November 19, 2020

Queen ANNE GEALTA rang in our regular luncheon Zoom meeting on precisely the appointed ½ hour (12:30pm),

and immediately had President Elect RICK GORMAN lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

MICHAEL CARUANA then delivered quite the existentialist Thought for the Day on tolerance. 

Former club member sweet Lou Steinberg was the only visiting Rotarian who zoomed in, and SUZANNE TUCKER’s friend Carol Eber, was the lone guest who joined us.  Queen Anne then noted that the lunch for the day was provided by Dempsey’s and there were 30 lunch orders!  She went on to note that it is not all about the food, but supporting local restaurants, as well.  Bon Appetit!

Her Majesty then acknowledged and commended SALLY BRASSIER for her Paul Harris +1.  Congratulations, Sally!

RAINE HOWE gave us an update on the Polly Klauss Theatre Project, and cheerfully announced that

ED FULLERTON and CAROL FULLERTON had each donated $10,000.00 to become the newest members of the Theatre’s Directors Club!  Raine went on to say that the project is now only $30,000 away from its cash-in-hand goal!

After a final call to buy a ticket for our Pride of Petaluma Raffle (which our speaker did, by the way!), Queen Anne and MICHAEL AMBROSIA held the raffle, with the following results:

3rd Place: Mike Howe (Rainey’s Dad)

2nd Place: CAROLYN BUCK (Club Member)

1st Place: Cara Jen Kelly (Mike Ambrosia’s Daughter)

There was also a consolation prize basket, which was won by MICHAEL NISTLER.  Kudos to all the winners and to everyone who bought and sold tickets for this worthwhile Club fundraiser!

Her Royal Highness announced that our Club is dark next week, and that there will be no board meeting this month in deference to Thanksgiving.  She then zoomed over to SUZANNE TUCKER for the introduction of our speaker,

Olga Fernandez, of the Windsor Guerrero Fernandez Family Winery, who gave us a very informative presentation on her family’s experience as a local winemaker and how rewarding it has been. 

Whereupon, by Royal Decree, our fair-haired Monarch adjourned the meeting and wished us all a Happy Thanksgiving!  Gobble, gobble, gobble!!

November 12, 2020

Wearing her trademark tiara Queen Anne called the meeting to order at 12:35.

She promptly called on Joanne Ferris to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.  Ever wonder where that scenic background is?  Looks to this sailor like the coast of Central California.  Maybe Anne will let us know.

Chris Ranney was next with his (election-inspired?) Thoughts for the Day: (1) An old Italian proverb: After the game is over, the king and the pawn go into the same box. (2) Something about being careful while eating Buffalo wings while wearing a white tuxedo.  (I obviously got lost here and couldn’t write fast enough!) (3) Live your life so people don’t dance in the street when you lose your job.

We couldn’t see her, but Judi Allewelt briefed on our Christmas Gifts for Needy Kids program in the era of Covid-19.  It’s looking like this year’s gifts will be Target gift cards (in fancy bags) delivered by school personnel.  Henry Hansel’s office is helping to obtain names of needy kids from the schools.

The November SCARC “dinner” will be Zoomed at 5:30 p.m. next Thursday.  You’ll find more info in Anne’s email.

The Pride of Petaluma raffle has been extended one week to next Thursday.  Mike Ambrosio reported that he has 70 tickets sold so far with about a dozen more committed. 

Raffle co-chair Greg O’Brien joined Queen Anne in urging members to buy (or sell) more tickets so we can reach our goal of 100 tickets sold.

At this point in the meeting the inevitable happened.  At one time you would have said there was a loss of steam pressure . . . or a blown fuse . . . or vapor lock . . . or evil spirits.  Our Zoom meeting self-destructed before us as videos froze, screens went dark, audio became chopped or inaudible, and we all scratched our collective heads.  System overload? Lack of bandwidth? Hackers?  Evil spirits?  Who knows?  But Queen Anne smartly presided over Zoom restoration and we were back in business!

