UPCOMING SOCIALS & PROJECTS & EVENTS  

More socials, projects, & events coming soon!

Opening The Meeting

President Casey opened the meeting with his usual greeting, “Welcome to the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa where the Magic of Rotary is alive and well. Where we do good in our world and have fun doing it.”

Charlie Howard Gibbon led us in the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance and Four-Way Test.  His Reflection was a quote from Ghandi, “Live as if you will die tomorrow, but learn like you will live forever.”

Visiting Rotarians:

Van Johnson, Steve Prandini, and Harry Polley from the Sebastopol Noon Club.

Jack Johnson and Lillian Roche from the Cardinal Newman Interact Club

Tiffany Nguyen from the SRJC Rotaract Club

Guests:

Matt Flores (recently moved here from Fresno and a former Rotarian there. He has recently been hired by Becoming Independent.  He is looking for a new Rotary home!)

Sunshine:

Scott Bartley’s partner, Chris Hightower, is feeling much better so Scott expects to be back next week.

50/50 Drawing:

We went back to 10 marbles and $23.00 in the pot. Craig Meltzner did not win (but Polio Plus did). The pot rolls over and only nine marbles next week.

Are you wearing a Rotary pin?

Our Sergeant at Arms, Robert Pierce, has been watching to make sure President Casey is wearing a Rotary pin.  This week it looks like President Casey had at least 10!

Book of Why?

The first couple of schools have received their books and the kids love them!  Please get our schools delivered before the end of February.

The Peace Conference:

We had nine members in attendance for last weekend’s peace conference. What an amazing event! So much to know about peace! For example: Negative peace is the end of war. Positive Peace is much beyond that.  Here are the Eight Pillars of Peace:

1. A well-functioning government
2. Sound business environment
3. Equitable distribution of resources
4. Acceptance of the rights of others
5. Good relations with neighbors
6. Free flow of information
7. High levels of human capital
8. Low levels of corruption

The Rotary Peace Mission Statement:

“Peace holds a unique status in Rotary. We approach peace not as an abstract concept, but as a living, dynamic expression of human development. As a humanitarian service and leadership organization, it is both a cornerstone of our mission, and one of our areas of focus – on of the main was in which our members make their mark on the world.”

Rotary is in partnership with the Institute for Economics and Peace, a global think tank that provides research and reports on attitudes, institutions and structures associated with peaceful societies. Developed Pillars of Positive Peace and the Positive Peace Index.

…and so much more!  Wow!

“You may not be responsible for world peace, but you are responsible for your piece/peace.” Brian Farr, Rotary Peace Fellow, Past Chair Rotary Action Group for Peace.

Annual Meeting:

1. Steve Olson gave the report on the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Foundation.  The Foundation gives 14 scholarships a year for a total of $40,000+/-. Since announcing the upcoming scholarship season, they have already received 80 applications! Steve also brought with him an original 2010 Giro Bello bike jersey to auction off. It came from Mary Miyano.  Steve auctioned it off to raise funds for the Larry Miyano Engineering Scholarship. Dan Balfe won with a final bid of $250.00.
2. Nona Lucas announced that the Foundation board had openings for the board. Please see her if you are interested in serving. Terms are for 3 years.
3. Doug Landin talked about the Paul Harris Awards. Our club became a 100% Paul Harris Club during Jeff Kolin’s year as president. Currently we only have three members who have not completed their first Paul Harris Award (that would be giving $1000 to Rotary International. That money goes out into the world for projects that reflect our Seven Areas of Service). We know not everyone can just give $1000, but there are matching funds to get you there. See Doug Landin about it,
4. President Elect Kim Murphy is going to bring back Fireside Chats. They will be on the third Thursday of the month at her home. It is OK to bring a friend who may be interested in Rotary. Also, our club is hosting the March 29, 2025, Sonoma County Area Rotary Club (SCARC) meeting.  It will be at Iron and Vine.  The topic will be fire mitigation.  As president elect, she oversees club administration. That includes, volunteers for the Pledge/Four-Way Test/Refection, Sunshine, Historian, Programs and Fund Raising.
5. Julia Parranto oversees membership. That is recruiting new members and retaining the members we have. When someone expresses an interest in Rotary, the President Elect invites them out for coffee to find out if they might be a good fit.  Then Julia goes over Rotary Information with them.  At that point, the person is announced at the club and if no one objects, they become a member. Once a member, the Red Badge group sees them through the steps to get their blue badge.
6. Rich Rossi oversees public image. He works with members to get our face out to the public. We are on Facebook (if you are not a member of our Facebook group, please join and spread the word about Rotary). We are updating our website. The committee hopes to have funds to do some advertising within the District.
7. Heather Thurber oversees Local Service. That includes Veteran’s Luncheon, Children’s Christmas, the Book of Why distribution, high school recognitions, public service awards, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (new). She is looking for a way for our club to participate in the Santa Rosa Greenway project (Peace trees from Hiroshima?).
8. Jim Green oversees our international projects. These are our own projects and ones we do with other clubs with global grants. These projects include Amigos de Guatemala, Project Amigo, Shelter Box, a water project for five villages in Zimbabwe. They are currently in the application phase for a water project in Haiti. He brought in to show a portable desk that are being sent to Zambia (just saw this at the Peace Conference).
9. Ann Gospe as Past President will be doing President Casey’s Debunking and the Past President’s Luncheon. She is also overseeing local hands-on projects: Alzheimer’s Walk, Bell ringing for the Salvation Army, Face to Face coat drive, MLK Park clean up, the Boys and Girls Bike Give Away, Russian River clean up.
10. Tiffany Nguyen gave us an update on the SRJC Rotaract. There is a walk to fight suicide at Sonoma State University on February 8th. (see details in the “Upcoming Socials Projects and Events” section at the top of this bulletin)
11. Jack Johnson and Lillian Roche gave us an update on the Cardinal Newman Interact Club.
12. Jeff Gospe gave us an update on Ukraine

Additional Pictures

CREDITS