Invocation: Laura Brecht
Called to order, Pledge, and 4-way Test: Andrew Przestalski
Happy $

1. Bill Lewis - clean bill of health!
2. Sandy Angle - 25th anniversay of Circle of Art
3. Sue Salt - "Music, Music, Music" this coming weekend at the Theater - really good show this year

"Thanks to Rotarians for helping with youth sports over the years and right now. Booster Club is under auspices of the Rotary Foundation. Booster Club with help of Rotary raised $91K last year to keep sports activities going.

Borrego Springs High's baseball team, due mostly to finishing 2nd last year, has been selected, along with 11 other teams in the county, to play a game at Petco Park April 5, BS is representing the Manzanita League, division 5.

As part of the fund raising this year, there are 500 tickets for sale for $15 for 2 days of baseball. The first is to see the 10am BS High game at Petco Park on April 5 (along with 2 other games if you were interested). In addition to that a $15.60 (face value) ticket to a Saturday, May 3 Padre game at Petco Park is included. 300 tickets must be sold just to break even, but if all 500 are sold, the school will get $3000!

BS has never had a team play at Petco Park.

Tickets for Taste of Borrego are now available, let's get busy selling them. Also, a work day is coming up - probably in late March, early April. Suggestions are welcome for what kind of work will be done for Rotary to serve the community.

The board also discussed the problem of the presidency for next year: Andrew will not be president. In order to have a president, someone must got to PETS NEXT WEEKEND, otherwise the club will fold come July. All expenses are paid, and if nothing else it'll be a fun 3 days up in LA for the prospective president.

Guest Speakers: Jim & Grace Rickard: Dark Sky Coalition

There is a new program this year: the "Dark Sky Friendly Business Award". The purpose is to keep the lights low in Borrego SPrings.

Overall the coalition tries to facilitate low lightning at each residence & business.

Jim's history: BA San Jose State, collected a few degrees around the country, finishing with a 1 year post-doc at Cal Tech. 6 mo. in Chile at a large southern hemisphere observatory. Then observed at Clark Lake Radio Observatory - funding lasted 5 years, but by that time, he and Grace had fallen in love with Borrego.

He started a business: Borrego Solar Systems. He left that for teaching at UC Calexico for over 10 years. Jim & Grace retired and now spend a 1/2 year in County Roscommon, Ireland and the rest in Borrego. Getting BS to have a dark sky designation took 2 years - starting in 2007. First surveyed the lights in the community, made recommendations. Flagstaff is another dark sky city, but BS is not a city. It took political manipulation to get SD County to get behind BS as dark sky community. Most of light pollution is from cars. But the big thing about BS is that most people are in bed by 9pm, so are not driving. BS was designated a certified Dark Sky community in 2009.

International Dark Sky Assn was started in Tucson by an astronomer protecting Kitt Peak Observatory from light pollution. Why BS? Surrounded by mountains and state park - very limited development. Ideal for dark skies.

Metropolitan areas cannot see many stars due to light pollution. The sky is darker to the west when it's cloudy in San Diego - clouds block light for polluting our night sky.

How can you help?

1. Use the right type of light for the task, and do not OVER-ILLUMINATE. "more light" is not necessarily good design. Simple use lower wattage or fewer bulbs to reduce the brightness.
2. Replace older lights - especially outdoor lights with compact fluorescents or LEDs. This will also save on your electric bill.
3. Use timer controls, motion sensors, or dimmer switches to insure that lights are ON when you need them and OFF when you don't.
4. SHINE THE LIGHT DOWN where it is needed. Stand off your property, even across the street, and look at your porch light(s). If you can see the bulb directly, then it is not properly shielded. You can fix this by adjusting the fixture angle, fashion a shade/reflector, or replacing with a better designed lamp.
5. Use small wattage lights for illuminating landscaping or building accents. The subtle accent of carefully placed, modest lighting is more appropriate for our desert habitat.
6. Avoid mercury vapor globes as they are particularly bad because of their blue light, which destroys our eyes' dark adaptation. Low pressure sodium(yellow) lamps are better for night vision. These are also much more efficient energy-wise.

The coalition sent brochure with these ideas to everyone in Borrego last year to suggest ways to reduce light pollution - such as blocking light from going directly to sky, and concentrating it downward.

Borrego Dark Sky newsletter from 2012: PDF showing Medical Center Lighting (since corrected)