June 25, 2020
AND SO IT GOES...
‘Twas the thirteenth Virtual Zoom Petaluma Rotary Club Meeting and the links were filling up fast! Yup, this marked the passing of the gavel and President Elias was ever ready and oh so willing ...yet with a twinge of nostalgia!
With a contingent of family members on hand including wife Gina, daughter Isabel and son George...who were joined by Elias’ youthful Mom Josephine, Gina’s equally youthful looking parents, Elias’ sisters and a brother in law...our proud President called his final meeting to order, RAH! RAH! A rousing Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all!
Since no ‘Thought of the day’ was given and I was pictured in a pensive pose (hmm) I am offering this thought;
BE INTERESTED, NOT INTERESTING. WE NEED TO LISTEN MORE TO LEARN MORE. DON’T FOCUS ON OURSELVES. BY BEING INTERESTED IN OTHERS WE CONNECT ON A DEEPER LEVEL AND PEOPLE LEARN WE DO CARE ABOUT WHAT THEY SAY!
Nuf said!
Before turning the festivities over to the debunking crew, President Elias tended to some business on hand. His final selection of Rotarian of the Month was announced as Joanne Ferris...for just being herself, the consummate professional who handles any task!
Thankfully, a very brief financial summary showed that Elias’ term of office netted nearly $50,000 through fund raising efforts. KUDOS!
Newly anointed Rotarian of the Month, Joanne Ferris took center square on Zoom to lead us to . . .
. . . Mike Baddeley and Doug Hecker who traced the life of Elias Husary from toddler to President.
Through a series of colorful photos the editorial comments were succinct and on target! From birth in Jerusalem to Rotarian Presidency at the Petaluma Country Club.
Our Elias is quite a guy, and has led a most interesting, successful life. We were blessed to have a year from this real estate mogul’s life devoted exclusively to us and 2019-2020 proved to be unmatched, as we certainly were “All in this together” thanks to him!
Before Elias passed the gavel AND bell to President Elect, Anne Gealta, he had some final thoughts along with special recognition.
He spoke of his history in Rotary highlighting his angst over a craft talk...yet his ascension into the Presidency bringing him the added confidence to leadership. His credo from senior members was..”when Rotary asks you, you never say NO!”
Along with his thanks to Rotarians who show up for every meeting to keep the meetings aglow, etc., Elias singled out Tom Baker for his unbelievable ticket sales from Crab Feed raffles over the past five years!
Alex Clark, Rookie of the Year honors for his overall support in many events all year long.
And finally to President Elect Rick Gorman, Rotarian of the Year for his continuing stellar support!
Thereafter Elias joined tiara clad, Queen Anne into his Zoom square and introduced her to fellow Rotarians and friends as the new President!
When our newly crowned vivacious President took center square, she happily thanked everyone for being so supportive in the transition. President Anne is extremely grateful for the warmth that she is receiving from her newly announced board who, under her guidance and leadership will make it (in her own words) “A FUN YEAR!”
This week's Editor: Mike Ambrosio
June 18, 2020
This was President Elias’s last official meeting before his final meeting…..So he winged it for the first time (he claims).
It was also our 12th meeting via Zoom!
Everyone recited the Pledge of
Allegiance, but not nearly as in sync as the cast of Hamilton when they
appeared on Zoom in March.
Thought for the Day from Chris Elzi
"With malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan ~ to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." President Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address March 4, 1865
President Elias announced our next Rotary Blood Drive will be June 30th and July 1.
When: June 30th & July 1st from 9 AM - 2 PM
Where: St. John’s Episcopal Church 6th and C street
If interested, prospective donors should go to https://bloodheroes.com and type the code PVRSJE to sign up.
Slots are filling up fast, we already have 17 donors signed up.
If you are just interest in volunteering to help with the blood drive, here is the link
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080d4eacaa22a5fd0-assist1
Shari Ranney announced that this Saturday, June 20th Miracle League Northbay’s Mascot “Homer” will be driving in a parade visiting each MLNB player’s home. We have great participation from some club members that day. Shari reported that the Argus will be covering the story so check out the paper next week and MLNB’s Facebook page for photos.
Joanne Ferris announced
there is a socially distant gathering next Thursday, June 25 at the
Husary’s from 5 pm to 7 pm. Joanne will resend the link to all
again. Hope everyone who feels comfortable will attend.
President-elect Anne Gealta announced that the Members’ Holiday
Party will be at Seared on December 19, 2020.
Past President Rick Mossi reminded
all members of our Club’s Local Foundation Board that there is a meeting
tomorrow morning. With the pandemic arriving during traditional grant
season, the foundation has been using a modified approach to dispersing
funds. Rick will give a full report at a club meeting in the next few
months.
Alex Clark presented his craft talk with his two kids Ria and Reed. Our club is stronger having Alex as a new member. He is on the program committee and looks forward to continuing work with the Miracle League Northbay among other club activities.
Our program speaker was Jamy
Wheless, Co-Founder of Lightstream Animation Studios.
Jamy gave an outstanding presentation telling the story of his life and his adventures in digital animation that led to his passion for connecting people and their stories. It could not have been a better program for the week of Father's Day!
His most recent release is "Pig
on the Hill" narrated by Pierce Brosnan.
You can view it on YouTube Here.
Smiling....President Elias wished all the dads a Happy Father's Day.
This week's Editor: Joanne Ferris
June 11, 2020
Our latest Petaluma Rotary Club chicken badge recipient is Sven! Congratulations!
Guest speaker Chad Asay from Sonoma Clean Power gave a very informative speech regarding the production of clean power vs. the use fossil fuels. He mentioned that technology is improving rapidly and many new programs and alternatives are available. He's also the planning commissioner for the City of Cloverdale (a very busy person!). Thanks for such a great and informative speech Chad!
Elias was all smiles because he was able to infiltrate the Petaluma Country
Club storage locker and he obtained the bell for our Zoom meeting! The Prez
also gave an update regarding the Miracle League driving parade with Homer the
mascot.
Raine Howe continues to smile and continues to volunteer her time - thank you for all that you do Raine (you're an asset to our Rotary club and our community).
The Ranney's introduced our guest speaker, Chad Asay (Shari was all smiles because she nudged Chris halfway out of the photo).
Brett Shinn delivered the 'Thought for the Day' and reminded us that we all need to learn to love, not hate. He had to re-do one part of his speech a few times due to Zoom technology issues (or was it Presidential censorship???), but despite the hiccups his speech was well received and his message was loud and clear! President Elias had to mute us all while Brett was delivering his speech due to background noise and interference (I bet he wishes that he can have the power to mute us all when we meet live at the Country Club when there is background noise and interference!). Keep up the great work Mr. Censorship, I mean Mr. President (for those of you still on edge this is meant to be sarcastic!)...
Lou Steinberg and Molly Radany were returning visitors! Thanks for your continued support and thank you for joining us!
Rotary members in Zoom action! I think Elias was imitating Dr. Anthony Fauci at one of his many press conferences! It looks like one of our members towards the bottom left-hand corner is getting ready to rob a bank!
This week's Editor: Doug Hecker