UPCOMING SOCIALS & PROJECTS & EVENTS  

Socials:

Giro Bello – July 12th

Giro Bello – July 12, 2025 – An annual tradition and our club’s main fundraiser, this ride is a great way to see beautiful Sonoma County, and is attended by riders from all over the Bay Area, and beyond. (Click here for more info & to register)

Upcoming Board Meetings and Socials:
April 4: Multi – Club Social at Ferguson Observatory 6:00 – 10:00om (see flyer below)
April 7: Monthly Board Meeting. 4:00pm at the YMCA
April 10: Spring Social – Goodbye to Karen & Dennis Ball – 5:30 at Gospe’s – (see flyer below for more details)
April 17: Fireside Chat – 5:00 – 6:30 – at Kim Murphy’s – Newer members encouraged – all welcome! (6361 Trenton Healdsburg Rd, Forestville)
April 30: Shone Farm – Wine Tasting (?) 5:30 – 7:00 (Dark for lunch)
May 6 & May 28: Portfolio Days – Roseland College Prep and Roseland University Prep both have Portfolio Days where their graduating seniors can showcase their best work for community panels. This is a great project for Rotarians to help out in the community. Please see flier for more information and to sign-up to help.

Upcoming District/International Events:
April 5: District Assembly in Ukiah 8:30am-3:00pm Carpooling encouraged
April 19: Ell River Expo Fortuna River Lodge 12:00 – 4:00pm
May 2-4 District Conference in Fortuna. Stay tuned for more information
June 21-24: International Convention in Calgary Canada

Upcoming District Socials at Other Clubs
April 4: Multi-Club Social at Ferguson Observatory 6:00-10:00
April 12: Rotary Club of Windsor Evening in Seville Fundraiser
April 29: Rotary Club of Ukiah is celebrating their 100th anniversary at the Broiler Steak House in Redwood Valley
May 13: Rohnert Park Cotati Club has Bunco Night Tournament, 6:OOpm atSallyTomatoes.

Like planning parties and having fun? Talk to Nona Lucas
Talk to Ann about joining the team leading hands-on service during the 2024-2025 year

More socials coming soon.

For more details and additional events, see the Announcements section below.

For pictures and descriptions of previous socials and other events click here.

More socials, projects, & events coming soon!

Rotaract Fund Raiser
If anyone would like to donate money to GRA (Global Rotaract Alumni Club) they can donate the money on the GOSC site and include a note that it is for GRA. This would help us tremendously to continue growing as a club and be able to conduct larger scale projects. Here is the donation link: Donate Now – Global Offsite Care

Opening The Meeting

President Casey starts the meeting

Greetings from President Casey D’Angelo, “Welcome to the rotary Club of Santa Rosa where the magic of rotary is alive and well as we continue to do good in our world and have fun doing it.”

District Governor Elect Jeff Kolin led us in the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four/Five Way Test. Since it was National Spinach Day he gave us some facts about spinach. It is an annual plant that comes from Persia or Asia. Catherine de Medici is rumored to have eaten it at every meal, hence “Spinach Florentine.”  Popeye ate it for strength.  Which led Jeff to talk about Rotary’s “Strength in Action.”  Only Jeff could link spinach and Rotary!

Visitors:

Lisa Ellison and Amanda Peters

Sunshine Report:

All is good!

50/50 Raffle:

According to Pete Lescure, there were only three marbles, and the pot was up to $158.  Patty Kolin’s ticket was the winner, but she pulled out a yellow marble.  The pot rolls over!

…at this point in the meeting it was getting pretty loud.  We do not have a rowdy table anymore we have a rowdy club!

Announcements:

1. Giro Bello flyers are available. Please pick some up and pass them out.  Kris Anderson announced that the sponsor package was emailed to everyone the day before.  It is our duty to try and find one sponsor  If you need a hard copy, see Kris.
2. SCARC is/was Thursday night. We had an excellent turnout from our club membership and local Rotarians.  Our speaker on fire mitigation was excellent!
3. The multi club social is this week on Friday April 4 at the Ferguson Observatory from 6:00 -10:00 pm.
4. District Assembly is Saturday, April 5 in Ukiah. It is $60.00 to sign up, but your money will be refunded by the club it you go to.  We carpool.  They feed us breakfast and lunch too.
5. On April 10 there will be a goodbye social for Karen and Dennis Ball. They are moving to Washington.
6. April 17: Fireside chat at Kim Murphy’s. It is encouraged for new members, but all are welcome.
7. April 30 will have no meeting that day, but we will have a social at Shone Farm. Details to follow.
8. The next Rotary Board meeting is Monday April 7 from 4:00 -5:30 at the YMCA. All are invited to come.  New members especially!
9. Roseland Portfolio Days needs volunteers.
10. Past President’s Day is next week. What has Past President Ann Gospe cooked up?
11. There are applications for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library now available.
12. Peter Holewinski says the Interact Club at Cardinal Newman worked with Arbol Residence on Fountaingrove Pkwy to bring flowers to all the residents with a bakery product that they made.

Check Presentation to Sol Yoga:

Lisa Ellison was here from Sol Yoga.  Lisa Ellison started Sol Yoga to get yoga into the schools.  She teaches the kids to breathe, move and relax.  She has four people teaching these techniques to 5000 kids!  It is very popular with high school football teams.  A similar project in Africa was her motivation to start this program here.  For all the good she does for our local students, the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa donated $5000 to the organization.

Rotary Club of Santa Rosa donated $5000 to the Sol Yoga Organization.

The Zones…the reincarnation of the Boys and Girls Club

Amanda Peters

Amanda Peters is the current manager of The Zones.  It is an after-school program for play and leadership.  They currently provide services for 1500 kids, ages 5-18.

The organization was founded in 1949 as the Boys Club.  In 1952, Hugh Codding built the building they are in on Hahman Drive.  In 1989 it became the Boys and Girls Club. In 2017 during the Tubbs Fire and again with the COVID epidemic they stayed open for the kids.  Most of the kids that come are 6-9 years old, but they serve ages 5-18.  In 2023 they disengaged from the Boys and Girls Club and became The Zones.  The Zones are Academics, Athletics, Health and Wellness, Life Skills and Creative Arts.

In 2024 they renovated the building on Hahman Drive.  Would you believe it had no heating or air conditioning?  It is now a much more open and inviting space for the kids to use.  It includes a teen space and a recording studio.  They have a youth basketball league for about 200 kids ages 5-13 December – March.  They even have adult pickleball on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 – 12:00.  There is what is called “Freaky Friday” which is a family fun night from 6:00-8:00pm on May 9.  They have “Theme Weeks” that revolve around their Zones.  The annual budget is $800,000.  They receive their funding from foundations, grants, local people, state programs, corporate sponsors and membership.

Presentation Slides

Click on above image to view presentation slides.

CREDITS