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COMING EVENTS

Special Debunking Issue

RICK called the meeting to order.

BARNEY was songleader.

PAUL LOUNIBOS gave the thought for the day.

PRES Rick marveled at the c ozy gathering introducing JIM and Sue SYMONS along with Ron and Lupe Malnati.

RICK acknowledged his two sons and Carol’s daughters who would not attend this evening. He paid special tribute to Carol for her support.

Guests were introduced around the room. Among the honored guests was Mary McCaffrey. RALPH SARTORI’s date was BABE AMARAL.

The master of ceremony was MIKE BADDELEY.

MIKE announced that the debunking was simply a ruse for CLARK ROSEN’s birthday! No one knows how old he is, but we all sang Happy Birthday to CLARK.

MIKE reported that he couldn’t find any compassionate banker stories. But RICK was lucky enough to have an older sister: Sue Symons. Even though she doesn’t cook...Sue knows how to roast!

Sue started at the beginning. RICK was born at Petaluma General Hospital. Often mistaken for Ricky Ricardo He was more aptly known by Sue and her friends as Dennis the Menace.

One day, as a young boy, RICK impaled himself with a brick! RICK had pet hamsters and after a hamster funeral it was discovered the hamsters were just hibernating.

RICK was the first guy in town to get a pierced ear thanks to Sue’s great aim.

The Mossis were all about baseball. The family all played baseball. RICK was a pitcher. He also discovered football. RICK played on the championship football PHS team.

To Sue’s great surprise, RICK was accepted to UC Davis. He pledged a fraternity, Phi Delta Theta.

After graduation he worked for Bank of America all over the Sacramento area.

Life changed when his two boys arrived. He made his way back to Sonoma County. He joined the Exchange Bank and his photo appeared on every billboard. Sue could not escape his image!!! Sue started to campaign as his younger sister when RICK entered his mustache years and was often confused with Ray Romano.

MICHAEL BADDELEY took back the podium and handed the microphone to Jim Symons. Jim recalled a race road trip to Vegas and gave Rick his $$$ tie. After a final baseball tale, MIKE thanked the debunking committee: JIM SYMONS, KATHY O’CONNOR, CHRIS RANNEY, GREG O’BRIEN and MICHAEL CARUANA.

MIKE presented RICK with a $500 gift card to Dick’s Sporting Goods and a membership in the Moose Lodge as a gesture of our thanks for a year well done!

Rick thanked his board: MARLENE FREETLY, GAIL CARDAROPOLI, GREG O’BRIEN, MIKE STAUBER, ONITA PELLEGRINI, GARY BRODIE, JIM McNULTY, MIKE BADDELEY, NANCY COOLEY, MICHAEL CARUANA.

Event chairs and members were truly appreciated by RICK!

After reading his TOP 10 list RICK called MICHAEl to the podium. MICHAEL presented the past president’s pin to RICK and RICK gave the president’s pin to MICHAEL.

MICHAEL took the helm of the club. MICHAEL looks forward to serving this community. It is his privilege to serve as President. The theme is for Rotary International this next year is “Light up Rotary.”

MICHAEL introduced his Board: Past President RICK MOSSI. Pres elect GARY BRODIE, Past president TAWNY TESCONI, GREG O’BRIEN, RICK GORMAN, JANE SALDAÑA-TALLEY, SHERRY BURWEN, CHRIS ELZI, TONY WESTERN, CHRIS RANNEY, LEE REPOSA.

MICHAEL’s first meeting will be July 10th!

MICHAEL adjourned the evening!

This week’s Rota-Teller editor: Joanne Ferris.

COMING EVENTS

ACTING PRESIDENT MICHAEL CARUANA kicked off the meeting on a beautiful afternoon in front of a nice crowd of Rotarians. He is certainly ready for the passing of the torch, as we bid farewell to PRESIDENT RICK MOSSI’s terrific year as Club President. The official debunking will be this Friday, June 27 at the Petaluma Moose Lodge and our Editor-in-Chief AL CATTALINI will have some terrific photos of what will be a memorable evening.

In a slight departure from our usual format, please find below some pictures from last week’s lunch followed by a very interesting article recently posted on the Rotary International website. It highlights the Polio Eradication project and the impact a small, local club can have in contributing to this global effort. Additionally, there is some information highlighting Deb Dalton’s wonderful program on Mentor Me Petaluma.

Thank you to PRESIDENT RICK MOSSI for a year filled with exciting events, great fellowship, and meaningful contributions to Rotary projects locally and internationally. We welcome PRESIDENT MICHAEL CARUANA and we look forward to a great year.

From poetry to polio eradication

The Rotary Club of Bhavnagar Royal, Gujarat, India raised $7,500
for polio eradication through album sales of Gujarati Gazals.

