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November
2, 2017
It
was a lovely sunny autumn Thursday when President Chris Ranney called
together the Rotary Club of Petaluma at the Petaluma Golf and Country
Club. The
Prez reminded us that our club was chartered in 1923, and
we will soon be “95 years young.” He welcomed members and guests and
noted how honored he is to serve as Club President.
President Chris then invited Past President Rick Mossi
to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Rick was clearly primed and ready
for another duty because he tried to start us off with the club
song. When President
Chris and the rest of us balked, he caught on and got us
through the pledge, followed by the club song and a mellow rendition of God Bless America.
President Chris called on Jane Saldaña-Talley
for the Thought for the Day. Jane
shared a few quotes about Daylight Savings Time set to end on Saturday,
November 5. Clock-changing aside, the most place-appropriate quote
of the bunch was from Ben Hogan who noted, “The only thing a golfer needs
is more daylight.”
President Chris invited
everyone to get started on friendship greetings. He welcomed back Jim Symons who’s
feeling better these days.
We
had one very special Visiting Rotarian from the Dominican Republic, Dr.
Cecil Kwan, who it was noted was past president of his club and who
greeted us in English and Spanish!
Rotarians
with Guests self-announced and included President Chris who introduced his
childhood friend, Pat Sweeney, who brought Dr. Kwan to the meeting; and Tom Brandal who
introduced his wife, Kathy and the day’s speaker, Alexandra Morgan, CEO
of UCSF Family Home.
President Chris spoke about the
District 5130 Fire Relief Fund intended to support the four counties
(Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, and Lake) devastated in the recent fires. The
District has raised nearly $200,000 and he’s on a committee what will
decide where the money goes. They’ve met to begin the process and
are open to supporting agencies, individuals, and organizations. President Chris plans
to report more on this at our next meeting.
President Chris next called on
Brian Breen
who gave an early heads up that the Super Raffle captains are forming up
for the ‘draft.’ He noted this is the our largest fund raiser of
the year and this year’s skippers include Joanne Ferris, Brent Shinn, Chad Fillinger, Charlie
Stuart, Danny Fish, Royce Van Bebber, Tom Brandal, and Tony Western
(who led last year’s team…and is the one to beat). Start figuring
out how to sell more tickets than ever and expect to hear from your
captain soon!
Sherry Burwen shared an idea
from the Palm Springs Rotary that she thought might be of interest.
“PS Cares” is a program in which Rotary volunteers, dressed in special
vests, patrol the city and help identify and bring issues or concerns to
city officials.
Onita Pellegrini reminded
members about the Rotary Foundation dinner at the Flamingo and made a
pitch for members to buy raffle tickets for baskets to be given away at
the event. Tickets were $20 and 6 for $100. A $100
contribution would be matched by the club toward a member’s Paul
Harris. Check with Onita
if you want to know where you are on progress toward your next Paul
Harris.
Tom Brandal called our attention to table
flyers announcing a fundraiser for Petaluma Hospice on November 30 at the
Petaluma Elks Lodge. Tickets need to be purchased in advance. For
more information or if you’re interested in attending or helping out,
contact Tom.
President Chris startled Judy McReynolds
by asking her to give us an early heads up about the Annual Holiday Party
on Saturday, December 9 at the Petaluma Golf and Country Club.
Tickets are $65 per person, and this year members are encouraged to bring
friends and family for an evening of fun and celebration. A “huge”
Christmas tree will be on hand to decorate and attendees can expect other
holiday delights!
Michael Nistler attended a
meeting in Calistoga and is being asked to help prepare a short
promotional video for Rotary that communicates how Rotary has a lot of
experience aiding in disasters and knows a lot about how to help.
President Chris called out Brett Shinn
with a picture showing Brett
on a bicycle. Seems Brett rode Levi Leipheimer’s
100-mile Grande Fondo as an event marshal. According to The Prez, Brett’s a great
bike rider and Brett
was so “great-ful” he knocked $40 off his fine schedule for the year!
Bano Cummings apparently won
a bike at a recent event, but has yet to pick it up due to a long, sad
chain of events that involved fires and car issues and mechanics who were
burned out and repairs finally made. She gave up $50 and promised
to make the pick-up soon.
President Chris announced
October birthdays (and then fined “Club Runner” $25 for leaving Elias Husery’s
birthday off the list) and we all sang Happy
Birthday. President
Chris also announced October anniversaries.
Congratulations, one and all!
President Chris reminded
everyone that next week’s speaker is Scott Ahern, and Past District Governor Ed
Fullerton previewed the program which will include
Scott’s experiences as a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
President Chris called out the
week’s raffle and the winner was Dave
Barbieri, who got the brown rock and won himself $220
cash! Congratulations, Dave!
Tom Brandal and his wife, Kathy, introduced
our program speaker, Alexandra Morgan, CEO of the UCSF non-profit Family
Home, a “home away from home for families of children with cancer and
other life-threatening illnesses.” Kathy shared a story of their
daughter’s struggle with leukemia in the early 1980’s and the time they
spent living in Family Home in its earliest years. After showing a
couple of videos, Alexandra spoke about this amazing place and its
mission to provide “dignity and normalcy” to families. A capital
campaign raised $43 million for a facility that now houses 250 people per
night and nearly 5,000 families each year. President Chris, in
thanking her for her presentation noted Family Home exemplifies the
Rotary motto of “Service above Self.”
President Chris then ended the
meeting by encouraging everyone to have a great week!
This week's Editor:
Jane Saldaña-Talley
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