Issues are arranged in reverse order. Scroll down to find the issue you want.
May 5 - Grant Davis, Sonoma County Water Authority
May 12 - Our Youth Exchange Student from Thailand
May 19 - Susan Starbird - Our Waterway
May 26 -David Solo - TRF Projects
PRESIDENT CLARK ROSEN opened the meeting with a moment of silence for two Rotarians who recently passed away, Forest Frey and Chuck Lewis. Our condolences and prayers go to their families and friends.
HERB BUNDESEN sang “America the Beautiful” and JIM MCNULTY gave us some inspiring words from Ralph Waldo Emerson and Elbert Hubbard – “in order to have friends, you must first be one”.
We all exchanged salutations and then we sang “Happy Birthday” to all Rotarians with April birthdays – and the cake was very tasty too!
PRESIDENT CLARK ROSEN reminded us of some upcoming Friendship Feasts and encouraged us to support the Dictionary Project even if we are unable to attend. Your $50 donation would go a long way to supporting our Club’s unique project that has gained national recognition. Monday, May 26 is the SCARC dinner. The cost is $20 for members. On June 4 (from 6pm - “lights out”), the Arts D Light event will be held in Petaluma and the cost is $50 person.
PRESIDENT CLARK ROSEN brought out the fine can and MICHAEL NISTLER generously donated $150 for “being a saint”. While he may be in competition with Pope John Paul II for that title, our club thinks he deserves it for all of his good deeds and efforts.
On the opposite end of sainthood, BRIAN BREEN and MARK STOKES each contributed to the fine can for various infractions and/or indulgences.
BILL GROVERMAN won the raffle and (I think) drank his bottle of wine before the meeting adjourned.
KIP HERZOG introduced our speaker, Mr. Keith Woods. As the CEO of the North Coast Builders Exchange, Keith serves the construction industry along the California North Coast – specifically Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino Counties. There are over 1500 members in the NCBE and Keith brings decades of experience and insight to the construction industry. His knowledge and entertaining style engaged the entire audience and we all learned something about our own community and how the construction industry is an integral part of our economic vitality. Thank you, Keith, for a great presentation.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Ricardo Marzo.
April 28 - Keith Woods - North Bay Business Exchange
May 5 - Grant Davis, Sonoma County Water Authority
May 12 - Our Youth Exchange Student from Thailand
May 19 - Susan Starbird - Our Waterway
Our nattily attired President, CLARK ROSEN, opened the meeting, led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, and had Past-President BARNEY FAUSS lead us in song (Gypo and God Bless America).
Past-President MICHAEL BADDELEY then delivered the Thought for the Day (with apologies to Will Rogers!). The customary handshakes, hugs and busses ensued.
We had a lone visiting Rotarian (Alicia Cerruti, CPA – Petaluma Sunrise) who joined us for lunch, but no guests of Rotarians.
The Prez gave a brief Sunshine Report: Secretary STEVE OLMSTED apparently fell suddenly ill due to something he ate – we hope he is back on his feet soon! The Prez then delivered a medley of announcements:
The Prez then levied a bevy of fines, starting with $50 from JUDI ALLEWELT for her touching success story about the special needs granddaughter she raised who graduated from beauty school and is now working as a beautician.
He then assessed JIM BECKER a $100 transaction fee ($50 for the club and $50 to his Paul Harris) for Jim’s career move from his old brokerage firm which cannot be named to Merrill Lynch.
President-elect JOANNE FERRIS then paid a $50.00 “royalty fee” for turning President-elect-elect LORETTA CATAROZOLI into a “lady in waiting” at the recent District Assembly in Ukiah (a funny thing happened on the way to dinner…Joanne forgot to give Loretta a ride), all of which was compounded by Joanne then forgetting the meeting place for a meeting she scheduled... let’s just hope Joanne also forgets she has the power to fine us when Clark turns the gavel over to her in July!
Raffle ticket # 8626370 was good enough for a bottle of wine for GAIL CARDAROPOLI.
After squeezing in yet another announcement (the Program Committee members, current and future, are meeting on Thursday, 4/28, 5:30 pm @ Graziano’s), the Prez then introduced our Program Chairman, the honorable CHRIS ALBERTSON who gave us a brief State of the City address, before yielding the podium to our speaker, . . .
. . . Assemblyman Jared Huffman, who was a tad late but worth the wait, as he gave a very informative presentation of the State of the State. He received a Rotary memento in appreciation of a program well received, and an autographed book will be donated in his name to a local high school library.
