October 31, 2019

Mr. President, Elias G. Husary, who, by the way, is NOT being impeached, called the meeting to order on Halloween.

Past president, Chris Ranney, led the Pledge of Allegiance as Rick Gorman was multi-tasking and looking down at the floor for Halloween candy while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  

***Mental note to myself and Rotary members: please turn off, or put your cell phones on silent mode (three different phones rang during the meeting and I believe that our president may begin to have fun with the cell phone offenders and the fine schedule!).

Carolyn Buck handled the duties of leading our club in song (God bless America).  

Chris Elzi delivered the 'Thought for the Day' and mentioned that he's old enough to have met Mark Twain (you're looking mighty good for someone who met Mark Twain over 100 years ago!). Chris also mentioned that his father, Clarence Elzi, gave him some good advice when he was a youngster: "Nobody will pay you a lot of money to do a job that is simple and pleasant!"  

Past president, Michael Nistler, was welcomed back by our president. Nistler's guest, his mother, Delia Nistler, was also welcomed. 

The Prez made a few announcements:

1) He gave his daughter, Isabella, recognition for spicing up the slide show by adding ghosts and Halloween themed items (he invited her to join us, but said since school was cancelled this week she was still sleeping!). 

2) El Presidente gave an update on the fire relief efforts and the Rotary District 5130 Disaster Relief Fund.

3) Our club exceeded the goal for the polio donation challenge - thank you all for your participation to eradicate polio.

4) Congratulations to Lee and Oralee Bean for celebrating 60 years of wedded bliss on October 18th!

Nistler, who recently returned home from an 80-day road trip around the U.S. reached out to the Prez and attempted to negotiate his fine! The former president mentioned that he covered 12,000 miles of U.S. soil and agreed to pay a penny per mile on his fine schedule. He also thanked Mike Ambrosio for watching over his home and vehicles. He also thanked Rotarian Mike Stauber - apparently, a battery in his car died and Mike replaced the battery (I think I saw Mike Stauber with Nistler's car at Sears Point Raceway on Wednesday night at the drags doing donuts, racing the 1/4 mile and participating in the drift event)...

Elias wasn't finished with fines and asked Joanne Ferris to explain why she missed our meeting on October 17. Ferris mentioned she was working at a conference at Skywalker Ranch: 'The What Summit' an all-women's conference. Joanne mentioned that the cost of the conference was $2,500 for the day ($4,000 to stay the night)! She agreed to pay a $45 fine (I think Elias let her off easy due to the fact that she mentioned when she originally joined Rotary in 2003 her father wasn't too happy because Rotary didn't have a lot of women members. In 1987, just 32 short years ago, Rotary was a men's club only). Onita Pellegrini happened to be the President when Joanne joined Rotary (Joanne was pinned with her dad's pin when she joined Rotary).

Elias and Kip Herzog looked on as Kip was recognized by Rotary International for his Paul Harris gift/donation in the amount of $7,000. Congratulations Kip and thank you for all that you do for Rotary and our community!

Chris Elzi won the raffle and walked away with a bottle of wine!

Sherry Burwen enjoyed the Halloween festivities dressed up in what she called her 'Wonder Momma' costume!

Mr. Wonderful, Mike Baddeley, A.K.A. Kevin O'Leary from Shark Tank fame ("You're Dead to Me!") introduced our guest speaker, Honorable Gary Nadler, Presiding Judge, Superior Court of Sonoma County. Nadler was appointed by the Governor in 2002.

Honorable Gary Nadler, a resident of Petaluma, presented an overview of the Sonoma County court system. Nadler mentioned the recent fires, the fires of 2017 and the collapse of the economy in 2007 and the fact that the Sonoma County court system managed to avoid lay-offs of its employees (compared to the San Francisco court system, which laid off 25% of its employees during the economic downturn). He also mentioned that the Petaluma Court House had to re-open during the fires because the Santa Rosa court house was shut-down. Nadler was excited to announce the new Sonoma County court house, which will be six stories high (it will be the tallest building in Santa Rosa) and will have 15 court rooms. Construction is slated to begin by March 2020, "I've been advocating for a new court house since 1989" said Nadler. The new court house was designed by world renowned architects Richard Meier and Partners in Los Angeles.

This week's Editor: Doug Hecker

October 17, 2019

When you arrived at the October 17 luncheon you knew it was a special day.  At each place were an attractive candle and an impressive book.  It was a birthday candle for Clo the Cow (50 years!) and a remembrance of the 100-year history of the Petaluma Cooperative Creamery (founded in 1916) and its successor companies.

