasta dam, he bid and won the contract to provide all of the cement for the project. At the time, he had no cement factory. No problem. He knew of a limestone deposit, and within six months, he had built the factory, and was mining and shipping cement to make the Shasta dam.
Among the companies he founded were Kaiser Steel, and Kaiser Permanente HMO. The latter was begun in order to provide onsite medical care for his workers. Two cars were also named after him: the Henry J, and the Kaiser. Only one other man holds this rare distinction. Do you know his name?
Our local cement plant was bought in 1987 by the British holding company called Hanson. They produce 1.6 million tons of cement a year, using a dry process, and burning low sulfur coal to fuel the kiln. To do this, they mine five million tons per year of rock, one third of which is cement. The other two thirds are split evenly between aggregate for use in concrete, and waste.
The huge kiln used to dry the product is the largest moving piece of industrial equipment in the world, and reaches temperatures of 3400 degrees F. Sometimes old tires, paint, and other waste products are used to augment the coal to fuel the kiln. Of course, all emissions are carefully monitored to meet the strictest pollution control standards.
Raw material for the process is extracted by blasting in the quarry pit, which is 1000 feet deep and half a mile across. Although the plant's cement is mostly used in local construction projects here in the Bay Area, John mentioned they provide one third of the cement used in all of Northern California. The current life expectancy of the quarry is about twenty years, at which time the property will probably be used for residential development or additional open space.
Small group tours of this interesting local facility are available. Just call John at 408 996-4158.
President's Message Next Friday night, March 30, Los Altos Rotary looks forward to the culinary efforts of two Norwegians and an Italian, preparing our Cioppino dinner, from a secret receipe. (If it tastes like lutefisk, we'll ask for a refund,) You may contact Steve Shepherd to join the crowd coming to this festive, all volunteer event. $35 per person, payable by next Thursday.
Your help is also needed. Please contact Cindy Luedtke to offer. A list of specific tasks has been developed, such as helping with picking up food from Smart & Final, Loyola Deli, setting up tables and chairs, setting up the serving area, tossing salad, and definitely with cleaning up. Besides putting away the tables and chairs, this includes parceling out leftover cioppino for Saturday lunch, or hosing out the cauldrons. "Don't wear white."
My thanks to Baron Blanding for his gift of Irises from his own garden, to herald the arrival of Spring. My backyard is bursting with many blossoms. I hope yours is, too. Enjoy the season!
See you Thursday,
Ginny
Programs
March
March 29 – Dave Mooring, President, Rambus, Inc.
March 30 - Rotary Cioppino Night Dinner at Garden HouseApril
April 5 - Ted Lempert - EdVoice
April 6-8 - District Conference, Oakland
April 12 - Congresswoman Anna Eshoo
April 19 – Iwao Peter Sano – "1000 Days in Siberia"
April 26 – Partners For New Generations Day
April 27 - Rotary Social Golf Day and BBQ/Poker NightMay
May 3 - Ron Blatman - Cities That Live, Cities That Die
May 10 - George Estill - Travel
May 17 – Chuck Bull, RI Faces the Population Dilemma
May 19-20 -26th Annual Rotary Fine Art in the Park
May 31 – LARC Scholarship Awards DayJune
June 7 – Art Show Appreciation Day
June 14 – LAREF Annual Meeting
June 21 – Bob Hoffman, Cleaned up Mt. Everest
June 28 – Ginny's Kick-out, part 1
June 29 - LARC Kick-out, Dinner/Dance, Fremont Hills Country Club"Information in this newsletter is intended for the exclusive use of the members of the Rotary Club of Los Altos to facilitate the work of the club and to promote club fellowship. It is not to be used for any commercial or outside, unrelated, non-profit purposes. No publication of material in this newsletter should occur without the express permission of the club President or the Editor of the Rotator."
Copyright 2001 The Los Altos Rotary Club
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