DIGITAL EDITION No. 328 August 14, 2019  EDITOR: Layne Bowen PHOTOGRAPHER: Kris Anderson PUBLISHER: Richard Lazovick

Our Program For Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Sonoma Clean Power will be giving an overview of the agency and its formation, as well as explaining their electricity services, the generation mix of each option, and the great programs available to all SCP customers.

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

Opening Ceremonies

Pledge: Vicki Hardcastle

4 Way Test – Doug Johnson

Reflection: Peter Holewinski recited some lyrics from John Lennon’s “Imagine”

President Cathy rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic that is our Rotary Club. She ordered several people to sit at different tables. Some of us moved twice – What’s up with that?????

Chicken Wednesday

Cathy decided that our new mascot will be a chicken on a pedestal. Name that chicken! Our guest speaker suggested Mary Jane, for obvious reasons…..

Visiting Rotarians 

None Present

Guests

There were a couple of young men present who did not sign in.

Sunshine

Ginny said that all is sunny!!!

Raffle

$36 in the raffle this week according to Kim Graves. 5122 were the last 4 digits, owned, naturally be “Winning Ted Wilmsen”. Only this time, Ted did not draw the winning marble.

Joke Time

Dan Shell sang a song acapella about Oakland, CA. That was no joke! Great job, Dan! Where do you come up with this stuff?

Announcements

Ray Giampaoli needs someone to chair the sponsorship committee for 2020 Giro Bello.

Andrea Geary announced about the Bocce tournament and the upcoming social.

Debi Zaft announced that Jack Abercrombie has resigned from the club due to health reasons. A card was sent around for club members to sign.

Yale Abrams recognized the Rotarians who helped in the hands-on project.

June Rotarian of the Month

For never saying no and always saying yes, Peter Lescure was selected as the Rotarian of the Month for June. Peter schedules volunteers for our weekly meeting duties and takes on other duties whenever asked.

Cathy’s Recognitions

Cathy recognized Jeff and Ann Gospe for being emissaries for Rotary around the world. They recently spent 5 weeks in Indonesia where they visited Artie, our exchange student and Australia, much of that time on a sailboat. Apparently, the Gospes left a trail of destruction as volcanoes erupted and earthquakes rumbled upon their immediate departure. They brought back several scarves and other trinkets (like a poison tipped sword). They visited Rotary Clubs, including one club that was made up mostly of Muslim women. Cathy auctioned off the scarves.

Cathy also auctioned off two Rotary shirts donated by Yale Abrams and two tickets to a fundraiser at Kunde Winery. Auction items will go into the Secret Chicken Fund which will be used to secretly help our members.

Program

Dona Frank and her associate Lauren were today’s speakers. Dona is a leader in the  cannabis industry in the North Bay.

Dona and her business partner, Lauren talked about their experience and the challenges facing the industry. Dona asked our club who regularly uses cannabis products and a surprisingly large number of club members raised their hands. Many use it for medical reasons, particularly pain relief or as a sleep aid. Dona and Lauren’s dispensaries serve a client base of 100,000 people and serves 4 counties. They discussed the wide variety of ways cannabis can be ingested, which include: orally in pill or in baked goods, smoked, vaped, applied epidermically in the form of a patch or in a crème or oil that can be rubbed on the skin. The company started as a medical dispensary and now also serves those wanting cannabis for recreational use since it’s legalization in California.  

Each county requires different permits as well as the state permits. Dona noted that big money from Canada where cannabis is legal is pouring in and putting price pressure on local dispensaries. Their business is run as a boutique business, similar to a craft brewery and faces even more challenges than other small businesses. Perhaps the biggest hurdle facing the industry is that the federal government still refuses to let banks be involved in the cannabis industry which makes transactions much more difficult. The other big headwind is the high taxation of the industry from several levels of government.

Donna announced an art competition ” high art” and created a book of artwork done by artists while high. 20k first prize. Several international artists have launched careers from participating in the project.

Governor, District 5130

Kathy Flamson

Attendance Secretary

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

Board of Directors

Club Service I, Membership, Michael Moore
Club Service II, Club Meetings, Holly Garretson
Club Service III, Fundraising, Ryan Thomas
Club Service IV, Member Activities, Anne Gospe
Club Service V, Information Technology and Records, Brandon Urich
Community Service I, Member Involvement, Rio Ray
Community Service II, Youth, Andrea Geary
Vocational Service, Carolyn Fassi
International Service, Dan Balfe