Issues are arranged in reverse order. Scroll down to find the issue you want.
May 1 - All-Day Breakfast, 7am-7pm
May 8 - Another interesting program
May 15 - Roger Gilbert - "Art at the Source"
May 22 - Jill Lee - McEvoy Olive Ranch
May 29 - Gary Alt - Polar bears
PRESIDENT LOU STEINBERG opened the meeting by asking . . .
. . . DISTRICT GOVERNOR ELECT ED FULLERTON to lead us in song and the crowd did not disappoint.
MIKE BADDELEY gave a wonderful Thought for the Day – he reminded us of the recent loss one member has recently experienced (the loss of two grown children) and how we must never take anything for granted. Our hearts ache for the family’s sadness and our prayers ask that their suffering and pain be replaced by hope and love. In another matter regarding the power of prayer, PRESIDENT LOU gave his own Sunshine report and told the Club that his tumor has shrunk dramatically. The Club responded with a hearty round of applause. YEAH!
Joseph Moore introduces visiting Rotarians.
The Club received a Rotary banner from Monterey, CA and we shared one from our club.
Nicholas Gavriloff brings Daddy to Rotary meeting.
RON HARRIS reminded us that the All Day Breakfast is next Thursday, May1. Remember to show-up for your shift or risk severe penalties from the Prez.
RICK VAN BEBBER was the lone attendee at the Birthday Table, but he still shared the cake with the club.
DG-ELECT ED FULLERTON informed the club that the District Conference is coming up in San Francisco next month and all are encouraged to attend. Our club will be hosting a reception to honor our new District Governor. Details to follow.
ROBERT MITCHELL informed us about the Mentor Me-Petaluma program that is kicking-off soon and asked that we mark our calendars for July 27, which will be the grand fete for the Mentor Me program.
PRESIDENT LOU reminded the Club of all the international projects we spearhead in addition to the local contributions we make.
NIT ANDERSON was fined $50 for her daughter’s recent completion of a Masters Program at Pepperdine University.
PAST PRESIDENT ONITA PELLEGRINI won the raffle and walked away with a bottle of wine.
CLARK ROSEN introduced our speaker, . . .
. . . John Schuster, who gave a great presentation on Backyard Barn Owls and their role as a natural rodent exterminator. Amazing video (not for the faint of heart). Thank you, John.
Grant requests for the Rotary Club of Petaluma Foundation are now being accepted through May 31. Non- profit organizations in the Petaluma High School District attendance area may submit a request. There is no formal form, applicants should summarize their request in a few paragraphs with itemized costs and send it to 1323 I Street (John Dado’s home.) |
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Ricardo Marzo.
April 24 - John Schuster - Barn owls
May 1 - All-Day Breakfast, 7am-7pm
May 8 - Another interesting program
May 15 - Roger Gilbert - "Art at the Source"
May 22 - Jill Lee - McEvoy Olive Ranch
May 29 - Gary Alt - Polar bears
PRESIDENT LOU called the meeting to order and advised the club that the sling on his arm was for real and not a belated April Fools joke. Seems our President had his feet move faster than the speed of light from under his body while in the family kitchen. He immediately knew that his arm was in need of professional help and ended up with his arm in a cast.
PRESIDENT LOU then called on BARNEY FAUSS to get the group going with a song. Barney got us all singing “I’m A Rambler, I’m A Gambler”. We finished up singing “God Bless America.”
TED ADKINS was then called upon for the Thought for the Day. Ted’s message ended with the thought that Great Emergencies many times show how much can be done above the normal expectations of individuals.
PRESIDENT LOU then asked us all to stand for a moment of silence for the passing of Mike McCaffrey son of JIM and Mary McCAFFREY. Please keep the McCaffrey family in your thoughts and prayers.
Rotarians with guests included SHERRY BURWEN and CLARK ROSEN.
PRESIDENT LOU asked District Governor Elect ED FULLERTON to report on last week’s District Assembly that was held in Ukiah. District Governor Elect Ed reported that it was a very successful assembly with over 310 people attending. He also thanked our club for supporting the assembly by having over ten of our members in attendance.
PRESIDENT LOU then reminded everyone that we still had room available for the District Conference in San Francisco on May 16, 17 and 18, 2008. Contact STEVE OLMSTED 769-1772 if interested. There will be a Hornblower Dinner Cruse on Friday evening May 16th which still has room.
PRESIDENT LOU reminded us that Sonoma State will host the NCAA Division II Golf Tournament. It will be only NCAA Golf Tournament on the West Coast. Contact President Lou or Val at Adobe Creek for details.
