Issues are arranged in reverse order. Scroll down to find the issue you want.
June 7 - Chris Stevik, “Petaluma Trolley Project”
June 7 - Club Social, Traxx, 5:30 p.m.
June 14 – Lorna Johnson, from Global Interprint speaking about publishing in Sonoma County
June 21 - Special meeting at at Sonoma-Marin Fair
June 28 - No meeting today (Debunking Friday evening)
June 29 - Debunking, Herzog Hall, 6pm Cocktails, 7pm Dinner
Our oft pledged Prez, TAWNY "The Third Time's a Charm" TESCONI, opened our regular lunch meeting at the appointed hour, and apologized for having missed last week's meeting—apparently she was on a 3F (i.e. fiancé fact finding) mission or something of that sort in Chico, CA. Undaunted by it all, she had ...
. . .HERB "Garden" BUNDESEN lead us in song (God Bless America), . . .
. . . followed by a humorous Thought for the Day from TOM "Swash" BUCKLEY.
There were no visiting Rotarians to introduce, but there were several guest of Rotarians who joined us for lunch, including the Prez' nephew (Sam) and DGN ED "Too Full" FULLERTON's bride (Carol).
JEANNETTE "Last Train to"CLARK(sville) then gave the Sunshine Report and informed us that Past President BABE "The Attack" AMARAL was still at PVH, but was on the mend. Apparently, there was no truth to . . .
. . . ERIK "P-Town Confidential" GUNHEIM's rumor that poor Babe had met a premature demise reaching out for the ever allusive proverbial naughty night nurse! Jeannette was also very pleased to report that DICK "Tangled" WEBER was still alive and well (the previous reports of his demise having been greatly exaggerated!!).
In a grand display of non-profit Club efficiency (or administrative incompetency?!), the Prez recognized an April-May combined Birthday Table, had us sing "Happy Birthday" en masse, and dispensed with the customary fines for all the birthday boys and girls.
The Prez then delivered a medley of announcements (none of which involved yet another engagement!): our Club has a matching Paul Harris Fund program (contact Secretary STEVE "The Obit" OLMSTED for details); there will be another Rotary Club social on June 7, 5:30 p.m. @ Traxx Bar and Grill (219 Lakeville Street); and, our June 21 lunch meeting will be at the Fairgrounds.
Half-n-half cream from Berkeley Farms at the PG&CC's Annual Swiss Italian Night Dinner event moooooooved us right into another Clover caper, with the Prez calling . . .
. . . GEOFF "Got Milk?" ELLIS, . . .
. . . DON "Dan Did It" RAMATICI and . . .
. . . LEE "The Berkeley" BEAN to account--according to Geoff, he wasn't drinking any dairy beverages that night (hic!!); according to Don, he was totally shocked and wouldn't be a bit surprised if it was all the event chairman's (DAN LIBARLE) doing; and, according to Lee, Berkeley's the bomb, so what's the problem, man!?
The Prez took it all under advisement, will take it up with Dan, and will take $$ from somebody at the next meeting!
JAMES "A tisket, a tasket, a green and yellow casket" GOTELLI was then fined $100 for winning a $5,000 jackpot in Las Vegas at a casket convention!
PHS School Board member LOU "The Stoolie" STEINBERG was fined $25 to acknowledge his pride in the PHS Girls Softball Team winning the coveted NCS crown, while . . .
. . . yours truly was docked the same amount (thanks to Lou!) because my daughter (Alex) had the only extra base hit in the game and scored the winning run! Congratulations to the 2007 Lady Trojans for a great season!
LARRY "Please" JONAS (For Dinner), ERIK "Great Abs" GUNHEIM and STEVE "Sous Chef" LAFRANCHI were then each acknowledged and commended for a job well done in organizing, providing and serving two abalone-steak dinner feasts at Larry's home that raised more than $5,200 for the John Ramatici Scholarship Fund! Great job, guys!
