The Golden Proportion, True or False?

Janet Smith spoke about the Golden Proportion at our June 25th meeting. Janet knows a good deal about the ratio of 618:382. She did her Doctoral Dissertation on it. It is a ratio that recurs in nature, art, music, and countless other places. It is sometimes represented by the Greek Letter Phi and has been known for a very long period of time. Janet says that Euclid talked about it in 300 B.C. but it was known well before that. She had a Power Point presentation and showed several examples of it in art, nature, and music. She said some composers seemed to have a predilection for it. She cited Debussey as one of her favorites and one that seemed to compose in a way that incorporated it. The beautiful design of the chambered Nautilus is a good example of it in nature. One of the comments that struck me was Janet's comment that they have found that breaks in a teaching session (such as a piano lesson that Janet does professionally) or in the intermission of a concert seem to go better if the break comes about 2/3's of the way in rather than at the center. Great job Janet and thanks for all the effort you put into such an excellent presentation.

Dan Cherry Talks About Recent Vietnam Trip

General Dan Cherry (USAF Retired) talked to us Wednesday June 4 about the beginnings of the Air Heritage Museum he and a group of fellow Rotarians have been working on here in Bowling Green. They started four years ago by locating his old Phantom Jet in Ohio. The small town that owned it was prepared to see it leave. With local support the jet was brought back to B.G. and made to look beautiful taking on its war time camouflage paint scheme. The museum is building a beautiful outdoor display of military aircraft at the Basil Griffin Park on Three Spirngs Road. Phantom 550 is parked there now. The museum will be a tribute to several aviation pioneers and heroes from this area. In connection with the museum and through many convaluted steps Dan was invited to return Vietnam to meet on National Television the North Vietnamese pilot he had shot down in the war. The biggest show on Vietnam TV is similar to our old This is Your Life program here. The producer is U.S. educated and was able to find the 62 year old pilot Dan shot down 38 years ago. Dan had a Power Point presentation that documented their meeting. He said he had many misgivings about the whole deal but spoke with Vietnam Veteran groups here and the U.S. Embassy before making the decision to go. It was the biggest thing in Vietnam the week he was there. The show is the number one show on TV. I don't have a photo of the reunion but will try to get one and put it on our blog. The reunion was terrific and Dan found the man to be a true gentleman. We were all enthralled to hear about the emotional reunion. We heard about Dan's gift of Maker's Mark, the pilot's invitation for Dan and his entourage to come to his house in Hanoi for dinner, Dan's being there for the grandson's first birthday celebration, and the guided tour of Hanoi by the pilot including the Hanoi Hilton. The museum hopes to bring the pilot to Bowling Green and members of our club were begging Dan to be certain to bring him to Rotary for all of us to meet him. Listen, when you miss programs this good you've missed a lot.