RON HARRIS reminded everyone of the upcoming ALL DAY BREAKFAST on May 1, 2008. We really need to support this event as 100% of the earnings will go toward our Rotary Gifts to Children at Christmas.
PRESIDENT LOU welcomed RALPH BETTINELLI to the meeting and asked Ralph if there was any news to report on trips, events, hunting stories. Ralph said that he has just been working on the ranch taking care of the cows. Someone in the crowd reported that Ralph was the new President of the Sonoma County Fair Board. PRESIDENT LOU then reminded Ralph that our local Fair Manager and Past Rotary President TAWNY TESCONI was stolen away from our local fair by the County Fair. Ralph said that was correct and willingly paid a fine.
LARRY JONAS was next to be called upon by PRESIDENT LOU. Larry’s shirt gave him away as a recent traveler. Seems Larry took a trip and got caught up in the American Airlines cancellation of flights due to the recent inspections. Larry said his plane was fine but the problem was pilots were not available due to the inspections. This resulted in Larry taking 23 hours to get to the Caribbean Islands. Larry contributed funds toward his second Paul Harris Fellowship.
PRESIDENT LOU then asked if anyone else was feeling guilty. GAIL CARDAROPOLI shared with the club that after 13 beautiful years of driving the same car she recently purchased a new Toyota with all the bells and whistles. She gladly paid a fine to the club.
TOM BUCKLEY reported that recently he took his first trip to The Big Apple. He told of how NYC has everything you can image and then some but that he was glad to get back to Good Old Petaluma. Tom was happy to pay a fine.
The last Rotarian to pay a fine reported that retirement can be viewed in many ways. You see this Rotarian experienced the joy of “Having Retired to Partially Retired to Fully Retired.” Can you guess this fellow Rotarians name? Well its non-other than . . .
. . . PAUL LOUNIBOS. Paul offered a fine for finally making Retirement Official.
The raffle was won by JOANNE FERRIS who took home a bottle of wine. The raffle $$$ amount is growing.
CLARK ROSEN introduced Mark Reichling who is well known in our community and has taught many Rotarians’ children while teaching at Petaluma High School. Mark is a highly respected NCAA Basketball Referee and also works for the NBA. Mark shared his story of how he got involved in being a referee and the many aspects of his profession. He said that an official must use common sense, have people skills, and never forget that they are the custodian of the game.
Many Rotarians commented that they were glad they attended today’s meeting as this was an excellent program.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Ralph Sartori.
April 17 - Mark Reischling - NCAA basketball officiating
April 24 - John Schuster - Barn owls
May 1 - All-Day Breakfast, 7am-7pm
May 8 - A visit from the GSE Team
May 15 - Roger Gilbert - "Art at the Source"
May 22 - Jill Lee - McEvoy Olive Ranch
May 29 - Gary Alt - Polar bears
Our President, Loquacious LOU STEINBERG, opened the meeting at the appointed half-hour, . . .
. . . HERB “High Note” BUNDESEN led us in song (God Bless America), . . .
. . . and Disco (disk-go?) DAVE AMUNDSEN delivered the Thought for the Day ("I know you didn't know you knew what I did last summer..." or something like that)! The customary handshakes and hugs, and busses amongst members ensued.
There were no visiting Rotarians at this meeting, so our guests of Rotarians were introduced with extra gusto, including a couple of Petaluma's finest, Carol Ann Libarle and Connie Mahoney. We were then treated to a medley of announcements, including . . .
. . . RALPH “The Rally” SARTORI'S reminder re the District Assembly in Ukiah, and . . .
. . . RON “Ranch Style” HARRIS' confirmation that the All Day Breakfast (May 1) work assignments have been duly dispatched. We then observed a moment of silence for the passing of HENRY HANSEL'S mom. There was no Sunshine Report.
Bashful BABE AMARAL was then fined $50 (directed to the local Foundation) for achieving his 50-year pin in the Native Sons of the Golden West (Nicasio) – Congratulations, Babe!
DAVE “Who Shot Bambi” BARBIERI was fined $50 for a recent trip to Disneyland, despite his insightful investigative report on the Small World ride makeover!
WHITNEY “The Pen is Mightier than the Sword” HALL was then cited $50 for being liberally quoted (does the NY Times quote any other way?!).
The wily old Prez then concluded the fining by not actually fining (is he good, or what!?) STEVE “Free Pass” POWELL for a recent golf outing to Borego Springs and a planned most excellent European vacation to Venice, Croatia, Barcelona and other “fine” ports of call!!