JIM "Bogie" BECKER and STEVE "Par Out" POWELL were then fined $25 each for winning the Sunrise Rotary Club golf tournament. Congratulations, guys!
Not to be outdone, DON "I Know What Dan Did" RAMATICI won the raffle wine.
Our program chair, WHITNEY HALL (of Fame) then introduced our speaker, . . .
. . . Bob Abbot-Flores, who gave us an informative program on youth gangs. A book was donated in his name to the PHS Library for a job well done.
So, there being no new fiancés to announce, the Prez adjourned the meeting without further adieu!! See you next week.
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NEW MEMBER PROPOSAL
The club has received an application for induction of the following new member:
If any member in good standing has an objection to this person, such objection should be made in writing to the club board of directors within 7 days of receipt of this notice.
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This week's Rota-Teller editor: Mike Baddeley.
May 31 - Bob Abbot-Florez, "Who Is a Gang Member? How Did He Become One?"
June 7 - Chris Stevik, “Petaluma Trolley Project”
June 7 - Club Social, Traxx, 5:30 p.m.
June 14 – Matt Foster & Jen Milchinowski from Maverick Leather Company
June 21 - Special meeting at at Sonoma-Marin Fair
If you missed last week's Rota-Teller, click here.
Today’s meeting was conducted by soon to be DISTRICT GOVERNOR ELECT ED FULLERTON who filled in for PRESIDENT TAWNY.
HERB (Cal-Poly) BUNDESEN led the group in singing My Country Tis of Thee.
JAMES BURLESON was then called upon to give The Thought for The Day. James recited a poem relating to what a day means to us.
RICH JOHNSON introduced our lone visiting Rotarian, John Burns from the Petaluma Valley Rotary Club. Rotarians with guests included: GRETA VIGUIE, MARY ANN SHOEMAKER, CARRIE PIERSON, DAN LIBARLE with his wife Carol and District Governor Elect ED FULLERTON with his wife Carol.
DISTRICT GOVERNOR ELECT ED then called on AL CATTALINI to start the Sunshine Report. Al started out by reporting that DICK WEBER was fine and that report of Dick passing on in our Rotary e-mail notice was false. Al went on to say that both Secretary STEVE OLMSTED, and PRESIDENT TAWNY had e-mailed him reporting that DICK WEBER had passed away. In true Rotary fashion Al sent e-mail out to our club members informing them of Dick’s passing away.
Al was then contacted by LORETTA CATAROZOLI who questioned Dick’s passing due to members of her family’s information. A three-way conference call between Al, Steve, and Loretta confirmed in fact that Dick Weber was fine.
It was then determined that Steve was having a family dinner at his house when the word came in about Dick’s passing. It was not Dick Weber but Uncle Dick who passed away. One can only guess how things got mixed up, but you can bet that socializing played a part in the mix-up. In the end we are glad that Dick Weber is fine and offer our condolences to the family of Uncle Dick.
It was also reported that Past President BABE AMARAL is in the hospital. For how long, nobody knows, but knowing Babe he’ll be back on his feet in no time. He’s in room 20 at PVH and would appreciate hearing from you. [Webmaster's note: We received the following report from ERIK GUNHEIM but are awaiting independent verification: "I called Petaluma Valley Hospital to check in on Babe. They told me that he passed away on Wednesday morning when he tried to grab a nurse and he fell out of his bed, striking his head on the floor. You should send out an announcement."]
DISTRICT GOVERNOR ELECT ED then called upon Rotarians with announcements.
PRESIDENT ELECT LOU reported on the recent District Rotary Conference held in Petaluma last week. Lou thanked ED FULLERTON for doing a great job of chairing the conference. Lou also reported that our club received a Silver Award for Large Club New Members. Thanks to all of you who bought in new members this year.
Our club’s golfers, STEVE POWELL, GARY BRODIE, GEOFF ELLIS, and NORM SANTOS finished second. It was reported that they counted every stroke and if they had counted like the Santa Rosa group they would have been first.
