Redwood Empire Food Bank – 2nd Wednesday of the month.  The next one is September 13th – 5 PM – 7 PM

SRJC Rotaract Fundraiser – You can make your donations here: Click here to donate

Club Dark & Social – On the 5th Wednesday of a month, the Club is dark. There will be a social on the following Saturday each month, there is a 5th Wednesday. In August, Club Dark August 30, the social will be held Saturday, August 26…It will be held at the home of President Ann Gospe from 2 PM-6 PM. All ages are welcome. Swimming will be available. Kim Murphy will email a sign-up for food and beverages.

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

More socials, projects, & events coming soon!

Rotary Announcements

See the Announcements and Such section below.

Opening

Jeanne Levin led today’s opening ceremonies. Her reflection was as follows. “When the world seems troubled, as it does today, remember that what we do for others is what keeps us strong. Remember, the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched but just felt in the heart.” Jeanne Levin and Helen Keller

Visiting Rotarians

Jeanne Levin introduced the new Salvation Army Captain, Sean Kelsey. He is considering transferring his membership to our club, following in the footsteps of several former captains who have joined the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa.

Members with Guests

Diane Moresi introduced her granddaughter Ella McNeill. Her father, Jock McNeill, was a member of this club.

Mary Graves introduced DeWayne Murphy as Kim Murphy had briefly stepped out of the meeting.

Sunshine

Ginny Cannon shared that President-elect Casey D’Angelo had also been at the meeting briefly but, due to the effects of the morning’s oral surgery, decided it was better if he went home.

Ginny also noted that Kim Murphy had had some minor surgeries, but DeWayne reported she was doing fine.

Opportunity Drawing

Blue Badger Heather Thurber conducted the drawing today. Captain Sean drew Bill Hatcher’s ticket, but luck was not with Bill. He generously placed his consolation prize of $10 in the Polio Pail.

Announcements and Such

Last week’s Redwood Empire Food Bank work night with the District Governor, Tom Boylan present was a lot of fun and very productive.

The welcome dinner for Isodora, our Inbound Exchange Student with the East Club, was delightful.

Tonight the Sonoma Sister City Association is showing the movie “20 Days in Mariupol” and interviewing their guest from Ukraine. Please see President Ann Gospe if you are interested.

The Sonoma County Walk to Fight Suicide is on September 23, 2023. If you want to join a Rotary Club of Santa Rosa team, contact President Ann Gospe.

If you would like to participate in the 37th Annual Russian River Watershed Clean Up project, please talk to Past President Kris Andersen. It is from 9 AM-11 AM on September 16, 2023.

The SCARC meeting hosted by the Petaluma Valley Rotary Club is on August 31, 2023. The topic this month is membership. RSVP to Debi Zaft if you would like to attend. The cost is $50.

The Fifth Wednesday of the Month Social will be held on Saturday, August 26, 2023, at the home of President Ann Gospe from 2 PM-6 PM. All ages are welcome. Swimming will be available. Kim Murphy will email a sign-up for food and beverages.

Secretary Debi Zaft led the Rotary Magazine Quiz from the July issue. New member Doug Landin had his hand up first and had the correct answer. His name will go into the hat for a drawing at the end of the year. International President Mclnally was the right answer.

Mary Graves held her own Rotary Magazine Quiz asking if anyone had read the four-page article on RYLA and knew which state the article highlighted. She offered $20, but no one in the room knew which state it was. She is offering $1 next week!

Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Foundation Scholarship Program

Steve Olsen gave his sixth in a series of Scholarship updates. Today’s update was focused on the Jack Levar Memorial Business and Communication Studies Scholarship. It is a renewable perpetual scholarship for an SRJC transfer student majoring in Business or Communication Studies. The 2022 recipient was Faith Harvey. She is currently attending UC Santa Barbara as a Communication Studies major. Delany Ruibert is the 2023 recipient who will attend UC Berkeley in the fall and is also majoring in Communication Studies.

Sixty years and three days ago, on August 13, 1963, Ted Wilmsen disembarked from the USS Hatch in New York. He had completed his service in the Army. He donated to the John Brown veterans fund to mark this important day in his life.

Julia Parranto shared that on Saturday, October 7, 2023, at 4:30 PM, there will be a Star Party and Star BBQ for 20 people under a new moon. For $100 per person, you can attend. Julia will take sign-ups next week. The evening is a fundraiser for the club.

Maui Fire Relief

President Ann called attention to the email she had previously sent out and the flyer on the table outlining the different opportunities for donating to the Maui relief effort.  She asked us to give generously in whatever way we could.

Ray Giampaoli announced that all the tickets had been sold for the Bennett Valley Golf Foursome and the $50 “Iron and Vine” gift certificate. The proceeds of $1000 will go to the Maui Relief fund. The lucky Rotarian who won the drawing was Steve Marburger.

Jeff Kolin gave a detailed first-hand account of being in Maui just north of Lahina in Kaanapali during the week of the fire. They managed days without power and cell service, with minimal cell signal and no “real” food. Their only impact was that they couldn’t leave. Eventually, with one bar of cell signal, they could contact their daughter, who found them on a flight home on Saturday. They could travel to the southern part of the island by way of the out skirts of Lahina, where they stayed for two nights before leaving on their flight Saturday. Jeff made a generous donation to the Rotary 5000 foundation Maui relief fund.

Program

Susan Nowacki introduced our speaker Gary Greenough, the Pacific Coast Air Museum Public Information Officer. Gary gave an entertaining overview of the Pacific Coast Air Museum facilities, displays, and events.

He immediately answered one question that he gets repeatedly. What happened to the air show? The runway was extended at the Sonoma County Airport during COVID to accommodate  737s and therefore, can no longer accommodate the air shows. Two hot dog Thursdays left this season, one in September and one in October. Hot Dog Thursdays run from April through October on the first Thursday of the month. At the July Hot Dog Thursday, 840 hot dogs were sold. It has become a top-rated Sonoma County event.

Gary highlighted a number of the planes—one of those planes was the Nation’s first responder over New York on 911. He shared how it became the first plane assigned to protect the air space over New York. This plane is on display at the museum with signage explaining the story. Next, he highlighted the planes from the “Top Gun” movies, followed by a story of an aircraft that was towed down the streets of Santa Rosa during the early morning hours. And there is more!

Visit: https://pacificcoastairmuseum.org/ for more information.