Issues are arranged in reverse order. Scroll down to find the issue you want.
December 7 - No meeting today (replaced by December 9 party)
December 9 - Holiday Christmas Party
December 14 - Steve Fillinger - Health Insurance
December 14 - Gift Distribution and Fellowship
December 21 - Another interesting program
December 28 - DARK (Holidays)
January 5, 2007 - U.S. Coast Guard program at Two Rock (replaces Jan. 4 meeting)
Dear Fellow Rotarians, It is with sorrow that I must inform you that we lost a wonderful, caring man. Harvey Freetly passed away this morning [November 30] at his home in Petaluma. "Mr. Dictionary" will be remembered by many for his advocacy and support of youth. His contributions to Rotary have been heralded on an International level and his many accomplishments will be everlasting. Please keep Marlene, Harvey Jr., Shelly, and the rest of the Freetly family in your thoughts. Tawny Tesconi |
Steve Rustad's tribute to Harvey
Dear Rotarians, Harvey's memorial service will be on Thursday, December 7th at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, 455 McNear Avenue, Petaluma at 11:00 a.m. Following the service, there will be a "Celebration of Life" in Herzog Hall at the Petaluma Fairgrounds. Private graveside services will be held in Lodi on Tuesday. Our Rotary Club will be helping Marlene with the "Celebration of Life". Listed below are ways you can help: BBQ - Dave Amundsen (763-1156) can use some help with BBQing Set-Up - We will be setting up for the "celebration" at 9 a.m. on Thursday in Herzog Hall Food - Tri-Tip, Pasta and rolls will be served, but we ask each Rotarian to bring an appetizer, salad, side dish or dessert. Food can be dropped off at Herzog Hall anytime after 9 a.m. Open Mic - We will have an open mic at the Celebration of Life, so bring your great stories about Harvey to share with all those that loved him! Any questions or thoughts? Please give me a call at 283-3266. Tawny |
For more information about Harvey, click here.
Void of her gavel, PRESIDENT TAWNY nonetheless called the meeting to order introducing . . .
. . . STEVE RUSTAD for both the words of inspiration and the song. He gave tribute to our great country with a rousing rendition of ‘America the Beautiful.’
The gathered Rotarians then held a moment of silence to honor the passing of HARVEY FREETLY. There were many teary eyes in the room reflecting on the contributions that Mr. Dictionary made to the Rotary Club, the community of Petaluma and worldwide through his brainchild. President Tawny shared with the club that she had visited with Harvey recently and he energetically asked about how the dictionary program was going. All of us remember Harvey as a true gentleman with a great smile and a kind heart. A truly great Rotarian and man. We will miss him and we were lucky to have known him.
CHAD HARDCASTLE introduced our one visiting Rotarian of Sebastopol, Bob Kirsch.
The guests of the Rotarians were introduced and welcomed by the club. JOHN DADO brought his guest, Lindi Brown of Santa Rosa Junior College and HERB BUNDESEN stood to introduce Scott Snyder of the Salvation Army.
Judi Allewelt, the one exception.
The birthday table was nearly vacant, with one exception, despite a great number of November birthdays. In fact the list was so long that this rookie editor’s pencil could not keep pace. Fines were levied and collected.
Committee reports:
JOHN DADO reported that the dictionaries have arrived for distribution to 21 schools next week.
TOM BAKER announced that our holiday children’s gifting program was rolling along. Shopping will take place next week and the gifts are to be delivered on December 14th between 4 and 6. We still need a number of volunteers to deliver the gifts to please contact Tom Baker to get involved. Should you require an incentive, he noted that participants will gather for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres that evening after the deliveries. Click for more information.
NANCY KOENITZER updated us on the live auction for the Crab Feed. She asked for Rotarians to bring bottles of wine ($25 or more) that will be part of an auction item. You can bring them to any meeting prior to the Crab Feed. Also, if any Rotarians have items that you would like to donate to the auction, please contact Nancy. We are looking to have a very small number of items (5 or 6) of high value. Click here for more info.
