Issues are arranged in reverse order. Scroll down to find the issue you want.
February 4 - Ryan Eastman - Cyclist with the U.S. Junior National Team
February 11 - Howard Daulton and David Goodman - Redwood Food Bank
February 18 - Club Dark
February 19 - Crab Feed and Super Raffle
February 25 - Robert Pope - Giant Steps Therapeutic Equestrian Center
March 4 - Charlie Cochran - “Ethics and Legal Issues Today”
On the last Thursday in January we met at Mister Magoo’s. The day was sunny, the parking lot was full, the lunch was tasty and we had a big crowd (what with a table full of the Ramatici family).
President TOM BRANDAL called the meeting to order and led us in the pledge of allegiance.
BARNEY FAUSS led the club in a rousing rendition of “I’m a Rambler” and “God Bless America.”
DAVID SOLO’s thought for the day was the story of Francis and the President…a great example of service above self.
After club greetings (we had no visiting Rotarians), PRESIDENT TOM asked for Rotarians with guests. BARNEY FAUSS wondered out loud of GARY BRODY might be a guest since we don’t see him very often. Gary noted that it’s very dangerous to cross the street in Petaluma…President Tom offered to get some signs made to make it safe!
Rotarians with guests included DON RAMATICI with no less than 11 family members in attendance (more on that later), MICHAEL CARUANA (who introduced his wife, “Doc” Caruana), Dan Libarle (who introduced Steve Ellison, retired PHS football coach), ROY MUSICK (who brought his wife Linda…recovering nicely from her knee surgery and his sister, Mary, who is part of the reason for the Linda’s recovery!), RICK MOSSI (who hosted Stan Lawson, a former club member who he’s trying to ‘reel back in’), and BABE AMARAL (who introduced Ed Richey and Jim). In the sunshine report, PRESIDENT TOM shared that TED ADKINS was back in the hospital (Country Villa) and welcomed visitors and cards of encouragement, and BANO CUMMINGS shared that CHUCK BRANDNER was in the hospital. Our best wishes to them both
PRESIDENT TOM announced January birthdays (BABE AMARAL, JOANNE FERRIS, AL RICHARDS, and LEROY BEAN) and we did a bit of happy birthday singing (actually twice because Babe didn’t like the first version!). PRESIDENT TOM then announced several club donations including $1000 to the Red cross for Haiti shelter boxes, (with the support of Immediate Past President RALPH SARTORI) a $5850 Petaluma Education Foundation Impact Grant to Petaluma HS Ag Department, and a $1500 mini grant joint project with the Sebastopol club.
RICK MOSSI gave an update on the Super Raffle, listed the 8 captains, and tempted us to sell more tickets with the prize for the top sales team and members (April 24 @ the Petaluma Museum – 50’s theme cocktails and dinner).
JAMES BURLESON reminded us of the Crab Feed coming up on February 19…the front room is filling up fast!
SHERRY BURWEN encouraged members to consider attending the Rotary International Convention June 20-23 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
PRESIDENT TOM’s ‘fine’ portion of the meeting nabbed four members. LARRY JONAS was “missing something” (this time it was his wallet) so he paid $20 of the $80 it contained!
RALPH BETTINELLi made one of his rare appearances and was fined $100 just to make sure he met his fine schedule before he disappeared again!
NANCY COOLEY was fined $10 for an active retirement living “ad” she appeared in…and after taking a look at the evidence issued a protest, saying her photo appeared “photoshopped”…more on this later.
WILL SOPER’s trip to Jamaica with his family over the holidays got him an $80 catch-up assessment on his fine schedule
An almost forgotten drawing had MICHAEL CARUANA winning the raffle and a nice bottle of wine.
For the second time, this year a very proud Grandpa DON RAMATICI introduced his grandson, Andy Samuleson, who brought us up-to-date on his solo bicycle ride from Petaluma to NYC this past fall to raise money for ALS research in honor of his uncle and former club member, JOHN RAMATICI.
