Minutes of Rotary Meeting
May 27, 2021
By Kathy Miller
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Claire McCarron, President of the Rotary Club of Mobile, at 12:15 p.m.
Invocation and Pledge: Bonney Irwin gave the invocation and Tommy Blankenship led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Members’ Guests and Visiting Rotarians: Tommy Blankenship introduced Members’ guests and visiting Rotarians.
New Member: Tom McGehee introduced new member Alec Armbrecht.
Program: Bonney Irwin introduced member, Ariel Chavez, the owner of New Frontier Travel, LLC, who spoke on “Bolivia – From Butch Cassidy to The Last Jedi.” Ariel gave an interesting and informative talk on his native country, Bolivia. He showed a video illustrating some of the beautiful destinations in Bolivia and he described the topography of the country, which is known for mountains and mines. Approximately one-third of Bolivia consists of part of the Andes mountain range. Bolivia contains the largest salt flats in the world. There are hotels built out of salt and the salt flats inspired the scenery for one of the planets in the Star Wars movies.
Over 12 million people reside in Bolivia and approximately 60% of those are native to Bolivia. Ariel outlined the history and culture of Bolivia beginning with the Incas and the arrival of the Spanish in 1532. He described Bolivia’s primary cities, including Sucre and La Paz. He talked about the Andean women known as Cholitas who were given the right to vote in the revolution of 1952. He also described the history and importance of Quinoa to the country’s economy and arranged for Royal Quinoa, the most frequently exported, to be served at the Club’s lunch.
Claire thanked Ariel for speaking to the Club and presented him with a Speaker’s Certificate.
Closing Remarks and Adjournment: Claire announced members’ birthdays and the program for next week. She adjourned the meeting at 1:00 p.m.
Kathy Miller
Contributing Editor
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