News from the Sept. 15 Meeting

Membership Moment: Justin Hummel

Justin has moved back to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, a small university town. He had been running restaurant, but it has been closed since April. Now he's using the kitchen to produce four different kinds of pierogis that he and his wife sell at the farmers' market on weekends. Justin has been elected to the town council, serves on the library board, and is working on a plan to reopen the municipal pool.
 
 

 

Committee Reports 

 
Service Committee Chair Jordan Chase reminded everyone to work on their Loop it Up "Something from Nothing" videos. Metro will help with a Victory Drive clean-up effort in conjunction with the City of Savannah's Great Savannah Cleanup on Oct. 24. Details to come. Through the end of the year, members who are concerned about participating in in-person events may make a $25 donation in lieu of attending.
 
Service Committee Chair Emeritus William McIntosh reported that Girls on the Run has not seen registration sufficient to continue as our service partner this year. As a result, we will shift to Bike Walk Savannah as the sole service partner for the year. We will still need volunteers to help with the Girls on the Run golf tournament on Oct. 15.
 
Membership Chair Cari Phelps reported that Sarah Smith is nearing completion of the new member intake process. Ellen Harris was inducted into Metro during the meeting. 
 
Foundation Chair Patrick Phelps announced we have reached the 50 percent mark on foundation giving. He encouraged members to check their Paul Harris Fellow progress. 
 
Family of Rotary: If you would like to earn additional points, you can help Jasmine Mills send out birthday and anniversary cards.

Other Announcements 

Alfred McGuire is sponsoring a Rotaract program at Woodville-Tompkins High School. He is looking for volunteers to participate in 15-minute virtual interviews in which they will share tips for success and insights to help the leaders of tomorrow.
 
The Grizzly Misfits are the current Metro Mania leaders.
 

Guests

Katie Balthrop attended as a guest of Daniel Weiner. 
 
 

Commit to a committee! 

All Metro members are expected to serve on a committee. Contact the appropriate committee chair to volunteer:
 
Service: Jordan Chase
Rotary Foundation: Patrick Phelps
Membership: Cari Phelps
Communications: John Bennett
Family of Rotary: Jasmine Mills
Program: Daniel Weiner
 

Featured Speaker: Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg 

 
Dr. Van Den Wymelenberg is director of the University of Oregon's Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory in Eugene and Portland, Oregon. He discussed the critical role buildings play in supporting public health, as indicated by the first thing we did after the pandemic began: We vacated buildings.
 
His research centers on microbiomes within buildings. Pathogens are detected using surface swabs, passive air settling in collection vessels, and collecting samples using active air pumps. Samples are sent through RNA sequencing to determine virus presence and concentrations. 
 
He said safer and healthier buildings can be designed with a blend of old and new technology. For example, they could feature windows that can be opened to improve ventilation along with viral monitoring technology.