Issues are arranged in reverse order. Scroll down to find the issue you want.
October 28 - Friendship Feast, 1:30pm at Babe and Emily Amaral's
November 1 - Allen James - PBY Catalina Aircraft
November 8 - Gretchen Werner - Volunteer Center of Sonoma County
November 15 - Laurie Cameron - Relationship Management Specialist, WAKE UP! Enterprises
November 22 - Thanksgiving; Club dark
November 29 - Club dark; Holiday Party on November 30
For photos from Sunday's Friendship Feast, Click here.
Unlike this editor's lateness in getting the Rota-Teller written, last week's meeting was an "Express Meeting". For those of you who missed this excellent meeting, here is how the Express meeting went.
PRESIDENT NANCY COOLEY promptly opened the meeting at the Sheraton Sonoma County. From the new menu, Rotarians enjoyed some delicious lasagna. Thank you NANCY.
We all joined in for the Pledge of Allegiance and then PAST PRESIDENT CLARK ROSEN led us in song, "My Country Tis of Thee".
PAST PRESIDENT PAUL LOUNIBOS announced the member Anniversaries and Birthdays.
We had no guests or visiting Rotarians.
MIKE STAUBER gave us a follow up on the Youth Exchange BBQ. Both TAMBE and REPOSA were cooking.
KATHY O'CONNOR reminded us all of the upcoming Christmas Party. Please RSVP.
PRESIDENT NANCY informed everyone that PAT CONKLIN is leaving our club and town. She accepted a job running the fair in Dixon. We will miss her and wish her luck in her new position and home.
MICHAEL NISTLER was fined $100 for his visit to Hawaii, however he did spend time at a Rotary meeting on the islands.
PAST PRESIDENT BABE AMARAL was called upon by the PRESIDENT to explain why he couldn't help her with taking down a sign. He explained that he couldn't find a ladder tall enough. She also questioned his knowledge of the missing bell.
REPOSA and GORMAN were dragged into the discussion which led to all 3 of them paying a $30 fine for their excuses.
We were all thankful to hear that our club's website will once again be updated and the standard email Rota-Teller will resume thanks to the safe return of our webmaster, AL CATTALINI. He was off traveling on a 33 day European trip. He filled us in on his adventure which included streaking through France. (We didn't know Al was into that stuff.) He was fined $100.
We did not have a speaker today however one of our newest members, TONY WESTERN, got up to give his Craft Talk. He did a great job and here are a few things that we all learned about him.
Lastly PAST PRESIDENT LOU STEINBERG paid a $25 fine for sharing a story of how he recently traveled to Colorado to see his son and grandkids.
Our PRESIDENT NANCY wished everybody a wonderful day and adjourned the Express Meeting at 1:00. Many members stuck around to socialize.
For photos from Sunday's Friendship Feast, Click here.
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Brian Breen.
October 18 - Club Dark for Friendship Feasts
October 25 - Express Meeting
October 28 - Friendship Feast, 1:30pm at Babe and Emily Amaral'-s
November 1 - Allen James - PBY Catalina Aircraft
November 8 - Gretchen Werner - Volunteer Center of Sonoma County
With a ring of the bell PRESIDENT NANCY COOLEY called the meeting to order and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
A tuneful LEE REPOSA gave the keynotes for "I'm a Rambler . . ." and "God Bless America".
PAUL LOUNIBOS presented a Rotary Moment, a recollection by RI President Sakuji Tanaka of a moment familiar to many Rotarians, the discovery of the value of service that transforms a "club member" into a committed Rotarian. Paul's message was followed by the usual warm greetings around the room.
JAMES GOTELLI introduced visiting Rotarians Paul Claeyssens (San Rafael) and Gary Chow (South San Francisco). Gary called our attention to the search for volunteers to participate in a cancer prevention study by the American Cancer Society. More information is available at www.cps3sonomacounty.org.
RICK MOSSI introduced returning guest Richard Mansfield.
A moment of silence was observed for former Petaluma Rotarian Harry "Bud" Skoog, who passed away on October 8.
WHIT HALL reminded us that members who will be volunteering in our local schools must have a TB test and fingerprinting. Stand by for announcement of the next opportunity to do both.
A Fireside Chat for recently inducted members is scheduled for Monday, October 15, at 5:30 p.m. at the home of ONITA PELLEGRINI.
Everyone's friend MIKE BADDELEY announced this year's unusual variation the Friendship Feast, a gathering for all at the home of BABE and Emily AMARAL on the afternoon of Sunday, October 28. As always, the funds raised with our participation will support our Dictionary Project.
KATHY O'CONNOR urged all to mark calendars for our Holiday Party at the Sheraton on the evening November 30. Kathy assures us we are going to enjoy both the food and the band that will be playing for us.
MIKE STAUBER announced that our district's Youth Exchange students will be in town on Friday, October 19, at the Boys and Girls Club for the annual barbeque hosted by all three Petaluma clubs. Help is needed, and the students enjoy meeting as many Rotarians as they can. Contact Mike for more details.
Looking ahead on the calendar, PRESIDENT NANCY pitched the Tahoe City club's Ski Challenge at Northstar on March 8. Start waxing now. Your skis, that is.
Fines were leveled by our President for a variety of offenses:
STEVE GAVRILOFF paid for his Ahab-like obsession with the Mighty Mule Deer. Although caught up on his fine schedule, Steve proffered $100 to our local foundation, not only for having bagged the aforementioned 4-pointer, but for a memorable 3-generation Oregon hunting trip with his 10-year-old daughter Natasha and the somewhat older Martin Gavriloff and another 2-week African trek with dad Martin in May.
