Weekly Optimist Meeting 09-05-2019

Sep 5, 2019 | Green Sheet

OCC weekly meeting
This morning’s meeting was a little cattywampus. We started late, ended early, the Coronado Sailing team did not show up to collect their check, we had our guest in the first half, and never got a potty break. Might set a new standard for meetings. Who knows.
 
Chris Cervantes did start us off with a very nice prayer from the Boy Scouts and Roy Mantz started the Pledge of Allegiance

GUEST SPEAKER – Don Crawford

Our guest speaker today was our own Don Crawford, our resident History Teacher. Don gave us a very informative and expansive overview of the Apollo 11 recovery in 1969. Don first reminded us of some highlights from the “Space Race” between the USA and USSR, starting with the Russian launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, the formation of NASA by President Eisenhower in 1958, Gagarin’s first orbit of the earth, Project Mercury, JFK’s challenge to NASA to safely put a man on the moon and bring him home by the end of the decade, followed by a 500% increase in the NASA budget. Getting to the moon and back isn’t cheap.

Don also gave us a little overview of the history of the UDTs and SEALs and why the Navy UDTs were selected to be the on scene recovery teams for the capsules after splash down. Basically NASA wanted the best for our boys from space.

As for the actual recovery operation, we learned that it consisted of four stages. Find, which of course means exactly what is sounds like. It might seem obvious, but its a big ocean and a small capsule. Stabilize, which is basically getting the capsule upright and attaching a flotation ring so it doesn’t sink. Remove, which is getting the astronauts out of the capsule. On Apollo 11 they had to have the astronauts put on BIG (Biological Isolation Garments) before they could be removed form the capsule due to concern for unknown pathogens from the surface of the moon. I would love to hear a recording of the conversation in the capsule while the guys were trying to do that. Retrieve, which is plucking the unmanned capsule out of the ocean and back to the waiting carrier. In this case it was the USS Hornet.

The Apollo 11 recovery went off almost flawlessly and in record time. Of course that took many hours of training and practice ahead of time. Like anything really great that happens, its usually the result of a lot of hard work, practice and teamwork.

Thanks Don for helping us all remember a great moment in US History.

New Member

 
Past President Diana Drummy inducted a new member Sophia Frost, sponsored by Renee Cavanaugh. Sophia like some others in the club does not live on the island but she considers herself to be a long time, part time resident, as she spent many summers here on the island while she was growing up. Today she is a counselor at CHS (7 years) and also at another school in the area for( 25 years). Both of her kids graduated from CHS, her husband Tripp is a Jazz Musician. So welcome Sophia.

Anniversaries and Birthdays

We had four anniversaries this week. Joe Moore 2 years sponsor George Kunberger; Ben Hallowell 20 years, sponsor John Bowen; Bill Carinder 5 years, sponsor Mike Lafferty and Matt Smith 1 year sponsor Jennifer Landry
We had one birthday, Ben Hallowell from Boston Mass.

Brags/Dings

None today

$Opportunity Drawings$

This week Lee Cargill won $40. I think he was taking his wife to lunch

Next Week’s Speaker

Karl Mueller with a CUSD Update.

Announcements

Installation Dinner: The installation dinner will be Tuesday September 24 at Spyro’s Gyros (ferry Landing) No host bar starts at 5:00 PM, Dinner Buffet 6:00-7:00, followed by the induction Program. Cost will be $30/person, (drinks are on your own). Please RSVP to Reneee Cavanaugh (rcavanaugh92118@gmail.com) by Thursday 9/19. Come prepared with your best jokes to honor our out going President Carla and welcome our new President Dennis Dorman.

Super Frog: Super Frog is just around the corner on September 15. Please see Irish Flynn to sign up to help.

Lawn Bowling: The annual match with our friendly Rotarians is scheduled for November 2. There was a sign up sheet going around today, but if you missed it, please contact Bill Carinder. He’s our Captain again his year.

Dime-A-Day: Please consider signing up for the Dime-A-Day program to help support the charitable work of Optimist International. Forms will be available at the welcome table.

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