September 24, 2020

As the autumn sun blazed thru the Zoom squares our tiara crowned President Anne called the meeting to order proudly displaying a newly created visual of the Flag to accompany our Pledge of Allegiance.

Our multi-talented photographer Al Cattalini came forward to present the thought of the day:

“It helps sometimes to be a little deaf in marriage and in every workplace, including the good job I have now.”  — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I am going to take editorial license to elaborate on our upcoming fund raiser, The Pride of Petaluma! Since President Anne was graciously allowing more time for our program, I will reinforce the following...Our Board has agreed to support our local businesses by purchasing gift cards, out of their own pockets, from local restaurants and merchants to be used as prizes for our raffle. We already have 12 pledges! There will be three gift baskets of the gift cards and a mix bag of items that were donated for a fund raiser to benefit the Polly Klaus Theatre that was canceled due to Covid! However, Raine Howe is donating them to our raffle baskets! WOW!!! Our timetable is to have tickets available for our fellow club members by early October, with the actual raffles scheduled to be drawn before the end of the month! Hopefully this will be a low key but effective campaign!

The Serenity Garden Project was addressed and Anne said she and Michael Caruana revisited to assess the overgrown area. With the help of our two neighboring Petaluma Rotary Clubs we will be scheduling a cleanup program to gain back the feel and the look of serenity once again!

Congratulatory listings of September birthdays and wedding anniversaries were displayed, again neatly created by our President who is gaining whiz status in Zooming technology! Kudos to President Anne!

Do I dare accept the Rotarian of the Month? I blush, I smile and I thank you President Anne for the kind words. Coming from you it is truly appreciated and a valued honor!

Shari Ranney introduced her guest Maureen Kennedy to the meeting.  Our visiting Rotarian was Bill Gabbert, Sunrise Rotary Club and COTS, Board President.

I think it is time for us to play a match game from the Rogue’s gallery of photos. Let’s run a series of pre-school photos and match them to our Rotarians of today! Fun?

And then it was time for the other half of the Ranneys, Chris to introduce our guests for today’s program, Jules Pelican, Program Director of COTS and Karen Strolia, Director and founder of  DST (Downtown Streets Team) in Petaluma.

DST is an organization that builds teams to restore dignity, hope, purpose while providing a path to remove homelessness. Homelessness does affect everyone! Currently there are 265 unhoused people in our city! It was heartwarming to hear how DST changes individuals’ attitudes, develops self-worth, enables individuals to give back to the community and of course the positive health effect, which is pronounced! It is special to see both groups working together and complimenting each other. Hats off to these organizations for rather than looking down on the people who are homeless, they are lifting them up!

Our meeting was brought to a close with the usual ringing of the bell by our ebullient President Anne, Have a good weekend everyone, be well, stay safe, wear your masks and keep your distances!

This week's Editor: Mike Ambrosio

September 17, 2020

As members and guests joined the Zoom meeting, there was an impromptu discussion of some amazing Petaluma restaurant owners.  Many agreed that these business people continue to impress us memorizing our orders and treating us so well.

 President Anne called the meeting to order with the American flag.

Charlie Stuart led us all in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Shellie Berry gave the thought for the day:  “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Past President Lou Steinberg was a visiting Rotarian.  Guests today were Brian Barnacle and Shela Borr.

President Anne called upon Raine Howe to update the club on the Polly Klaas Theater Project.  On Monday, the city council unanimously voted to turn the building over to the Polly Klaas Foundation for a complete renovation!

Past President Chris Ranney congratulated Raine and pointed out that her hard work these past few years has made the difference on this project.

President Anne announced that the garden at Petaluma People Services Center (PPSC) that was the focus of our three club project a few years ago is in need of maintenance.  There are blackberry bushes encroaching walkways and weeds choking out the garden.  Anne, Michael Caruana and Chris Ranney will visit the site to define scope of work, needed help and equipment and schedule future work days.  Stay tuned.

Suzanne Tucker introduced our speaker.

