DIGITAL EDITION No. 9 December 19, 2012 EDITOR: Layne Bowen PHOTOGRAPHER: Nicole Le
Our Program For January 2nd:
ROTARY FAMILY TRIVIA
Santa Rosa Rotary Club dark on December 26th due to Christmas holiday
Rotarians and their children, families, and grandchildren have a tradition of our club’s Family Trivia competition for almost 30 years, not long after the board game was created in 1979. Initially what attracted them was Past President (1967-68) Chuck Bartley who hosted the game for two decades just before New Year’s Eve. But the crowds still show up to test their trivia intellect to win Big Bucks for their table. M. Ray Dorfman assumed the tattered mantle several years ago and has been stumping the generations ever since. Thanks to the rotation of the calendar, we gather next year on Wednesday, January 2 in the year 2013!
UPCOMING PROGRAMS….
January 9, 2013: Children’s Museum of Sonoma County
January 16, 2013: Meet SRJC President Frank Chong
January 23, 2013: Redwood Empire Food Bank
The dignified President Bill presides
OPENING CEREMONIES
The meeting was called to order by the stunning in spandex, Bill Rousseau – (oops, sorry! That was left over from an old bulletin notes template from when you know who was president! (Marnie Goldschlag). The Pledge was expertly led by Larry Miyano. The invocation was given posthumously by Steve Jobs, by way of the technological wizardry of Wayne Rowlands. From a video clip of rare candid remarks by the late Steve Jobs at Stanford University in 2005:
“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
VISITING ROTARIANS & GUESTS OF ROTARIANS
Today, we were blessed with the appearance of one of our beloved former members and current past president of the Torrey Pines Rotary Club, Mr. Gordon Shurtleff. We were doubly blessed with the presence of another former Santa Rosa Rotary Club member and current San Jose Club member, Shishir Doctor. Ironically, we had no guests today.
SUNSHINE REPORT
Penny Tibbets reported that Roy Thylin was not feeling well. Dick Jenkins continues to recover at home from his long illness.
RAFFLE
With $179 on the line, Cathy Vicini only was able to come away with the $10 consolation prize. Wally Lowry presided over the plot, er… pot which may be a partial explanation of her bad luck.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
President Bill thanked all of the participants in the Rotary sponsored Nutcracker gift presentation. This annual activity allowed 100 lower income school children to have a nice present under their Christmas tree. Has anyone ever seen Santa and Tim Fawcett together in the same room? Thanks to Carrie Ludtke for taking on the project this year!
New RMB iPhone app
Wayne Rowlands announced, “There’s an App for that!”. What is that? It’s the new Rotary Means Business application for your iPhone. What’s it do? I don’t know – ask Wayne!
John McHugh announced that a couple of slots are still open for our Hands on Project helping the Salvation Army and the Redwood Gospel Mission distribute food. This Saturday Dec. 22nd. from 3pm to 5:30pm at Grace Pavilion on the Sonoma County Fair Grounds. Contact John McHugh at info@winningworkforce.net if interested.
Ted Wilmsen asked for Rotary dictionary delivery volunteers for two remaining schools. If you are a new Rotarian, this is a great opportunity to step out to see what a positive impact Rotarians can have on children in our community. For some children, this dictionary is the first book they’ve ever owned. Take time to look at one before you hand them out – they truly are wonderful books!
www.torreypinesrotary.org That’s the website that Gordon Shurtleff said would give us the opportunity to purchase tickets to Comic-Con 2013 to be held in LaJolla next spring for the benefit of Gordon’s Torrey Pines Rotary Club.
Cathy Vicini is still trying to give away that red swill from the still (sorry Cathy, I couldn’t stop myself – I’m turning into Jim Johnson!) She was offering her Pinot for Polio for $25.00 a bottle or Two for $60.00 (just joking!) But seriously folks, here’s the scoop on Cathy’s generous offer:
Cathy Vicini easily segued from losing the raffle into giving way almost 30 bottles of her award-winning Pinot for Polio to the holders of lucky marks on the back of their raffle tickets. She reminded her fellow Rotarians that we could buy as many bottles as we wanted—up to four cases—at $25 each and promised to match the price in a donation to our Rotary Club.
FINES AND RECOGNITIONS
Sgt. Of Arms Jack Geary cited our president for failure to yield to a newspaper article in the now locally owned Press Democrat. BTW, has anyone thought to ask the new owners to come to a meeting or at least do a program? Matt?) This, of course enraged President Bill, who then took out his anger on the poor, unassuming Rich de Lambert. How does one get fined for having his car jacked?
Then there was something about Doug Johnson providing some kind of free service to Jeanne Levin – I’m not even going
Matt Everson is fined for his proposal at the Green Center
to go there……
Matt Everson then told us how he upgraded his relationship status with the lovely and talented Sara Trejo amidst the splendor of the Green Music Ctr. I missed a few of the details – Like where did the frat brother fit into the story??????
