UPCOMING SOCIALS & PROJECTS & EVENTS  

More socials, projects, & events coming soon!

Opening The Meeting

“Welcome to the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa where the Magic happens, and we have fun while doing good in our community and our world.” welcomed President Casey D’Angelo.

Ann Gospe led us in the reciting of The Pledge of Allegiance, 4/5 Way Test. Her Reflection was some quotes from Martin Luther King Jr “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

Visiting Rotarians:

Dave Del Monte from the Rotary Club of Manhattan (and our club too)

Visitors:

Donna Koslosky has turned in her application.  Rumor has it her husband is a Rotarian in Petaluma.

Anthony Lim was back for his second week in a row.  I think he would fit right in!

Sean Kelsey gets his blue badge and…..

Sean was also named Rotarian of the month for his help in the Book of Why distribution.

Grand Fondo

Jeff Kolin announced that the Grand Fondo has missed us and would like us to come back and help. This year it will be April 19, 2025. They would like us to work at the King Ridge rest stop.  We would need to provide 6-9 volunteers to set up between 6:30 and 9:00am. We need people to work at the rest stop between 9:00 and noon.  At that point we shut down and bring the equipment back to Santa Rosa.  Also, some of the elite women athletes need to be housed April 16-20.   Let Jeff know if you can help.

Leadership Change for 2025-2026:

Kim Murphy is having some health issues that are slowing her down.  She regrets that she cannot be president 2025-2026. President Casey called together the immediate past presidents for a meeting to discuss. Peter Holewinski, President Elect Nominee for 2026-2027 said he was not prepared to step up a year earlier.  After much discussion we decided to ask past president Julia Parranto (2017-2018) if she was interested in being president again.   She has made it known that she would be willing to be president again and she said yes! So, for the first time in our 104-year history we will have a repeat president. As a club we voted on her to be our next president at today’s meeting. No one disagreed. She has signed up for PETS and the convention in Calgary.

Ambassadors of Compassion:

This program, scheduled for the Bay Area in April, has been put off until the Fall.

Fireside Chat:

Kim Murphy is going to host fireside chats at her home on the third Thursday of the month, starting February 20. They will start at 5:30 and go to? Her home is at 6361 Trenton Healdsburg Road in Forestville.  See DACdb.

SCARC Crab Feed in Cloverdale:

Let Debi Zaft know if you want to go by February 21(or email: [email protected] or text to (415) 246-4226). The event is Thursday, February 27.  6:00 cocktails, 7:00 dinner. The cost is $75.00.  The location: Cloverdale Veteran’s Hall, 205 W First Street, Cloverdale.

SCARC March meeting is being host by our club:

The meeting will be at the Iron and Vine Restaurant. The topic will be fire mitigation, risk management techniques and home hardening.

Rotary East/West Social:

The East/West Club is hosting an all-Santa Rosa Rotary social at the Ferguson Observatory on April 4 from 6:00 – 10:00. The Observatory is at Sugarloaf Park.

Sign up to be Greeters, Do the Raffle, etc:

Robert passed around the clipboard

District Assembly:

April 5, 2025, in Ukiah. We will carpool.  We have not seen the pricing, but it has been $50…which will be refunded to you if you sign up and go. This is a wonderful day to learn about Rotary’s many areas of focus.

Book of Why?

Get them delivered as soon as possible. The kids love them!

DACdb Directory:

Dacdb, our online directory is horribly out of date! Debi Zaft passed around a clipboard for everyone to update their information.  If it did not get to you, it will be passed again next week.

Sunshine Report:

Ginny Cannon got flowers from new-member-to-be Donna Koslosky. Diane Moresi is back from Arizona. Her sister had a stroke and, unfortunately, passed away a few days later.

50/50 Drawing:

Eight marbles and $66.00 in the pot. Rose Frances tried to get the blue marble, but she got a yellow. The pot rolls over to next week.

Gary Nichols is Inducted!

Today, Gary Nichols got his red badge! I bet he is halfway to a Blue Badge already. Congratulations Gary!

Today’s guest speaker:  Kerry Benefield from The Press Democrat

Kerry grew up in Santa Rosa.  She got a degree in English at UC Berkeley and went on to get a master’s degree in journalism in London, England. She always wanted to work for the Press Democrat, but it took several applications before they hired her.  Her first job was in New Mexico.  She met her husband when he was the driver to pick her up at the airport. In 2003 The Press Democrat finally hired her. Over the years she has reported on everything.  When Chris Smith retired in 2021, she applied for his job and got it.  As she says, she now covers people, ideas and gets to tell stories. She has three articles in the paper each week.

This last week she wrote about the robbery of an Asian Market in Cotati. Some suggested to her that this was not just a smash and grab robbery. She covered the basketball game between Santa Rosa High School and Montgomery High School where the chanting was not nice. The whole consolidation of schools is traumatic and going to get more traumatic.

She wrote about the school shooting in Uvalde, TX and she feels that is one of her best pieces. She wrote about the bubble lady that was homeless and made gigantic bubbles with soapy water and a hoop. The woman now has a stable home downtown.

Asked about rumors that the Hearst Corporation is looking to buy The Press Democrat.  She has heard the same rumors.  The Press Democrat has been locally owned since 2012 and has thrived.  She said there could be worse groups than the Hearst Corp. Jus look at the last time The Press Democrat was not locally owned. To end the meeting, she answered some questions from our members.

Additional Pictures

CREDITS