March 23, 2023
*REMINDER: We are Dark on Thursday, March 30, 2023 (NO MEETING)!
*REMINDER: We have a meeting on April 13, 2023
*ANNOUNCEMENT: Upcoming Social: April 13, 2023 at 6:00 pm - Dinner at Water Street Bistro, 100 Petaluma Blvd North, Petaluma, Ca 94952 - 707.763.9563 - Prix Fixe Menu: salad of seasonal greens, pears, hazelnuts and choice of roasted salmon w/asparagus or Boeuf Bourguignon Valrhona, tart w/passion fruit coulis, wine served w/meal (red and white). Price: $50 per person plus tip! Advanced reservations are recommended. Seating is limited to 30! Call Dan Berry or Rick Gorman.
President Royce Van Bebber called our meeting to order and mentioned that he's ready for Spring (as I write this it is pouring rain)!
Past President Rick Gorman led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Michael Caruana led the song for the day and chose the National Anthem (we need a little work on that song - we were rusty and sounded like a choir led by a motley crew of misfits)!
Sherry Burwen handled the thought for the day and reflected upon the recent violent incident that took place at East Denver High School where she graduated in 1960.
President Royce Van Bebber congratulated Judy McReynolds as the Rotarian of the Month! Congratulations Judy, well deserved!
Jan Grimes graced us with her Craft Talk. She was born in Portland, OR and grew-up in the Midwest near Chicago. She is one of four children and Jan attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, Upstate New York. She then attended grad school in Iowa for counseling and social work. Shortly after college she moved to San Francisco and was a Rotarian in San Rafael for 13 years. She moved to Healdsburg and lived there for 9 years and now lives in Penngrove.
Past president Michael Nistler won the cash drawing (Jaime Symons drew the winning ticket)!
Brandon Trammell introduced Lynne Moquete and student volunteers from Una Vida (Claire, Ixzy and Jocelyn).
Our guest speakers: Lynne Moquete and student volunteers from Una Vida, Claire, Ixzy and Jocelyn. Lynne is a retired teacher from Casa Grande High School (taught for 30 years) and is the Executive Director on Una Vida, Petaluma. Jocelyn is a student lead volunteer. According to their website, "Una Vida is committed to building community, inspiring change and helping community-members thrive. Together we inspire generosity, mobilize resources and distribute donations to community-members in Petaluma, California and our partner communities in the Dominican Republic. As a grassroots community organization, we partner with community leaders, public educators and fellow non-profits to identify those in need and connect them to resources that address their unique circumstances." For more information, or to get involved, please visit: www.una-vida.org
Today's Editor: Doug Hecker
March 16, 2023
President ROYCE O’VAN BEBBER opened our pre-St. Patrick’s Day meeting at precisely 12:30 and immediately had
MICHAEL “Green Beer” BADDELEY lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a rousing rendition of God Bless America
led by LEE “the Leprechaun” REPOSA. The customary handshake, hugs and blessings amongst our members ensued.
SHARI “Shillelagh Stick” RANNEY gave us
a humorous Thought for the Day about Irish potato bags,
followed by the introduction of the Visiting Rotarians and guests of
Rotarians who joined us for lunch.
The Prez then reported that there were 244 celebrants at the Club’s wildly successful 100-Year Anniversary Gala event (most of whom were sober!!) and
he gave a heartfelt thanks on behalf of the entire Club to event chair ONITA “St. Patty” PELLIGRINI and everyone on her committee who made it all happen, including MAGGIE McRADNAY, CHRIS “Erin GoBragh” RANNEY, and JOHN “Dunnigan” DADO, with special recognition of JUDY “Jameson” McREYNOLDS and SUE “Shamrock” SYMONS for the fantastic job they did decorating the Elks Lodge!!
The Prez went on to compliment BRANDON “Bushmills” TRAMMELL for his gator-lighted goggle floor dancing at the event!! Needless to say, a very good time was had by all!!
Next, BRIAN “Blarney Stone” BREEN and RICK “Faith and Begorrah” GORMAN gave
us a final report on the Super Raffle: $47,910.00 gross,
$35,910.00 net, 203 more tickets sold than in 2022, and numerous
other facts and figures, including that once again TOM “Corned
Beef” BAKER, the eponym of the Tom Baker Raffle, was the
lead ticket seller at 184! Great job, Tom!
SHARI RANNEY then reminded us of the upcoming Petaluma
Whiffle Ball Tournament to be held April 1 at Lucchesi Park: there
will be 28 teams or 4 fields, sign-ups will continue until March 26, there are
still 4 team slots open, and Sharri needs volunteers to help with set-up on
March 31. Call Sharri for further details. MAGGIE RADANY gave
us a Sunshine Report on MIKE “Irish Ale” AMBROSIA who
unfortunately had to miss the Club’s
100 Year Anniversary celebration event due to being hospitalized
with a case of covid pneumonia and having to resume chemo treatment –
we all wish Mike well and hope he gets to come home soon!!
JOANNE “Finbar” FERRIS then
gave as a report on Club bylaws that needed to be updated
to conform with those recommended by Rotary International,
which updated bylaws were duly proposed for adoption, seconded and
unanimously approved.
