December 12, 2018
Announcements
Bill: We'll be picking up the last of the 247 turkeys next Monday at 8:30 AM behind Market Basket. Bill's trailer will take the bulk with help from Phil and Russ. John will take 40 to Newmarket. We should be ready to offload at Waysmeet by 9:00. So far, we've collected almost $1,300. Our outlay will total $2,700.
Pres. Tom: We have 3 more hockey games and need 6 members at each. Our next game will be Jan 5th. Show time is 5 PM. The money may not be as large as our other fundraisers, but it's great for Rotary visibility so be sure to wear your shirt or hat ... We've hit a plateau on bringing in new members, so let's pick it up. Holiday celebrations will put you in touch with your best prospects ... A reminder to new members that there's $500 on the table for you if you can bring in a new project for the club to share your enthusiasm ... Have thank you notes from On Belay and Community Action Program for our contributions ... next meeting will be a club forum with a board meeting to follow.
Andy: Bingo. Openings for 1/31 and 2/14.
Program
Our own David told us about his connection to the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth. President Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to mediate the treaty which ended the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Negotiations were conducted at Portsmouth Naval Yard while delegations bunked at the Wentworth Hotel. Portsmouth, rather than Washington, was chosen because it was August and DC is no place to be in August. As a result of the treaty, Japan gained Korea, Manchuria and the Kurils, a string of islands stretching from Hokkaido some 800 miles to Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
In 1941, General Doolittle's bombers launched from the USS Hornet and devastated Tokyo in response to the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese were surprised by the heavy aircraft and thought that they originated from Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians. They attacked and captured both Attu and Kiska. The Army in turn assembled a force of !44,000 and regained the lost ground. Not much about what was going on in Alaska was known at the time because a No Publicity order had gagged the papers.
The Bonser family were dirt farmers. Two of the brothers joined the Navy. One of them, Harold, was assigned to one of the oldest vessels in the Navy, the USS Richmond. It ultimately became the flagship of the 9th Fleet. Much of its work was done in the Kurils, where the last surface engagement of World War II was fought on August 11th. Almost a month later, Japan surrendered. Here's where David's connection to the Treaty of Portsmouth comes in. Seems he married Harold's daughter Norma! (It's a six degrees of separation thing.)
Megabucks: $154.50
Editor: Ric
