Hello Everyone,

You know sometimes it's hard to find a place to take to the podium and talk about my favorite subject, earthquake safety, but every now and then opportunity presents itself and then it's a win-win situation. Today I was unanimously voted in as the newest member of the Petaluma Kiwanis Club with Don Bennett of the Petaluma Post presenting me with my personal plaque and my own five minutes to say anything I wanted to about myself, my interests and so forth.

It was wonderful to share with 50 fresh faces what earthquake safety means to everyone and bring their attention to something they probably haven't thought about for longer than should be. But they were terribly nice, very attentive and enjoyed my final words about the history of the club, which no one seemed to know.

However, the nicest surprise came when I returned to the office to receive one of those wind up radios with a light as a gift from one of our insurance companies. I guess they must have been thinking about earthquake safety too. Ah synchronicity at work....amazing!

I hope this summer when everyone is out and about in earthquake country whether you can talk to one or more persons to mention earthquake awareness and safety. Those few words might make a life saving process occur sometime down the road.

Petra