CLARK “Comedy Club” ROSEN then brought the house down with a great joke about BABE in heaven (no, that wasn’t the punch line!)
#072895 proved to be the winning ticket for MICHAEL “Make Mine Merlot” CARUANA who scored the wine, not the $$$.
Our Program Chair, JANE “Shhhhsh” SALDAÑA-TALLEY then introduced our speaker, . . .
. . . Will Beaty, Dean of the SRJC Library, who educated us all on academic and college libraries in general, and the soon to be completed . . .
. . . Herold Mahoney Library at the SRJC-Petaluma Campus Library in particular. Will received a commemorative pen for a program well received, and an autographed book will be donated to a local library in his name (bet you can’t guess which one?!).
JANE concluded the program by fining herself $25 for forgetting to introduce SRJC Board member ONITA “One page at a Time” PELLEGRINI, and then thanking one and all for our Club’s generous $75,000 3-year commitment to build the Rotary Plaza at the Herold Mahoney Library. Meeting adjourned.
Connie Mahoney and Don Ramatici.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Mike Baddeley.
April 10 - Will Baty - The Mahoney Library on the Petaluma Campus of SRJC
April 17 - Mark Reischling - NCAA basketball officiating
April 24 - Gary Alt - Polar bears
May 1 - All-Day Breakfast, 7am-7pm
PRESIDENT LOU opened today’s meeting of the 85-year-old Petaluma Rotary Club by calling on song leader BARNEY FAUSS.
Barney quickly drafted JANE SALDAÑA-TALLEY to assist him. Agreeing to lip-sync she warmed up with our Official Club Song before they sang God Bless America.
TED ADKINS looked a lot like JUDI ALLEWELT (“There’s been a change!”) when he/she was called up for the Thought for the Day. Teacher Judi gave us a spelling lesson on the meaning of S-P-R-I-N-G.
Then, in a more serious vein, we observed a moment of silence in memory of JIM and Mary McCAFFREY’s daughter, Kim, who passed away Sunday after a long illness. Our hearts and prayers go out to the McCaffreys.
ALDEN HENNINGS introduced two visiting Rotarians from the Petaluma Valley Club, John Burns and Bruce Schumikowski. JAMES BURLESON and KIP HERZOG introduced their guests.
President Lou announced our April anniversaries: JIM McCAFFREY, MICHAEL WHITE, DAVID BARBIERI, and MARK STOKES. Congratulations . . . and don’t forget!
RON HARRIS announced the distribution of tickets and work assignments for the 54th annual All-Day Breakfast on May 1.
Co-chair RALPH SARTORI stressed the purpose of this traditional fundraiser, “It’s all for the kids!” and PRESIDENT LOU urged members to broaden their ticket sales to include more of the community.
President-Elect RALPH SARTORI again reminded members of the District Assembly, noting that . . .
. . . STEVE OLMSTED still had rooms available in a Ukiah motel. But when TOM BAKER said he wanted to share a room with BABE AMARAL — while skipping the assembly — the subject changed to the District Conference in May.
PRESIDENT LOU announced that Sonoma State University would be hosting the NCAA Division II Golf Tournament at Adobe Creek on May 5-7. And SSU will be hosting the U.S. Olympic softball team on May 18.
It was time for fines and GEOFF ELLIS was up first. Seems that Geoff and brother-in-law RICARDO MARZO went to Las Vegas on a “business trip.” Returning to Petaluma they found their “handsome man” father-in-law, DAN LIBARLE, beaming from a freeway billboard. Noting that he was “proud and tickled” and that he had power of attorney for Ricardo, he agreed to a $20 fine for himself and a $50 fine for Ricardo.
Then, displaying a strong social conscience, KIP HERZOG rose to lament the failings of one of our members. It seems this unnamed member, a major employer in the community, advised his employees that, because of bad economic times, they’d have to forego raises this year. Then he went out and leased a new BMW.
BABE AMARAL rose to defend himself, agreeing to pay $50 if Kip paid $20. Kip said he’d pay $20 if Babe paid $100. After more back and forths, PRESIDENT LOU invoked a little known rule from King Solomon and assessed Babe $75 and Kip $25.
Visiting Rotarian Bruce Schumikowski won the raffle, a bottle of wine.
GRETA VIGUIE introduced today’s speaker . . .
. . . Steve Bolman, Deputy Superintendent of Petaluma Schools who discussed the impending crisis in school funding.
For photos of last week's Happy Hour, click here.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Al Cattalini.