Andy fascinated members with his 67-day adventure (from August 2 to October 10, 2009), complete with photos and a heartwarming tale with three themes: the beauty and variety of America, the generosity of the people he met, and the support from friends and family.
Andy raised $5260 toward his goal of $10,000, and at the end of his presentation Past President RALPH SARTORI got him even closer by presenting Andy a check for $2500 from the club. Check out Andy’s website for more information: www.biketripforals.com. Members wishing to make a personal donation may do so by clicking on the link below or copying and pasting the link into your web browser…it’s easy and it’s for a great cause!
[EDITORIAL NOTE: The two presentations by this wonderful young man give me hope and faith in the future of our community and this great country! Thank you, Andy, for your courage, inspiration and fine example. You got my donation and sincere admiration!]
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Jane Saldaña-Talley.
January 28- Andy Ramatici - ALS Bike Ride to New York City
February 4 - Ryan Eastman - Cyclist with the U.S. Junior National Team
February 11 - Howard Daulton and David Goodman - Redwood Food Bank
February 18 - Club Dark
February 19 - Crab Feed and Super Raffle
President TOM BRANDAL called the meeting to order and led the throng in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
DAVE AMUNDSEN chose a masculine octave for “I’m a Rambler . . .” followed by a rousing “God Bless America.”
A thought for the day was delivered by JOANNE FERRIS, who reflected on our own good fortune that makes it possible for us to help when disaster strikes an impoverished nation like Haiti.
Visiting Rotarian Lily Freitas from the Petaluma Valley Club invited us to come up with Ambassador Scholarship candidates for the coming academic year. Qualified applicants must be in their sophomore year of college or beyond and not related to a Rotarian.
JIM BECKER announced a “coming attraction,” NFL referee Peter Morelli. Mr. Morelli, currently occupied with his duties in New Orleans as head referee for the Vikings-Saints game, will be a speaker at one of our future meetings.
HERB BUNDESEN delivered a letter from the Salvation Army, thanking our club for support during the holiday season. Our volunteer bell-ringers brought in $1,210 for the cause. An appreciation party will be held at the Salvation Army facility on South McDowell on February 4 from 7:00 to 8:30.
Speaking of rambling and gambling, JOHN DADO reminded all those making the trip to Golden Gate Fields for our January 22 Day at the Races to be at the Fairgrounds to catch the bus at 11:00 a.m. (Since this edition of the Rota-Teller has been written after “post time,” it can be reported that the afternoon at the races was great fun. Veterans of the event already knew it would be, and a number of first-timers are already looking forward to next year. Thanks to John for organizing!)
WALLY BRAGDON advised us to get ready for the sale of Super Raffle tickets. We should expect to have them by next week.
JAMES BURLESON reported that Crab Feed ticket sales were ahead of last year’s pace and that tickets may still be purchased by contacting him or Ricardo Marzo. While there are lots of volunteers working on the event, more are needed to help with clean up afterwards, so don’t be shy.
PRESIDENT TOM turned on several members who had recently enjoyed life enough to deserve fines:
JUDI ALLEWELT for looking like a celebrity at the Palm Springs International Film Festival . . .
SHERRY BURWEN for her Las Vegas – Lake Havasu – Lake Arrowhead – Palm Springs junket, including Golden Globe Awards planning . . .
JIM BECKER for a trip to Hawaii, where he had his own encounter with the infamous White House dinner crashers . . .
and JOANNE FERRIS, guilty of a lucky December during which she was a raffle winner, mother of a just-engaged daughter, mother of another daughter who found employment, wife of a promoted Mike Ferris, and announced as President-Nominee of our club.
The raffle winner for the day was OREST BALYTSKY, who plucked a blue rock for a nice bottle of vino.
JOANNE FERRIS was back at the microphone to introduce the day’s speaker, . . .
