Note From President Casey:
We have made some changes to our meeting schedule in June that I wanted you all to be aware of. We will have our regular meeting time on June 4 and 11. We will be dark on June 18 as the Gospes offered to host my “debunking” at their house on June 19 starting at 5:30. Hope you can all make this.

We will also be dark on June 25 as many club members will be attending the International Convention in Calgary. President Julia’s first meeting will be on July 2. 

UPCOMING SOCIALS & PROJECTS & EVENTS  

More socials, projects, & events coming soon!

Rotaract Fund Raiser
If anyone would like to donate money to GRA (Global Rotaract Alumni Club) they can donate the money on the GOSC site and include a note that it is for GRA. This would help us tremendously to continue growing as a club and be able to conduct larger scale projects. Here is the donation link: Donate Now – Global Offsite Care

Opening The Meeting

President Casey, “Welcome to the Rotary Club of Sant Rosa where the Magic of Rotary is alive as we do good in our world and have fun doing it!

Mary Graves led us in the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance and The Four/Five Way Test.  Her reflection was to have us close our eyes as she rang a Tibetan bell; asking us to remain silent until we could no longer hear the bell.  That took about a minute.  For those who forgot their hearing aids, well……

Visitors:

A lot!  Sorry, I don’t have the list. Rick Allen’s wife, Patricia was here as well as our recipients and all their family and friends.

Today’s Program: Honoring our Fire Fighter, Police Officer, and County Sheriff’s Officer of the year

Ray Giampaoli was our emcee for the program. Much of this bulletin will be from him:

“Thank all of you for joining us this afternoon. Today we honor and celebrate the outstanding and dedicated public safety leaders – Captain Jessie Taintor of the Santa Rosa Fire Department, Officer Matthew Rooney of the Santa Rosa Police Department, and Lieutenant Kelley Burris of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, for their exceptional service to our Santa Rosa and Sonoma County communities.

We continue to experience heightened challenges affecting public safety – fires, floods, deadly drugs, school site violence, gang activities, and increased homelessness. First responders put their lives on the line and rush toward danger every day to keep us safe. They save lives. They prevent violent crimes. They invest in and protect their communities. Only on rare occasions are they honored, and thanked, for all the good they do.

Our Public Safety Program, today, is one of those occasions. It is a decades long tradition initiated by our late Rotary Club member, Lee Abramson, during the Club presidency of Stephen Olson. Since 1995 we have annually recognized the outstanding firefighter, police officer and more recently Sheriff’s officer, for their contributions to keep our communities safe. I am certain that most of us have a personal experience with dedicated first responders. For many, that experience may relate to the wildfires which impacted our community.”

“Our Rotary motto is Service above Self. One of the objects of Rotary is to recognize the worth of all useful occupations and the opportunity, through one’s work, to serve society. Each of our honorees has lived “Service Above Self” daily for us. We celebrate this opportunity to honor them for their dedication and commitment and, by extension, all the members of their departments, certified and noncertified.”

Here is the link to an article by the City Of Santa Rosa Click Here

 

Police Chief John Cregan introduced us to Officer Matthew Rooney, as their Police Officer of the year. This is what Chief Cregan said of Matthew Rooney:

“Officer Rooney’s exceptional patience and de-escalation skills were instrumental in bringing a tense situation involving a juvenile in crisis to a peaceful and positive resolution. Through calm communication, empathy, and professionalism, Officer Rooney ensured the safety of everyone involved while helping the young individual receive the support they needed. This outcome reflects the profound impact of compassionate policing in our community. We are incredibly grateful for, and proud of, Officer Matt Rooney’s response to this situation.”

Here is a great article in about Matthew and his award from Rotary: Click Here

Sheriff Eddie Engram introduced us to Lieutenant Kelly Burris as their outstanding officer for the Sheriff’s office.  Lieutenant Burris comes from a military background in the Army. She is someone you can always depend on in an emergency.  She oversees their Mutual Aid Program where she will coordinate with other organizations when there is a flood, fire or other emergency.  When there was recent flooding on the lower Russian River, she worked with the Office of Emergency Services to coordinate aid that is needed.

Fire Chief Scott Westrope introduced us to Captain Jesse Taintor. Captain Taintor is a Cal Poly graduate and has been a firefighter since 2013. She is a dedicated professional firefighter who is dependable and has the trust of all her fellow firefighters. She nurtures her relationships with city leaders. She is active in the local union. She is a true unsung hero in their department.  She is “Service above self.”

Before ending the program Doug Landin awarded our honorees with a Paul Harris Fellowship. Past President Ray said this of the Paul Harris Awards:

“In 1957, the Rotary Foundation established a method of distinction named after the founder of Rotary, Paul Harris for individuals who generously support the efforts of the Foundation and Rotary International. The Paul Harris Fellowship is an honor held by over 1 million people worldwide, both Rotarians and non-Rotarians. It has become customary for Rotarians to contribute to the Rotary Foundation in the name of others whom they believe live the Rotary Motto, Service about Self. As a tribute to the service of today’s Honorees, the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa and the Rotary Foundation will bestow upon them the title of Paul Harris Fellow and all the recognition entitled such.”

Past President Ray ended the program with a heartfelt thank you to the partners and families of the awardees “for the sacrifices they make supporting their loved ones in their service to our community.”

Thank you to Cassia Schnepper of the Santa Rosa Fire Department, Kim Hawkins of the Santa Rosa Police Department, and Maria Galvan-Lopez of the Sheriff’s Office for helping Craig Meltzner put on this event.

We want to thank Craig Meltzner for spearheading this program.  He took a back seat today, but he put a lot of time and effort into this program.  We want to thank him and his team for doing an outstanding job!

Additional Pictures

CREDITS