FRED FROST coughed up $50 for having way too much fun cruising the coast of Italy on a trip sponsored by three Sonoma-Napa wineries.
In the fining of Fred, our President suffered a mild lapse, substituting WULFF for FROST. The gaffe did not escape the notice of alert PAST PRESIDENT TOM BRANDAL, who performed flawlessly in his own term. Tom rose to suggest that PRESIDENT NANCY fine herself for the error but confused everyone by transposing the two Freds in his own remarks. Other past presidents may hesitate to be so bold, as NANCY fined herself $5 and Tom $20.
Globetrotter JIM BECKER presented PRESIDENT NANCY with a lovely gift from Kyoto, Japan, and banners from 5 clubs he visited on his recent travels to Japan, Thailand, and China. Jim shared a copy of the English-Thai dictionary that was delivered to students in Thailand as part of one of our club's projects. All that giving and sharing was not enough to avoid a $50 fine.
KATHY O'CONNOR was the winner of the raffle and, thanks to a little blue rock, would later have wine with dinner.
DANNY FISH introduced guest speaker and Santa Rosa Rotarian Jeff Gospe, leader of our district's Group Study Exchange team that travelled to France in April and May of this year. Jeff spoke about the experiences of his team of local winemakers meeting and interacting with their counterparts in the Burgundy and Champagne regions of France.
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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. |
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Clark Rosen; photos from the Rota-Teller archives.
October 11 - Jeff Gospe - GSE trip to Burgundy and Champagne districts of France
October 18 - Club Dark for Friendship Feasts
PRESIDENT NANCY loves her bell! Not so sure if the bell-nappers will be so happy with the dollar a day penalty she plans to assess for the 90 days it was held captive, but that's for another day and another Rota-Teller!
PRESIDENT NANCY called the annual Club Assembly meeting to quick order and led us in the Pledge of Allegience.
The day was sunny and very warm for early October as we lunched on sandwiches, salad and chips at the Sheraton Sonoma County - Petaluma.
After giving us a brief opportunity for of usual club greetings, PRESIDENT NANCY brought us back together so we could get down to business.
We had no visiting Rotarians, but welcomed the following guests of Rotarians: BRIAN BREEN introduced Kathy Miller, an attorney and candidate for Petaluma City Council; JOANNE FERRIS introduced Sam Oliver, a local CPA, and MICHAEL CARUANA introduced Richard Mansfield, who should be a new member very soon!
Due to the length and importance of the meeting, PRESIDENT NANCY made one quick announcement about the November 30 Holiday Party and the Friendship Feasts and opened the Club Assembly.
With MICHAEL NISTLER at the helm of the meeting technology, PRESIDENT NANCY reviewed the club mission, the five avenues of service (club, community, vocational, international, and generations), the purpose of our events (fund projects, fellowship, community), and our club events (Day at the Races, Holiday Party, Debunking, Crab Feed/Super Raffle, PAEF, Farmers and Merchants Night, Golf Tournament, Friendship Feasts, All Day Breakfast).
PRESIDENT NANCY then called ON PAST PRESIDENT JOANNE FERRIS and PRESIDENT ELECT RICK MOSSI to join her in a "Three President Project" to make improvements to Petaluma's downtown Center Park in honor of the club's 90th anniversary. Center Park was the location of the first All Day Breakfast in 1955 when GENE BENEDETTI was president (a picture of that event from the club archives was circulated). This would be a highly visible project that will help revitalize a core community resource.
Rod Scaccalosi, a local landscape architect and volunteer for the Tree Advisory Committee, spoke about the needs of the park, describing it as one of most urban and smallest parks in the city. Center Park has always been a hub of community activity and is especially valued for the annual Hospice "Light up Your Life" fundraiser. Rod participated in a community workshop earlier this year to discuss the park. The redwood trees are in decline; one is slated to be removed (the most northern); and there is a need to get the two remaining back in shape. He described several ways Rotary can have an impact: Hospice needs LED lights that will prevent further damage to the trees, site furnishings are needed, efforts need to be made to protect the trees that are there, and interpretive science/educational programs would also be appreciated...options are open. JIM BECKER concluded this discussion by asking if the park could be re-named Rotary Park?
PRESIDENT NANCY continued with the Club Assembly by providing us with a very quick summary of each club event (history, general purpose) and noting how much was made (or lost) on each over the past three years. The Super Raffle, PAEF, and Golf Tournament are the biggest money makers for the club, as was the All Day Breakfast back in the day.
MICHAEL CARUANA provided a summary report on the challenges and needs we face putting on the PAEF, now in its 5th year. Although this event has made more money with each successive year, it's very labor intensive. After running down the 'to do' list, Michael suggested that maybe this is not an event we can do by ourselves. Several considerations have been to move the venue to the Fairgrounds, partner with another Rotary club or hire an event coordinator/promoter, all of which will cost us money. Michael then turned the decision to continue PAEF over to will and wisdom of the club.
PRESIDENT NANCY introduced us to a new proposal, Quantum Leap, put forward by WHIT HALL and CLARK ROSEN, and designed to support and inspire low income students at McKinley Elementary. She then opened up small group table discussions lead by each of her Board members. With financial data in hand, members spent the remainder of the meeting enthusiastically expressing our opinions, sharing our best thinking, and ranking the relative importance of each event.
Board member table leaders collected our surveys at the end and PRESIDENT NANCY promised to bring the results back at a future meeting.
The day's raffle got CHRIS RANNEY a blue rock and a nice bottle of wine!
A great meeting, a great Club Assembly, a great way to get us to interact with each other! Thanks, PRESIDENT NANCY!
This week's Rota-Teller editor: Jane Saldaña-Talley; Photos by Michael Nistler.