Posted by Paul Casey on Sep 11, 2019
President Kim called the Seattle #4 Rotary Club to order at 12:30 p.m. on September 11, 2019. The Renaissance Courtyard Ball Room in downtown Seattle hosted the meeting. President Kim immediately acknowledged that this Rotary Club meeting was taking place on the 18th Anniversary of 9/11. 
 
Arnie Ness and Freeman Fong led Rotarians in the singing of America.
 
The Inspiration for the Day was led by David Brenner.  David said it is still hard to believe the horror of 9/11. He cited the quick and tragic demise of the twin towers along with the tremendous loss of life that still haunts us. Dave then asked Rotarians to contrast that shock with an incredibly honorable feat that started around that same time. Since 2001, Presbyterian Minister Ron Rice, a Rotarian guest from Seattle, has led an effort to provide functional wheelchairs to victims of polio in Nigeria.  Over 19,000 wheelchairs have been built and distributed since the beginning of the program. Nigeria just celebrated three years of being polio free but there are still thousands of Nigerians that were afflicted with polio prior to the immunization efforts. A short video, showing people with polio, literally crawling to their donated wheelchair was shown. Minister Rice said that the effort relies totally on donations. If you would like to find out more about Minister Rice’s wheelchair program, visit WheelchairsforNigeria.org
 
Announcements:
President Kim then recognized a visiting Rotarian and guests. President Kim introduced Jane Tornatore and Jan Levy who acknowledged Rotarian membership anniversaries. 
 
President Kim recognized Larry Granat for figuring out a better system for projecting the attendance at Rotary meetings. There is no requirement that a Rotarian pre-register, so a lot of guess work goes into the how many will show up. This is important because the club must pay for the cost of lunches that are prepared, not just served. Larry’s formula for projecting attendance has cut down the number of luncheons not being consumed.  That will save the club considerable money over the long run.  President Kim said Larry did this research all on his own and was not asked by anyone to do the research. He received a standing ovation for his efforts. 
 
A Rotary First Harvest work party is scheduled for Saturday, September 14 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Northwest Harvest Warehouse at 22220 68th Ave. S. in Kent. Orientation will begin at 8:30 a.m. and that comes with donuts and coffee.  Packing will go on until 11:00 a.m.  Contact member, Joyce Robertson, for more information. 
 
Jane Tornatore spoke about a networking opportunity at the Hard Rock Café in downtown Seattle on Thursday, September 26, from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. This is one of the three networking events for the year. Sign up in advance if you can or you can just show up. 
 
Featured Speaker:
Dr. James Joki was a 26-year old Boeing engineer who ended up at the Mission Control Center for Apollo 11’s moon launching and landing. Dr. Joki helped develop, test and modify spacesuits, backpacks, visors, gloves, and the oxygen system that Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong used when walking the moon. Dr. Joki is a graduate of Ballard High School and the University of Washington.  
 
Rotarian Mark Wright introduced Dr. Joki. Mark met Dr. Joki when KING5 was doing coverage of the 50th Anniversary of the moon landing this summer.  He thought Rotarians would enjoy hearing from Dr. Joki and his involvement with the Apollo program. Mark said that Dr. Joki’s contribution to the Apollo mission would make a career for anyone. Dr. Joki however, went on to medical school and eventually became an obstetrician-gynecologist.  During his tenure, he delivered 6,000 babies.  Before introducing Dr. Joki, Mark made the point that 400,000 people and 20,000 companies were involved in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs that led to the landing on the moon on July 21, 1969.  
 
During Dr. Joki’s presentation, he showed videos of flight tests from the 1960’s.  A Boeing 707 was used to measure g-forces that astronauts would eventually be exposed to.  The Boeing jet would level off at 25,000 feet and then ascend quickly to 35,000 feet, and then descend just as fast, to 25,000 feet. This exercise was repeated 70 times in just one practice run.  
 
Dr. Joki spoke about the space launch beginning on July 16 and had a model of the lunar module. There were some tense moments prior to the actual moon landing because of a shortage of fuel. The people at Mission Control were divided into three phases: the descent, landing, and the ascent phases.  When the Apollo 11 splashed into the Pacific it turned upside down.  Large balloons were deployed and returned the capsule to an upright position. 
 
Dr. Joki showed extensive videos of test astronauts going through practice runs in a duplicate command module. There was a lot of trial and error due to the complexity of the space suits.   
 
Dr. Joki answered questions at the end of his presentation: 
 
Did he think the space program would ever return to its glory days?
He said we need another President Kennedy to marshal the support that he brought to the effort in the early 1960’s. Dr. Jokie said there is so much research that still needs to be done on the moon and eventually Mars.
 
He was asked about the space force concept.  
This would look at space exploration for defensive purposes. The point was made that other countries like Russia, India and China are making inroads into space. Dr. Joki said he was not a fan of this approach and we should explore space through NASA.
 
Totem Reporter Comments:
If you were unable to attend this meeting with Dr. Joki, I strongly urge you to visit the Totem video archive of Dr. Joki’s presentation.  Dr. Joki’s appearance was anecdotal, humorous, and extremely educational. I had absolutely no concept of what went into the making of a space suit. My description of the presentation does not do it justice.   Click here to see the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e82KPvB0-PY.
 
Next Week:
Paul Suzman introduced the program for Wednesday, September 18 at the Westin Hotel in downtown Seattle. Dr. Gary Stobbe will lead a panel called Autism at Work.  Dr. Stobbe will be joined by panelists from the University of Washington. Dr. Stobbe and the panel will address the high numbers of unemployment and underemployment that face the Autistic community. 
 
President Kim closed out the meeting by observing that Rotarians come together in times of triumph and in times of tragedy.
 

Thanks to Totem Reporter Paul Casey

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