Rob Brockman. Rob gave an informative talk on remarkably improved artificial turf technology, a fine example of which can be seen at St. Vincent High School.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Clark Rosen.
January 21 - Rob Brockman, Alfresco Designs - Artificial Turf Athletic Fields
January 28- Andy Ramatici - ALS Bike Ride to New York City
February 4 - Ryan Eastman - Cyclist with the U.S. Junior National Team
February 11 - Another interesting program
February 18 - Club Dark
February 19 - Crab Feed and Super Raffle
Today’s meeting was held at the United States Coast Guard Training Center in the Two Rock Valley. Those interested in a beverage at the Consolidated Club arrived at 11:00a.m. There were some thirsty Rotarians and guests which was reflected by the standing room only crowd in the bar. At 12:00, most of the crowd drove down the hill to Haley Hall for lunch.
There are lots more photos of the Social Hour at Ed's Album.
RICK VAN BEBBER was at the door to issue tickets for the seafood buffet lunch with JUDY ALLEWELT checking attendance. Besides the various seafood items, there was beef for the meat eaters in the crowd. We made our way to the tables with our trays full. Various Coast Guard personal intermingled in the group answering questions while we enjoyed our delicious meal.
PRESIDENT TOM brought the meeting to order. Commander Jeff Good led us in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
BARNY FAUSS led us in song with I’m a Rambler and a Gambler and God Bless America.
JIM BECKER gave the invocation by reading us the, very appropriate, Coast Guard Prayer.
Visiting Rotarians were introduced followed by lots of Rotarians with guests
PRESIDENT TOM thanked Commander Jeff for allowing us to visit this incredible place.
It was a great Sunshine Report with DAVE, WALLY and LOU all in attendance.
PRESIDENT TOM thanked LORETTA CATAROZOLI and TAWNY TESCONI for organizing the Dictionary distribution to every third grader in the Petaluma area. A huge applause goes to PRESIDENT ELECT CLARK ROSEN for distributing dictionaries to 82 students at Miwok school all by himself. His former teaching days at Miwok must have come in handy.
RICK MOSSI announced that the raffle ticket captains have been selected and the teams are ready to sell, sell, sell. Our goal is to sell 1,000 tickets.
PRESIDENT TOM thanked the cooks for our delicious meal followed by a huge applause from the crowd.
LARRY JONAS took the microphone next to announce the $17,000 donated through Rotary International for a Mechanical Cow in Bali. The soy “juice” will provide needed nutrition to schools for the children of Bali. LARRY slipped and referred to the juice as milk . . .
. . . which brought RALPH SARTORI to his feet. RALPH paid $10 for LARRY to avoid that mistake in the future.
KIP HERZOG was called on next. The PREZ had to mention the great photo and article about KIP’s son, Trent. The Casa Grande football coach had an 11-2 record and reached the North Coast Section playoff semifinals in his first year as head coach. The proud father donated $50 to the Club.
As a facility engineer, Commander Jeff began his presentation with “The Coast Guard is Going Green”. There are 640,000 kwh to date of solar photovoltaic on campus. There are 4,000 students who graduate from the Training Center each year. The campus consists of 800 acres with 230 buildings and includes its own fire and police stations. It’s a small town. Commander Jeff completed his power point presentation by taking some questions from the crowd.
The meeting was adjoined and we made our way back to town with our tummies full. Thank you, AL CATTALINI, for making the arrangements for us to see this amazing facility in our own backyard.
For photos from today's Social Hour click here.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Loretta Catarozoli.
January 14 - Dark; Club meets Friday at Two Rock
January 15 - Annual Coast Guard Luncheon at Two Rock
January 21 - Rob Brockman, Alfresco Designs - Artificial Turf Athletic Fields
January 28- Andy Ramatici - ALS Bike Ride to New York City
PRESIDENT TOM called the meeting to order and led the club in the Pledge of Allegiance.