Anne Greenblatt who, with her husband Paul, founded the Village Network of Petaluma six years ago was our featured speaker.

She was accompanied by executive director Millie Anderson.  Together they discussed their philosophy of “aging better together” with people helping people.  The local Village Network currently has 125 members and is assisted by 100 volunteers.  It is part of a network of 250 villages around the country. 

Raine Howe happily discussed a phone call from an successful Crab Feed auction bidder.  Their interest in supporting the Polly Klaas performing arts center resulted in a $25,000 gift to the center.  We are now just $40,000 away from having the required funds to start construction!

Ed and Carol Fullerton opined that “we just like to see the young folks having a good time.  We are doing well.”

Brett Shinn was ecstatic about the 87% Yes vote for Measure CC which will ensure the continued operation of Petaluma Valley Hospital for years to come.

Jaime Symons reports that her parents Jim and Sue are doing fine.

Sherry Burwen says she’s OK but was disturbed that her husband, Michael, was in an automobile collision while in the doctor’s office.  The car needed doctoring but a fervent appeal by Michael led to the collision becoming a non-collision.  Clear?

Bano Cummings reports that the Interact Club is meeting weekly on Zoom and is looking for projects.  Contact Bano if you’d like to attend one of their Zoom meetings.

Michael Nistler (who seems to be hiding from the camera) had a big “Yay!” for Mike Ambrosio and his work on the Pride of Petaluma raffle.  Speaking of the raffle tickets he got a standing ovation (is that possible on Zoom?) when he proclaimed he “will buy all you got left.”  Thanks, Michael!

Michael also reported seeing Linda Frost who is keeping busy with volunteer work since the death of her husband Fred on October 16.  Fred was a longtime member of our Club; we will always remember his smile.

This week's Editor: Al Cattalini

November 5, 2020

As the bright sunshine burst through the Zoom Squares, our quintessential Queen of all Rotarian Queens, fresh from a photo shoot at the lunch delivery depot, called our first November meeting to order.

The ever busy Judy McReynolds was on hand to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, maintaining a truly patriotic moment amid the chaos of Election week!

Then it was Carolyn Buck’s turn to take center square giving us the “thought of the day”, attributed to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

One of our ambassadors of the International Committee, Michael Caruana, briefly discussed a Zoom Meeting he attended re the project fair in Ecuador

While we were highlighting the international program our Committee Chair, Shari Ranney touted the District international Committee Zoom to be held on Monday, Nov. 9 where Lisa Kristine, noted global photographer and humanitarian will be guesting. We are all invited!

Queen Anne urged all Rotarians to continue to join our lunch program in support of the local community restauranteurs, Lombardi’s is onboard for next week’s lunches. Bon Appetite!!

With a week to go before the drawing for the three baskets of cheer, The Pride of Petaluma team is encouraging all fellow Rotarians to mail in your checks and raffle stubs ASAP. Poor Mike Ambrosio is developing acute AGIDA as the deadline nears!

Raine Howe is keeping close tabs on the actual monetary flow for her Polly Klaas Theatre Project and is confident that she and her Board will reach their goal. I am with you Raine!  We will reach our $10,000 goal from The Pride of Petaluma for your project!

When Brandon Trammell introduced our guests he became part of the actual program by moderating the discussion of Conscious Capitalism. Kudos to Brandon!

Matt Reynolds is co-founder and President of Indigenous Clothing, an organic, fair-trade fashion brand. His enthusiasm was truly inspiring and apparent to our audience.

The captivating Johanna Lyman is a leading consultant at Kalabra, artificial intelligence group in the Bay Area. Their presentations under the guidance of Brandon Trammell was on point...so much so that the question and answers continued beyond the close of our meeting!

And when Queen Anne closed our meeting with her ringing of the bell a number of Rotarians hung out with our guests to continue their Q & As.

Be safe, stay well and hope the ‘Election’ keeps our country United!

This week's Editor: Mike Ambrosio