The Prez and Club Membership chair ONITA PELLIGRINI then happily inducted two new members into the Club,
namely LENA FURLONG
and CASSIE PITKIN, who were warmly welcomed with a standing ovation…we look forward to seeing them at our meetings and getting to know them!
JUDY “Luck of the Irish” ALLEWELT won the raffle (good for a nice bottle of wine),
followed by JAMIE “Sinead” SYMONS introduction of our speaker,
Jim Carriere, who gave us an update on all the wonderful stuff Shelter Box is doing around the world, including in Ukraine and in various parts of Turkey and Syria for earthquake relief. He received a big round of applause for a program well received.
Finally, the Prez turned the microphone over to our Irish joke competitors,
each of whom did their best to garner a laugh from a tough audience
with the consensus being that CINDY “Camogie” THOMAS came in first place, followed by CHRIS RANNEY and Jan Grimes, who tied for second! So, on that note, I leave you with this:
A slightly overweight Irishman man goes to the doctor for a physical. After examining him, the doctor says: “You have some problems with your heart, but if you take these tablets regularly I think everything will be okay. So, the doctor gives the Irishman the tablets, who asks: “Do I have to take them every day?”“No,” replies the doctor, “just take one on Monday, skip Tuesday, take the next one on Wednesday, then skip Thursday and go on like that and you should be fine.” Two weeks later the doctor is walking down the street and he sees the Irishman’s wife. “Hello Mrs. Murphy,” he says. “How’s your husband doing?”“Oh, I guess you haven’t heard, he died of a heart attack,” says Mrs. Murphy. “I’m very sorry to hear that”, said the doctor, “I thought if he took those tablets faithfully he would be all right.” “Oh, he did, and the tablets were fine,” says Mrs. Murphy. “But it was all the bloody skipping every other day that killed him!”
Today's Editor: Mike Baddeley
March 2, 2023
President Royce opened the meeting with his story about getting caught in a snowstorm in Cloverdale the previous Friday. We all welcomed the sun today after enduring a week of brutally cold and wet weather.
Past President Lee Reposa led the room in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Past President Elias Husary led the singing of God Bless America.
The Thought(s) for the Day were spoken by Past President Michael Caruana.
We had one visiting Rotarian today, Jim “Kimo” Becker who was here with us from the Big Island of Hawaii. We had 5 visitors who were guests of Rotarians.
Past President Onita Pellegrini provided us with an update on the Petaluma Rotary Club’s 100th Birthday Party to be held on Saturday, March 11th at the Petaluma Elk’s Club. She reminded us to get money and food orders in ASAP.
Brian Breen gave us an update on the Tom Baker Super Raffle ticket sales. As of this date, we are $300 away from last year's total ticket sales of $20,000. Any remaining tickets to be turned in should be delivered to either Brian or to Past President Rick Gorman no later than 1:00 on Friday, March 10th.
Doug Hecker made an announcement about a newly released film called Project Censored The Movie: Ending the Reign of Junk Food News. Information can be found at www.projectcensoredthemovie.com. (apology to Doug on behalf of our photographer who apparently had lighting issues)
Jim “Kimo” Becker informed us of an event happening on Saturday March 4th at Balletto Vineyards, Together Again for Telemedicine. The event is from 5-7pm.
Katrin Ciaffa of 10.000 Degrees informed us of a volunteer opportunity to be held on April 20th at Petaluma High Scholl for an event called Money Matters. Go to www.10000degrees.org for more info.
Dan Berry reminded us of the upcoming Irish Joke Competition which will be held during our Club’s March 16th member’s meeting at the Petaluma Golf & Country Club. Club members are to let Dan know if they would like to enter the competition to win a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey.
Kristen Myburgh delivered an engaging craft talk which included some interesting bits of info… Kristen tells us she was a good student, but not an athletic one. Her mom was a teacher at the high school she attended, and she apparently had a heavy foot back then which earned her a speeding ticket while on the way to class one day. She studied psychology in college and got married shortly after where she and her husband made Sunnyvale their home. Kristen relocated to Petaluma where she currently lives with her 2nd husband. She has a son, 23 years old. Kristen works at Blue River Technology, their mission is to create intelligent machinery that solves monumental challenges for their customers.
Jan Grimes was the winner of the lunchtime raffle and selected a nice bottle of wine to take away.
Today’s speaker was our own Past President Tawny Tesconi who is the CEO of the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma. Tawny gave us a detailed history of the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds and an overview of its operations. She explained how the fairgrounds serves our county during disasters and evacuations while also providing a place for gatherings. She explained the process the Petaluma City Council began last year with hiring Healthy Democracy, a US-based nonprofit that works to assist with public decision making, to oversee a study to examine what Petaluman’s would like to see for the fairground's future. In an October 24, 2022, Petaluma City Council meeting, it was decided that the lease of the 55-acre property will no longer be held by the 4th District Agricultural Association with the City of Petaluma taking control on January 1st, 2024. Currently there is no movement in negotiations while the Fair board and the City of Petaluma Attorney continue to disagree on the appropriate use of the 55 acres.
Today's Editor: Cindy Thomas