PRESIDENT TOM then introduced our song leader for the day ANDY KVALHEIM. Andy asked everyone to join him in singing “God Bless America”.
PRESIDENT TOM then called upon BRIDGET DOHERTY to give “The Thought For The Day”. Bridget said it would be a little long and asked that we sit down. (It was long but not as long as a LARRY JONAS’ “Thought For The Day”.) Bridget then read the poem “IF’ by Rudyard Kipling. Plenty of hugs, hand shakes, and greetings were then exchanged by all in attendance.
PRESIDENT TOM then asked GAIL CARDAROPOLI to introduce the visiting Rotarians. The lone visiting Rotarian was from the Petaluma Valley Rotary.
The lone Rotarian with a guest was RICK MOSSI who introduced potential member Ann Marie ______.
PRESIDENT TOM gave a sunshine report and welcomed back WALLY BRAGDON. Wally was given a warm welcome by the club. It was good to have you back Wally!!
PRESIDENT TOM then announced the following members with January Anniversaries: BABE AMARAL and JANE SALDAÑA-TALLEY.
The following Announcements were given: LORETTA CATAROZOLI announced that Dictionaries would be handed out during the week of January 10th.
AL CATTALINI reminded everyone that Friday, January 15th was our annual lunch at the Coast Guard Station. Please check the web site for details. Proper I.D., vehicle regrestration, and vehicle proof of insurance will be needed to enter the base.
JOHN DADO reported that the Rotary Day at The Races would be on Friday, January 22nd. Call John if you are interested in attending 763-2534.
PRESIDENT TOM then reminded the club of the upcoming SCARC meetings; January 28th at Sonoma Valley and February 25th at Cloverdale (annual crab feed). Note: Our Club Crab Feed is on Friday, February 19th.
JAMES BURLESON announced that Tickets will soon be available for our Annual Crab Feed on February 19th. Cost will be the same as last year.
RICK MOSSI reported that “Super Raffle “tickets are available and members should get their tickets next week. The time line is short so Rick asked everyone to get tickets sold ASAP. PRESIDENT TOM reminded everyone that this was our Major Fund Raiser for the year and asked for support from all club members.
PRESIDENT TOM then introduced the “Fine Master for the Day”, MIKE BADDELEY. Mike called upon President-Elect CLARK ROSEN.
CLARK thanked the many club members who supported the Realtors Annual Raffle and said our club had a member who won two raffle items.
TAWNY TESCONI was then questioned by Mike who would not budge from issuing a fine even after Tawny gave one of the items to the club.
BABE AMARAL was the next victim. Mike thanked Babe for taking time off to be a Salvation Bell Ringer during the holiday but then gave Babe a pair of gloves that he left behind on the kettle. Mike also questioned Babe on his wife’s recent winnings. After much discussion Babe conceded and paid a stiff fine.
MIKE then called upon BRIDGET DOHERTY. Bridget was overheard talking to a local banker about having her photo on a billboard like PRESIDENT TOM. Mike gave Bridget every opportunity to tell her side of the story. Bridget paid a fine and said she will add to it if she makes it to the billboard.
MIKE called upon DAN LIBARLE and asked Dan if he had any confessions he wanted to make. Dan said no and when further questioned by Mike said that he would not rat on his friends. Watch your blind side Dan.
RALPH SARTORI was the final victim of Mike’s fining. Ralph admitted to hunting in three states and harvesting 4 bucks. Mike then said that he had Ralph’s Past President pin and asked Ralph what it was worth to him to get it. After several minutes of discussion Ralph paid his fine and got his pin.
Joanne Ferris wins the raffle — again!
The guest speaker was introduced by WALLY BRAGDON.
WALLY introduced Stephen Campbell whose topic was “New Thinking in Tough Times”. He spoke on how the human brain works, how the brain accepts everything we say and how the brain follows the strong picture. He covered the past forty years of research on how the brain works. Many members remarked that they were thankful to hear his presentation.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Ralph Sartori.