NIT ANDERSON announced the opening of her new restaurant, Banyan Tree, in the Golden Eagle shopping center. She generously donated a dinner for 12 for the auction.
KATHY reminded everyone of the holiday party. It is certain to be a great gathering—we have the entire Riverfront Grill reserved for our club on the night of the lighted boat parade. We will have the best seat on the river.
PRESIDENT TAWNY must be catching the holiday spirit early as she uncharacteristically admitted to ‘not being in a fining mood.’ She asked that we all open our wallets to donate money to the dictionary program in honor of Harvey.
Paul Lounibos announces club history is on the Web.
The raffle prize of $50 was won by MICHAEL CARUANA and promptly donated toward his Paul Harris.
ALDEN HENNINGS stood to inquire as to the status of the gavel.
The President informed us that the returning of the gavel ceremony will be taking place on December 21st and she promised prodigious fines directing her gaze to the table in the back left of the room at which several guilty looking parties were seated.
December 7th we are dark.
December 14th is Art Agnew Day. His family will be attending and we would like to see a full house to honor one of our founding fathers.
December 21st is gavel returning/fining day, holiday jeopardy, and wine drinking.
December 28th is dark.
HENRY HANSEL introduced a program on Hybrid technology.
Paul Blomdal proved himself to be a guru in the field with a very engaging and interesting description of the history and future of hybrid technology automobiles.
BABE had apparently not garnered himself enough attention during the meeting so he shone the spotlight on himself . . .
. . . by thieving BRIDGET’s purse. Despite President Tawny’s holiday cheers, that resulted in a fine and a direct order to return her lipstick.
Rich Johnson finally gets photographed!
With that, the meeting was adjourned for the 2nd to last time without the aid of the gavel.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Geoff Ellis
November 23 - Thanksgiving (Dark)
November 30 – “All about Hybrid Vehicles” - Representative of the Toyota Motor Corporation
December 9 - Holiday Christmas Party
December 14 - Steve Fillinger - Health Insurance
December 14 - Gift Distribution and Fellowship
December 21 - Another interesting program
December 28 - DARK (Holidays)
January 5, 2007 - U.S. Coast Guard program at Two Rock (replaces Jan. 4 meeting)
A very weak bell (apparently the gavel is still missing) sounded at precisely 12:30 and PRESIDENT TAWNY brought the meeting to order. After three calls to BARNEY, BARNEY, BARNEY, he led us in a jolly rendition of “I’m a Rambler” followed by an enthusiastic “God Bless America”.
CLARK ROSEN gave the thought for the day. He gave us some interesting quotes from Henry Longfellow, Shakespeare and Buddha.
The usual hugs and handshakes quickly followed. JAY PALM introduced the visiting Rotarians. The Rotarians with guests were then introduced.
HARVEY FREETLY is feeling O.K. He has more energy some days than others. Please call Marlene before visiting. DICK WEBER is doing much better. He hopes to be back soon.
TOM BAKER, with his snappy suspenders, announced that the holiday gift distribution for the kids will be on December 14th at Bank of Petaluma on McDowell. Shopping for the gifts will be at 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at K-Mart on December 4th, 5th and 6th. Sign-up sheets were on the table. (Or you can contact Tom or Jeannette Clark.)
RON HARRIS is still looking for a family to host our exchange student. Please let Ron know if you know of anyone who might be interested. It does not have to be a Rotarian.
ED FULLERTON just returned from his trip to The Festival of Brotherhood in Guadalajara, Mexico.
ED was nice enough to bring our PRESIDENT a glass bell full of tequila and a pin. Please note that gifts to our PRESIDENT are always appreciated.
PAUL LOUNIBOS announced that a new members meeting will take place on November 28th at 4:00 at TAWNY’S office.
PRESIDENT TAWNY reminded us of the dictionary distribution the week of December 4th. Please let JOHN DADO know if you can help. If you are going to the horse races on January 12th, JOHN needs your money by next Thursday. If you’re interested in a Rotary Cruise to Mexico, let STEVE POWELL know.
