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COMING EVENTS

It was a very (very) warm last day of April when PRESIDENT MICHAEL CARUANA called to order the Rotary Club of Petaluma at the Petaluma Golf and Country Club. PRESIDENT MICHAEL greeted us by noting that we were “stuck” with him for just a few more meetings (yah, yah, yah) and immediately led us in the Pledge of Allegiance to kick off the meeting. Sandwich fixin’s and salads were on the menu to keep us all cool.

PRESIDENT MICHAEL invited a duet from BARNEY FAUSS and LEE REPOSA to lead us in song. They started us off with our traditional I’m a Rambler and finished off with God Bless America.

PRESIDENT MICHAEL then called on “Excitable” MICHAEL NISTLER for our Thought for the Day. MICHAEL did a riff on the Pledge of Allegiance noting what Congress and a president did to Francis Bellamy’s original 1892 composition. (To read all about it, click here.)

We had no visiting Rotarians. Rotarians with Guests included RICK MOSSI with Monica, who is Executive Director of Golden Living Center, GARY BRODIE introduced “my Heidi,” and CHRIS RANNEY gave a brief pre-introduction of the day’s program speakers from COTS, Mike Johnson, Eileen Morris, and Jenna Garcia.

THE PREZ called on WHIT HALL who reminded everyone that next week’s meeting is at 12:00 at McKinley School and stated that chef LEE REPOSA has a lunch of “liver and onions” (really?) planned for attendees. The entertainment for the meeting will be two hot competitions…the first between PRESIDENT MICHAEL and an 11-year-old as they make and fly an airplane and the second between PREZ-ELECT GARY BRODIE and a 12-year-old in an egg drop contest. We’re taking bets now… WHIT also reminded those with less coverage on top to bring a shade hat and THE PREZ asked if DANNY FISH could refrain from tenderizing the steaks by shooting.

ONITA PELLEGRINI described a very fun and successful District Conference just outside Yosemite National Park at the Tenaya Lodge. It apparently snowed on Friday night and the conferees where all too happy not to drive when the conference kicked off on Saturday. ONITA noted that “no club beats us” when comes to activities and good work. She noted that the highlight for her was the Sunday morning gathering of 48 inbound and outbound Rotary Exchange students and shared her belief that “if ever there was a recipe for peace in the world” it was through Rotary. PRESIDENT MICHAEL thanked all who attended…he did not…seems he was attending a “boring board meeting.”

PRESIDENT MICHAEL jumped quickly into the ’fine’ portion of the meeting, lest the day’s fine-ees depart before being separated from their cash. They included the elusive JAMES GOTELLI, “a simple guy leading a simple life,” who “simply” was fined $100; . . .

. . . and BRIAN BREEN, a nice guy (with his partner Noah Jacobson) doing good work by running ads in the Argus Courier for local non-profits, and who was nevertheless fined $50 even after claiming the media took all of his money.

THE PRESIDENT called for a moment of silence in memory of club member and friend, RALPH PELTON.

PRESIDENT MICHAEL announced the upcoming SCARCS meeting. SHARI RANNEY announced in JIM BECKER’s absence that the International World Community Service committee meeting date is TBD and an email would be coming out soon with the details. She then asked members to approve $2,000 of the International Community Service budget to be sent to ShelterBox to support their efforts to provide aid to the Nepal earthquake survivors. The vote was unanimous…of course!

ONITA PELLEGRINI came forward to present a very special sapphire-studded Paul Harris pin to PRESIDENT MICHAEL who contributed in honor of his son’s PhD graduation. ONITA gave a great overview of the way in which contributions to the Paul Harris fund help support the operation of Rotary International and then returns back to the district three years later for use in the simplified and matching grants programs. A loan well worth it! THE PRESIDENT noted he will be traveling to South Africa on July 1st to be present for his son’s graduation and to present him with his Paul Harris award. Can’t wait to hear about it!

The day’s raffle was won by none other than SHAHARAZAD HAMIDI who so did not want a nice bottle of wine she pulled the brown rock out of a full bag of rocks to win $75!

COTS Board Member, CHRIS RANNEY returned to the podium to re-introduce the day’s program speakers, . . .

. . . COTS CEO Mike Johnson and colleagues Jenna Garcia and Eileen Morris. After a brief update by CEO Johnson, Eileen and Jenna gave us lots of great information about the Rent Right and Integrity Housing program and the Work Ready services.

