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:

The usual greetings and salutations from President Casey with Rose Frances leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance and the Five-Way Test. Rose quoted Wendall Berry for her reflection:
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Guests:

Elaine Olson, and our visitors from Pepperwood Preserve: Haley, Karen, Laura, and Ryan

Sunshine Report:

Valerie Hulsey had a fall and broke her knee at the District Foundation meeting. Our beloved member, Rose Frances, has been given the “all clear” from her recent surgery!

50/50 Raffle:

There were only 3 marbles and $143.00 in the pot. Ann Gospe’s ticket was pulled, and she got the blue marble! We start over with 10 marbles next week.

Announcements:

1. The Board has decided to participate with the local Sonoma County Rotary Clubs and support the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. This foundation provides one book a month to a newborn child for the first five years. More details to follow.
2. Remember, there will be no meeting on October 30. Instead, we will meet for a social that same afternoon in the bar from 3:30 – 5:00pm.

Rotarian of the Month:

For the month of September, Jim Green was named Rotarian of the month. Ever since Jim became a member of our club, he has been active! He has taken over as chair of the membership committee. How lucky we are that out of all the Rotary Clubs, locally, he chose ours!

Identity Protection Advice from Steve Marburger:

Steve has spent 35 years in business helping small businesses, and individuals, protect their computers and identity. The attacks are daily. The biggest threat was the National Public Data Breech. Assume your email is not secure. Always double check your mail before opening it. Do not use the same password for everything. Do not return phone calls that could be or clearly are spam. If you have any questions, call Steve.

Poinsettias for Seniors:

We used to by poinsettias for Vigil Lights Senior Apartments, but with Covid that died. Heather Thurber is looking to revive this tradition and look for a place to support the seniors. If you have suggestions, send her an email (she will be traveling with her family for the next 6 weeks). Someone mentioned that the recent hurricanes that hit Florida destroyed 90% of the poinsettias. That might put a kibosh on this year’s plans, but we do not know. Anyone want to take on this project while Heather is away?

Foundation Awards:

Well, we got one last year. President Casey presented Former President Ann Gospe with a certificate of achievement for Annual Giving/Polio Plus.

Pepperwood Preserve:

This week our guest speaker was Ryan Ferrell, the Sentential Site Manager for Pepperwood Preserve. But before we got started, we presented a $5000.00 check to Ryan, Laura, Karen, and Haley. Would you believe that this check was written in June, and we finally gave it to them? Similar story during former President Kris’s term. Oh well we always make good on our promises!

Pepperwood Preserve is 3200 acres set aside for preservation and conservation. It is located up Mark West Springs Road on the way to Calistoga. There are over 900 species of plants and animals. There are 20+ people on staff and five interns (Steve Olson’s granddaughter used to be an intern).

Their vision – A future where we value, explore, and actively protect the earth’s diversity for future generations. Like Rotary, they have their areas of focus: Research, Stewardship, Community, and Education. Their mission is to Inspire Conservation Through Science. The five-year strategic plan has these objectives:

1. Inspiring connections with nature
2. Restorative native grasslands by removing invasive species and planting native grasslands; to grown and burn in equilibrium
3. Advancing, demonstrating and sharing land stewardship best practices, including the grazing of cattle on the land, sustaining wildlife corridors.
4. Promoting landscape habitability and resiliency in our region and beyond
5. Creating a long-term data record of the health and condition of our ecosystems: weather, water, soil, vegetation, wildlife, and alert systems.

Do not forget that the first Saturday of every month is a volunteer workday. They serve coffee at 8:30, you work from 9:00 to 12:00 and then they serve lunch!  Sign up on their website to volunteer.  Ray Giampaoli has done a lot of work at Pepperwood and can answer some questions you may have on the various jobs.

Presentation Slide:

(Click on image to view slides)

Additional Picture