DISTRICT GOVERNOR ELECT ED then called upon FRED FROST who was trying to stop his phone from ringing to report on his recent trip to Maui. Fred reported that the first week was spent at a convention, but the second week was enjoyed with family members. Fred gladly paid a fine for both the vacation and ringing phone.
KIP HERZOG had the winning raffle number and walked away with a bottle of wine.
PAT SCHAEFER introduced our guest Joe Valentine who spoke on the “Green Music Center” being constructed at Sonoma State University.
Mr. Valentine gave a very informative recap on the University and how the creation of the “Green Music Center” came to be. I would encourage all members to review the information on the web for information on the upcoming Music Festival.
One of the advantages of developing the Music Center will be to develop a comprehensive Music Program that will “Aim High,” “Reach Wide,” and “Educate All.”
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Ralph Sartori.
May 24 - Joe Valentine (with Anne Benedetti and Carol Ann Libarle), Green Music Center at SSU
May 31 - Bob Abbot-Florez, "Who Is a Gang Member? How Did He Become One?"
June 7 - Chris Stevik, “Petaluma Trolley Project”
June 7 - Club Social, Traxx, 5:30 p.m.
June 14 – Matt Foster & Jen Milchinowski from Maverick Leather Company
June 21 - Special meeting at at Sonoma-Marin Fair
The bell sounded at precisely 12:30 and our short term PRESIDENT TAWNY brought the meeting to order. JIM BECKER led us in an enthusiastic “God Bless America”.
PRESIDENT TAWNY mixed things up a bit. We had the usual hugs and handshakes next quickly followed by PAUL LOUNIBOS with the thought for the day.
There were no visiting Rotarians. The Rotarians with guests were then introduced.
RON HARRIS gave us a report on the All Day Breakfast. It looks like the gross sales were around $12,000. Please turn in your $96 for the 12 tickets that were sent to you.
ED FULLERTON reminded everyone of the upcoming District Conference in Rohnert Park. It looks like our team came in #3 in participation.
BRIDGET DOHERTY moved the Fellowship Mixer to June 7th at Traxx at 5:30. Show up for a good time!!
ONITA PELLEGRINI encouraged everyone to contribute to the Foundation to receive their PAUL HARRIS. Remember that the club will match dollar for dollar.
MARY ANN SHOEMAKER asked everyone to please pay up for any missed meeting. She’d really appreciate a clean set of books at TAWNY’s year end.
PRESIDENT TAWNY started the fining in a big way. Everyone was asked to stand. Everyone with a Rotary pin got to sit down. If you had your Rotary badge on, you also got to sit down, but it cost you a dollar. If you were void of the two above mentioned items, it cost you $5.
PRESIDENT TAWNY picked on poor MIKE BADDELEY for not having any kind of Rotary identification. His two buddies, . . .
. . . AL KAPLAN and DAVE AMUNDSEN felt sorry for him and offered to pay his fine. They were actually bidding on it, but lucky DAVE was the winner with a $15 contribution to the Club.
DAN LIBARLE wanted to know if his Rotary tattoo counted. PRESIDENT TAWNY quickly fined him $10 for not bending over.
PAT SCHAEFER was fined next for putting on the fabulous BENEDETTI luncheon to benefit Petaluma Valley Hospital.
DON RAMATICI was caught chatting. PRESIDENT TAWNY also can’t seem to get over the missing gavel incident, so DON had to pay $50.
BRIDGET DOHERTY tattled on her girlfriend, TAWNY. It seems our PRESIDENT was in a Texas Hold ‘Em tournament put on by . . .
. . . our very own JAY PALM. She walked away with $60.00 after a $20 buy in. She offered up $20 to the Club.
LARRY JONAS was the next tattler. He quickly stood up and let our PRESIDENT know that ERIK GUNHEIM was on the phone.
