Ken also announced that the next Community Service Committee meeting will be Oct. 5 at 7:15 a.m. in the Rotary International cafeteria.  Ken also announced that he will be providing training for Campus Kitchens on October 4 at 2 p.m.  Please contact Ken if you are interested in the training.

 

Laura Higgs, former Rotaract Member, provided information regarding the Northern Illinois Rotary Alumni Association.  Chartered by RI International, this group is intended to bridge the gap between Rotaract and membership in a Rotary Club.  Around 40 people are now on the mailing list, and she encouraged everyone to pass the word on about its existence to other former Rotaract members.

 

Sam Lovering announced there will be another Golf Road cleanup this Saturday, Sept. 26.  He urged members to meet at the T.J. Maxx parking lot at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning, where there will be coffee and doughnuts.  The clean-up should only take 45 minutes to an hour, and counts towards a missed meeting.

 

International Service Committee:  Yves Lassare announced that the next meeting will be at 7:15 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 28, in the dining room adjacent to the Rotary International cafeteria.

 

Bruce Baumberger announced that Oct. 24 is World Polio Day, and our District will be holding a One Rotary Summit training.  The ABCs of Rotary will also be taught at the Summit, which would be valuable for newer members. Members can register for this free training online.

 

Club Service Committee:  Bob Teska announced that he had with him the history the club prepared for our 25^th Anniversary in 2010, and new members could get a copy from him.  Steve Goranson said he had updated the history to include the last five years and that the history would also be available online.

 

Nominating Committee:  Harold Bauer announced that the Nominating Committee would meet on Oct. 5.  Anyone with suggestions for the Committee, including members who are interested in serving in a particular job, should contact Harold.

 

Harold also thanked Fran Caan for hosting the very enjoyable picnic at her home on Sept. 15.

 

Finally, Harold thanked Jackie Mack for hosting the New Member gathering at her house on Sept. 20, and Helen Oloroso for providing the food for that gathering.

 

Professor Richard Van Duyne gave a fascinating presentation on using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERs) on art restoration.  Professor Van Duyne, who discovered the Raman SERS in 1977, explained the science behind how he had identified at the molecular level, the pigment in a Renoir painting at the Art Institute, “Madame Leon Clapisson.”  

 

He explained that he had been approached by Francesca Casadio, the art conservationist at the Art Institute, to analyze the Renoir with the Raman SERs to determine what the painting had originally looked like. 

 

Professor Van Duyne has a team of 25 students who assist him with his research using the Raman SERS. He and his students analyzed a piece of paint the size of a pin from the Renoir that had been taken from behind the painting’s frame. That location was chosen because it had not been exposed to light and therefore had not degraded like the rest of the painting. The team used the Raman SERs, to identify the molecules that were used to create the original red pigment.

 

Professor Van Duyne and his team discovered that the red pigment in the painting was very degraded, so much so that the painting could not be restored.  However, they used the knowledge gained about the original paint color to create a computer visualization of what the original painting looked like.  “Madame Leon Clapisson” in its current state, along with the computer visualization of its original coloring, was featured in a show at the Art Institute from February to April 2014.

 

Professor Van Duyne showed slides comparing the Renoir in its current state to the computer visualization.  The background of the picture was originally quite red, but it had washed out to a light blue green over time.  He explained that all pigments degrade, but that reds tend to degrade more, while blues are more resistant to photo degradation as they are inorganic.  Professor Van Duyne indicated that they were now going to analyze the gold gloves Madame Clapisson is wearing, which he said could take a lifetime.

 

Professor Van Duyne told us that he hopes to study the degradation of the Mona Lisa, which is housed at the Louvre in a glass case.  Every evening the case is opened and the dust from the painting is vacuumed up and then placed in plastic bags and labeled with the date.  These bags of paint dust have been collected for almost 100 years, and the Louvre has retained all of those bags.  Professor Van Duyne has applied for a grant to study, with the Raman SERs, those dust particles to determine how the paint from the Mona Lisa has degraded over time.

 

 

Bob Hagan District Governor 6900, Rotary club of Roswell Georgia

Sharon Heinrich Rotary Gastonia NC

Jim and Jan Heinrich St Mary's Rotary Club Ohio

 

Sam Lovering and Malu Simon

 

John Searles and Marisa Naujokas

 

 

 

Bob Teska and Chip Uchtman