President Elias opened the meeting exactly on time (you can ignore that clock on the wall which is running 5 minutes slow) and called on Mireille Broussard to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

Tom Brandal followed, leading the singing of God Bless America.

Brandon Trammell delivered the Thought for the Day.  He applied the ancient Greek proverb “A society grows great when old men plant trees under which they will never sit” to the intergenerational transfer of knowledge and experience within a Rotary Club.  He discussed the important role of long-time members in “seasoning” new members.

There were no visiting Rotarians but three members introduced guests.  Onita Pellegrini introduced Cindy Thomas from Petaluma Community Access, Mireille Broussard introduced Jake (who last name I missed), and Maggie Radany introduced Phuong and Jenny from Clover Sonoma.

President Elias announced that this month’s SCARC dinner will be hosted by the Rancho Cotati club on October 31 from 5 to 8pm.  The Halloween-themed event features ribeye steak, ghosts and goblins.  Make your reservation with Gail Cardaropoli by next Thursday.

Maggie Radany and Onita Pellegrini promoted the District 5130 Foundation Dinner Celebration South and its accompanying raffle on Saturday, November 2 at the Doubletree Hotel in Rohnert Park.  They are looking for fine wine and other goodies to go into one of the gift baskets which will be raffled.  They also announced some feat of financial legerdemain whereby your $100 contribution next week gets you raffle tickets, a 3 for 1 Polio Plus contribution, Paul Harris credit, and a ginsu knife.  Be sure to take advantage of this special opportunity at next week’s meeting.

President Elias discussed the Fund-a-Teen in Need program.  The generosity of members last week produced $650 to help an immigrant family.  Support is snowballing in the community and the family needs no additional funds at this time.  Another generous member contribution provided a bus pass for a student at a local continuation high school.

Next week we’ll be visited by District Governor Kathy Flamson who will discuss Rotary International goals and our own District goals,”Close Knit Communities.”  Her October 24 visit will be capped by a tri-club social at the Petaluma Yacht Club that evening.  Mark your calendars.

It seems that Doug Hecker didn’t know the location of the Miracle League field.  This lack of geographical knowledge cost him a $50 fine.

Marcus Benedetti celebrated his recent visit to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta with a $100 fine.

Pity poor Chad Fillenger.  On a family trip to Hawaii he tried and tried to find a souvenir gift for President Elias to raffle off.  Alas, the gods were not with Chad and he was forced to return empty handed.  He’s even more empty handed now after a $50 fine.

Did you know that the odds of being struck by lightning are 750,000 to 1?  And that the odds of a golfer getting a hole in one are 12,000 to 1?  The odds of a golfer getting a double eagle (3 under par, also called an “albatross”) are 6,000,000 to 1.  Well, believe it or not, Dan Berry — with inspiration from Rick Gorman — recently scored a two on a par five hole!  That feat cost a happy Dan $50.

Mike Stauber was happy too when he held the winning raffle ticket and walked off with a bottle of wine.

Mike Baddeley used the story of an industrious farmer with a team of oxen to introduce fellow member and today’s speaker, Marcus Benedetti.

Marcus is Chairman and CEO of Clover Sonoma.  The third-generation dairyman (and third generation Club member) explained Clover Sonoma’s membership in the elite group of B Corporations.

What is a B Corporation?  B Corps are leading a global movement of people using business as a force for good.  B Corps meet the highest standards of overall social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability and aspire to use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.

This week's Editor: Al Cattalini

October 10, 2019

 Sorry, but today’s photos have vanished.

President Elias Called the meeting to order.  

Past President John Dado led members in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Brian Breen refused to lead President Elias’ request for “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.  Instead, all sang God Bless America.

Thought for the Day
Presented by President-Elect Anne Gealta
1.  If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it.

2. If you don't ask the answer is always no.

3. If you don't step forward, you'll always be in the same place.
(author unknown)

Mike Ambrosio introduced our visiting Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Petaluma Sunrise:  Dave Adams, classification – Printing and Steve West, classification Telecon Engineering.

Past President Lee Reposa’s guest was his son Grant.  Grant has been working hard at the Miracle League Field wrapping hot dogs with members of the club.

Past President Onita Pellegrini introduced her guest Cindy Thomas who is on the board of Petaluma Community Access Channel and a broadcaster there as well.