Where has MARCUS BENEDETTI been? Our conniving PRESIDENT saw MARCUS’s sister, Joanie, and invited her to a Rotary meeting so she could assess MARCUS’S fine. That got him here in a hurry. It seems MARCUS has been hunting in Utah with his dad. He said he shot a 5x4 point buck.
Somehow KIP HERZOG got in the story. Something about his belly dancing picture. Anyway, MARCUS ended up with a $100 fine.
TAWNY’S next victim was RALPH SARTORI. It seems that RALPH has been fishing in Arkansas. He claims to have thrown all the fish back. I think he was trying to avoid a big fine with that story. He also was shopping at Cabela’s. His big purchase was a coyote caller. This fun in the south cost him $50. His parting comment was something about having a legal license not like some people, namely RALPH BETTINELLI.
The wrath of fines continued with STEVE GAVRILOFF. He was fined $25 for working hard and sitting at a table with lots of his co-workers.
AL KAPLAN was in a generous mood. Because he and his wife were out of town for the friendship feasts, he offered up $500 to the dictionary program.
PRESIDENT TAWNY felt that she needed to fatten up the Rotary till so she fined everyone a dollar who didn’t have their badge or their Rotary pin on. RALPH SARTORI stood up and asked if LORETTA had to pay even though she had her pin tattooed on her chest. LORETTA had no comment. Could there be a tattoo?
STEVE RUSTAD’S guest won the raffle. She walked away with the cash.
TAWNY reminded everyone to RSVP for the Holiday Party.
JEANNETTE CLARK introduced the guest speakers.
Ralph Harms gave us an interesting talk about the amateur boxing program at the Double Punches Boxing Club in Santa Rosa. Enrique Gutierrez told us about his amazing rise to fame as a boxer after joining the Club.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Loretta Catarozoli
November 16 - Double Punches Boxing Club
November 23 - Thanksgiving (Dark)
November 30 – “All about Hybrid Vehicles” - Representative of the Toyota Motor Corporation
December 9 - Holiday Christmas Party
PRESIDENT TAWNY TESCONI started off her meeting with what appeared to be a surprise request for AL CATTALINI to lead us in song.
He put his beloved camera down and did a great job getting the crowd roused and ready. This task may be a new trend for our President, so start clearing your pipes!
MIKE BADDELEY gave a hilarious Thought for the Day/Invocation. It was neither thoughtful nor invoking, but Mike just has a way with words and it was a pretty good joke.
JAY PALM introduced visiting Rotarians and JOANNE FERRIS introduced her guests.
WALLY BRAGDON reported that HARVEY FREETLY is at home and in good spirits. PRESIDENT TAWNY TESCONI said he is still very much involved in this year’s Dictionary Distribution. DICK WEBER is also at home and is doing better. We all wish you well.
LARRY JONAS gave us a recap from the recent Club trip to Mexico. Good work was performed, new friends were made and the members learned a lot about each other. Probably more than they were prepared for, but they persevered nevertheless. It seems the greatest revelation from fellow members was learning that LARRY is frugal. You didn’t have to travel that far to learn that secret! Try playing golf with him.
Robert Mitchell: "I went to Mexico with Jonas."
Michael White: "Señor Jonas mucho loco."
Erik Gunheim: "And my movie was supposed to be inspirational."
Joseph Moore: "Why did I go to Mexico with Jonas?"
Tawny announces Presidential visit; plan to join her!
Rotary International President William Boyd will speak in Santa Clara on January 3, 2007. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from the “real prez”. Click for information and reservation form.
John Dado: "Contact me to schedule your dictionary distribution December 4-8."
Ron Harris: "We're still looking for a host family for our exchange student."
Heidi Kibbe: "Tawny, I found an envelope addressed to you."
PRESIDENT TAWNY TESCONI read the latest ransom letter from the “gavel gang” and, hopefully, the gavel will appear on Nov. 30. For the love of God, let’s all end this over-extended joke.
