Issues are arranged in reverse order. Scroll down to find the issue you want.
September 6 - RYLA - youth leadership program
September 13 - Randy Smith: Auto Racing
September 20 - Kevin Mullen
September 27 - Another interesting program
LOU rang (the bell), . . .
. . . TED ADKINS sang (the songs: Rambler/Gambler, God Bless America), . . .
. . . and ROBERT MITCHELL did a crazy thang (gave a thoughtful Thought for the Day)! . . .
. . . The members greeted (each other), guests of Rotarians were treated (to a fine lunch), . . .
. . . and August birthdays (TOM BUCKLEY, PAT SCHAEFER) were complimented… but not before the Prez collected $5.00 from each.
BANO was late ($10.00 please), JEANNETTE CLARK made MARY ANN SHOEMAKER wait (Jeannette had Mary Ann's keys - $5.00 please), and the Prez delivered a spate (of announcements):
ROBERT MITCHELL then reported (Rotary International Committee goals), . . .
. . . NANCY KOENITZER consorted (with family and friends on several trips around the country and abroad - $50 each to the Club and to the John Ramatici Scholarship Fund), . . .
. . . and KIP HERZOG cavorted (around the ballpark with his grandkids after seeing Barry Bonds' homer #756 - $100 for the pleasure and for Kip's trips yet to come).
NANCY KOENITZER thrilled (the Prez' with details on "bad dates"), . . .
. . . PAT SCHAEFER chilled (with the bottle of wine she won in the raffle), . . . .
. . . . and CLARK ROSEN spilled (pizza sauce on HENRY HANSEL'S shorts - $25.00 delivery charge) and filled (the Program Chairman bill by introducing our speaker – City Manager Mike Bierman). We all learned (about the state of our City), the customary autographed book was earned (by our speaker), and the meeting (dare I say it?) was adjourned!
Please enjoy a safe, relaxing Labor Day weekend!
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Mike Baddeley; photos and captions by Erik Gunheim.
August 30 - Mike Bierman, Petaluma City Manager, State of the City
August 30 - Happy Hour, Finbar Devine's, 5-7pm.
September 6 - RYLA - youth leadership program
September 13 - Randy Smith: Auto Racing
After a bit of redecorating (replacing the 2004 Rotary banner with the current one), PRESIDENT LOU started the meeting minus his gavel. We don’t think these snafus are a nefarious plot, but apparently the result of a rushed, short-handed setup crew.
LOU called on STEVE RUSTAD for the opening song, preceded by the pre-opening song “I’m a Gambler” which our President decreed was to be our Official Club Song and sung at every meeting during his tenure.
I’m a gambler, I’m a rambler,
I’m a green lumber handler;
I’m a gyppo from Pelican Bay.
So lift up your glasses
And have one on me,
I’m a fellow you seldom do see!
For the newer members who are scratching their heads, here’s a little background. The late GENE BENEDETTI always used this ditty as the warm-up to his stirring God Bless America. A gyppo is an independent logger who runs a small-scale logging operation. And, long before the infamous state prison, Pelican Bay was logging country.
HENRY HANSEL was next with his Thought for the Day. He reminded us to take time to do the things that really matter.
Poor DAVE AMUNDSEN! Forced to handle setup all by himself, he was fined $5 by our President for the incorrect banner and the missing gavel. Let’s hope the no-shows get fined even more.
There were no visiting Rotarians. ROBERT MITCHELL was the only Rotarian with a guest, two in fact. He brought his wife, Shirley, and our guest speaker as well.
JOHN DADO, who co-chaired the Golf Tournament with LEE BEAN, reported on a most successful event. Over half the membership participated; 71 golfers competed, 35 non-golfers helped in various roles, and 101 delicious prime rib dinners were served.
ED FULLERTON rose to plug another golf tournament. The Petaluma Boys and Girls Clubs tournament is tomorrow (Friday) at Rooster Run. Contact DAVID SOLO for information.
MIKE BADDELEY was up next to announce the traditional Friendship Feasts would be held weekends in late October. These feasts are dinner parties, hosted by Rotarians in their homes and attended by fellow Rotarians. Neither host nor guest chooses the other; guests are assigned to maximize new acquaintances and friendships. Guests pay a reasonable price (just $50 and a bottle of wine) for the evening; all money collected goes to support the dictionary program.
MIKE also reported finding a Rotarian’s “little brown 2007 pocket calendar.” Call Mike’s office to retrieve it. But it seems that Mike had lost something as well — his chicken badge. It cost him $10. PRESIDENT LOU didn’t stop there. He assessed $5 fines on all Rotarians who weren’t wearing their chicken badge.
ROBERT MITCHELL announced that the International Committee would meet at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 28 at the Chamber of Commerce office.
