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Hillcrest Rotagram - April 14, 2009 Meeting BULLETIN EDITOR: Bill Burcham   The meeting was opened by Joe C.   Guests: Dan Davis, Chagrin Highland Club, Jack Young Past District Governor.   Happy/Sad Bucks: Derek Nevar happy it is his birthday paid his birthday bucks and one for a missed meeting. Joe S. paid a happy buck for tomorrow being 4/15 and the end of tax preparer's season. Mike J. happy Gail S is back. Joe W. happy he is on vacation and taking his family and the foreign exchange student Christen to New York City. Gail S. happy to be back and to see the tables in the club filled with members. Brought a flag from Ester Club in Florida. Georgia T. happy as she had a great time at her son's wedding over the weekend. Also happy for e-mail as the bride and groom have been e-mailing her daily from London. Lynda R. happy as she and her family celebrated Easter on Saturday. On Sunday she and Phil went for a long bike ride on the Towpath. Joe C. happy as he was able to spend Ester with his family and Melissa D. was a guest.   Announcements: John W. unhappy due to the lack of members signed up for the Annual District Conference. He feels that there is a lack of interest. Other members stated that no information including registration forms have been published on the Web making it impossible to make any decisions. Discussion was held that one day of the Meeting May 1st and 2nd will be used as a club meeting. The club will pay $10.00 for each member who chooses to attend.   Mike Jr. said he was passing around the sign up sheet for the TOH thank you dinner at California Pizza Kitchen in Legacy Friday evening. He stated that he will not be able to attend the conference as he will be out of town but will pass a sign up sheet around.   Jack Young stated that there will be a Foundation Benefit and dinner to honor John Bosco, club member and new District Governor in July. It will be a buffet featuring foods from several countries. The cost is $30.00 a person. There will be multiple baskets and raffles taking place. He encouraged club members to be present. He also stated that information would be forthcoming on the conference in Kalahari.   Lynda R. stated that she picked up two returned letters from the mailbox and wanted to know which member sent them out. John W. claimed them.   Dan Davis brought green t-shirts for members of the club to wear the day of the District 4 Way speech contest in Shaker. Joe W. asked that someone from the club agree to be with our club winner Krista and her family that day as he will be in New York City.   The guest speaker Franklin B. Floyd, Jr. was introduced His first comment was that he had been an Group Study Exchange Student in Japan 25 years ago for 6 weeks. He found the experience very valuable and is only to happy to speak to any Rotary Club who asks him. The title of his discussion was Aviation: Wright Brothers & the Magic of Helicopters.   Franklin presented the background information on the family of Wilbur and Orville Wright and how their family values contributed to their accomplishments. They were raised in Dayton, Ohio. Their father was a Bishop, and their mother who was mechanically inclined expired when they were young. They had a sister who raised them. They were taught that they could achieve anything they wanted to. Their first business was a bicycle shop. They had very curious minds and studied birds and aviation. Otto Levinthall was the first person to study air flow aand the pressure needed to create lift - air foil. He did experiments with flying. He was killed in a crash of his kite. The Wright brothers continued to experiment with various means of achieving balance while in motion. They proved that Otto's theory was incorrect and went on to do testing of various methods they developed. Through modifications and changes they were eventually able to transport their proto type to Kitty Hawk, N.C. where they utilized Killdeer dunes in their trials. Eventually they built a glider with a rudder, an engine they had one of their employees build and a propeller. They added a bike chain to drive the propeller. Wilber won the right for the first flight. The plane was put on a rail and upon rising in the air crashed. Two days later, after rebuilding the nose Orville got his turn. The rest is history. Wilbur expired at 46 years old and Orville at 76 in 1948. Orville visited the Wright Patterson Air Force Base to see a jet land., prior to his expiration.   Franklin ran out of time and did not get the opportunity to discuss his experiences as a helicopter pilot.   Rota Buck winner: Franklin Floyd, Jr.