DIGITAL EDITION   No. 30     May 22, 2013     EDITORS: Julia Parranto & Jim Johnson     PHOTOGRAPHER: Nicole Le

Our Program For May 29th:

Group Study Exchange team

Meet a cross-section of French professionals: modern, young & single

If life were fair, next Wednesday’s Rotary meeting would give us at least a week to spend with six young men & women, educated & trained in six highly specific professions in France. Our special guests are…
1. Lionel Lainard: Management consultant in team building & humanistic coaching
2. Jerome Marty: Information technology systems security engineer
3. Emmanuelle Delon: Computers project manager
4. Jesus Diaz: Physician, anesthesiologist, and intensive care specialist
5. Sophie Guerandel: Litigant attorney for the Federal Union of Consumers
6. Celine Maziers: Wine expert & procurer for French supermarkets

UPCOMING PROGRAMS….

June 5, 2013: Astronomy—the Study of Celestial Objects
June 12, 2013: President Bill’s Year in Review
June 19, 2013: Past Presidents’ Day

USEFUL LINKS

Visit our district at: http://www.rotary5130.org
Check out Rotary International at: http://www.rotary.org
Come see us at: http://rotarymeansbusiness.com

OPENING CEREMONIES

President William Rousseau called the meeting to order and asked Joy Parker to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Past President Don McMillan gave us an inspiring message as the invocation, and we quote: “People are crazy; Beer is Good; God is Great.”

VISITING ROTARIANS

Kris Anderson welcomed Visiting Rotarian Maureen Doerven, a writer from Sebastopol Rotary and, from the Rotary Club of Colima, Mexico, educator Susan Hill and Ted Rose, today’s guest speakers and founders of Project Amigo.

GUESTS OF ROTARIANS

Past President Will Haymaker introduced his wife JoAnn, Knoel Owen introduced his guest from the Sonoma County Superior Court, Dana Simonds, and Wayne Rowlands welcomed back his guest, Dinndayal Morgan. This week’s scholarship recipients were introduced by Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa: Jasmine Riviera, Danielle Friedrich, Kylina Matteoli, and Joe Grey made up Stage II. Scroll down for the Rotary Foundation Scholarship presentations.

SUNFLOWER FESTIVAL

Two special guests giving away flats of sunflower sprouts were introduced today. Rachel Cutcher and JoAnne Cohen were giving away Sunflowers for Santa Rosa so we could all be ready for this summer’s Sunflower Festival in August.

SUNSHINE REPORT

A hearty welcome back to Nick Knickerbocker, who appears to have recovered from his recent surgery, looking good and manning his post at the Raffle Table.

THE RAFFLE

Speaking of the raffle, the club’s greenest Red Badge member, Darren Elliot, came close to disaster when the lucky ticket was claimed by a smiling Ted Wilmsen, who had cleaned out the $910 Jackpot only three weeks ago! Fortunately he beat the improving odds and drew the 9 of Spades. Whew, that was close!

SIX WEEKS TO GIRO BELLO

Doug Johnson took the floor with the stunning news that we are halfway to meeting our goals for Giro Bello 2014, with six weeks to go. Giro Bello has been the major source of funding for our club’s non-profit grants and most important projects. In an updated report, Layne Bowen emphasized that we are half way to our goal of $30,000 in paid corporate sponsorships for the Giro Bello coming up on July 6^th. This week we exceeded 250 registrations—25 percent more than last year at this time. Total ridership for the 2^nd Giro Bello last summer was over 700 cyclists. This year, we are on track to meet our goal of 1,000 participants in this third Giro Bello.

Last year we netted approximately $50,000 from this event. This year our Giro Bello goal is to generate $75,000 that will increase funding for our Rotary Club’s community projects and grants to local non-profit organizations. Both Layne and Doug urged all of us to get involved in this remarkable Rotary Club opportunity—our largest and most productive “hands on” project of the last three years. Volunteer now to help where you are needed most, contact Matt Fannin, Don McMillan, Layne Bowen, Carmen Sinigiani, Diane Moresi, or any member of the board. They are all listed in the club roster and online at https://santarosarotary.com/roster/members-list/.

