TWO ROTARIANS SPEAK ABOUT THEIR “OFF THE GRID” EXPERIENCES

Two members of the Rotary Club of San Marcos live off the grid, powering their homes with solar and supplying water entirely from rainwater collection systems. They will speak about their experiences at the Rotary meeting on Wednesday, May 27 at noon at the VFW Hall, 1701 Hunter Road. Visitors are always welcome at Rotary meetings.

Scot Campbell lives in the country on 50 acres between San Marcos and Wimberley. He shares his compound with a sister and his mother. They have a 52,000-gallon rainwater collection system and power the home entirely with solar power. 

Kevin Katz lives with his wife on 20 acres inside the city limits of San Marcos. They have a 20,000-rainwater collection system and a home also powered by a solar system. Katz calls it  “living with the joy of rainwater and sunshine.” 

Both Rotarians say their home site locations made it financially attractive to go off the grid. Extending water and electric lines to their building sites was prohibitively expensive. Katz’s home, for example, was almost three-quarters of mile from a city electric connection. Both Rotarians say their water and solar systems meet their needs without worry. 

The two will discuss the configuration, installation, and operation of their systems. Campbell says he gets a lot of questions about his setup and welcomed the opportunity to explain it to the club and interested visitors.

Rotary is nonprofit, nonpolitical and nonreligious. The San Marcos club is 105 years old.

Rotary Meets in Lockhart on May 13. DON'T GO TO VFW!

Don’t go to the VFW Hall May 13 for our Rotary meeting.  VFW needs to use the  Hall for another purpose so we are doing a field trip to Lockhart.

Rotarian Alfonso Sifuentes is hosting Rotary at his employer’s facility:  Republic Services at 1249 FM 1185, about 2 miles outside of Lockhart. We are meeting in Republic’s Activity Center. We will learn about the facility and services of Republic Services. Lunch will NOT be served at this meeting.

There will be a gathering of Rotarians in the parking lot near IKEA/Hobby Lobby/Jason's Deli at 11:15 that morning. We can car pool  to the site. FM 1185 is an exit off the TX-130 toll road a bit north of Lockhart. It should be easy to find by following your GPS.

“Republic Services provides the most complete set of recycling, waste and environmental solutions from a single-source provider. We partner with customers to help them achieve their sustainability goals, driving both environmental and economic sustainability. We offer advanced recycling, solid waste, special waste and hazardous waste treatment and disposal.“ 
republicservices.com

San Marcos RYLA Students Present Program at Rotary on April 29
Four San Marcos area high school juniors attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Assembly (RYLA) in January over the Martin Luther King Holiday weekend at the Newcombe Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels. Two of the students, Paula Gomez and Phinehas (Phin) Doiron, shared their experiences at the Rotary Club of San Marcos meeting on April 29. Also attending RYLA but unable to attend the Rotary meeting were Garcia Kamo Mull and Lily Markley.

RYLA is sponsored in this region by Rotary International District 5840. Other RYLA programs are held all over the world. RYLA offers an intensive four-day leadership experience where young people develop skills as a leader while having fun and making connections. The goal is to help students build communication and problem-solving skills, discover strategies for becoming dynamic leaders, and have fun and form new friendships. 

The program in New Braunfels involved 160 high school students from all over South-Central Texas. They were organized into 14 groups of about a dozen students each. Gomez said the speakers and group leaders were fantastic. “Imagine a whole room of teenagers listening attentively to a speaker,” she said. 

Doiron said a major benefit of the experience was that it encourages people to go outside their comfort zones. Both students said the experience helped them to become more comfortable with meeting new people and making new friends. Gomez said she also learned the importance of including shy and less talkative people in conversations. Doiron added that he learned the importance of  building other people up and being supportive of them.

Both young people said they will enter their senior year of high school feeling more confident and wanting to be more active because of the RYLA experience.

RYLA began in 1959 in Queensland, Australia and became a global program of Rotary International in 1971. Today there are thousands of RYLA programs in countries around the world. Participation is open to high school juniors from both public and private schools. The Rotary Club of San Marcos contacts area high school counselors in the fall to identify interested students, and fully funds participation by four juniors each January. Rotary is nonprofit, nonpolitical and nonreligious.

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