The next SCARC dinner is October 31 in Rohnert Park sponsored by the Rotary Club of Rancho Cotati.  It will feature Rib Eye Steaks!

Maggie Radany and Anne Gealta are co-chairs for the District 5130 Foundation Dinner on November 2 at the Doubletree Hotel in Rohnert Park.  Tickets ($70 pp) are available on the District 5130 website.  Our club is responsible for contributing a raffle basket so Anne and Maggie welcome wine and other fun items to the prize.

The Sonoma State Rotaract Club is leading a Coat drive October 1 through November 1.  Contributions of new and used coats are welcome.  You can email ssurotoract@gmail.com for more details.

Chris Ranney announced the Rotary Crab Feed will be Friday, February 28, 2020.  The planning will begin in a few weeks. 

President Elias thanked Lee Reposa and Rick van Bebber for barbecuing steaks at the Miracle League Fieldtrip meeting on October 3.   It was such a hit that we will be doing it again in the spring.  Maybe on a Saturday so family members can join in.

For the greatest impact, President Elias invited members to come to the Miracle League ballpark this Saturday for the final game of the fall season.  To truly see the magic of the field, you have to experience the players in action.

Elias thanked a member who stepped up to fund a long sleeve sweatshirt and shoes for a 7^th grade student as part of our club’s Fund a Teen Need project.  He went on to tell us of a young student at Casa Grande who recently arrived in the country from Guatemala in need of a bus pass.  A teacher discovered this young man and his mother are alone in this country and in need of food and were unable to obtain support services because they had no phone.  Members immediately began pledging funds to purchase Safeway gift cards (close enough for the family to walk) and pre-paid phone cards.  It was suggested that the club consider adopting this family to provide support in the form of specifically needed gift cards and fees for the student’s school activities.

The Rotarians of the month were announced – Anne Gealta and Rick Warner co-chaired the very successful golf tournament!  Anne graciously accepted on behalf of Rick.  This was only fitting as she is used to cleaning up after Rick on the course as indicated above.

Speaking in public is not fun!  New member Mireille Broussard has been dreading standing before the club to give her craft talk.  To mitigate any long-term stagefright, President Elias asked her upon arrival at the meeting to give her craft talk.  His tactic worked.  She shared a compelling craft talk about her childhood and early life during Lebanon’s civil war.  Members gave Mireille a resounding round of applause.  She is a great public speaker!

The winning raffle ticket belonged to Past President Lee Bean.  He won a bottle of wine.

The scheduled speaker was not able to join us due to the PG&E blackout.  So President Elias used some time to call upon Past District Governor Ed Fullerton on the subject of leaving his phone behind after our meeting on September 26.  Elias made a huge mistake in handing the microphone to a past DG, but Ed noted the leadership of Elias with supporting Mireille through her craft talk and the young man needed assistance from Fund a Teen Need.  Ed and Carol pledged $100 towards supporting the Casa student.

Today's program was interactive.  Members were asked to briefly talk about their “Brush With Greatness” in meeting someone famous.  Below are the members who spoke along with the famous people they encountered.  Can you match who met who?  A few members met several famous folks.  The key is at the end of the newsletter.

GROUP A (one Rotarian)

B                    C                 D                 E

                     Group F (one Rotarian)

G                   H                             I

                    Group J   (one Rotarian)

K                L                     M

 Group N (one Rotarian)

Group O (one Rotarian)

KEY:  A - Mike Ambrosio; B - Anne Gealta; C - Sherry Burwen; D - Brett Shinn; E - John Dado; F - Raine Howe; G - Ed Fullerton; H - Rick Gorman; I - Shari Ranney; J - Elias Husary; K - Joanne Ferris; L - Chris Ranney; M - Chris Elzi; N - Royce van Bebber; O - Lee Reposa.

This week's Editor: Joanne Ferris

October 3, 2019

Rotarians Celebrate the Rotary Pavilion at Miracle League Field

Kip Herzog donated the barn siding, Lee Reposa installed it last night and mounted the Rotary emblem created by Royce Van Bebber.

President Elias pledges allegiance while holding virtual flag aloft.

Phoebe Ellis and Joe Tambe watch as Shari Ranney describes her new position as Program Manager of The Miracle League North Bay.

Heartfelt thanks to everyone from Lee Reposa.

This week's Editor: Al Cattalini