April 29, 2021

This is the Rota-Teller for April 29, a meeting that never happened.  Unfortunately, the Rota-Teller for our April 22 meeting never happened.  (We seem to have some production issues.)  So, we are publishing this to give you lots of news from the April 22 meeting.  Get ready to mark up your calendars.

Debunking will be Friday, June 18.  (We’ll be dark on June 17 and 24.)  The Debunking will be at the home of Elias and Gina Husary, starting at 4:00 p.m.

Our last Thursday meeting of the Club year will occur on June 10.  It will be at the Adobe Creek Winery with attendance limited to 46 people.  More information will be forthcoming.

Now for last week’s photos:

This week's Editor: Al Cattalini

April 15, 2021

Hola!  President Anne opened the meeting from Cabo San Lucas.  Truly an international meeting!

Past District Governor/Past President Ed Fullerton led the Pledge of Allegiance in English, but for the sake of those in Cabo, here it is:
Yo prometo lealtad a la bandera de los Estados Unidos de América, y a la República que representa, una Nación, bajo Dios, indivisible, con libertad y justicia para todos.

Past President Michael Caruana delivered the thought for the day.   He shared his thoughts on the importance of teaching citizenship ethics to the next generation.  Michael will soon celebrate 70 years as a US citizen and humbly expressed gratitude to the US on behalf of himself and his brothers and sisters.

Raine Howe reported the Polly Klaas Theater is undergoing its inside and outside demolition in preparation for the renovation.  The buildings’ foundation will need a little more work than originally planned, but there are funds in the budget for this fix.  The encroachment permit is in process.  Shout out to Capital Electric for their contributions of materials and labor on the project.

Lunch was from Lombardi’s this week.  Hope everyone who ordered enjoyed the delicious meal.

Suzanne Tucker introduced our speaker.

Supervisor David Rabbitt covered:

                Covid 19 vaccine update

                drought/water conservation measures

                infrastructure projects

We will meet next on Thursday, May 6

Adios

This week's Editor: Joanne Ferris

April 8, 2021

The Prez, Anne Gealta, called the meeting to order at 12:37 pm to an unusually light crowd.

Suzanne Tucker led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Our patriotic prez cheerfully held up the flag during the Pledge!

Joanne Ferris presented the 'Thought for the Day', "The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you're made of, not the circumstances." 

Side Note: I used Joanne's picture from the Rotary website because I just couldn't fathom using the picture that Al Cattalini sent!

Sorry Joanne, but Al's photography motto is: 'haste makes waste'.

"There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment."

— Robert Frank

And those in attendance had the look of shock and awe (including Joanne!)...

The Prez gave us some Rotary/community updates:

Raine Howe was meeting with donors regarding the Polly Klaas Community Theater Project renovation, which is slated to begin renovation work soon. Our Rotary district grant is paying for the landscaping! For more information please visit: www.pollyklaas.org/community-theater/

We are now in the orange tier and Anne is hopeful that we can meet in person soon. She has also been discussing the golf tournament for next year. Anne also welcomed visiting Rotarian and former Petaluman Lou Steinberg.

Dan Berry had the pleasure of introducing our guest speaker, Roberto Bayetti.

Roberto Bayetti, Director of Security, Architecture, Quality Assurance, and Model Management, presented information regarding Electric Grid Security, in times of Cyber Terrorism and Natural Catastrophe.

Roberto Bayetti was born in Venezuela, studied Electronic Engineering, and has over 35 years in the electrical utility industry as an engineer, consultant and vendor. He began his career in 1980 at CADAFE in the electrical utility company for Venezuela, moving up to hold position of Head of the National Control Center. In 1995 Roberto went to Siemens, a global leader in power generation and automation technology, where he was Director of Operations for US offices. From 1999 to 2011 at KEMA Consulting, he worked on projects for accounts including Department of Energy, Smart Grid, Control Centers, and Market Systems. 

For the past ten years Roberto has worked for CAISO, the California Independent System Operator, which secures the electrical grid in the Western USA, and where he is the Director of Security, Architecture, Quality Assurance, and Model Management.  

This week's Editor: Doug Hecker

April 1, 2021

THE ORIGIN OF APRIL FOOLS DAY

We would be fools to think we all knew precisely when April Fools Day was originally celebrated...Historians speculate that April Fools Day dates back to 1582 when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian. When people failed to get the news that the New Year had moved to Jan 1, and they continued to celebrate the new year with the Spring equinox around April 1, they were called "APRIL FOOLS". 

So what has been one of the greatest April Fools pranks of all times? (See answer at the end of following minutes of our meeting)

Though Queen Anne brought all of the warmth and sunshine from outdoors into our weekly Zoom meeting, some allergies managed to accompany her as well. Not to slow her down, she managed to attach a Flag to her screen and asked Judi Allewelt to rekindle her teaching expertise in leading the Rotarians in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Raine Howe was called upon to present the thought of the day and she took a Mark Twainism... great people can get you to do great things. And she further elaborated on that theme by thanking the great Rotarians for their great support of the Polly Klaas Foundation. Raine further announced that a Groundbreaking Day is near along with a Working Day on the grounds of the Theatre Project!

Queen Anne took center square by sharing her screen to announce March birthday greetings, wedding anniversary cheer and a two-year Rotary anniversary for Alex Clark.

When our effervescent President announced the Rotarian of the Month, she decided to give it to all the Rotarians who made this year's Crab Feed and Super Raffle such a big success, Kudos to all.

Shari Ranney was called upon to introduce our guest speaker, David Simmer from the Sedona, AZ Rotary Club. Shari said she first heard David when he made his presentation at one of the monthly International Service Committee meetings hosted by former 5130 District Governor, Barb Spangler.  Shari brought him before our International Committee, and we were all highly impressed with all the work he has done in support of the Navajo Water Project.

David Simmer's presentation on the water poverty issues within the Navajo nation was extremely enlightening. The idea that over 70,000 people in the Navajo nation live without running water in their homes is astounding. And this is in a community where 50 % of the people are unemployed and about 44% of the children live in poverty...gut wrenching stats! Rotary's funding has been making a difference and will continue to do so through the efforts and support of the International Service Committees and Rotarians like David Simmer who have taken to the challenge!

For those of you who have gotten this far and want the answer to the greatest April Fools prank, it is "The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest" which was aired on April 1, 1957 by the BBC in a 3-minute segment highlighting Swiss spaghetti farmers plucking long strands of pasta from tree branches. Hundreds of credulous viewers wrote in asking how they could cultivate their own Spaghetti tree!

APRIL FOOL!

This week's Editor: Mike Ambrosio