THE RMB APP – IT’S NOT JUST FOR iPHONE ANYMORE!

Thanks to our club webmaster Wayne Rowlands, Sachin Gururaj, and Rajeevalochan Dinamani, Rotary Club of Bangalore Yelahanka India, the Rotary Means Business iPhone App has been out for some time, yet it is now available for Android phones at the Google Play Store . Remember that this app helps Rotarians around the world connect with each other through the Rotary Means Business community. Visit the Rotary Means Business website at: http://rotarymeansbusiness.com/

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Annual District Conference will be held next weekend, May 31, June 1 & 2, at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel & Spa, 170 Railroad Street, Santa Rosa. For a complete schedule of events, scroll down to the end of The Santa Rosarian. To register go to www.eventbrite.com/conference-solution

Deborah Gray, who has done a great job as chair of this year’s drive for new members, announced— while no one had recruited two members to win the $100 grand prize—that several Rotarians had an additional member in the membership process. The new deadline will be Tuesday night, June 4^th.

Jeff Gospe announced that our club’s Youth Exchange Committee had overcome all bureaucratic obstacles of the local school systems and the club’s 17 year old exchange student for the coming year has been certified. Arriving in August for a year at Santa Rosa High School is Giovanni Provenzano, from Sardinia, one of the large Mediterranean Islands near the west coast of Italy. What a great learning opportunity for the right host family! If you’re interested, contact committee members Jeff Gospe, Craig Metzler, or committee chair Larry Miyano immediately.

President William reminded us that a special board meeting of our club will be held on June 3^rd to discuss the substantial increase in dues for all clubs in District 5130. All interested Rotarians are invited to attend the meeting at 5 pm, Monday, June 3^rd, in the Salvation Army conference room, 93 Stoney Circle.

VOCATIONAL SERVICE

Often referred to as Rotary’s forgotten Avenue of Service, a flyer distributed by Debi Zaft at today’s meeting brought it into the light as an added benefit of your Rotary membership; beneficial to your vocation and your business. For more details, contact Debi Zaft via email debizaft@sonic.net.

EMPLOYER BEST PRACTICES AWARDS

The Sonoma County Mayors’ Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities invites you to nominate an employer for their leadership in the employment of people with disabilities. Awardees will be honored at the Employer Best Practices Awards Breakfast on October 30 at the Flamingo Hotel. Your nomination is an important step in recognizing employers for their efforts. You can also assist by distributing Nomination Forms to your contacts. Mike Kallhoff (mike@unitedwaywinecountry.org) is chair of Rotary’s Disability Awareness Committee or you can contact Jack Geary for more information. Get nomination forms and award categories on-line. Access www.sonomacountymayorscommittee.com

ROTARY CLUB OF SANTA ROSA: 2013
FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS

Over the last 91 years, the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa has touched the lives of many thousands of people in Sonoma County, the state of California, the United States, and throughout the world. Rotary was the first service club in the world, and service to others has been our purpose since we were founded.

The scholarships awarded by our 91-year-old Rotary Club are funded by tax-deductible contributions and gifts to the Rotary Club Foundation of Santa Rosa, the charitable arm of this Rotary Club. It accumulates capital to fund worthwhile grants, locally and internationally, creates and awards scholarships, and fund dozens of local projects every year. Each year, this foundation’s volunteers delivers free dictionaries to every third grade, we awarded 11 college scholarships worth almost $20,000 to outstanding, worthy local students, either to enter college, vocational training, university, or to transition from Santa Rosa Junior College to a major university.

ROTARY SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS-MAY 22, 2013

Danielle Friedrich
The Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Foundation Trustee Scholarship, Santa Rosa Junior College. Major—Psychology; working with children. University choice: Cal Poly

Kylina Matteoli
The Holly Plummer Honorary Scholarship, Maria Carrillo High School. Major: English, University Choice—U. C. Davis. Career Goal is to teach at a Community College or University.

