Our Program For Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Sonoma County Tourism
Claudia Vecchio
As Sonoma County Tourism nears the milestone of the second year beyond the fires, she is keenly aware of the need to bring visitors back to the destination. While some tourism-facing businesses are doing well, she knows others continue to be challenged.
On the shoulders of Wine Enthusiast magazine recognizing Sonoma County as the 2019 Wine Region of the Year, the Sonoma County Tourism
is promoting the destination through a wine lens, including experiences at wineries during this glorious time of the year. As a destination stewardship organization, Sonoma County Tourism is constantly working to ensure to get the right visitors into the destination; visitors who will care for Sonoma County.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
Wednesday October 16, 2019: JC rotary member: on his medical device he created
Wednesday October 23, 2019: Dr Brown SoCo Disaster preparedness
Wednesday October 30: 2019: Sonya McVay, expert in various modalities
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: Diane Moresi
Reflection: Chip Rawson recited a poem called The 10 Percent by Baxter Black The Cowboy Poet.
Doctors without borders
Visiting Rotarians
Steve Powell, Mike Cook, Jim Strickland, and two Nepalese Rotarians,
Guests
John Cook, David Harris, Matt Everson, Will Tesconi, Brian Jackson, Angela Rizzo, guest speaker Hugh Futrell. Our special guest today, was Yale’s wife, Terry Abrams. We’re all so happy you came to see us Terry!
Special Guests from Nepal
9 clubs in the US put together a grant to work with Nepalese doctors as to how telemedicine projects work. The Rotary Club of Santa Rosa made the largest donation to this global grant ($6,000). The Rancho Cotati club was the lead club for this project and raised $4,000. Today, we were honored to host several doctors from Nepal including: Dr. Dipesy Dgital, Dr. Arum Moshey, Dr. Rabin Bhattachau, and Dr. Sunyana Ihby. Thank you for visiting our Rotary Club!
Sunshine
All is sunny according to Ginny Cannon, who always has a sunny disposition!
Raffle by Michael
Bill Crowley had his ticket drawn and left with a dozen golf balls and psychological advice from Michael Moore. Michael recited some humorous commentary while fulfilling his raffle duties. It was decided that Michael’s performance qualified him as the jokester and there was no need for Cathy or anyone else to deliver a Joke of the Day.
Announcements
Pete Lescure needs helpers for various fellowship duties at future meetings. Peter, unfortunately, left his signup sheets at home and doesn’t remember what those duties are or when they’ll be needed. Do with that information what you will……
Jeff Kolin announced that several committee chairs and board memberships will be opening up as well as a president elect nomination. Please let the board or President Cathy know if you’re interested in any of these positions.
November 7th is the date for this year’s Rotary Veteran’s program. Tickets are still $15. Buy at least one ticket for yourself and one for a veteran!
REMEMBER WE ARE DARK NOVEMBER 6.
NOVEMBER 13 WILLL BE AT LEGENDS….with no chicken planned.
Doug Johnson reminded the club that this Saturday, Oct. 5th is the Gran Fondo. Monte Rio rest stop volunteers please be at Monte Rio at 7AM. A few more volunteers would be appreciated!
Dan Balfe announced the opportunity to receive matching Paul Harris donations. Check with Dan for details.
President Cathy gave a Thank You pen to each of the doctors from Nepal who are visiting our club today.
Program
Hugh Futrell is a local developer whose firm controls 130 residential units and over 130,000 square feet of office space (including President Cathy’s Trecini’s Tasting Room space (Cathy, your cpi rent increase will be in the mail soon!)
Mr. Futrell took the time to recognize the collaborative effort that is required to see development projects through. It is not done without the effort and expertise of engineers, subcontractors, architects and many others both within and without his organization. He worked his early career after graduating UC Berkeley in Southern California and grew to appreciate his hometown of Santa Rosa. After a few years in SoCal, he returned to Santa Rosa to start his development business.
Mr. Futrell became interested in doing projects downtown in the mid 1990’s. He recognized the many challenges to downtown developments and loves that challenge. The first project was Downtown Apartments, a lower income project on Beaver Street. Railroad Square Terrace came next, a new building fit into an old commercial space. 200 Fourth St. was the first commercial downtown building he developed. The Burbank was the first condo project he built. Humboldt Apartments is another affordable 
housing project he developed. Museum on the Square is the old AT&T Building which was basically a concrete monolith built to withstand a nuclear blast in SF. Mr. Futrell noted some of the challenges of working with such a structure and turning it from a giant concrete mausoleum into an attractive addition to the downtown core.
Other recent and proposed projects include:
- Art House, a residential project under construction on 7th Street.
- The Empire Building has been completed as Courthouse Square Hotel. The neighboring building will be finished late next summer.
- 888 Fourth St. – This project is on the drawing board for market rate apartments.
Mr. Futrell is obviously very passionate about building in downtown Santa Rosa. He answered a number of questions about the homeless issue, Courthouse Square, the old Community Hospital Property and proposed downtown public restrooms. He came across as a thoughtful, philosophical person with great love for his community.
Misc Pictures of Legends At Bennet Valley
Governor, District 5130
Kathy Flamson
Attendance Secretary
Debi Zaft P.O. Box 505 Santa Rosa, CA 95402
Board of Directors
Club Service I, Membership, Michael Moore
Club Service II, Club Meetings, Holly Garretson
Club Service III, Fundraising, Ryan Thomas
Club Service IV, Member Activities, Anne Gospe
Club Service V, Information Technology and Records, Brandon Urich
Community Service I, Member Involvement, Rio Ray
Community Service II, Youth, Andrea Geary
Vocational Service, Carolyn Fassi
International Service, Dan Balfe
DIGITAL EDITION No. 335 October 2, 2019 EDITOR: Layne Bowen PHOTOGRAPHER: Diane Moresi PUBLISHER: Richard Lazovick