Next meeting
Wednesday December 8, 2021

Catholic Charities

Jennielynn Holmes

–>  Debi will send you the Zoom login link for the 12:00 meeting once you have paid. Feel free to put your feet up, grab a sandwich, and join the meeting. <–

In-Person / Hybrid Meeting details:
All meetings are in-person and online meetings. In-person meetings will be located at the Epicenter Sports Center located at 3215 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa, CA.  Use the first door, closest to Piner Road. There will be greeters at the door to guide you.

–> Please note: You NEED TO MAKE A RESERVATION IN ADVANCE so we have a proper count.  Payments received by Saturday will be considered for the upcoming meeting.  Payments after that will be for the following meeting.
–> Debi Zaft will email you the link for online, once you have paid.  Use this link for details and to pay.  CLICK HERE!

Wednesday December 15: Marine Wildlife
Wednesday December 22: CLUB DARK – For Holidays
Wednesday December 29: Trivia

Keep checking back.  New Programs coming soon!

UPCOMING SOCIALS & PROJECTS

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

Watch The Meeting:  Did you miss the meeting?  Here is a link to the recording of last week’s meeting:
(Click Here)
Please note it is only available to view until: 12/12/21

Opening Ceremonies:

President Ray greeted us, all 50 of us in the room and another 10-15 online! Kris Anderson led us in reciting The Pledge of Allegiance and The Four-Way Test. Her reflection was a quote from David Lilienthal on service. “Out of the best and most productive years of a man’s life, he should carve a segment in which he puts his private career aside to serve his community and his country, and thereby serve his children, his neighbours, his fellow men, and the cause of freedom.”

Visiting Rotarians:

Susan Zachensky-Walthall from Lawrenceville, VA, Dan Erickson of Healdsburg Sunrise, and Maureen Merrill of Windsor

Guests of Rotarians:

Gail Schwarz, Zach Zachensky, Sam Saunders, Elaine Olson, Rita McMillan, Sabra Locke, Beverly Owen, Deanie Wilmsen, Rhiannon Yeager, Mel Konrad, Wesley Ebert, Joel DeSilva, and Vicki DeSilva.

Raffle:

Julia Parranto said the pot was up to $90.00 and 5 marbles. Steve Olson got the opportunity to pull a marble, but it was not the blue one. The pot rolls over.

Raffles, Part two:

We had three raffles additional today! The first was two Rotary ties. One was from year 2014-2015 and the other from 2017-2018. It was a lively auction with guest Zach Zachensky winning the ties with a bid of $110.00. The second raffle was for a one-hour massage by Sabre Locke. Tim Fawcett started the bidding at $130.00 as he knows how good her massages are. Julia Parranto won with a bid of $200.00. The last auction was for a wine Advent calendar. Yes, one 187 ml bottle for 24 days. Kris Anderson wanted it, so she bid $50.00, and it was all hers.

Birthdays:

Our December birthday men/women are Mary Graves, Nona Lucas, Norm Owen, Robert Pierce, William Rousseau, Chuck Wear and Ted Wilmsen. Keven Brown brought along some glass Christmas ornaments for our members.

100^th Birthday:

Today is the 100th anniversary of or club founded on December 1, 1921. We had a presentation by historian Mark Burchill and a lovely cake to have for dessert. He could not find a list of the original members but by 1922 there were at least 45 members. Some of those well know people were Luther Burbank, Frank Doyle, Ernest Finley, Finlaw Geary, Joseph Grace, Obert Pedersen, Walter Proctor and Fred Rosenberg. He had photos of the club from 1925 and 1959/60. There even was a photo of Luther Burbank and Paul Harris.

Poinsettias:

The Poinsettias will be here next week. Contact Ginny Cannon if you wish to buy before it is too late. She and Diane Moresi will need help delivering the plants to Vigil Lights. No cookies and no singing this year.

March Hands-On Project in Puerto Vallarta:

December 13^th is the deadline for signing up! Kris Anderson is looking for a roommate. Non-Rotarians can come. The dates are March 23-28, 2022.

Today’s guest speaker is Susan Zachensky-Walthall or more affectionally known as Susan ZW.

Susan was a member of our club for 10 years before family obligations required that she and Zach move to Virginia. She was president-elect of our club when she left. She has served as president of Lawrenceville Rotary Club and served as District Governor. She is a leader in Zone 3334. She was a basketball coach at Sonoma State University for the women’s team. She was introduced to our club by Wally Lowery. When she visited the first time Wally botched her name. “If you come back,” said Wally, “I promise to pronounce your last name correctly.” No, he did not and did not for 5 times. The last time he introduced her as Susan ZW, and it stuck.

Susan loved basketball and played for Old Dominion when she went to college. After graduation she was a basketball coach. We all know her by her Converse shoes but before her automobile accident she loved her high heels and even wore them while coaching. Steve and Elaine Olson visited Susan and Zach in Virginia. She had over 100 pairs of Converse shoes in all colors and designs, neatly stored in her closet. Steve and Elaine mixed them all up before they left.

She got her first pair of Chuck Taylors at Old Dominion. She had the #10 on the shoes to remind her of her uniform number. She had her locker number on the side. It was in 1997 when she went to Cincinnati for the NCAA Final 4 tournament when she was in a terrible accident that caused great damage to her neck, back, shoulder, Achilles, and spleen. She knows that after the accident happened that she was in the passenger seat, but her feet were under the steering wheel. Once she got to the hospital and was checked out, THEY SENT HER BACK TO HER HOTEL! The Holiday Inn staff knew she was coming so they were ready for her. They had staff keep an eye on her that night and drove her to the specialist the next day. When she could go home, they drove her to the airport and out to the plane. When she got home it was the start of three years of rehabilitation. She lost her job and lost her connections in the basketball world. However, she was a Rotarian and the members of our club stepped up big time to help her. By helping, Zach was able to go to work. Our members cooked, cleaned, washed, ran errands, you name it to help her heal. She got some new orthotics for her shoes. They did not fit and any of her shoes except the Chuck Taylors. Thus, the beginning of her 100+ collection of Converse shoes in every color and design. Once she started to venture out again, she and Zach went to the District Conference at the Red Lion Inn. She had on a lovely blue dress and Chuck Taylors to match. One woman at the conference belittled her for her shoes. Again, she was criticized at another event for sitting in a folding chair. This woman did not bother to ask why and made her feel just awful. However, our club’s membership taught her to believe in herself. She read a quote from Mother Teresa on Rotary, “If we really want to love, if we really want to live, we must love until it hurts…No Rotarian whose motto is Service Above Self, I think, should call himself a Rotarian if he does not take the time to serve. If we love, we begin to serve.”  Susan has had 23 years of perfect attendance since her accident. Bravo!

Program Slide

Additional Pictures:

There were a lot of great pictures from this meeting!
Click on the picture below to see a slide show.

Governor, District 5130

Dustin Littlefield

Secretary

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

Board of Directors

President Elect, Kris Anderson
Club Service I, Membership, Julia Parranto
Club Service II, Club Meetings, Casey D’Angelo
Club Service III, Fundraising, Diane Moresi
Club Service IV, Member Activities, Anne Gospe
Club Service V, Information Technology and Records, Pete Lescure
Club Director, Casey Carter
Community Service I, Member Involvement, Rio Ray
Community Service II, Youth, Andrea Geary
Vocational Service, Carolyn Fassi
International Service, Dan Balfe

DIGITAL EDITION No. 435 December 1, 2021  EDITOR: Kris Anderson PHOTOGRAPHER: Jeff Gospe PUBLISHER: Richard Lazovick