By Chirag Trivedi, president of the Rotary Club of Bhavnagar Royal, Gujarat, India

Since 1985, Rotary has been at the forefront of the effort to eradicate polio from the world. Here is a unique way a member of my club has been supporting this monumental effort with his own individual talent.

Himal Pandya has been a valuable member of our club since its chartering, having served as an assistant governor, past president, and Group Study Exchange Team leader for an exchange to Scotland in 2012-13. In fact, he played a pivotal role in the club’s formation. Our club has become one of the real success stories in our district, attracting more than 60 members with an average age below 40.

Himal Pandya

Besides his Rotary career, Himal serves as principal at the Pharmacy College and is a well-known poet who has written numerous pieces in our regional language of Gujarati. Blessed with this God-given gift, he decided to use his skills to benefit others. Himal and our club were inspired by the generosity of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and wanted to do our part in meeting Rotary’s Challenge for polio eradication. So in Rotary year 2011-12, we decided to release an album of his Gujarati Gazals (poems) accompanied by music. The musical compositions were truly melodious and became very popular with music lovers and followers of Gujarati literature.

Within no time, the album sold 4,000 copies and raised approximately $7,500 for the challenge. The entire proceeds from album sales were donated to the polio eradication campaign in the names of the clubs or Rotary members who purchased them. Past RI President Kalyan Banerjee recognized Himal for his humanitarian gesture at our Rotary District 3060 conference that year.

We are still selling Himal’ s album, and have just decided to release another 1,000 copies, this time supporting a literacy initiative in South Asia. As club president, it has been an honor to know Himal and see how a Rotarian can use his abilities for good.

MENTOR ME PETALUMA

Our History

Mentor Me Petaluma was founded in 2000 at McNear Elementary School in Petaluma, CA. A group of concerned parents, teachers and community members noticed that some students were "falling through the cracks". During the same time period, the state of California drastically cut its funding for elementary school counselors, leaving a lack of support and guidance for many students whose life circumstances put them at risk.

After 18 months of research and fundraising our mentoring program was launched in early 2001 with three mentorships the first year.

The program has continued to expand, meeting the needs of more and more Petaluma young people. As of August 2012 we operate Mentor Centers in 13 schools in 3 school districts, serving more than 250 students.

Mentor Me Petaluma works hand in hand with other local youth-serving organizations, the Petaluma Youth Network, local school districts, service organizations and businesses to provide a safety net for Petaluma youth. Community volunteer mentors are the backbone of Mentor Me Petaluma. We mentor children and youth ages 5-17.

RSVP for the Debunking

This week’s Rota-Teller editor: Ricardo Marzo.

COMING EVENTS

Another gorgeous day on Goat Hill saw President RICK MOSSI presiding over a meeting for the last time in his term. He started us off with the Pledge of Allegiance.

BARNEY FAUSS led us in song, first the club anthem, followed by “God Bless America”.

A timely thought for the day was delivered by JOANNE FERRIS, who read Father’s Day card ideas rejected by Hallmark.

STEVE POWELL introduced visting Rotarian Daniel Powers of the Petaluma Sunrise club.

Our President reminded us that June 27 is the deadline for donations to the Rotary International Foundation that will be credited to the current year. Our club is matching donations to help members reach their first or next level of Paul Harris Fellowship.

CHRIS RANNEY and MIKE BADDELEY encouraged all to make reservations for the Debunking of President RICK on June 27. Announcement of the hosted bar for this event stimulated a dramatic surge in reservations.

RYLA Chair LEE REPOSA invited us to join in the preparation and serving of the June 18 barbeque dinner for the RYLA participants. Members will find ways to help as early as 2:00 p.m. that day.

President RICK congratulated all celebrating June anniversaries, several of whom are not exactly newlyweds.

Special recognition, including a modest cash gift, was given to Matt Remme of Sally Tomatoes for his friendly and attentive service throughout the year.

MAUREEN FRANCIS, chair of the Petaluma Service Alliance and also a member of the Petaluma Valley Rotary Club, gave us an update on the Walnut Park Legacy Project by the PSA. MAUREEN took us through the history of the park, the need for improvements, and the positive difference being made because of our club’s substantial commitment to the project. We all have the opportunity to help individually by purchasing commemorative bricks.

ED FULLERTON reported on the culminating activity of the Aviation Club at McKinley School, launched by ED with assistance from a few other Rotary volunteers. Seven of the students were treated to a special tour of the Pacific Coast Air Museum followed by flights in small airplanes courtesy of volunteer pilots. It was a first time in any kind of aircraft for several of the kids and an experience that all will remember.

A few members submitted, some voluntarily, to a little wealth-extraction:

JOANNE FERRIS for leaving her long association with St. Vincent High School at the end of this month and for upcoming travel in Europe . . .

WHIT HALL for being one of those logging more than a few wedding anniversaries (55 with Sigrid) . . .

LEE REPOSA for being made famous in print with a newspaper profile . . .

SHERI BURWEN for moving to a new address (still in Petaluma!) . . .

