For those unable to attend today’s meeting, we had a lot of good information disbursed. There was a total of 29 people on the Zoom.
President Goggin started the meeting with a prayer by our Chaplain, the Pledge and the Rotary Four-Way Test.
He then introduced our guest speaker, Vilhelm Djarnason, a former exchange student from Iceland, and our numerous other guests.
Due to the number of guests and the fact that our speaker was joining us long distance in the middle of the day, Scott asked Vilhelm to go first, and we would do business after his presentation.
Vilhelm was an inbound exchange student in 2005-2006. One of his host families was our own Terri Speck. He attended Brecksville High School where he got to play hockey. His presentation was very informative and entertaining. Some Highlights: Most people in Iceland are known by their first name. Children born in Iceland do not carry the last name of their parents, but rather denote that they are the son or daughter of their father. For example, Vilhelm’s father’s name is Bjarni Grimason and Vilhelm’s last name is Bjarnason, or son of Bjarni. Vilhelm’s daughters will carry the last name of Vilhelmadotter.
Iceland has a population of around 350,000 people. They are affected by Covid like the rest of the world but have only experienced 29 deaths to date. The average temperature in the summer is around 60 degrees, and it is light most of the day, whereas in the winter, there is only 2-3 hours of daylight.
There is a large US Army presence in Reykjavik, and the first TV station in Iceland originated at the army base. The motto of Iceland is, “it will be fine”. They do not stress and know that whatever is happening, it will be fine, everything will turn out okay. What a better life we would have if we all lived that motto.
Vilhelm’s father, Bjarni will be the Rotary District Governor in Iceland in Rotary Year 2022-2023. They live about 15 miles from the active volcano. Here is a link to a live feed from the volcano (232) Live from Geldingadalir volcano, Iceland - YouTube
After Vilhelm’s presentation, we proceeded with our regular business.
Terri gave a report on the Four Way Speech contest that was held last Wednesday. We had seven students participate. The winners were:
First place and $200 - Beatrice Shackelford from Westside Christian Academy. She is a two-time winner.
Second place and $100 - Nolan Sooy from Bay Village HS
Third place and $75 - Jhelysse Anthony from Bay Village HS
They will represent our club at the District Speech contest in April.
Terri thanked Kevin Walker for his continued support of the speech contest and his generous donation of the prize money.
Kevin K. reported that we have commitments for about 200 shoeboxes so far, and he expects more as clubs hold their April Board meetings.
Ray Glinka presented the gift cards to the Ames House. Photos to follow.
Joe K. reported that we have decided that the Art Festival will definitely be held and that we have over 30 artists committed to participate.
Our meeting was adjourned at 8:28