Business:
New member induction: Tracy Vicario was inducted into the Club by President Sandi and Service Director Chuck Vogel. She is sponsored by Mo Levich and works for an insurance company specializing in health benefits. Welcome to the Club Tracy.
Treasurer Greg Vaisnor provided members balance sheets of 1) Club assets and Liabilities & Equity; 2) Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual. The balance sheets covered the period July 1 through November 2009. He discussed the information and answered questions.

President Sandi announced that the Nominating Committee is still working on a slate of officers for the next administration commencing July 1, 2010. The slate will be voted on by the membership as soon as it is completed.

John Sherry discussed the following:
Reno Train Trip – January 1/24 – 25
Sign-up sheets were on the table for those interested in going. If there are not enough reservations from all Clubs that participate, the whole train will be cancelled.
12/18/09 Friday @ 8am: Breakfast @ El Charro Restaurant – Make-up for 12/24
John asked who planned to attend and 10 persons indicated they would.
12/30/09 Gin Fizz Party at Chamber Office – Make-up meeting for 12/31
John asked who planned to attend and 10 persons indicated they would.

Larry Blodgett announced:

12/20/09 Sunday @ 8am: Wrapping party & breakfast at Mike & Joan Heller’s. Presents are for 24 individuals via Shelters Inc.

Tom Courtright reported:

Ed Stokes was announced as the Chamber of Commerce’s Marquis Business Person of the Year. A reception will be held for him at the Park Hotel on Friday, January 22, 2010 with reception at 6pm and dinner at 7pm at a cost of $55/person. Reservations via Chamber of Commerce by deadline of Tuesday, January 19, 2010.

Speaker:
Bob Shusta’s presentation, including slide show, was about an August 2009, six day rafting trip with his son, two grandsons, and two son-in-laws on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. They were flown from Las Vegas to Lee’s Ferry, which is near Utah. The rafts hold 14 passengers and two crew and all supplies and equipment necessary for the 6 day, 187 mile trip through many rapids. They were removed by helicopter from the Canyon on day 6 and taken to the Bar 10 Ranch located 9 miles north of the rim where a plane flew them back to Las Vegas.

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado River running through the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, one of the first National Parks in the United States. The national park service regulates river travel through the Grand Canyon. There are only 16 companies with permits to offer river trips. Park rangers control private rafting trips at entry points.

The canyon is 277 miles long, ranges in width from 76 ft. at its narrowest point to 18 miles at its widest; it attains a depth of over a mile approx. 6000 feet from rim to valley floor. The depth varies from inches to about ninety feet. The volume of water running through the canyon, thus how high on the banks the water gets, is determined by how much is released from Glen Canyon Dam, located in Utah, which is in response to the demands for hydroelectric power in the west. Water released from the Glen Canyon Dam is about 46 degrees f in the summer; colder in the winter. The water drops a total of 1,709 feet in 296 miles (includes Marble Canyon), averaging 8 ft per mile, nearly 25 times that of the Mississippi.

While the specific geologic processes and timing that formed the Grand Canyon is the subject of debate by geologists, recent evidence suggests the Colorado River established its course through the canyon at least 17 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River continued to erode and form the canyon to the point we see it as today. Before European immigration, the area was inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. They considered the Grand Canyon a holy site and made pilgrimages to it.