BRIDGET DOHERTY, our Queen of Fellowship, reminded members that our next Happy Hour would be next Thursday, August 30 from 5pm to 7pm in the upstairs room of Finbar Devine’s. Don’t miss it! It’ll be followed immediately by the SCARC dinner in Healdsburg. Contact STEVE OLMSTED if you want to attend the dinner. No reservations required for the Happy Hour. Just show up!
School has started and WHITNEY HALL is organizing Club volunteers who will again assist with tutoring and mentoring at McKinley Elementary School. Contact WHIT for information about this important and personally rewarding program.
LORETTA CATAROZOLI recently took her grandchildren to Palm Desert. This act of kindness cost her a $50 fine.
Not much information on the fire at LARRY JONAS’ home Tuesday night. We hear that Larry has an alibi but CHRIS ALBERTSON wasn’t here to corroborate it. Larry’s son, Aaron, is recovering from his burns.
ROBERT MITCHELL proudly announced that the auction of Sunset Line and Twine memorabilia at the old silk mill raised nearly forty thousand dollars. This cost him a $50 fine. ROBERT also announced that the silk mill will be the venue for “The Bash,” a formal dinner dance on September 8 benefiting the Petaluma Education Foundation. Tickets are $125.
MARY ANN SHOEMAKER won the raffle, pulled the wrong rock, and won a bottle of wine. Next week the winner could take home $250.
ROBERT MITCHELL (again!) introduced the guest speaker, Alexander Anolik, the noted consumer advocate and travel law expert. He delivered a most interesting presentation about legal rights for travelers.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Al Cattalini.
August 16 - Club Dark
August 23 - Alexander Anolik: Preventive Legal Care for the Traveler
August 30 - Mike Bierman, Petaluma City Manager, State of the City
August 30 - Happy Hour, Finbar Devine's, 5-7pm.
September 6 - RYLA - youth leadership program
September 13 - Randy Smith: Auto Racing
Congratulations to LEROY BEAN and JOHN DADO for chairing a great golf tournament. The weather was perfect, the food was good and the golf was fun.
We were greeted by three beautiful ladies: TAWNY TESCONI, MARY ANN SHOEMAKER and NIT ANDERSON. We collected our wonderful tee prizes: Rotary mugs and towels, golf balls and tees and a Fore Way Test.
Around the corner were the fabulous new golf carts with two cup holders for the beverage of your choice per golfer. Thank you, RICK VAN BEBBER, for keeping those ice chests full. We were served a choice of a hamburger or hot dog grilled to perfection on the Country Club’s new barbecue.
As we made our way past the club house, JOANNE FERRIS made sure we all took three turns at winning the putting contest. Most of us tried it again on the second pass through. At the end of the day, the lucky winner was LARRY JONAS.
JOANNE FERRIS handled the sale of the dinner tickets for those who wanted to enjoy the fabulous prime rib cooked by STEVE HENRIS, PAUL RAMATICI, John Barella and Jim Pacciorini. A big thank you to BUTCH SPOLINI and crew in the kitchen for preparing all the fixins’.
When PRESIDENT LOU began the official stuff before dinner, there was no flag for the Pledge of Allegiance. Oh my gosh, there’s LARRY JONAS with a Flag Shirt on. He’ll do. LARRY came to the front followed by JIM MCCAFFREY with the invocation.
Thanks to all for your hard work and dedication.
And the winners are:
Go to Ed's Photo Album for more Golf tournament photos.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Loretta Catarozoli; photos by Erik Gunheim and Michael Caruana.
August 13 - Golf Tournament
August 16 - Club Dark
August 23 - Alexander Anolik: Preventive Legal Care for the Traveler
August 30 - Mike Bierman, Petaluma City Manager, State of the City
August 30 - Happy Hour, Finbar Devine's, 5-7pm.
September 6 - RYLA - youth leadership program
September 13 - Randy Smith: Auto Racing
The Honorable PRESIDENT LOU opened the meeting by introducing himself and being greeted with a mix of cheers and jeers. He brought up HERB BUNDESEN (roundly cheered) to sing God Bless America.
The invocation/thought for the day was to be delivered by TED ATKINS. Except he wasn’t present so we’ll have to wait until next week to be inspired. MIKE WHITE volunteered that he had a joke to take the place of the invocation—PRESIDENT LOU shunned that idea.
ONITA got up to present Paul Harris awards to several of our giving Rotarians:
SHERRY SCHEROTTER-BURWEN, . . .
. . . AL KAPLAN . . .
. . . and MARY ANN SHOEMAKER were all honored. Congratulations to all and thank you for your service and generosity to Rotary.
Several announcements were made:
Rotary International is asking that each of the local clubs nominate a candidate (non-Rotarians, age 25-40 for next spring's Nigerian GSE visit. Applications are due September 12 and interviews will be September 16. All the info can be found at the Rotary International web site. We have information on the mission so if anyone is interested, please see the secretary.
JOHN DADO relayed the fact that the golf tournament is filled up but everyone is welcome to come up for dinner and cocktails afterward.