ERIK tried to turn the attention back to LARRY by mentioning the abalone he caught for the dinner that Will Soper bought to benefit the Ramatici Scholarship Fund at the Crab Feed. ERIK also mentioned the fact that LARRY ran out of gas and got lost on their recent trip to Mexico. ERIK kept the attention away from himself by also mentioning that it was Norway Independence Day. He wasn’t making any head way with PRESIDENT TAWNY, so he offered up 500 Pesos that he brought back from Mexico. I believe that comes to about $30. ERIK kept the stories going by mentioning that he wanted his wife’s labor to be induced when she was pregnant with their daughter. He wanted her to be born on Norway Independence Day. The doctor wouldn’t go for it. He then quickly mentioned that . . .
. . . JOSEPH MOORE asked the same thing of his wife’s doctor when she was pregnant with their twins. That doctor did it. At the end of the day, ERIK’s pesos went to the GSE Team and he was slapped with another $30 fine. JOSEPH wasn’t left out. His fine was $10.
One of the members of the GSE Team from Mexico won the raffle. She walked away with the cash.
The GSE Team from Mexico took turns telling us about themselves and where they live. They also explained what Rotary has done to improve their country.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Loretta Catarozoli.
May 17 - GSE Team from District 4150 in Mexico
May 24 - Joe Valentine (with Anne Benedetti and Carol Ann Libarle), Green Music Center at SSU
May 31 - Bob Abbot-Florez, "Who Is a Gang Member? How Did He Become One?"
June 7 - An interesting program arranged by Steve Hood
June 14 – Matt Foster & Jen Milchinowski from Maverick Leather Company
June 21 - Special meeting at at Sonoma-Marin Fair
Before the opening bell TAWNY summoned BILL DATOR from the kitchen to be recognized upon the birth of his daughter, Luna. When Tawny presented a gift from the Club, Bill quipped, “I hope it’s diapers!” Barely a week into fatherhood, Bill seems to have discovered that new babies eat, sleep, cry, and ----.
When TAWNY subsequently opened the meeting she called on versatile STEVE RUSTAD for double duty. After leading My Country ‘Tis of Thee, he presented his Thought for the Day. It was a silent tribute to our troops.
BRIDGET DOHERTY introduced our lone visiting Rotarian, . . .
. . .Jo Ann Ritko Pozzi, of the Petaluma Valley Club. Jo Ann plugged her club’s Million Dollar Classic at Rooster Run Golf Club on May 24 and its Rotary Walks which commence May 12.
Sunshine Report: ALDEN HENNINGS reported that DICK WEBER was having lung problems and “not that well.” TAWNY suggested he’d enjoy hearing from our members.
TAWNY then announced that JEANNETTE CLARK, NIT ANDERSON, GEORGE BUNNELL, and CHRIS ALBERTSON were celebrating May anniversaries.
When TAWNY said that April’s Rotarian of the Month was a fantastic barbecue chef and a dedicated Interact supporter, we all knew it was DAVE AMUNDSEN. Congratulations, Dave!
ED FULLERTON reminded members of the District Conference (DoubleTree Hotel, Rohnert Park, May 18-20) and urged members to register.
RALPH SARTORI hawked five-pound boxes of sausage before . . .
. . . RON HARRIS reported that the All-Day Breakfast had grossed over $10,000. Since all the labor and much of the food are donated, this means that many underprivileged Petaluma will be enjoying a bountiful Christmas this year.
RON also announced that he’s still looking for a family to host our Brazilian exchange student. Contact Ron for information about this marvelous opportunity.
TAWNY announced that the upcoming fellowship event at Traxx would be rescheduled to a less busy evening. She also noted that volunteers are needed to conduct mock interviews of high school students on Thursday morning, May 17.
LARRY JONAS rose to relate anecdotes from the recent work project at El Faro Orphanage, our Mexican international project.
Continuing the Mexican theme, ED FULLERTON discussed the impending Petaluma visit of the GSE team from Guadalajara. AL CATTALINI is coordinating their visit on Thursday, May 17. If you can help escort the group or would like to join them for a casual dinner at the Washoe House, contact Al right away. Ed is working on a Sunday afternoon event (after the District Conference) in Petaluma. If you want to assist, perhaps hosting a team member in your home on Sunday evening, or driving them to SFO on Monday morning, contact Ed.