Kathy Burroughs: "Mark your calendar for the December 9 Christmas party!"
Thoughtful MIKE BADDELEY paid $50 for his recent induction to the Petaluma Boys and Girls Club Coaches Hall of Fame. He paid the Club from his payment to LARRY JONAS for his “invitation” to a golf tournament. (*See frugal reference above).
GRETA VIGUIE paid big money to tell us about the upcoming Petaluma Schools Brochure and the need for sponsors. This information will promote our schools to people inquiring about our town. We have great schools and people should know.
Clark Rosen wins a bottle of wine.
JOANNE FERRIS introduced our speaker, . . .
. . . Eva Maxwell who informed us about M.O.M.S. - Mothers of Military Service members. Her son, Kyle, is in the Marines, but her support and love extends to all Service members from Sonoma County. MOMS provides comforts from home for those serving abroad, as well as moral support and camaraderie to their families. Thank you, Eva.
CHECK THE WEBSITE: www.petalumarotary.org for upcoming events including Rotary Day at the Races and the Sunrise Rotary's Cioppino Feast.
Have a nice day.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Ricardo Marzo
November 9 - Eva Maxwell, Mothers of Military Service Members, Sonoma County
November 16 - Double Punches Boxing Club
November 23 - Thanksgiving (Dark)
November 30 – “All about Hybrid Vehicles” - Representative of the Toyota Motor Corporation
December 9 - Holiday Christmas Party
PRESIDENT TAWNY began the meeting by calling on BABE AMARAL (“Stand up, Babe! Oh, I’m sorry — you are standing up.”) to lead the opening song.
It cost Babe a $5 fine but he enlisted the help of BARNEY FAUSS to lead God Bless America.
OUR PRESIDENT noted the empty Birthday Table (intended for October birthdays) and reminded eligible members to move there before it was time for fines. No one moved.
JIM BECKER delivered the Thought for the Day with quotes from Paul Harris and a concluding prayer for the ill members of our Club.
CARRIE PIERSON introduced three visiting Rotarians including her brother, George Wagner, Past President of the Petaluma Sunrise Club. RICK MOSSI brought the only non-Rotarian guest, a fellow Exchange Banker.
SUNSHINE REPORT: STAN LAWSON reported that HARVEY FREETLY had had a bad week (call Marlene to inquire about visiting), that DICK WEBER is the Sotoyome Campus of Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, and that JOHN RAMATICI continues his struggle with ALS. Keep these members in your thoughts and prayers.
PRESIDENT TAWNY announced that four Rotarians were celebrating November anniversaries: RALPH SARTORI, TOM BRANDAL, JOSEPH MOORE, and MIKE BADDELEY. Congratulations!
BRIDGET DOHERTY, almost recovered from the hangover from her October birthday party, wasn't sitting at the still empty Birthday Table. She paid $10 for this infraction, but, along with her table, got the birthday cake.
New member BRENT BLAUSTEIN gave his craft talk. Brent grew up in Marin, transferred from Boston University to UC Santa Cruz where he met his wife-to-be and graduated with a degree in psychology. After some time with an Internet start-up, he entered the mortgage business five years ago. He works in Petaluma (Princeton Capital) and lives here with his wife and five-week-old daughter.
The Rotarian of the Month for October is MARY ANN SHOEMAKER who was cited for her work with the attendance records. Congratulations, Mary Ann!
JOHN DADO reminded members of Rotary Day at the Races, January 12, 2007. Call John before it's sold out! He also announced that dictionary distribution would take place the week of December 4. Sign up for the school of your choice at next week’s meeting.
WHITNEY HALL announced that he is looking for a woman. He hastened to add that this woman is needed to assist a girls’ book club at McKinley School. Ladies, here’s your chance to get involved in our literacy efforts. It’s just 45 minutes a week for 6 weeks. Call Whit for more information.