Your editor (GEOFF ELLIS) announced that the next Rotary Happy Hour will be at Finbar Devine on Thursday August 30th from 5-7. These have drawn rave reviews from the attendees.
Our newest Rotarian Dr. JANE SALDAÑA-TALLEY came strong out of the gate by being inducted straight to the Chicken Badge level having already been a Rotarian. PRESIDENT LOU reminded everyone that we are a very special club because we are the only club with an exemption to use anything other than the standard rotary badge.
MR. RUSTAD mentioned that perhaps our ‘exemption’ was self-granted. Lou figured that was a less elegant version of our history and moved on.
El Presidente was in a less than generous mood when it came to fining.
Attacking your faithful editor first for taking a few family vacations over the past couple of months. The fine levied was a stiff $50.
TOM BRANDAL was equally fined for having allowed his son-in-law to join a different Rotary club.
SHERRY fined herself $42 commemorating her affiliation with the Giants, Willie McCovey and the Beatles.
RICK VAN BEBBER, fearing a future fine, came clean with the fact that he had married off his daughter. He had enough left over to kick a c-note to the club.
Finally, LARRY JONAS was popped $40 for taking his family to Hawaii. He did reveal that he had learned an important life lesson that sometimes it is best to refrain from telling his grown children what to do. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Congratulations Larry!
The raffle advanced from $200 to $225 when PAUL LOUNIBOS drew the wrong colored rock.
CLARK ROSEN introduced another great program.
Ken Nugent, representing the Petaluma Museum, gave a great presentation encompassing the history of the Petaluma Library from its construction to its current position as an historical Museum capturing the spirit and traditions of our town. Anyone who has not been was certainly inspired to go. A question and answer period followed where WALLY BRAGDON stammered through an indecipherable ‘question’ that confused our speaker and earned Wally a $10 fine.
With that the meeting was adjourned by PRESIDENT LOU.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Geoff Ellis.
August 9 - Ken Nugent, Petaluma Museum
August 13 - Golf Tournament
August 16 - Club Dark
August 23 - Alexander Anolik: Preventive Legal Care for the Traveler
August 30 - Mike Bierman, Petaluma City Manager
Our President, loquacious LOU STEINBERG, opened the meeting on the appointed half-hour, . . .
. . . amicable ANDY KVALHEIM led us in song (America the Beautiful), . . .
. . . daring DAVE AMUNDSEN delivered the Thought for the Day, . . .
. . . and judicious JOE MOORE introduced the visiting Rotarians, including the Prez' wife (Julie) and our Rotary Youth Exchange student (Grant Livingston).
The proud Prez then acknowledged the August anniversaries, commended dapper DAN LIBARLE (the recipient of our District Governor's Quiet Rotarian award), and announced 1) the Rotary Membership Development seminar at the Cotati City Hall on Saturday, 2) the annual RI program (featuring the RI President) in San Jose, CA on 8/17-8/18, and 3) the joint effort between our Club and the Petaluma Valley Club to establish a Rotor-Act Club at SSU. Contact Lou if you're interested in participating.
Next, jovial JOHN DADO reminded everyone of the upcoming (8/13) Club Golf Tournament, and that non-golfers are welcome to join us for dinner – call John for details.
Visiting Rotarian Bob Inter (S.F.-Fisherman's Wharf Club) announced that his Club (the sponsor of our Club) was celebrating its centennial in 2008 (11/8-11/12), and all of us are invited to attend (so, mark your calendars accordingly).
Our Rotary Youth Exchange student then gave us a brief summary of his most excellent adventure to Brazil, with a more formal presentation to follow at a future meeting.
The punitive Prez then fined gracious GRETA VIGUIE ($50 - Hawaii vacation), . . .
. . . dancing DAN LIBARLE ($25 - wedding in New York), . . .
. . . dandy DON RAMATICI ($25 - new car), . . .
. . . and closer CLARK ROSEN ($50 - trip to Quebec and the East Coast).
The puzzled Prez' better half Julie won the raffle – a bottle of vino that I'm sure nurse Julie can use for medicinal purposes (hey, she lives with Lou, she's entitled to a drink or six while listening to tales of the Rotary wars he has waged!).
August Program Chairman, jumpin’ JOSEPH MOORE, then introduced our speaker, . . .
. . . retired S.F. Homicide Inspector Frank Falzone, who "made our day" (just ask Dirty Harry!) with a slew of humorous stories from some of his more memorable murder cases. Frankly, in all the excitement I can't remember whether he fired off 5 or 6 stories, but I do know he received a Rotary pen, and that an autographed book will be donated in his name to the PHS library, for a very entertaining program. The punctual Prez, apparently feeling lucky, then pulled the trigger on the meeting with a bang of the bell at precisely 1:30 p.m…. a man's got to know his limitations!
See you next week!
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Mike Baddeley.