Whereupon the meeting was duly adjourned.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Mike Baddeley.
April 21 - Assemblyman Jared Huffman
April 28 - Keith Woods - North Bay Bus Exchange
May 5 - Grant Davis, Sonoma County Water Authority
May 12 - Another interesting program
May 19 - Susan Starbird - Our Waterway
On the second Thursday in April we met at Mister Magoo’s. The day was bright sunshine and mild weather, attendance was good, and the meatloaf lunch was tasty.
PRESIDENT CLARK ROSEN called the meeting to order and led us in the pledge of allegiance. Song master BARNEY FAUSS led us off with “I’m a Rambler…I’m a Gambler” and finished us off with “God Bless America.” In honor of our Japanese Group Study Exchange visitors, LARRY JONAS read us five Japanese proverbs (in English and even tried one in Japanese!).
After club greetings, we introduced two visiting Rotarians…Mo Jacobsen from Petaluma Valley and Bob Hirsch from Sebastopol Rotary. Mo was in attendance with the Group Study Exchange team and Bob was with us to promote and solicit funds for the International Fellowship of Motorcycling Rotarians, North American Chapter – California-Nevada Region Polio Plus Motorcycle Ride to 2011 Rotary Convention in New Orleans. Bob is a 2-year cancer survivor (and recovery friend of our very own BANO CUMMNGS!) and motorcyclist who is about half way to his goal of raising $5000 that will eventually go to the Rotary Foundation for Polio Plus (for more information about the ride or the Polio Plus campaign, contact Bob Hirsch at bobwvi@yahoo.com or 707-483-6228). There were no Rotarians with guests.
Past District Governor ED FULLERTON shared a Sunshine Report on Bob Waugh from the Petaluma Valley Club who is in recovery after amputation of his right leg. Seems Bob’s Sunrise Club members rallied around him to bring in medical experts and get him the help he needed. He’s now recovering nicely with a new leg in a San Rafael nursing facility. Way to do Rotarians!
Past District Governor Ed updated us on the status of the Butter and Egg (one egg) Days float project underway with the Valley and Sunrise clubs. A long flatbed truck will carry a large balloon with the Rotary emblem and slogan on it. Seems the float team needed to learn how to deflate and re-inflate the balloon so it can pass underneath the overhead wires along the parade route…let’s hope they get the timing right!!! The float honors the first airmail flight (in 1911) from Petaluma to Santa Rosa with a 60% size replica of the airplane. Rotarians with blue airplanes around their middles will swoop around the float at the parade chasing down (and conquering) a single Rotarian with a red airplane around their middle representing polio. (For photos of the float during the parade, go to Ed's Photo Album.)
PRESIDENT CLARK announced the Friendship Feasts are still going on (openings are available for Friday, February 29th). He shared how much he and Patti enjoyed their evening with SHERRY and Michael BURWEN as hosts.
Petaluma Valley member, Mo Jacobsen, introduced the 2010-2011 Group Study Exchange team from Japan (RI District 2620) visiting RI District 5130 from April 9 to May 10. Each member of the team then spoke briefly telling us a bit about who they are and what they do in Japan.
Team leader Makoto Sone (“Mako”) is a retired Director, General Institute of Technology, Shizuoka Gas Company who chairs his district’s Rotary Foundation and participated 40 years ago on a GSE team that visited the United States. He acknowledged the difficult decision he and the others had to make in choosing to come to the US following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in their country, but said they did not want to let District 5130 down.
Yukes and Yodie, Tex and Mas.
Next, we met Yuko Togawa (“Yukes”), who is an English-Japanese Translator/Interpreter, Tetsuroh Ohtake (“Tex”), who works in the hospitality industry for the Atami Korakuen Hotel, Makido Yoda (“Yodie”), who works for the Yamanashi Dairy Farming Experiment Station, and Masaki Ishido (“Mas”), a father of two and Policeman for the Shizuoka prefecture.
All of the members of the GSE were wearing jackets with an emblem that read “North Japan—With Hope, We Will Revive Our Nation”.
They presented the club with a flag from their club and left decals with the “North Japan” logo and informational brochures for members. Finally, they serenaded the club with an a cappella version of Sukiyaki, a song that was popular in the US in 1963 (for more information see Wikipedia) and is thought of as an inspirational song by the Japanese. They left us with the hope of sharing with us “in the joy of the revival of their nation.” We were honored to have them join us!