PRESIDENT MICHAEL’s parting comments were groan worthy and not worth repeating!

Don’t forget to join us next week at McKinley School!

This week's Editor: Jane Saldaña-Talley

COMING EVENTS

With PRESIDENT MICHAEL out of town, PRESIDENT-ELECT GARY BRODIE presided over the April 23 meeting, starting with the Pledge of Allegiance.

LEE REPOSA was up next, leading God Bless America with assistance from his son Grant.

BARNEY FAUSS called on everyone to bow their heads as he expressed effusive thanks to God.

While the crowd moved on to handshakes and hugs Grant Reposa carefully organized his raffle tickets. He tries to make a habit of winning the raffle and was determined to win again.

There were no visiting Rotarians. There were two guests of Rotarians, the aforementioned Grant Reposa, and WHIT HALL’s wife, Sigrid.

ACTING PRESIDENT GARY reminded members that our meeting two weeks hence, on May 7, would be the traditional barbecue at McKinley School. He also advised that the Debunking had been rescheduled to Saturday, June 27 and that the venue had shifted to the Country Club.

LEE BEAN, President of the Rotary Club of Petaluma Foundation, announced that the Foundation would be receiving grant applications through May 22. Details and applications are available on the Club website.

After calling for a show of hands for members who “liked beer” our PRESIDENT-ELECT said he was considering a fundraising scheme that would employ members to staff beer booths at local events.

Sitting alone at a unique birthday table was RICK VAN BEBBER. Also celebrating April birthdays were JOHN DADO and an absent HENRY HANSEL.

Acknowledging that “most of it is true,” GAIL CARDAROPOLI paid a $25 fine for a write-up about her published in the Argus Courier.

Next up for a fine was SHERRY BURWEN. How many teams in the NBA? With help from her tablemates the correct answer (30, with 16 going to the playoffs) emerged.

BILL GROVERMAN, even with help from his table, didn’t answer his question correctly. There are 32 teams in the NFL, with 12 going to the playoffs. Everyone at the table was hit with a $5 fine.

The next question went to KATHY O’CONNOR. “How many bones are there in the spine?” KATHY rattled off a list of bones which Gary was wise enough to not challenge. So — no fine for KATHY.

Today guest speakers brought lots of fresh, local eggs so they became today’s raffle prizes. Winners were Grant Reposa (of course!), CLARK ROSEN, OREST BALYTSKY, GARY BRODIE, STEVE GAVRILOFF, SHAHARAZAD HAMIDI, and RENÉE HAYES. The regular “rock” raffle will resume next week.

JIM BECKER introduced today’s speakers, Scott and Michael Weber, sons of our late, beloved member DICK WEBER, who continue the family’s egg business in Petaluma.

Scott Weber, Michael Weber.

Scott and Michael recounted the early days of the Petaluma egg industry and explained the significant changes in the industry since the passage of Proposition 2 which mandated humane space for chickens. Their new, high-rise “chicken condo” houses some 320,000 chickens. Other chickens produce eggs for the organic, cage-free, and Omega-3 markets.

This week's Editor: Al Cattalini

COMING EVENTS

Michael thinks, “Only nine more meetings to go!”

Barney wonders, “How does that song go?”

Kip: “When I close my eyes, things become clearer.”

Mike introduces visiting Rotarians.

Bill acknowledges kudos for Farmers and Merchants Night.

With mixed emotions David announces he is leaving Petaluma soon for top Special Olympics position.

“Gail, I sure love that perfume.”

“You don’t say that about my perfume – I’m keeping the wine!”

Craig Carlock discusses the Energy Independence Program.

From this week’s Rota-Teller Editor:

Please enjoy the photos of our latest meeting and some useful information from our speaker, Craig Carlock, from the Sonoma County Energy and Sustainability Division.

The Energy and Sustainability Division is responsible for the planning, evaluating and administering the County-wide Energy Management and Sustainability Program. Services include long and short range energy and green procurement strategies, effective and efficient energy use and sustainability practices, and County employee commute reduction planning.

Mission Statement

Our Mission is to plan and manage County energy use and sustainability, and improve the efficiency of employee transportation energy use in a sensible, cost-effective manner. Our customers are other County departments. The primary goal of the Energy and Sustainability Division is the efficient use of energy and other natural resources. Specifically, the Energy and Sustainability Division is responsible for effective planning, management and control of energy use and sustainability for major portions of County operations.

