DIGITAL EDITION No. 282 August 22, 2018  EDITOR: Layne Bowen PHOTOGRAPHER: Diane Moresi PUBLISHER: Richard Lazovick

Our Program For Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Welcome Our District Governor

Barbara Spangler

Barb Spangler  RI District 5130 District Governor 2018-2019

Starting at the very end of July, and finishing up in December, District Governor, Barb Spangler, will travel the length and breadth of District 5130 meeting with each Rotary Club, the Boards of Directors of each Club, and the Club members.

She will talk about “Being the Inspiration and Doing What Matters” for members, the Club, and the community.

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

Wednesday September 12, 2018: Patricia Schaeffer – New Gen Update
Wednesday October 24, 2018: Buck Institute – Dr. Eric Verdin

UPCOMING SOCIALS

Aug. 19-26, 2019 – Rotary Rhine River Cruise
Jackie says only 3 cabins are left for the 2019 Rhine River Cruise.
                 Click here  for pricing, itinerary, etc.
                 Click here for flyer.
                 Jackie McMillan and Eva Atkin

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

President Tony Roehrick called the meeting to order.

Pledge: Kathy Schwartz

Reflection: Cecil Humes

Guests

Tom Bidford, Travis Buck and Wendell Nordby

Visiting Rotarians

No visiting Rotarians today.

Sunshine

Ginny Cannon announced everything is sunny.

Raffle

Steve Marburger presented the raffle today with nearly 420 Yankee dollars in the pot. Don McMillan pulled the lucky marble, the spinner.

Cathy’s Joke

A guy walks into a bar with his dog on a leash the barman says, “Geez that’s a weird dog: he’s stumpy-legged, pink, and doesn’t have a tail, but I bet my Rottweiler would beat the heck out of it.” 50 bucks is laid down. Out in the yard the Rottweiler gets mauled to pieces. Another drinker says his pit bull will win but the bet is 100 bucks. Another trip to the yard and when it’s all over there are bits of pit-bull terrier all over the place. The drinker pays up and says, “Say what breed is that anyway?”  The owner says, “Until I cut his tail off and painted it pink it was the same breed as every other alligator.”

Announcements

  • Tony announced DG Barb Spangler will be visiting our club next week along with a 10AM board meeting.
  • Debi Zaft announced we have 17 squares for our Instant Paul Harris.
  • Doug Johnson promoted the 2019 Hamburg Rotary Convention from June 1-5. Register early for discounts and the best hotels.

Recognitions

  • Kris Anderson brought a Yooper hat and some candy from the upper peninsula of Michigan. Layne Bowen bid $30 for it.
  • Casey Carter bought a Rotary shirt for $10. 
  • Rich de Lambert donated $100 to his PH in honor of his firefighting grandson. He also brought back wine and a golf repair tool from Oregon for auction. Purchased for $45 by Holly Garretson.
  • Don McMillan picked up some Scottish shortbread while at St. Andrews to auction off. For the trip, Don donated $50 to start a PH for the new grandson and $50 for the other grandchild. Ann Gospe bought the shortbread for $30.
  • Will Haymaker took a photo of a turtle he dubbed the Big Kahuna and brought back a hat for Tony. Will donated $100 to his PH.

Program

Fred Levin introduced speaker Keith Woods, a frequent flyer speaker at our club, and always entertaining and informative. Keith is the Chief Executive Officer if the North Coast Builders Exchange. He is also a former member of our Rotary Club.

Today Keith discussed the rebuilding of Santa Rosa after taking a few good- hearted pot shots at Steve Olson and Rich de Lambert. He also lampooned guest Wendell Nordby.

Keith noted that we’re 10 months into the recovery and rebuilding efforts after the fire. What went wrong in the beginning is the short notice people had to evacuate. He shared several personal stories of fire victims including a couple who lost both their home on Fountaingrove AND their home in fires in Santa Barbara. Over 7,000 homes were lost between Sonoma, Napa and Lake Counties, 3,200 in Santa Rosa alone.

Keith talked about Sonoma County not being ready for such a disaster. He talked about Sonoma Strong and the “Sonoma Uncertain”, noting that only 9 homes have been rebuilt so far, 10 months later.

Debris removal of 5,000 plus properties went fairly well. The exception is that some unscrupulous companies “over-dug” when clearing debris because they were being paid by the ton. Work is being done to replace the soil lost and make the property owners “whole” again.

Insurance has slowed down the rebuild dramatically. Most property owners were underinsured. Many people still don’t know how much insurance money they’ll have to rebuild. Keith noted that 35-40% will not rebuild in Sonoma County. Many are selling their lots and moving out of the area. He noted that it will take 3-5 years before many of those homes will be rebuilt. Including mature landscaping, it will be a good 10 years before Fountaingrove looks at all like it did before the fire. Many companies are worried there will be a talent loss as doctors and engineers who made up much of the Fountaingrove population will move away rather than rebuilding.

Other issues are loss of students in schools near Coffey Park, as many residents with children were renters.  SRJC also lost 1,000 students as rental housing became scarce and what remains became very expensive. Many have moved away. Many lots have been cleared and purchased  by speculators. Land in Sonoma County is scarce, so the purchase price of lots in Coffey park has grown to around $175K.  The price of new homes will reflect that high price. making new homes even more expensive in what was an affordable neighborhood.

Keith said that he expects that a tsunami of applications for permits will be flooding City Hall in the next 6 months. He also noted that Fountaingrove will be particularly slow in recovering due to inadequate insurance and increased building costs. Shortage of labor will continue to be a drag on our rebuild. This is a national problem, not just a Sonoma County issue. We have lost 2 generations of trade workers as high school graduates have been directed to college rather than a career in the building trades. The NCBE is working to help train workers both young and mid- career in the building trades to help expedite the rebuilding of Santa Rosa’s lost neighborhoods.

President Tony thanked the following club members who helped make today’s meeting a success:

Pledge: Kathy Schwartz
Inspiration: Cecil Humes
Greeters: Will and Yale
Raffle: Steve Marburger
Lunch check-in: Bob Higgs
Lunch Ticket Collection: Rich de Lambert
Visiting Rotarians: Peter Holewinski

Governor, District 5130

Barb Spangler, Valley of the Moon Rotary Club

 

 

 

 

Attendance Secretary

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

Board of Directors

Club Service I, Membership, Ryan Thomas
Club Service II, Club Meetings, Jeff Kolin
Club Service III, Fundraising, Steve Baime
Club Service IV, Member Activities, Anne Gospe
Club Service V, Information Technology and Records, Brandon Urich
Community Service I, Member Involvement, Andrea Geary
Community Service II, Youth, Laura Held
Vocational Service, Carolyn Fassi
International Service, Peter Holewinski