–> Redwood Empire Food Bank – 2nd Wednesday of the month.  The next one is February 14th – 5 PM – 7 PM

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

SRJC and Sonoma State Rotaract members support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. If you would like to donate, you can make a donation here.

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

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

More socials, projects, & events coming soon!

Rotary Announcements

See the Announcements section below.

Opening Ceremonies:

“Welcome to the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa where we do good in the world and have fun doing it.” says President Ann Gospe.

Sam McMillan led in the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four-Way Test. His Reflection was a quote from baseball player Tim Wakefield, his last message to the world before he passed away from brain cancer last year. “Never forget where you came from. Never forget where you came from. Be a mentor to others. You didn’t get to where you are today by yourself and no matter what status you accomplish in life, you should assume responsibility to help those who are less fortunate than you. I’ve been involved with different charities my whole career and i can tell you that I’ve received much more than I’ve given. I’ve also learned that it doesn’t matter how much money you’ve made, how big your house is or what kind of car you drive. What matters most is: did you make a difference in someone else’s life.”

Visiting Rotarians:

David Mark-Raymond from the Rotary Club of Sebastopol Sunrise

Guests:

Clark Lystra, Julian Perez, and Lisa Trefer

Sunshine Report:

It has been a rough week for Rose Frances, Julia Parranto and their family. Rose developed a bed sore and had Covid.  So, Julia was not able to visit and catch the bed sore that developed and got infected, leading to Sepsis.  Ugh! It was back and forth between Apple Valley Convalescent in Sebastopol and the hospital. Rose is stable and back at Apple Valley.  It is OK to visit, but you should call in advance.   As for other news, Heather Thurber has Covid.  Ginny Cannon passed out at the Pacific Coast Air Museum during our social. It could have been caused by her lunch.  She was hospitalized overnight for observation and must wear a heart monitor for a month.

Raffle:

Bill Hatcher let us know that the pot $305 with nine marbles. Our guest, Lisa T (a potential new member) had the right ticket but did not pull out the blue marble.  Pot rolls over.

Announcements:

1. Debi Zaft announced that the next Sonoma County Area Rotary (SCARC) is on Thursday, February 29, 2024.  It is being hosted by the Rotary Club of Cloverdale.  It is crab feed!  Tickets are $70.00 and include just about everything (bring your checkbook in case you want to buy raffle tickets, etc). See Debi if you want to go.
2. Ray Giampaoli passed out a Giro Bello sponsor package to each person. He would like us to find one person, one company to buy a $500.00 sponsorship package.  Our stretch goal is $70,000 this year from all income sources.  The Giro Bello ride is June 29, 2024. The website will be up and running any moment to take reservations for the ride. While you are at it, make sure your calendar is free to work the event!
3. On behalf of the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Foundation, Steve Olson told us about the Thylin Family Scholarship in the memory of Roy Thylin. Roy and his wife Bruni moved to Santa Rosa in 2002 and Roy promptly joined our club. Roy spent his career as an executive for two of the largest accounting firms in the world.  He had a special interest in opera, fine wine, and sports cars.  He was the guy you saw each week to pay your fine for missing a meeting or having a birthday.  He was a dear man, and he is sorely missed.
   
4. David Mark-Raymond, from the Sebastopol Sunrise Club, was here to promote his club’s Irish casino night fund raiser
5. Dan Balfe was busy selling the last of the Superbowl Football Pool Squares. Half the money raised will go to projects in Ukraine and the other half will go to the winners of the different quarters and the end of the game.
6. Casey D’Angelo introduced the “National Geographic Why” book. After much deliberation and talking to other clubs and schools, we will be replacing the dictionary project with this book.  We hope to be able to deliver this spring.
7. Casey also said there was room for two more couples for the Valentine’s Brunch that will be at Jeff and Patty Kolin’s home on February 17, 2024. This will be a gourmet meal with several courses.  Your bulletin editor believes the price is $150.00 per couple.
8. Casey also wants to know who would be willing to read to young children (kindergarten and first grade, in particular) on a weekly basis as part of your working with the Boys and Girls Club of Roseland. You will have to be fingerprinted, but the club will cover that cost. Click for more info: Volunteers For Boys and Girls Clubs in Roseland
9. In lieu of meeting last week, the 5th Wednesday of the month, some Rotarians visited the Pacific Coast Air Museum. Click here for some pictures.

Rotarian of the Month of December:

If you were paying attention, this one was easy to pick.  Newcomer, Natasha Perez who took over the Children’s Nutcracker Christmas Program and it was a smashing success! She had some innovations that had us wondering, “Why hadn’t we thought of that before.”  It was especially sweet because her husband, Julian, was here today. President Ann gave her $20.00 toward her first Paul Harris. She will get her pin when they arrive in the mail.

Guest Speaker, Clark Lystra  

Clark Lystra is retired from the military, special forces and served on the National Security Council. He explained how this began during Kennedy’s administration. The White House compound is 18 acres and has several buildings, including the Treasury Department and Executive Office Building. The Situation Room is in the Executive Office Building.  Their job was to keep the President and the National Security Advisor attuned to the facts of what was happening around the world.  They reviewed and wrote both classified and unclassified reports to break it down for the President and others. What does it say? Who needs to know about it? What do we do about it?

He focused on September 11, 2001. He was on his way to work when the first plane hit the North Tower at 8:46 am.  The second hit the South Tower at 9:03am. The Pentagon was hit at 9:37am.  President Bush was at a school in Florida and Vice President Cheney and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice were in their offices in Washington DC.  The first duty was to make sure they were safe. Clark had to carefully walk from the subway with his credentials in hand, above his head, to the White House Situation Room.  Airspace in the United States was shut down and some planes were not acknowledging. They had to make sure there were no more hijackers in the sky. Who did it?  Why did they do it? They started logging everything that was happening for the historical record.  The President had to get on the phone and talk to all the allies and non-allies.  A memorandum of all calls was made that day. Deputy Director Ralph Zieglar had to think about the presidential succession while AirForce One was on its way back from Florida and make sure where the top five were located and to make sure they were safe.

They had to make sure they carefully recorded everything that went on that day for the permanent record.

Program Slides

No program slides this week.