Resources for Sustainable Living

• 511.org
  Can help you plan your trip and provide real-time traffic information. Register with 511 RideMatch Service to find carpool or bike partners with similar commutes. Track your commutes on your Trip Diary for a chance to win great prizes.
• Community Bikes
  A reuse and repair training program operated by LITE Initiatives. Check out their Events page to learn about the next free “Get to Know Your Bike” class.
• Commute Calculator
  Discover the true cost of your daily commute with this Microsoft Excel tool
• Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) Information
  Tips for purchasing and properly disposing of CFLs
• DriveClean
  Find out how your car rates when it comes to smog
• Living Green- the Press Democrat
  Your source for green around town
• Park & Ride Lots
  Find a conveniently-located Park & Ride Lot where you can make a transit connection or meet carpool partners.
• Santa Rosa Free Ride
  Earn rewards for using sustainable transportation methods to and from work
• Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition
  Check the calendar for upcoming events, including recurring low or no-cost Street Skills seminars.
• WeGoSonoma
  A more flexible alternative to traditional carpooling, WeGoSonoma allows commuters with a mobile phone or access to the Internet to share a ride whenever they like – saving time and money

Additionally, please find enclosed a fascinating article about how a Rotary Club’s project became a global grant.

How a simple school project in India became a global grant

Students sit at their new desks that were provided through a previous grant between the Rotary Club of Bikaner, India, and Kennebunk Portside, Maine, USA.
Photo Credit: Courtesy Cornelia Stockman, Rotary Club of Kennebunk Portside, Maine

Two years ago, U.S. Rotary members in Maine set out to improve the education system in Bikaner, Rajasthan, an Indian city near the border of Pakistan.

The Rotary Club of Kennebunk Portside chose Bikaner because club member Rohit Mehta was originally from the area and had connections there. Mehta put the club in contact with Rotarians in India to provide desks for four government-run schools.

But when community leaders returned with a request for more desks, the Maine Rotarians decided they had to think bigger. The Rotary Foundation had rolled out its new grant model, which required that the club do more than just purchase school furniture to qualify for global grant funding. Club leaders put their heads together and turned a simple project to provide school desks into a global grant project by adding a campaign to recruit new students and professional development for teachers.

“Because the new grant standards required further thought, a superior grant emerged,” notes Peter Johnson, Rotary Foundation chair for District 7780, which covers Maine. “Additional questions were asked, which boil down to, 'OK, they need benches [desks] and you want to help them get their benches, but what's going to happen with these benches?' The standards dramatically improved the project's scope, tone, and tenor.”

The Rotary clubs worked with School Management Committees – teams of school administrators, community leaders, and Bikaner Rotary members – to determine what each school needed most. They discovered that the children were unschooled and had never sat in a classroom before. So the committees decided it would be easier to get the students to commit to a three-day-a-week lesson plan. That left the other two days for the same benches to be used for teacher training.

“The teachers at the government schools are well qualified, but they provide an education within the framework of their stipulated syllabus only,” says Man Mohan Kalyani, project leader for the Bikaner club. “This does not include many things that are needed for the overall development of the students. So we set about supporting both teachers and students with these additional skills.”

The global grant will provide desks for 1,685 students. The training will target 240 teachers. In addition to instruction in basic subjects, the curriculum aims to improve students’ self-confidence, communication skills, leadership skills, and personality development. The clubs expect the program will have even better results than the earlier shipment of desks, which helped improve grades by 23 percent in the four recipient schools. Those results alone led regional authorities to select two of the schools as sites for annual examinations, meaning local students did not have to travel 15 miles to another city to take the exam.

Cornelia Stockman, a member of the Maine club, traveled to Bikaner early in the grant planning process. She said she was impressed by the level of commitment and professionalism displayed by the School Management Committees.

Stockman said local families who can afford it send their children to private schools with classrooms and desks. By contrast, students at the government-owned schools sit on the ground in an open area surrounded by security walls and gates. There is no compulsory attendance beyond sixth grade. The local education experts insist the students are more likely to stay in school if they have a desk to sit at, Stockman says.

Mehta is thankful the grant was able to help his native country.

“I thought it would be great if we could do something with a region that I had ties to,” Mehta says. “And good education is fundamental to the quality of life.”

Stockman said even though the process of expanding the project’s scope was not without bumps, the Bikaner community responded to every need as the grant application evolved.

