Posted by Editor: FDBobko
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The FOGHORN 
ROTARY CLUB OF HALF MOON BAY
August 26, 2021 
 
Chief David Cosgrave, San Mateo-Santa Cruz Division, Cal Fire
 
  The Big Lift – Bold Adventures in Early Learning and Literacy
 
Article by Sean Engmann
Photos by Liz Schuck
 
Today’s Rotary program featured David Cosgrave, the division chief of the San Mateo-Santa Cruz unit at Cal Fire.  David provided a background on several of the fires that are currently afflicting California, discussed the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and took questions from our members about emergency planning and response.
 
David Cosgrave began the presentation portion of the meeting by introducing himself and going over the responsibilities of Cal Fire, which covers all unincorporated areas of San Mateo county, including the Coastside.  David reiterated that we are now in peak fire season and pointed to several major fires burning throughout the state, including the Dixie fire which has already burned 735,064 acres and is only 45% contained.  As a testament to how quickly things happen, David pointed out that 4 major fires in Northern California have broken out since just yesterday.
 
With an attention to the Coastside, he made it clear that dry, drought conditions and undergrowth are the leading contributors to fires.  He mentioned that in January, experts were projecting a wetter than normal Fall on the Coast, potentially with early rains, which he said would be incredibly helpful.  David addressed the concern about eucalyptus trees, particularly in Quarry Park by showing a picture of still standing trees from Pescadero that burned withstood the fire last year, pointing out that even though eucalyptus trees are highly flammable, the primary concern is with the undergrowth rather than the canopy.
 
In addition to fires, David mentioned several other emergency concerns to the Coastside, including earthquakes and tsunamis.  He showed a map which expanded the projected tsunami inundation zone to include much of Half Moon Bay in the event of a 9.3 earthquake in the Aleutian Islands, which would give about five hours of lead time after the quake for an evacuation and a response.
David’s primary focus is on earthquakes, which he considers to be the worst case scenario on the Coast because of its isolation.  An earthquake could potentially cutoff the coast for an extended period of time from the rest of the county, though, David points out that Half Moon Bay does have the advantage of having a harbor and an airport.
 
David also provided the group with a background on the number of emergency personnel available to respond on the Coast at any given time.  That includes 3 fire personnel in Moss Beach, El Granada and Half Moon Bay, plus a battalion chief in Half Moon Bay, one ambulance in Half Moon Bay and 2 San Mateo Sheriff’s deputies from Montara to Miramar and two in Half Moon Bay, along with the Coastside emergency operations center.
 
Much of David’s talk centered on the CERT teams, which are part of a national program under FEMA.  They are non-profit, volunteer organizations designed to train the public at the local level on how to respond to emergent situations.  The CERT teams are organized in a way to effectively provide a local response to an emergency and to help coordinate on a regional level.  There are 32 neighborhoods on the Coast with over 1800 members connected to the system.  In a disaster, these neighborhoods would organize around hubs to ensure an efficient distribution of resources.  These CERT teams are critically important to responding to an emergency as a community and are a great opportunity for Rotarians to be involved as leaders.  In the event of an emergency, Red Cross evacuation centers would be setup at Half Moon Bay High School and Farallone View Elementary school.  David emphasized that outreach for disaster preparedness is being done in both English and Spanish after Rose Marie Garcia inquired about the efforts to reach Spanish speaking individuals.
 
Several Rotarians asked about how to get involved, and David mentioned e-mailing coastsidecert@gmail.com.
 
 
Club Meeting - August 26, 2021
Rotary President Joe opened the meeting began at 12:02.
 
    
 
Pledge of Allegiance - Ed Daniels
 
Inspirational Thought Warren Barmore pinch hit for Stacy with the inspirational thought, which was inspired by his recent trip to Colorado.  He reflected on Wild Bill Cody, or “Buffalo Bill” who is buried on Lookout Mountain in Golden after dying in Denver.  The Buffalo Bill Museum is a major tourist destination in the area and Warren noted Buffalo Bill’s focus on diversity and equity by being one of the first advocates for equal pay for everyone, including and especially Native Americans.
Happy/Crappy News yescrying
Rose indicated that she had a recent trip up north to see her granddaughter for the first time in 2 years, and then went to Alaska, where she expressed concern about the lack of masking.
 
Announcements
Joe announced that Abundant Grace sign-ups for September are available. 
He also announced on behalf of Mitone that there is a beach cleanup scheduled for Saturday morning at 9am at Dunes Beach in conjunction with the Pacifica club.  
 
Kevin O’Brien asked about the resumption of in-person meetings, and Joe surmised that it would be mid-September at a minimum before we know of anything.  
 
Discussion followed about Rotary’s participation in this year’s limited Pumpkin Festival and Joe straw-polled those in attendance as to whether anyone thought that Rotary should participate, and nobody spoke in favor of doing so.
 
Liz also volunteered to put together a card for Frida and Robin Jeffs.
 
Community Services Updates
Rose Serdy mentioned a potential food delivery program involving the Senior Coastsiders and said that she will provide more information by e-mail.
 
 
Pres. Joe's Weekly 'States of the Union" Quiz - Tennessee
Joe’s tour of the states continued with some reflections on the state of Tennessee where Steve Wilson lived as a child.  John Evans mentioned that playing "The Chattanooga Choo-Choo" on the piano is great fun.  Steve had visited the train museum site 
 
Next Week -  We look forward to Gordon Wiltsie who will be next week’s speaker.  

Marble Draw  sad surprise  The marble draw was well contested and won by Kevin O’Brien; but, alas, he drew the dreaded green marble.

Stacy closed the meeting by apologizing to the club for being late and missing the invocation and was invited by Joe to do a closing invocation, which she did by quoting Henry Kissinger’s line that, “A diamond is a chunk of coal that did well under pressure.”