RON HARRIS announced that he is still looking for a host family for our visiting exchange student for the period just after Thanksgiving until late February. Call Ron if you can help or know a family that can. He also announced that applications for Petaluma students who want to study abroad in 2007-08 are now available on our Club Website. Applications must be received by November 20, 2006.
PAUL LOUNIBOS announced that the New Members Committee would be meeting November 28 at 4:00 p.m. at the Sonoma-Marin Fair conference room.
KATHY O’CONNOR BURROUGHS reported that invitations would be mailed soon for our Holiday Christmas party. It’s Saturday evening, December 9 at the Waterfront Grill (formerly J M Rosen’s). For a bargain $60 you’ll be able to celebrate the holidays with your friends while enjoying the lighted boat parade as it sails by. Mark your calendar!
Lili Freitas of the Petaluma Sunrise Rotary Club announced their First Annual Cioppino Feast would be held on December 2 at Hermann Sons Hall. For more information, click here.
PRESIDENT TAWNY noted that this year’s Friendship Feasts would conclude on Saturday evening. She advised that members who missed out on attending one of the feasts could escape a missed meeting with a $25 (minimum) donation to the Dictionary Fund.
PRESIDENT TAWNY announced that her Board had revisited and revised the “early leaver” policy. If you have a critical, unavoidable engagement that requires your early departure from a meeting: (1) purchase an early leaver chit for $5, (2) advise both the speaker and the President of your regrettable need to leave early, and (3) deposit the chit (or $5) in the fine bucket when you leave. The meeting format will be restructured so the early leaver announcement doesn’t immediately precede the speaker’s introduction. Tawny urged members who need to leave early to consider skipping the meeting entirely and making up at another club.
The fines began with a $5 assessment on President-Elect LOU STEINBERG whose cell phone rang during the Thought for the Day. Sorry, Lou. We don’t believe it was Paul Harris calling.
Next, GEOFF ELLIS and BILL GROVERMAN were socked for $5 apiece for inordinate conversation.
TED ADKINS paid $5 for a different transgression. It seems that he showed up for last Thursday’s meeting — when the Club was dark!
While there he encountered NIT ANDERSON, who arrived late for the non-existent meeting. Nit went on to tell of the recent burglary of her Bangkok home, of her daughter attending graduate school at Pepperdine, and of the November 9 opening of the Banyan Tree, her new restaurant in the Golden Eagle Center. For all this she paid $50.
STEVE OLMSTED was called on the carpet for wearing STEVE POWELL’s chicken badge. He then acknowledged that he’s now driving a 1992 Cadillac after “Juan” sideswiped his previous car. He noted that HENRY HANSEL provided two gallons of gas in his new car, about enough to get from the lot back to Penngrove. All this cost Steve $50.
And since her Dad sold Steve the replacement car, ONITA PELLEGRINI paid a $10 fine.
DON RAMATICI was up next to report on The Case of the Missing Gavel. He denied culpability in the matter and called on his counsel, MIKE BADDELEY, to elucidate.
MIKE reported that his client spared no expense in trying to solve this mystery. He advised that he sent the photo in question to Miami CSI for extensive analytical testing. Carbon dating showed that the photo was 16 years old and explained why the presidential gavel was on Don’s desk: Don was President 16 years ago. Mike further announced that there would be a denouement in one week. (To learn what denouement means, click it.)
The raffle had grown to $250 and finally we had a big winner. MARY ANN SHOEMAKER, our October Rotarian of the Month, had the right ticket and drew the right rock. Congratulations, Mary Ann. And thanks for donating $50 to “the local foundation.”
OUR PRESIDENT then introduced fellow member JAMES GOTELLI who discussed a topic we all try to avoid but which none of can — death. In human terms he explained how we can ease the anguish of our passing and of the passing of our loved ones.
After his talk, PRESIDENT TAWNY, wearing her official Parent Sorensen ball cap, announced that the book donated to a local school library in recognition of James’ talk was Crossing Over. Before you jump to conclusions, you should know that the subtitle was A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail. Steve, do you think it involved Juan?
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Al Cattalini
