Temple Rotary - Newsletter - Archive (Jun 10, 2010)

Notes from the President & Judy Duer
Everyone is invited to come to Peaceable Kingdom on Saturday, June 12th at 3:30 to celebrate the completion of our last matching grant with our sister club in Mexico. I apologize for the short notice, but I just heard Monday from the ladies from the Cumbres Club that they are coming up for DGE Ruth Allison's installation on the 13th, so we thought we'd try to slip the dedication in while they are here. The matching grant purchased equipment for Peaceable Kingdom to supply a new outdoor pavillion which they are preparing to build. Equipment purchased included an industrial sized refrigerator and grill, a misting fan, and tables and chairs. Funding was provided by our club, the Monterrey Cumbres club, our two districts and the Rotary International Foundation. Please let me know (jduer@ci.temple.tx.us or 298-5707) if you are planning to attend. Hope to see you there--Judy Duer

The next Board meeting will be next week June 16th, 2010 at noon. The location is Susan Connolly's House 8 N. 9th.

Rotarian of the Day, Judy Duer, introduced our guest speaker, High School Exchange Student, Leopoldo Federico Decouvette. Sporting an impressive knee brace which was a testament to Federico’s embracing (or being embraced by) American Football, Federico took us on a whirlwind tour of his home country, Argentina.

Federico began with the basics. The first slide was a map of the Western Hemisphere. After a classmate asked him if Argentina was near Spain, Federico felt it important to demonstrate that Argentina is in South America. Argentina has 23 provinces. It is 2400 miles long from its most northern point to its most southern point. Argentina’s flag has two light blue bands representing the ocean and the sky with a white band in the middle representing clouds. There is a sun in the middle of the white band. The national bird of Argentina is the Rufous Hornero. The Rufous Hornero bird builds a mud nest that resembles an oven, thus its name hornero which means oven in Spanish. The Gaucho, or Argentinean “cowboy” on a horse is a traditional image of Argentina’s history. The beautiful celbo flower is the national flower of Argentina. Federico added that the celbo is actually a flowering tree.

In December 2007 Argentineans voted a female political leader into office, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Federico noted that the Pink House (Casa Rosada) is the official seat of executive branch of government and houses the offices of the president. He said some in Argentina speculate that the Pink House is “pink” because of its current president.

Your writer did a bit of research and learned that Argentina is the second largest country in South America. It was a founding member of the United Nations and is one of the G20 major economies.

Federico shared some amazing slides showing the geographic diversity of Argentina. We saw images of the arid northwest region with its stark terrain, and magnificent canyons. Some areas of the northwest are so dry that if it rains twice a year that is considered a lot of rain! Federico said that once he was using a restroom in a town in this region and noticed that there was no roof on the building. He was told with so little rain there is no need for a roof. Federico warned us that this area has no cell phone coverage. Also, don’t get lost in some of these towns because there may not be any street signs, or worse yet streets with the same names.

The topological variety of Argentina was best captured by the slides of Ischigualasto Natural Park in San Juan Province. The eerie rock formations and “moon balls” confirmed Federico’s comment that Argentineans don’t need to travel to outer space, they just need to travel throughout their country.

Next we saw scenes of the colorful hills and lush areas of Santa Fe Province. This region is in northeastern Argentina and has greater rainfall than is the case with the northwest part of the country. The spectacular Iguazu Falls are in this part of the country. Iguazu Falls is considered one of the new seven wonders of the nature.

In true Rotary Club of Temple fashion, the audience perked up even more as Federico talked about the western central region of Argentina. This is the wine area of Argentina. The Mendoza area produces some excellent wines.

Southern Argentina is a tourist’s delight. We saw breathtaking views of lakes like Colhue Huapi. The region also has great ski resorts. The Patagonia region of southern Argentina provides whale watching opportunities. You can also travel to the most southern point of the continent, Ushuaia. From there you can travel, with proper permits, to Antarctica. The Southern Patagonia ice fields are another “must see.” Federico said that two-thirds of the glaciers are under water! He also said that in the past the glaciers would undergo “calving” every ten years or so, now they are “calving” every year.

Buenos Aires is the capital of and the largest city in Argentina. The city is an autonomous district in Argentina. Buenos Aires is a very cosmopolitan city with a wealth of cultural venues. It is also home to Avenida 9 de Julio, which is 459 feet wide making it one of the widest streets in the world. By the way, the Republic of Argentina declared its independence on July 9, 1816.

Federico ended with his home province, Catamarca. The capital city is San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca. This is a mountainous area with a burgeoning tourism industry. There are many volcanoes in Catamarca. One of special note is Cerro Galan which is a crater that was created about 2.2 million years ago. The crater measures about 30 miles wide. You can also see evidence of lava flows from about 100 years ago.

We also learned about “student weekend” during which there are no classes. The students learn about life in Catamarca through experiences like camping out and learning to cook. Federico explained that students in his home school get to know each other very well because students are assigned to one class of about 25 students who stay together and learn all their subjects in one room. You can imagine how difference Temple High School was for Federico.

Thank you Federico for sharing some wonderful pictures of your country and letting our Rotary Club get to know you better.

The February, 2010 District Newsletter is currently posted on the District Website. The link to the district newsletter is http://www.rotary5870.com/Newsletter.cfm

Please let me know if you have a program you would like to share and we will book them.

June 10 - Sheri Givens - Texas Public Utility Council

June 17 - John Bandas Program - Vocational Award

June 24 - Rotary Assembly