Jasmine Rivera
The Larry Bello Memorial Scholarship. Pathways Charter School, Rohnert Park. Major: Social and Behavior Science. College of Choice: Santa Rosa Junior College & possibly Berkeley in the future.

Joseph A. Grey
The John Brown Memorial Veteran’s Scholarship. Sir Francis Drake, San Anselmo. Major—Environmental Studies. College/University choice: Santa Rosa Junior College and Sonoma State University.

The final 2013 Rotary Scholarship will be awarded at Rotary on May 29th.

 

TODAY’S PROGRAM

The story of Project Amigo is familiar to members of the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa. Founders Susan Hill and Ted Rose have visited Rotary Clubs throughout northern California. They visited this Rotary Club after we became a sponsor of Project Amigo, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to enable poor children of the state of Colima, Mexico, to achieve their highest potential, providing the children educational opportunities, material support, enrichment activities, along with medical and dental services not otherwise available. It facilitates partnerships between Rotary Clubs and individuals from Mexico and North America. For the past three years, our World Community Service Committee has designated Project Amigo as our as our anchor project, receiving one-third of our committee’s funds.by our World Community Service Committee, each year receiving 33 percent of the funds allocated to the committee as part of our Rotary Club’s many diverse avenues of community service from Santa Rosa & Sonoma County, the northern coastal communities of District 5130, and worldwide through Rotary International. The impact on the students’ education and lives in the remote backwaters of poverty around the active Volcan de Colima complex has been remarkable, as outlined by Ted and Susan in their presentation and the questions and answers that followed.

 

Rotary District 5130 Conference Schedule

Friday, May 31
1:00 pm–6:00 pm Registration Opens
2:00 pm–3:30 pm District Business Meeting
5:15 pm–6:00 pm Wine Tasting in the courtyard
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm Ballroom Doors Open

Call to Order
DG Michael Juric
RI Representative Noel Bajat
Dinner Served Cabaret—Truffles & Port

Saturday June 1
8:15 am Ballroom Doors Open
8:30 am Call to Order
8:40 am Breakfast served

Rotaract Keynote Speaker Nerve Macaspac: Nature of Conflict

10:20 am Breakout Session: Service Projects in a Conflict Zone
11:50 am Doors Open
12 Noon Call to Order
Group Study Exchange Team Presentation
Keynote Speaker Francesca Giovannini:
A World Free of Nuclear Weapons
In Memoriam

1:50 pm Breakout Session: Peace Panel Discussion
6:00 pm Ballroom Doors Open
6:15 pm Call to Order
Dinner Served (Black Tie Optional)
Introduction of District Governor’s family
Keynote Speaker RI Rep Noel Bajat
Award Celebration
Pin Exchange DG/DGE
9:30 pm Adjourn

Sunday June 2
8:45 am Ballroom doors open
9:15 am Call to Order
Brunch
Closing Remarks RI Rep Noel Bajat
Interact Awards Presentation
Youth Exchange Student Presentation
Closing Remarks DG Michael Juric
Adjourn Conference

OFFICERS

Rotary Club of Santa Rosa

President: Bill Rousseau, President Elect: Peggy Soberanis, Secretary: Jack Abercrombie, Treasurer: Cecil G. Humes, Sergeant at Arms: Jack Geary

President Rotary International

Sakuji Tanaka – Rotary Club of Yasjio, Japan

Governor, District 5130

Michael Juric – Rotary Club of Windsor

Attendance Secretary

Jack Abercrombie P.O. Box 505 Santa Rosa, CA 95402 707-538-4770

Board of Directors

Matt Fannin, Jose Guillen, Paul Hamilton, Nicole Le, Diane Moresi, Vinay Patel, Robert Pierce, Carmen Sinigiani, Creed Wood, Marnie Goldschlag, Past President