Next meeting
Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Valley of the Moon Children’s Foundation

Laura Colgate

PLEASE NOTE: In-Person & Zoom meetings returned!  Please register.

–> Debi Zaft will email you the link for online, once you have paid.  Use this link to pay.  CLICK HERE!

Wednesday April 20: Competitive Ice Dancer
Wednesday April 27: Puerto Vallarta Water Project

Click here for the current calendar (Subject to updates).

UPCOMING SOCIALS & PROJECTS  

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

Watch The Meeting:  Did you miss the meeting?  Here is a link to the recording of last week’s meeting:
(Click here for recording) Note: Give a few minutes to download before viewing.
Please note it is only available to view until: 4/16/22

Opening Ceremonies:

President Ray welcomed us to the “Past President’s Day” meeting. Ginny Cannon led us all in the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four-Way Test. Her Reflection was some quotes from presidents. “It is easier to do a job right than explain why you did not.” “We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once.” “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”  – This applies to all our past presidents here and on Zoom.

Visitors:

Curt Groninga, Fred Levin, Joel DeSilva, Steve Marburger, Kathleen Archer, and Sabra Locke. Sabra has completed an application for membership and will have Rotary Informational shortly.

Past Presidents in Attendance Today:

Fred Levin, Joel DeSilva, Doug Johnson, Susan Nowacki, Jeanne Levin, Dan Balfe, Jeff Kolin, Kathleen Archer, Debi Zaft, Tony Roehrick, Julia Parranto, Charlie Niles, Chuck Bartley, Steve Marburger, Jose Guillen, Steve Olson, and Mark Burchill.

Rotarian of the Month:

That would be Dan Balfe! Dan has been very involved with Rotary since he moved to Sonoma County. He is the District Grants representative for District 5130, he is active in World Community Service, he was just working at the District Assembly. His devotion to Rotary is evident in the time, talent, and treasures he gives to Rotary.

April Birthdays:

Ginny Cannon, Casey Carter, and Debi Zaft were the only April birthday members present so they got puzzles from Keven Brown. Also, with April birthdays (and they were on Zoom) are Andrea Geary and Richard Lazovick.

Raffle:

We started over today with 10 marbles and $24.00 in the pot. Keven Brown had the lucky ticket, but he did not pull out the blue marble.  He got $10.00 consolation prize and the pot rolls over to next week.

A New Major Rotary Donor:

Sam McMillan has donated $10,000 to the foundation and was so honored today. He received a lovely crystal plaque and a new Paul Harris pin with a diamond in it. Rotary has been in Sam’s life since he was born. His father’s doctor convinced his dad to join our club many years ago. In 1966 he was a Rotary exchange student in Morocco. His dad, however, was not the one to ask him to join Rotary. That was Steve Olson in 1996.

Rotary Youth Exchange is having a golf tournament as a fund raiser. It will be on Saturday, June 4, 2022, at Baywood Golf and Country club, 3600 Buttermilk Lane, Arcata, CA. There are several options for sponsorship as well as playing. The entry fee is $125, and it includes a cart, goodie bag, and lunch. Register online at: ye5130.org/golf. Any questions? Call Haider at (707) 499-6219 or email [email protected]

Rotaract:

Thursday, April 7, 2022, is Giving Day at Sonoma State University. The SSU Rotaract students are putting together goodie bags for the homeless to be distributed in May, Copland Creek Cleanup on April 22, 2022, and the are sending 5 members to the international convention in June. You can donate at https://tinyurl.com/RotaractGivingDay.

Cherkasy, Ukraine:

World Community Service is actively raising money to send to the Rotary Club Cherkasy-Centre for medical supplies and humanitarian aid. Our club is partnering with the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa East-West for humanitarian aid to this sister city club, RC Cherkasy-Centre.  $15,000 has already been wired and was used for medical supplies.  They need more money to buy more medical supplies and assemble carry-on first-aid kits desperately needed by civilians injured by Russian military’s actions or for injured civilians needing transportation to nearby cities and hospitals.   Please check out the Sunday, April 3, 2022, edition of The Press Democrat https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/benefield-friendship-built-decades-ago-sparks-partnership-in-time-of-war/ .  Please share the information with your friends and families to raise more needed funds.  We currently have $13,000 and would like to raise $20,000.  We are planning to send funds collected by end of this week to our fellow Rotarians in Cherkasy.  Your contributions will make a huge difference.  Check out our link, you can make your contribution here: Ukrainian Aid | Rotary Club of Santa Rosa (santarosarotary.com)

Honoring Our Past Presidents:

Past President Jeff Kolin quoted Cliff Dochterman from a book that Steve Olson gave him. He gave a speech, “You are a Conductor” on how being a president is not unlike a symphony conductor. You bring members together to function as a team (you can find the speech on YouTube). Presidents prepare, do their homework, research, listen and share.  He then gave us a quiz on identifying who was president when certain world events were happening. Kathleen Archer and Charlie Howard-Gibbon both got seven right and won a prize! Jeff asked, “What does the club do now that stands the test of time? Jeff asked each past president to talk about accomplishments during their year.

