DIGITAL EDITION No. 315 May 1, 24, 2019  EDITOR: Layne Bowen PHOTOGRAPHER: Doug Chase PUBLISHER: Richard Lazovick

Our Program For Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Santa Rosa Vice-Mayor Rogers will give an update on the what’s happening in the City of Santa Rosa and an overview of current hot topics.

UPCOMING SOCIALS

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

Pledge:  Peggy Sobranis
Reflection: Fred imparted some of his wisdom.

Visiting Rotarians

None present today, but…….

Guests

LOTS OF GUESTS! They were: Angela Rizzo, Samantha de Roque, Sandra Smith, Rita McMillan, Sidno Goodwin, Jorge Magana, Ruth Chambers, Michelle Lopez, Arlene Juman, Elias Zeparra, Elaine (Steve’s better half) Olson, Thomas Scolfaro, Pris Abercrombie, Bruni Thylin, Matthew Rockwell, Amanda Morales and her father Erick, Owen McGarin, Adam Reyer. There were several more who forgot to sign in.

Raffle

With $228 in pot, Robby was pretty excited. As seems to happen every week, Ted Wilmsen had his ticket drawn. Not so fast, you silly boy – you still have to draw the winning marble! Ted’s luck ran out at the marble bag and he was left with enough money to pay for 1/3 of a Rotary Club of Santa Rosa lunch ticket…….

Cathy’s a Clown

This meeting was tragically void of Cathy’s joke this week.

Announcements 

• Casey needs more riders for our Giro Bello – Pass the word!
• Ann Gospe needs Backroad Challenge volunteers to help Rich deLambert and a camp stove if you have one.
• Need sign ups for route marking on Friday, June 21^st. If we don’t have enough people to mark the routes, who knows where those riders will end up!
• Work day July 20^th, 9am -noon at Redwood Empire Food Bank – Sign up next week if you haven’t already!
• Ray Giampaoli shared that we’ve crossed 30K on our way to a goal of 50K plus. We need more sponsorships! Don’t be afraid to tell businesses that this is a great way to advertise their businesses’ involvement with their community!
• Jeff Kolin – collecting wine donations

Paul Harris Award

Dan Balfe – presented another PH award to Bob Stone which included some jewelry. 

Program

Gaye LeBaron spoke today, reading passages from and promoting her recently released book called “The Wonder Seekers of Fountaingrove”.  Gaye gave history, context and personality to names we were already familiar; names such as Thomas Lake Harris and Kanaye Nagasawa as they were used as street names in the later residential Fountaingrove development.

Gaye shared that Thomas Lake Harris was a well-financed cult leader whose charismatic influence led many followers from the east to Santa Rosa.  He established his “Eden of the West” for his Brotherhood of New Life in 1875, even attracting Laurence Oliphant, a former member of British Parliament and widely travelled author and war correspondent. Harris had a knack for separating rich benefactors from their money and many followed his teachings. Oliphant was one who turned over his fortune to Harris.

Gaye discussed some of Harris’s questionable beliefs and relations with female devotees, a “new sexology” that eventually caused him to be driven away from Santa Rosa. She also discussed the almost father/son relationship of Harris and a former samurai named Kanaye Nagasawa who arrived at an early age from Japan.  Nagasawa collaborated with noted horticulturist Luther Burbank to develop the viticultural development of Fountaingrove. He established Fountaingrove Winery as an award winning producer of French Burgundy. Nagasawa eventually became more famous than Harris and was later known as the “Wine King of California”.  He was awarded the “Order of the Rising Sun” in his native Japan and many Japanese dignitaries came to visit Santa Rosa as a result. 

This was an interesting presentation and Gaye’s book is a must for those interested in knowing this important part of the history of our community. Brochure)

Volunteers Handing Out Giro Bello Flyers

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