Redwood Empire Food Bank – 2nd Wednesday of the month.  The next one is November 8th – 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.

NOTE: 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.

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 the Meeting

President Ann Gospe opened up the meeting by inviting Matthew Henry up to do the Pledge, 4-Way Test and a reflection. [Editors note: It feels really awkward to write about myself in the third-person but that’s what happens when you’re asked to write the bulletin and kick off the meeting on the same day. I really should plan better.] Matthew led a raucous Pledge and then took the time to explain how to knock out the 4-Way Test most efficiently. The club dutifully played along and we got through that with nary a scrape. Finally, it was time to do the reflection and Matthew noted that it was National Thesaurus Day and proceeded to share a great, awesome, superb, stupendous, exceptional, marvelous and wonderful opening thought.

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

It turns out Marisa Binder, our guest speaker, is also a Rotarian. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Sonoma Valley and seemed impressed by the enthusiasm of our club so maybe we could steal her away.

Richard Allen introduced his two guests, who also happened to be his bankers at Luther Burbank Savings. Crystal, the Branch Manager, and Rose the Private Banker, were showered with applause. Maybe they’ll even come back.

Sunshine

The Sunshine report was a mixed bag. We learned that former member Peggy Sobranis’ husband passed away this week. Our hearts go out to her. We also learned that Bill Hatcher contracted COVID while on a cruise which I think is the only thing guaranteed to happen on a cruise these days. Hopefully he’ll feel better soon. And finally, some better news. Past President Kris Anderson’s husband has recovered so well from his hospital stay that he’s now recuperating in Mexico with Kris. Andele!

Opportunity Drawing

The esteemed Casey D’Angelo was handling the raffle and announced a pot of $341. I could do a lot with $341 dollars. I could buy a few nice bottles of bourbon. Or maybe take my wife out to a nice meal. Or maybe buy a bunch of those mystery boxes on Amazon! At any rate, while I was daydreaming about winning $341, Scott Bartley actually had his ticket drawn. With 7 yellow marbles and 1 blue marble, the odds weren’t in his favor. Yet the lucky SOB pulled the damn blue marble and now I will have to wait another month or so before I can buy mystery boxes on Amazon. Scott was kind enough to donate $100 to Rotary. No word on how he will spend the remaining $241 but I’ll send him my Amazon wish list just in case.

 

Announcements

President Ann started off by reading the statement that Rotary International put out regarding the conflict in Gaza. You can find the statement by here: https://www.rotary.org/en/rotary-statement-conflict-israel-and-gaza

Jeff Gospe then reminded us that there will be a welcome reception at Gospe Manor for Denys Andrushchenko, from the Rotary Club of Cherkasky-Centre in the Ukraine, on Sunday, October 22^nd from 3:30 to 6:30pm. He will also be our keynote speaker next week.

Debi Zaft informed us of the Rotary District 5130 Foundation Gala Masquerade Ball. It’s Saturday, October 28^th from 5-10pm at the Barra of Mendocino Winery. Cost is $85 per person and formal masquerade attire is preferred. But I’d just show up in a Batman mask. It’s almost the same thing. A 3-course dinner is included. For questions, contact Jennifer Strong at JenniferStrong@jestrong.com.

Debi also mentioned something about a raffle basket that you can purchase tickets for $20 to go towards a Paul Harris and that the Club will match every dollar you spend up to $300. Susan Nowacki started us off with a generous donation. That’s all I got on this. I probably should have been paying closer attention but frankly I was too busy trying to spell Andrushchenko.

Past President Ray Giampoli reminded us that the Redwood Gospel Mission is collecting coats. Bring a coat to a meeting or let Ray know and he’ll pick it up. We all have that one coat we think we’ll wear but we never do. Maybe it’s time to donate it this year.

Ann mentioned the meat auction is now scheduled for November 2^nd from 5:30 to 7:30pm at the Kim Murphy Party Pad/Ranch. You can RSVP to Nona Lucas.

Fred Levin reminded us all that we will not have a meeting on November 8^th but, instead, will meet on November 10^th for the Rotary Veterans program. Unfortunately, Congressman Thompson will not be able to speak so they are still looking for a keynote speaker. I nominate a Ray/Ann combo but we might be there until the evening so perhaps that’s not the best idea.

Peter Holewinski shared that the SRJC Rotaract Club raised $2,000 in support of the NAMI walk last week. Very impressive!

Sam McMillan and President Ann traveled to Eureka for the Centennial Anniversary of the Eureka Rotary Club. The story goes that they were sponsored by the San Francisco Rotary Club and that it took two days and four blown tires to get to Eureka. I’m sure it didn’t take that long to get to Eureka for Sam and Ann but word has it that Ann changed at least two blown tires on the way up. The highlight was that the Eureka club donated $100,000 to expand programs in the culinary arts for kids and adults. Everyone knows we need more high-end chefs around here.

Tasia Robles Hernandez updated us on all the great things that the SRJC Rotoract is doing and shared that they meet every other Friday at the SRJC Rotary Room. You’re all invited!

Recognitions

Ann pulled up Heather Thurber and exchanged her red badge for a blue one! I’m pretty sure she got that badge in record time. The woman does not mess around!

Guest Speaker

Our guest speaker was Marisa Binder, VP of Development, for the Hanna Institute. Marisa shared the mission of the Hanna Institute is “Hanna transforms the lives of youth, families and communities impacted by trauma and adversity through resilience, connection and spiritual wellness.”

Marisa shared that Hanna was founded over 75 years ago to support abandoned and orphaned boys from World War II that had traumatic backgrounds. Recently they’ve made some major changes to their model. They have created a mental health hub that will serve the entire community, hiring 16 staff including bilingual clinicians. They have also created transitional housing for youth ages 16-24 to support them as they learn how to live independently.

They also have switched their school from a Catholic private school at a “non-public school” that accepts kids with behavioral issues that traditional schools cannot handle. They have their first girl student now and she is a “pistol” and all the boys are scared of her. Which is how it should be.

These changes have allowed them to expand their impact whereas they once would serve 108 boys each year, they anticipate serving over 2,200 people this year alone.

Program Slides