JIM SYMONS for a planned visit to his daughter, who will be serving in the Peace Corps in Namibia . . .

and BARNEY FAUSS for the arrival of a great-granddaughter. When BARNEY revealed that he would have volunteered a larger fine if the child had been of another gender, MIKE BADDELEY rose to point out that Title IX rules require parity in such matters. The higher amount was collected.

FRED WULFF and STEVE POWELL both volunteered contributions toward their next Paul Harris level.

JOE TAMBE had the winning raffle ticket, and the blue rock he plucked from the bag was good for a bottle of champagne.

CHRIS RANNEY introduced guest speaker, Elece Hempel, Executive Director of Petaluma People Services Center. Elece reviewed the 40-year history of this remarkably effective homegrown non-profit organization. It was more than impressive to hear of the many ways in which so many lives in our community are touched by PPSC’s programs. And it is easy to understand why Elece speaks about the Center’s mission with such passion.

As he has done consistently, President RICK closed the meeting with a final thought, this one inspired by the advent of Father’s Day: “In youth we learn; in age we understand.”

Mindful that the way our club will express appreciation for his leadership on the 27th may be less kind, all in attendance took this opportunity to acknowledge RICK MOSSI with a standing ovation.

RSVP for the Debunking

This week’s Rota-Teller editor: Clark Rosen; photos by Michael Nistler.

COMING EVENTS

After enjoying some delicious “bacon wrapped meatloaf” from our wonderful caterer, Sally Tomatoes, members were welcomed to the Rotary Club of Petaluma at the beautiful Petaluma Golf and Country Club by our PRESIDENT, RICK MOSSI.

PRESIDENT RICK apologized for the parking lot inconvenience due to repaving however many members hitched a ride from others and the club sent out its cart limo service for pick up at the lower lot.

We all joined him in the Pledge of Allegiance followed by PAST PRESIDENT BARNEY FAUSS leading us in the club song. For those new members who were confused about the lyrics, BARNEY handed out song sheets for everyone to follow along.

The PREZ gave an inspiring “thought for the day” about teamwork by Babe Ruth.

This was followed by our usual hugs and handshakes.

We had no visiting Rotarians or guests.

PRESIDENT MOSSI welcomed back into the club former member, JOSEPH MOORE.

PAST PRESIDENT ONITA PELLEGRINI gave a Paul Harris update and reminded everyone that the club is matching contributions towards your Paul Harris.

CHRIS RANNEY asked everyone to RSVP to PRESIDENT MOSSI’s upcoming Debunking Party. Our wonderful PRESIDENT announced that he will be hosting the bar which based on our club’s history, the Debunking night should be sold out!

LEE REPOSA gave an update on the upcoming RYLA BBQ dinner. If anyone would like to come out to help or just to hang out, let Lee know.

We were honored to hear PAST PRESIDENT ONITA PELLEGRINI reminisce on her presidency from 2003-2004. She spoke about her board, the work our club does locally, and the importance of what Rotary does internationally.

PRESIDENT MOSSI began dishing out the fines beginning with JANE SALDAÑA-TALLEY. Earlier in the morning JANE put on the SRJC Building Community Breakfast. It was another great yearly event which included Lagunitas as the keynote speaker. With any event that may include alcohol, there were many Rotarians in the audience. She tried to trade some Lagunitas beer and paraphernalia for her fine, however being a banker, PRESIDENT MOSSI can easily turn away anything for a few dollars. She ended up paying $100.

He then turned his attention to PAT SCHAEFER for putting on another excellent event, the Benedetti Leadership Celebration honoring Carol Ann and DAN LIBARLE, benefitting the Petaluma Valley Hospital Foundation. MOSSI let her off the hook with no fine.

His last victim was our very own editor. PRESIDENT MOSSI informed everyone that I was honored as a 40 under 40 by the North Bay Business Journal. I felt that the honor is more that I’m in this Rotary Club and under 40. Thankfully after years of being the youngest member, we now have SARA CUMMINGS in our club to take over that title. I paid $40 to the local foundation. The President also went after me for more. One of my friendly Rotarians snitched to the PRESIDENT about a recent purchase. I recently joined the H.O.G. (Harley Davidson Owners Group). After buying millions more in life insurance, my wife said yes to buying a new Harley. For that I paid a $20 fine.

The raffle winner, FRED WULFF, became $150 richer.

This week was the Club Assembly so PRESIDENT MOSSI was our speaker. He recapped the year and did a verbal survey about how everyone felt with the changes he made and the status of our club.

He then introduced and called up our incoming PRESIDENT, MICHAEL CARUANA. MICHAEL discussed his plans and the focus for his year. We are all very thankful to MOSSI and excited for CARUANA.

With that, PRESIDENT MOSSI, wished everyone a great rest of the week and farewell until next week.

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This week’s Rota-Teller editor: Brian Breen.