UPCOMING SOCIALS & PROJECTS & EVENTS  

For more details and additional events, see the Announcements section below.

More socials, projects, & events coming soon!

Please note: The bulletin committee could use more writers.   

Opening Ceremonies:

“Welcome to the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa where the magic continues as we do good in our world and have fun doing it!” said President Casey D’Angelo as he started our meeting. Ann Gospe led us in the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance and the Five-Way Test… however she almost forgot Number 5, “Will it be fun?” Her Reflection was various quotes on the topic of peace from Buddha, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Maynard Hutchins, Eleanor Rosevelt, and others. She also wanted to let us know that we can now sign up for the Rotary Peace Conference that will be held January 24-26 at the Doubletree in Rohnert Park. Please see the flyer with the Key Speakers. It is going to be fantastic!

Visting Rotarians:

Dave Delmonte, former member, is visiting from the Rotary Club of New York City. Alice Kibwaa, former member, was visiting from Rancho Cotati, and Sanford Smith was visiting from Glen Ellen-Kenwood.

Guests:

Mel Konrad, spouse of Mark Burchill

Sunshine Report:

Last week Ginny Cannon told us that Rose Frances was having surgery. Today Julia Parranto told us she has breast cancer and had a double mastectomy last week. Oh my! This was the third surgery for Rose this year. Julia says she is doing well and even walked a mile today. She would love to have visitors.

50/50 Drawing:

Fred Levin let us know that there was $105.00 in the pot and only four marbles. Patty Kolin had the right ticket, but she did not pull out the blue marble. Dang! So next week there are only 3 marbles. Get your money ready!

October Birthdays:

Kris Anderson, Dan Bornstein, Ann Gospe, Greg Johnston, Nicole Le-Savko, and John Poremba all have birthdays this month. Only Kris and Ann were here today, so they got gift certificates for Corrick’s.

District Foundation South:

This Saturday, October 5, is the district foundation meeting. It will be at Charlie’s Grill at the Windsor Golf course from 12:00 to 3:30. Doug Landin was selling tickets for the raffle prizes. $20.00 each of six for $100.00. See next week’s bulletin to see what happens,

Karen Ball is retiring from being our treasurer:

Karen Ball is retiring and will be moving to Washington state next year ???? Andrea Geary is taking over as Treasurer effective today. She has been in training for the last month or more. We are going to miss Karen when she leaves…but she is not leaving yet!

Announcements:

1. Jeff Gospe had two letters on the table from the students we are supporting through the Amigos de Guatemala program.
2. Fred Levin is still selling tickets for the Veteran’s program in November. He is also looking for people to help clean up after the meeting.
3. Debi Zaft announced the next SCARC meeting on October 31 in Sonoma. Sounds spooktacular.
4. Sam McMillan has the meat that everyone bought at the party last Saturday. There are seven lots left. See Sam to see what is available.
5. Sam also announced an Elsie Allen FFA fundraiser. They are selling cooked tri-tips for $35.00 each. Flyers with the QR code were on the table.
6. Robert Pierce says Giro Bello is starting to prepare for July 12, 2025! We have one rider signed up already. When she got the date in the email, she signed up! Robert is working on the website. Andrea is working on the budget. Kris and Ray want to have sponsor letters out at the end of this month.

Sean Kelsey’s Craft Talk:

Sean was an only child, so he made up for it by having 6! He and his wife have been married 22 years. He is a graduate of Montgomery High School, went to SRJC and graduated from the fire academy. However, the jobs were not plentiful, and he ended up training as a plumber. He moved up to Anacortes, WA and became a plumbing contractor. He and his wife started volunteering for the Salvation Army and their mission grew on them. So, at age 40, he sold his business to an employee and joined the Salvation Army. He has worked in Palm Springs, El Cajon, and Los Angeles Metro before arriving in Santa Rosa. His mom is in Oakmont, and it was important to them to be close to her. We are so happy to have Sean in the club! Look out for Bell Ringing sign-ups soon.

Recognitions:

Bill Hatcher is a hunter as we well know. He was up near Covelo and got a bear! He is going to have some pepperoni bear soon. He donated $200.00 to the John Brown Fund.

Today’s guest speaker Sanford Smith and the Rotary Club of Duarte to bring allow women to join Rotary.

In 1978 the Rotary Club of Duarte, CA admitted three women as members, and it was subsequently expelled from Rotary because that violated the Rotary Constitution which specified that Rotary was a Male only organization. On behalf of the Duarte Club and its three female members, Sanford Smith represented the Duarte Club in suing Rotary International for reinstatement as a Rotary Club with its three women as full members of the Club. The case was decided nine years later in our favor at the Supreme Court, thus leading to the abolition of the male only requirement in the United States. The decision by the US supreme court only applied to Rotary in the US.

Sanford Smith graduated from Harvard College and law School and practiced law as an attorney representing school districts in southern California. He was a member of the Rotary Club of Arcadia when this started. The Duarte Club was down to 15 members. Most men in the community commuted to Los Angeles to work. The Club had tapped out of all the eligible men in Duarte. However, there were several businesses owned/ran by women, so they recruited their first female members. His Arcadia Club did not have this problem. The three women were listed by their first initial and last name, so RI did not know about it until the District Governor, at that time, found out and ratted the Duarte Club out. Duarte was also a very balanced community with one third each white, black, and Hispanic population. Sanford thought this case sounded interesting. Women in Rotary did not violate the Four-Way Test.

He first brought the case to the 1978 Tokyo convention and argued before the legislative council and lost. In Superior court, they lost. They won in the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court in California too, RI appealed to the Supreme Court, and he argued the case in 1987 in Washington DC. The case was heard in Illinois. Justice O’Conner and Justice Blackman had to recuse themselves due to Rotarian ties, Justice Powell, a Rotarian, did not. He wrote the opinion. The Duarte Club and the three women won 7-0.

RI had a problem. Women in Rotary were OK for California, but what about the rest of the world. RI decided to let local jurisdictions around the globe to make their own decisions. Australia and England were very resistant to women joining their clubs… Ultimately what applied to one Rotary Club, applied to all.  In Santa Rosa Dorothy Hutchinson and Sharon Wright were our first women members of our club. Now _30 percent of our club is women!

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