Steve Olson (1994-95) likes that we still meet every week and have speakers. The scholarship programs mean most to him. When he joined the club in 1976, the members were farmers and related industries. They went on field trips. They supported the kids in Future Farmers. When the club foundation was started in 1989, they gave out $4000 in scholarships to 5 students. Now we will give out $40,000 this year. Between to scholarships and community grants the club foundation will give out $80,000.

Charlie Niles (1993-94), being a car guy remembers the sport car shows that raised as much as $60,000. His dad was president 1943-44. Our club was the first Rotary club in Santa Rosa and the best!

Chuck Bartley (1967-68) remembers Steve Olson always asking for money. There were 208 members in the club. They started the Rotary Club of West Santa Rosa that year. He liked the ladies’ nights and remembered the time they invited Sally Stanford to speak. No one raised their hand to ask any questions!

Jeanne Levin (1989-90) was our first woman president. She wanted to bring a little humor to the club. She became, and still is Queen Jeanne. She wore a Green Bay Packer’s cheese hat to a meeting.

Debi Zaft (2006-07) doubled the World Community Service budget from $2000 to $4000.  They club did its first international project, sent medical supplies to Kenya and asked members to send her postcards from their vacations. She used that to get recognition money! As she recalls her budget was quite healthy that year.

 

Kathleen Archer (2008-09) emphasized mentorship, particularly women.

Julia Parranto (2017-18) will always be remembered as the year of the Tubbs Fire, but she is proud of starting the P-Line monthly meetings of the past president, current president, president elect, and president elect, elect for continuity in leadership.

Fred Levin (2009-10) was president during our last major recession.  He was adamant about helping struggling members, so money was fronted to them.  At the end of the year, we had 141 members, one more than the start of his year. Queen Jeanne did not invite him to join the club. That was Will Haymaker in 2001.

Tony Roehrick (2018-19) followed Julia, so fire was still an issue. It was a year of mini grants given to fire survivors and other community service. He was proud how as a club we stepped up and pivoted as needed.

Doug Johnson (2015-16) was supposed to be president the following year, but he a Jose flipped. He brought us NewGen Peacebuilders.  Our club grew from 109 to 116 members and the only one we lost was Nick Knickerbocker.

Jose Guillen (2016-17) Service Above Self was his motto for the year. He had to take early retirement from his job as the Court Executive Officer due to health issues and he was pretty pissed about it.  In the end it was a gift and he found himself in the service to others.

Jeff ended with letting our members who were past presidents of other clubs to say a word or two.  He ended with the fact that Rotary today will be different in the future, but he has confidence that our club can pivot with the changes.  Engagement is the key. Tell your Rotary story. Celebrate our achievements. Step up and be a leader.

Program Slides

Click on each images to open slide, Presidential Headlines, and Trends For The Future

 

   

Additional Pictures

Here’s a link to 66 candids from the April 6th club meeting honoring our past presidents, where the laughter, camaraderie and fellowship are self-evident from the photos:

Governor, District 5130

Dustin Littlefield

Secretary

Debi Zaft P.O. Box 505 Santa Rosa, CA 95402

Board of Directors

President Elect, Kris Anderson
Club Service I, Membership, Julia Parranto
Club Service II, Club Meetings, Casey D’Angelo
Club Service III, Fundraising, Diane Moresi
Club Service IV, Member Activities, Anne Gospe
Club Service V, Information Technology and Records, Pete Lescure
Club Director, Casey Carter
Community Service I, Member Involvement, Rio Ray
Community Service II, Youth, Andrea Geary
Vocational Service, Carolyn Fassi
International Service, Dan Balfe

DIGITAL EDITION No. 451 April 6, 2022  EDITOR: Kris Anderson PHOTOGRAPHER: Jeff Gospe PUBLISHER: Richard Lazovick