For the sake of time, PRESIDENT CLARK dispensed with the ‘fine’ portion of the meeting. It was unclear why raffle tickets littered the floor around BABE AMARAL’s feet, but the winning ticket was in the hands of OREST BALYTSKY who won the $100 prize!!!
TAWNY TESCONI helped introduce and give a warm Rotary welcome to the day’s speaker, Brent Farris from KZST, Sonoma County’s “KZST Toastmaster” for the past 25 years, who if anyone wants to know is 6’4” and getting thinner every day (thanks to bariatric surgery). Brent talked about the station and his work over the years, and gave us a lot of ideas for ways to raise funds. He also taught us two lessons…”Ask and Ye Shall Receive” and “Don’t Keep Looking in the Same Pocket…Turn Over a Chair” that resulted in a $40 to the Club Foundation.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Jane Saldaña-Talley.
April 14 - Brent Farris from KZST
April 21 - Assemblyman Jared Huffman
April 28 - Keith Woods - North Bay Bus Exchange
On Thursday, April 7, 2011, the Rotary Club of Petaluma met at Mister McGoo’s for fellowship and good food.
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The bell sounded at precisely 12:30 and PRESIDENT CLARK ROSEN started the meeting with the Pledge to the Flag.
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A newer song leader, LOU STEINBERG, led us in song with “I’m a Rambler” followed by “God Bless America”.
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MIKE STAUBER gave the “Thought for the Day”.
The usual hugs and handshakes quickly followed. The visiting Rotarians were introduced next by RICK SUSICK. The Rotarians with guests were then introduced.
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The PREZ had his own “Thought for the Day” by quoting the philosophy of Elbert Hubbard “Life is just one damn thing after another.”
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During the Sunshine Report, everyone noticed Nit Anderson in the audience and how great she looked. The anniversaries for the month were MARK STOKES, DAVE BARBIERI and JIM MCCAFFREY.
PRESIDENT CLARK reminded everyone of the upcoming Friendship Feast held to support our dictionary program. There’s room for a few more for this Sunday night, April 10th, April 16th and April 29th. Please let PRESIDENT CLARK know as soon as possible. The cost of the dinner is $50 per person and a bottle of wine. Please bring your checks to Rotary. The hosts will be busy cooking.
The GSE Team will be here next week from Japan. There will also be a reception on Wednesday, April 13th at Pelican Art Gallery from 3:30 to 5:00.
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It was time for DANNY FISH to give his Craft Talk. He might soon be sporting his Chicken Badge. He found himself taking notes, not realizing his life had been longer than he thought. Born in Santa Rosa and raised in Sebastopol, DAN attended the Santa Rosa JC and then off to Sac State to major in criminal justice. He came back to Petaluma in 1989 to work on the SWAT Team. He soon became a hostage negotiator which was a much safer position. He was the first officer on the scene when Polly Klaas was abducted. He is currently on the Polly Klaas Foundation Board. He worked his way up to detective. In that position he investigated the murder of Dr. Tavis in Petaluma. This notoriety led him to a stint on television. He appeared on “I, Detective” and “Brian Dennehy”. The shows demonstrated his heroic acts as a detective. He quickly moved up in the ranks – lieutenant, captain and now chief. The most important things in his life are his 13 year old daughter and Debbie.
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It was time for the PREZ to make some money for the Club. TAWNY TESCONI was questioned about a cruise. She quickly responded that it was on Petaluma Blvd. Kidding!! She and Mike took a cruise to the Mexican Riviera. That’s the good news. The bad news was that her she was the victim of identity theft to the tune of $3,000. Apparently one can buy a T.V. and have it sent to Soledad Prison. TAWNY will be forever associated with an inmate at that prison. The ironic part of the whole story is that TAWNY’S purse was presented by the PREZ. HE showed no mercy and wanted to include the return of the purse in her fine. TAWNY turned to look at her table mate, BABE AMARAL, and immediately revealed his purse fetish. All this frivolity cost her $50.
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JIM MCCAFFREY was up next. Besides his luck of having Mary as his wife, he apparently has the luck of the Irish. He spent St. Patrick’s Day at the St Francis Hotel in San Francisco with 400 other lucky Irish men. They call themselves the Ancient Order of Hibernians. As JIM said, “If it wasn’t for drink, the Irish would rule the world.” All this celebration cost JIM $100.
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The raffle winner was JAMES BURLESON who drew the blue rock for a nice bottle of wine.
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TAWNY TESCONI Introduced our speaker, Sam Ruark from the County Sonoma Energy Watch. Sam gave us the ins and outs of saving energy.
Meeting adjourned.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Loretta Catarozoli.