THIS WEEK'S NEWS

The Club is moving to a new Zoom link next week. Rotarians will receive the link in your regular communication from Jim Bright about the next meeting. Here's the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81966971974
 
Rotarians in the News

The Leadership Bloomington Monroe County Alumni Association Board named Jeff Baldwin its 2020 Distinguished Alumnus. Jeff is the executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington. He is in good company, as five other Rotarians have received the honor: Kyla Cox Deckard (2017), Ann Wrenn (2001), Michael Shermis (2000), Glenda Murray (1991), and Bob Zaltsberg (1987).
 
Winston Shindell was presented with an IU Bicentennial Medal by fellow Rotarian and IMU director Hank Walter at a Nov. 12 ceremony in the IMU Solarium. Winston was director of the IMU from 1981 until his retirement in 2004.  Rotarian Phil Eskew’s wife, Ann, also recently received the medal. Rotarians who are previous recipients include Phil Eskew, Judy Schroeder, Michael Wade, Jim Capshew, Charlotte Zietlow, Steve Moberly, Ron Barnes, John Hobson, and Monika and Peter Kroener. The IU Bicentennial Medal honors distinguished and distinctive service in support of IU’s mission as a public university.
 
Jon Barada is moving from the Bloomington Health Foundation to a new VP role at IU Ventures.  He will start Dec. 4. In his new position he will assist IU students, faculty, staff, and alumni with advancing high potential new venture opportunities.
 
Some 54 Rotarians chipped in with gift cards to help President Ashley Wesley and her husband celebrate their wedding. Natalie Blais coordinated the contributions. Kyla Cox Deckard made the purchase.
 
Hank Walter spoke briefly at the annual lighting of the candles on the exterior of the Indiana Memorial Union on Tuesday evening. This year the lights were turned on earlier than usual so IU students could see them before in-person classes end this Friday.
 
This reporter appeared in a Veterans Day story about Ernie Pyle:  https://www.mywabashvalley.com/video/the-history-of-indiana-journalist-ernie-pyle/6020888/

Scholarship Deadline Coming Up
 
The deadline to apply for the 2021-2022 District Global Grant Scholarship is Dec. 18. Think of people you know who might be interested. Jim Bright is the Global Grant Scholarship co-chair. More information can be found at www.rotary6580.org.
 
Volunteer Opportunities

The Salvation Army needs bell ringers:  Bloomington Rotarians will ring the bells again this year for the Salvation Army, but at new locations: the eastside and south Kroger stores. Volunteer at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b094ba9ae2fa64-rotarysalvation. Ring dates are Nov. 28,and Dec. 5, 12, and 19. As of press time, 18 spots still were open, including two on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and the following Saturday. The need this year is especially great because so many parents have been furloughed or laid off.  Some Rotarians can't ring bells this year because of underlying conditions, so their fellow Rotarians might want to consider signing up for two slots. A couple of members already have done this. With the money raised, the Salvation Army provides needy children with toys and warm clothing.
 
United Way Day of Action Literacy Backpacks: Volunteers are needed Dec. 2, 3, and 4 to assemble backpacks and possibly distribute. The club is putting together 600 backpacks for its District Grant project for 2020-21. Only five people have signed up. Additional support is urgently needed to fulfill the club’s commitment to its District Grant. Here is the link to sign up: https://events.civicchamps.com/organizations/8/opportunities
 
Boys & Girls Club is doing a RadioThon this Friday and could use a few volunteers for the phone bank from 4 to 6 p.m. Please let President Ashley Wesley know if you are interested.

U.S. efforts to fight the opium trade are one reason that the cut flower industry is booming and flowers are inexpensive at your grocery store or florist shop. That was just one of the interesting pieces of information in Moya Andrews’ presentation on the cut flower industry.
 
Andrews, a retired member of the speech department faculty and well-known WFIU radio host, told Rotarians the story of the industry.
 
In 1967 David Cheever, a graduate student in horticulture at Colorado State University, wrote a term paper, “Bogotá, Colombia, as a Cut-Flower Exporter for World Markets,” she explained. The paper suggested that the savanna near Colombia’s capital was an ideal place to grow flowers to sell in the U.S. The savanna boasted a pleasant climate with little temperature variation and consistent light, about 12 hours a day year-round, ideal for a crop that must always be available. And, Cheever noted, Bogotá was just a three-hour flight from Miami—closer to East Coast customers than California, until then the center of the U.S. flower industry.
 
After graduating, Cheever put his theories into practice. He and three partners invested $25,000 apiece to start a business in Colombia called Floramérica, which applied assembly-line practices and modern shipping techniques to greenhouses close to Bogotá’s airport. 
 
That investment started an economic revolution in South American countries with mountains near the equator and devastated the U.S. industry. Today California, Oregon, and Washington produce only 20 percent of this country’s cut flowers, although the U.S. still produces most of its potted plants. Flowers have become another global industrial product, like food or electronics. 
 
The U.S. government not only supported the development of the flower industry, but it also tried to limit the import of cocaine, which was produced in several of these countries, especially Colombia. It eliminated all import fees for cut flowers in the mistaken hope that it would reduce the growing of opium plants.
 
The flower industry provided jobs, but they often were poorly paid. Some advances have been made in that area. Women and children do most of the harvesting. The work is dangerous because of the abundance of pesticides used to grow the flowers.
 
The flowers have been engineered to have a long life from stalk to vase. In the process, much of the smell of the blooms has been lost. Because of pesticides, Moya advised Rotarians not to smell any flowers they buy.
 
She outlined the trip from field to florist, a process that normally takes four to five days.
 
At the beginning of her talk, Moya told of a poisonous plant that had killed a doctor in Columbus, Ind., and related how medieval monks reputedly chewed on vitex to reduce their sexual urges.
 
Charlotte Zietlow introduced Moya and thanked her for helping Charlotte make better speeches. Michael Shermis thanked her for helping him get his voice back.

NOVEMBER 17
This Week's Meeting

• Stephanie von Hirschberg (guest of Connie Shakalis)
• David Willett of the Rotary Club of Plymouth, Mich. (guest of Jim Bright)
• Ellay Williams

• Jim Bright and Melissa Stone worked social media, print media, the airwaves, email, U.S. mail, and the phone, which resulted in more than 400 people viewing the Toast, a record. That included IU Athletics Department luminaries and the department’s top leadership of IU for the last 40 years, business and thought leaders in the community, Rotarians from across the district, and writers and media stars from across the country.

• Mike Baker and Phil Eskew (with help from Mark Dayton) headed up sponsorships and ticket sales. Despite cutting sponsorship levels in half in recognition of the pandemic, they managed to bring in the second highest ever revenue.

• Ashley Wesley and Cassaundra Huskey provided live tech support on the night of the Toast.

• Connie Shakalis agreed to reprise the role of the “mop lady” and did it so well some attendees thought it was the original. Alain Barker put together the accompanying music.

• Jean Dayton and Jodi Hoagland arranged gorgeous and delicious charcuterie and dressed up in Rotary-blue elegant finery to hand out the boxes.

• Bryan Hane supported Jo Throckmorton in every detail of the video production. Scheduling the toasters in town, a busy doctor in Cincinnati, and an author in remotest Maine was a challenge, as was convincing 75 Paul Harris Fellows to gather at IU's Memorial Stadium in the midst of a pandemic.