Jeff Gospe, who arrived fashionably late for our little meeting and Vinay Patel engaged in some kind of public wager on the Stanford / Wisconsin football game that will be played in the Rose Bowl. Didn’t get the details (free investment advice vs. lifetime free pakoras?)
The bargain gates opened wide with Casey D’Angelo admitting that both his son and his daughter have weddings this month. With two weddings to cover Casey needs the financial break.
Cathy Vicini is recognized for earning her Ph.D!
Ted Wilmsen confessed to his unspecified birthday and coughed up $25 to the club.
Cathy Vicini also confessed that she had received her doctorate in psychology recently and contributed another $200 to her Paul Harris Fellowship.
Lena Humber eagerly confessed that her oldest grandson passed the bar and contributed $100 to her youngest grandson’s Paul Harris Fellowship.
Gesine Franchetti, bubbling over with excitement over her first visit back to her homeland and a side trip to Berlin, eagerly donated $50 to the Rotary Club.
Another complex De Lambert/Shurtleff adventure was revealed to be a treasure hunt to wrap presents with the club’s newest and youngest new Rotary Club. The unlikely tale generated $100 for our local foundation.
And finally, Dr. Dan Bornstein contributed $25 to the club in recognition of his son’s college achievements.
THE POINSETTIA PROJECT
Dan Walker, Chip Rawson and friend
Rotarians Bring Holiday Cheer to Low Income Elderly
Wednesday, December 5th, was a special day for the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa and the seniors at the Vigil Light Apartments. This winter 35 Rotarians purchased 213 red poinsettias, paid a little extra for the plants and with that “little extra” purchased 50 poinsettias for the Vigil Light neighbors next door to the Flamingo Hotel. After Rotary four Rotarians brought the plants over to the apartments and had a Christmas for the seniors. Andy Arrow, a music director from the Rincon Valley School District, along with Rotarians Chip Rawson, Diane Moresi, Dan Walker and Peggy Soberanis, provided the entertainment. Chip led the singing with several residents helping. Past President Debi Zaft and a small crew of fellow Rotarians provide ample homemade holiday treats. Everyone sang Christmas Carols, ate the delicious goodies, and was given a beautiful poinsettia for their apartment. The 40 or so seniors who attended were so appreciative for the attention we gave them that we’re all looking forward to doing this again next year.
Some of the elderly sentiments of the residents are posted below:
Peggy Soberanis sings with senior resident
“Many thanks for the lovely poinsettias. Your Christmas cheer warms my heart.”
“What a joyous party! Thank you for the bright and wonderful poinsettias and homemade goodies and the friendly spirits of all.”
“Thank you, Rotary Club. We had a great time. Thanks for thinking of us!”
“Thank you for the beautiful poinsettia. I enjoy having it in my apartment. The singing was fun, too!”
Music teacher Andy Darrow with a resident and Chip Rawson
“Thank you for the poinsettia! I think of it as my red Christmas tree!”
“Thank you so very much for our poinsettias. They are always such a nice gift to us. They add a lot of cheerfulness to our apartments. I always enjoy your treats and especially the carol singing.”
“Thank you for the homemade cookies. They were delicious. Also, thank you for the poinsettia. I enjoyed singing. I love to sing. More power to all of you!”
THE PROGRAM
Matt Everson and Wayne Rowlands teamed to present Salman Khan, a young entrepreneur who discussed his education program on TED TV. The program is for educating individuals at their own pace and can allow students to work individually and together through the use of computerized learning tools. This is hailed as the future of education. At the end of his presentation, Bill Gates asked the young man questions about his program. This led to a lively discussion within our club about the merits of using a computer program such as Mr. Khan’s in our public and private schools. Of particular interest were comments from our members who are or have recently been school administrators. Mike Truesdell, Casey D’Angelo and Diane Moresi all had opinions about this concept and all seemed to feel it will have a place in our schools going forward.
Thanks to Wayne and Matt for thinking outside the box to find an interesting program. It appeared to be well received from our club members. If you as a member have an opinion about this type of program, please contact Matt and let him know what you think!
IN MEMORIAM
With Stephan Passalacqua back for today’s Rotary meeting, we paused for a moment of silence in memory of his mother’s passing.
OFFICERS
Rotary Club of Santa Rosa
President: Bill Rousseau, President Elect: Peggy Soberanis, Secretary: Jack Abercrombie, Treasurer: Cecil G. Humes, Sergeant at Arms: Jack Geary
President Rotary International
Sakuji Tanaka – Rotary Club of Yasjio, Japan
Governor, District 5130
Michael Juric – Rotary Club of Windsor
Attendance Secretary
Jack Abercrombie P.O. Box 505 Santa Rosa, CA 95402 707-538-4770
Board of Directors
Matt Fannin, Jose Guillen, Paul Hamilton, Nicole Le, Diane Moresi, Vinay Patel, Robert Pierce, Carmen Sinigiani, Creed Wood, Marnie Goldschlag, Past President