“We had to go back to them three or four times, but every time we asked them to do something else, they did it,” she recalls. “They never gave up, and did everything necessary to meet the requirements of the global grant.”

Learn more about global grants
Download a tutorial on using the online application process

By Arnold R. Grahl, Rotary News, 10-Apr-2015

This week's Editor: Ricardo Marzo; photo captions by Al Cattalini

COMING EVENTS

President MICHAEL “Tex” CARUANA, after a long ride on a dusty trail from the top of Sonoma Mountain, opened our Club’s annual Farmers and Merchants Night at Herzog Hall and immediately led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a solemn prayer from BARNEY “the Preacher“ FAUSS.

President-Elect GARY “The Kid” BRODY then welcomed all of our guests and thanked everyone who helped out with the event, . . .

. . . especially Co-Chairs BILL “Hang ’Em High” GROVERMAN and JAY “Rawhide” PALM, and all of their cooks, . . .

. . . including former member Ralph “Chuck Wagon” Sartori. The drinks were on the House, and we enjoyed a wonderful polenta and stew meal with all the fixin’s!

Next, raffle winners Katie Kent, Carmen Berger, Jim Maselli and yours truly were called to the stage to show off our calf roping skills, such as they were. Jim proved to be most adept at ropin’ them doggies and got his pick of the raffle prizes. A lot of empty lassos and laughs, especially when your dear editor tried to lasso the Prez! As part of the dinner ticket, all who attended received a complimentary raffle ticket and numerous winners bounced up to the stage to claim their prizes, all of which were donated from our generous local business community.

After a medley of brief announcements, the Prez and The Kid wished us all Happy Trails, closed the meeting and headed off with a Fistful of Dollars...but not before encouraging everyone to belly up to the bar for a little more comradery and a final gut warmer for the trail home!

See y’all next week...in the meantime here are a few sage cowboy quotes, sayings and wisdom for the ages:

• Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a fool from any direction.


• Don’t judge people by their relatives.


• Behind every successful rancher is a wife who works in town.


• Talk slowly, think quickly.


• Live a good, honorable life...then when you’re older and look back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.


• Don’t interfere with something that ain’t botherin’ you none.


• It’s better to be a has-been than a never-was.


• The easiest way to eat crow is while it’s still warm, because the colder it gets, the harder it is to swaller.


• If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.


• It don’t take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.


• The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with watches you shave his face in the mirror every morning.


• Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.


• If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.


• Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.


• When you’re throwin’ your weight around, be ready to have it thrown around by somebody else.


• Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back.


• Always take a good look at what you’re about to eat...it’s not so important to know what it is, but it’s sure crucial to know what it was.


• You can’t tell how good a man or a watermelon is ’til they get thumped (character shows up best when tested).


• There never was a horse that couldn’t be rode; never was a cowboy who couldn’t be throwed.


• Always drink upstream from the herd.

This week's Editor: Mike Baddeley

COMING EVENTS

PRESIDENT MICHAEL led the club in the Pledge of Allegiance.

LEE REPOSA led members singing America the Beautiful.

JOE TAMBE presented the thought for the day proving that creative writers can spin anything.

Members with Guests: Jasmine Jolly, Rotary youth exchange outbound student heading to Brazil next year was MIKE STAUBER’s guest. Andrea Learned, St. Joseph’s Heath was CARLI’s guest.

Announcements:

The District conference in Yosemite is coming up. The club reserved a block of rooms and there are two rooms left that will be released tonight if not claimed. Contact GAIL CARDAROPOLI if you want to reserve one.

Farmers and Merchants Night is Friday April 10 at Herzog Hall at 6 pm. We need numbers for shopping. There will be a traditional polenta menu. Email BILL GROVERMAN or SARAH CUMMINGS with the number of guests you are bringing. We are currently at 72 and need 240. This event is a great way to celebrate our community. The cost is $20 per person and includes an open bar.

Fines: TOM BAKER took a trip to Arizona to visit his daughter. Tom paid $100 for his tan.

DAVE BARBIERI contributed $50 for his San Luis Obispo and Monterey trip. He too is tan!

STEVE POWELL gave $50 for Polio in honor of the club social at Magoos.

Raffle: Jasmine won the raffle of $250!

Guest speaker this week was Police Chief Pat Williams who will mark 3 years of service in Petaluma. Chief Williams presented an overview of challenges and organizational development of PPD. Copies of the Petaluma Police performance principles were distributed.

This week's Editor: Joanne Ferris