JOHN DADO reminded that the Petaluma Rotary Foundation is accepting grant applications through May 31. Non-profit organizations located within the Petaluma High School District are eligible to apply. Send applications to John at 1323 I Street, Petaluma 94952.
Subbing for a traveling MICHAEL CARUANA, CLARK ROSEN introduced . . .
. . . Dan Sunia, metal craft instructor at Petaluma High School. Dan’s students build those beautiful benches you see in downtown Petaluma. He announced that their “Industrial Partner of the Year” was . . .
. . . RICK VAN BEBBER and presented Rick with a custom bench in recognition of his continuing support.
BABE AMARAL and RALPH SARTORI rose to announce that a gentlemen’s agreement with MARCUS BENEDETTI had settled the contentious “Buttergate” flap which erupted after Farmer’s Night.
ALDEN HENNINGS was fined $100 for a two-week cruise from the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal, to San Diego.
PRESIDENT TAWNY announced that the “Agstravaganza” event at SRJC’s Shone Farm on June 2 would honor the Benedetti family. Click the link for more information.
MARY ANN SHOEMAKER won the raffle, got a bottle of wine, and seemed ready to drink it on the spot.
GRETA VIGUIE, with help from . . .
. . . JAMES BURLESON and . . .
. . . PAUL LOUNIBOS, presented Petaluma Rotary Club scholarships to six local students. For names, photos, and more information, click here.
Then JOANNE FERRIS presented the John Ramatici Scholarship to “Teen Scholar” Jake Doolittle of St. Vincent’s High School.
The education theme continued with a presentation on “Career Clusters” and “Small Learning Communities” which will be introduced in our local high schools this fall. Ron Everett, Principal, Casa Grande High School, and . . .
. . . Mike Simpson, Principal, Petaluma High School, described these innovative concepts which promise a more personalized learning environment.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Al Cattalini.
May 10 - Smaller Learning Communities, Ron Everett and Mike Simpson, Principals, CGHS and PHS
May 17 - GSE Team from District 4150 in Mexico
May 24 - Joe Valentine (with Anne Benedetti and Carol Ann Libarle), Green Music Center at SSU
May 31 - Bob Abbot-Florez, "Who Is a Gang Member? How Did He Become One?"
The 2007 version of the all day breakfast was another fantastic opportunity for the Rotarians to come together in an environment of camaraderie. We served a nice cross-section of the Petaluma community and the funds that are raised provide an enduring service for the kids of our town. Congratulations on another successful year. It is truly a great tradition.
We had one of the largest lunch rush crowds in our history. Your editor arrived to find PRESIDENT TAWNY and others dutifully cleaning up in the aftermath of many ravenous Petalumans devouring the pancakes and sausage that are staples of our all day breakfast.
BRIDGET DOHERTY was there looking very smug as she had moved up her shift so that she could jet down to watch the Warriors close out their series vs. Dallas.
NANCY KOENITZER carved up enough oranges to stave off scurvy in Petaluma for decades to come. There was also some mysterious clear liquid in the fridge . . .
. . . that was being touted by Past-President BABE.
The evening brought stalwarts DON RAMATICI and STEVE HENRIS working the grill and delighting the patrons served during the dinner rush. JAMES GOTELLI made his first appearance at the stove and performed admirably.
It was great to see the families that attend and the room fill up. The serving line and waiters were kept extremely busy throughout the evening but still managed to scare up a little fun.
The kitchen is a well oiled machine once it gets going and we have the veterans of many years of all day breakfasts to thank for that.
RON HARRIS did a fabulous job throwing the whole event together . . .
. . . and RALPH SARTORI kept everything operating smoothly. Great job everyone. We'll do it again in 2008!!!
For more breakfast photos click here.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Geoff Ellis.