 Jason Arnold, Petaluma Poultry Processors provided the many steps taken by management and employees to safely continue production.  

This week's Editor: Joanne Ferris

Keep scrolling — there is more coming!

September 10, 2020

We had a large group for our weekly meeting, as most were staying in-doors to avoid the smoke and Covid-19 (sounds like a good name for a mixed drink: "Bartender, I'll have a Smoke and a Covid-19 over the rocks, please!").

President Anne Gealta was all smiles as she kicked-off another Zoom meeting. She announced that there will not be a SCARC meeting this month. She also mentioned that all dues by members have been paid - great job team (I'm glad we didn't have to send out Cousin Chris Ranney to collect dues or break some knee caps for those who are delinquent!!!).

"Pay your dues or you'll be getting a visit from me, Capiche!"

It was great to see Clark Rosen, a former Petaluman now living in retirement in Colorado.

Lou Steinberg was also a Zoom visitor and currently lives in Colorado too! Both Clark and Lou are long-time Rotarians and great community supporters no matter where they live. Clark mentioned the fire season in Colorado has been bad, "the fires this year have been the third worst in Colorado history" said Rosen. He also mentioned that last week the temperature was 100 degrees and then the next day the temperature dropped below freezing and they received snow.

Shela Borr, a guest of Joanne Ferris, joined us again - it's great to have visitors (thanks Shela and Joanne!).

Brian Barnacle visited our meeting too (thanks to Jim Symons for inviting Brian).

Brandon Trammell led the Pledge of Allegiance and was all smiles (look at those pearly whites - he's either using Crest Whitening Strips or Liquid Paper).

Chris Elzi handled the Thought for the Day and once again reached into vault of Mark Twain quotes: "Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience."

Raine Howe gave an update on the progress of the Polly Klaas Community Arts Center. Our president, Ms. Anne Gealta, sent an e-mail today (Tuesday, September 15, 2020) with an update:

"It's time to CELEBRATE!!!

The City of Petaluma passed the ordinance needed to move the Polly Klaas Community Arts Center forward! What does this mean? It means that the City has agreed to transfer the Polly Klaas Community Theater to the Polly Klaas Foundation once the Foundation has a combined $600K in cash and in-kind donations to begin the renovation. This is YOUR opportunity to step up and donate as the Polly Klaas Foundation only needs $90K to reach that goal.

There are still a few of the special Directors Club sponsorship designations available. $10K gets you special recognition and an invite to a private party at Alicia Hansel's home. Our own John Zimmerman has graciously donated and will be recognized with the other folks that follow his lead. Let's make this happen!!  

I am so proud of Raine Howe and everything she has done to make this project a reality! I am especially grateful to both Raine and Elias Husary who brought this project to the forefront last year and helped to make it a community effort with Petaluma Valley Rotary and Petaluma Rotary Club.    
There is Hope in their air... it's moments like these that make me proud to be a Rotarian....to be apart of a community that sticks together and works endlessly towards a common goal!  

Congratulations Polly Klaas Foundation! Can't wait to start digging and planting!!"  

Mike Baddeley was smiling from cheek-to-cheek when the discussion of his daughter's wedding came up. However, he was very vague when asked when and where the wedding will take place. "One of my daughters is getting married towards the end of September" said a thrilled Baddeley (another kid off the payroll - no wonder he was smiling!).

Suzanne Tucker introduced our guest speaker, Sheba Person-Whitley, the Director of Economic Development for Sonoma County since 2019.

Sheba Person-Whitley, Director of Economic Development for Sonoma County, enlightened us about the economic conditions in Sonoma County and the purpose of her department. "We are a county government department and we are an advocate for businesses. Everything we do is free. We focus heavily on helping anyone who wants to start a business. We help people navigate through the process and explain the requirements and if a license is required. We help with all of the details of opening a business." Person-Whitley continued to explain that her department also provides market research analysis, data, site selection, business expansion and other services to help businesses thrive and survive in Sonoma county. She also mentioned that the economy in Sonoma county should recover in the year 2023.

This week's Editor: Doug Hecker