November 21, 2024
CLUB SOCIAL at The WASHOE HOUSE
SAVE THE DATE: 12/19/24 Meeting Program Speaker: Assembly Member Damon Connelly
It was a very rainy week but our members braved the elements to raise a toast at one of our area's oldest watering holes.
Our Holiday Party is this
Wednesday, December 4 at Cattlemens.
Our 2026-2027 Club President will be announced!
The board of directors for 2025-2026 will be introduced too.
Today's Editor: Joanne Ferris
November 14, 2024
A VISIT FROM OUR DISTRICT GOVERNOR
Although we woke to a rainy morning, the sun was ablaze as Board Members began to congregate at the Country Club to meet with District 5130's Governor Jim O'Grady and former Lt. Gov. Len Geraldi. Once inside, the Charismatic O'Grady discussed his coverage of 43 Clubs within the District emphasizing The Magic of Rotary International theme along with our District's leaning toward friendships. With the opportunity to get to know Board Members the ebullient O'Grady asked each member to not only introduce themselves but also share their activities within our club and memorable Rotary events.
Before he left to celebrate his 60th birthday abroad, President Ricardo Marzo asked former President Royce Van Bebber to take over the hosting chores of the meeting and with that charge he called the meeting to order . . .
. . . and asked Mike Ferris to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Following which Royce called upon Lee Reposa to use his vocal talent to kick off a rousing rendition to God Bless America. Mission accomplished!
Chris Elzi came forth to deliver some provocative Thoughts of the Day.
With a showing of camaraderie and fellowship, Royce then asked us all to greet, hug, et al., one another.
A sunshine report was delivered by Chris Ranney telling us that a check on John Dado and John Zimmerman found both gents are doing okay. Chris also shared with us that our favorite canine Jocelyn has completed her training with the Ranney’s and is now off to the finals before graduating. We will miss her presence at our meetings, for sure.
Judi Allewelt announced that once again she and Elias have partnered with Target to buy Holiday gift cards for needy families in the area. Volunteering Rotarians will be making the purchases following detailed instructions distributed at the meeting.
Once again, we will be hosting our annual Crab Feed on Feb. 21. Brian Breen and Rick Gorman, our gracious Raffle Chairmen will be managing the Raffle Program which continues to be a major fund raiser.
Madame President Elect Shari Ranney was pleased to announce that the International Committee has several new projects to support. The Committee was recently hosted at Sue Symons’ home and will be having bimonthly meetings next year.
A smiling Michael Nistler won the raffle and a bottle of fine wine.
It's that time of year to look forward to the Holidays and once again we will share in Yuletide greets, etc., on December 4. when we will Deck the Halls at our annual Party. It will be at the Cattlemans...their last hoopla before closing at the end of the year. Boo Hoo!!
And then it was time for our hosting Ex President Royce to ask Len Geraldi to come forward and introduce District Governor Jim O'Grady, which he did in exemplary style.
The ebullient O'Grady opened his remarks under the International Rotary theme - THE MAGIC OF ROTARY. Complete with visuals he segued into the power and influence in building friendships through Rotary. To that extent O'Grady has been presenting a District Friendship Award to a member of each club throughout his journey. Unfortunately, our recipient, Joanne Ferris, was not on hand to accept her award but was greeted by a round of applause from her "friends" in Rotary.
O'Grady continued to energize the room with his presentation. During his term of office his focus for District 5130 is the Environment, Mental Health and Human Trafficking.
Another caveat he highlighted was that online, the "Rotary Fellowships" page can take you to areas of interest worldwide with fellow Rotarians in similar subjects from Astrology to Whiskey. Something worth a try for sure!
One final thought here...Hats Off to our Programming Committee for continuing to bring us a cross-section of diverse but always interesting talents.
MAY WE ALL SHARE IN A PEACEFUL AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Today's Editor: Mike Ambrosio
November 7, 2024
Is it the TRUTH? That’s the first question of the Four-Way Test. And Acting President Anne Gealta saw that the wall clock was still showing daylight time. That wasn’t the truth, so she went about getting things right. Good job, Queen Anne!
Filling in for President Ricardo who is celebrating his 60th birthday in Europe, Past President Anne Gealta called the meeting to order.
After our Pledge of Allegiance, Dan Berry led the singing of God Bless America.
Next, Michael Caruana, looking forward to Veterans Day on November 11, gave his Thought for the Day, a reflection on the sacrifices made by veterans. Then he asked all veterans present to stand. In response, Michael Nistler, Cary White, Phil Henry, and Al Cattalini stood to a round of applause.
We had visiting Rotarians from Windsor, Petaluma Valley, and Petaluma Sunrise. Dan Berry had two guests: Rosaria Chamberlin and her daughter, Gayle, a past RYLA graduate.
New member Trisha Young delivered her craft talk. Seems she is a lifelong Petaluma resident with five children and now an active career in real estate. She joined Rotary to continue the volunteer work she did while her children were in school and is currently co-chairing the Environment Committee with Brandon Trammell. (If you are wondering why Trisha’s photo looks so professional, it’s because your editor was so engrossed with her remarks that he forgot to snap a picture.)
Judi Allewelt, who co-chairs the Children’s Holiday Gift program with Elias Husary, explained the workings of the gift card program and the 20 Rotarian volunteers she will need. Their task is simple: Download the Target app onto their phone, then visit Target and purchase eleven $50 Target gift cards and deliver them to Judi or Elias. (Total cost will be $250 since the 11th card is free when you buy 10.) See Judi at next week’s meeting to sign up and get more information.
District Governor Jim O’Grady will visit our club next Thursday. A 10am Board meeting at PG&CC will precede the meeting. A tri-club social with the District Governor will be held on Wednesday, November 20 at 5:0pm at the Petaluma Yacht Club.
Sunshine Report: John Zimmerman is still at Petaluma Post-Acute Rehab recuperating from a broken leg. He’ll be there for a while (until he is walking) and welcomes visitors.
Our next Club Social will be Thursday, November 21 (4:30pm to 6:30pm) at the Washoe House. We’ll be dark for lunch that day
Mark your calendar for our Holiday Party on Wednesday, December 4 (new date!) at Cattlemens. More information soon.
Sue Symons and Nancy Karidis Koepke got their chicken badges today.
Although she was unable to attend today’s meeting, Cindy Thomas was announced as Rotarian of the Month. Congratulations, Cindy, for a well-deserved honor!
The International Committee will meet at 5:30pm Monday at Sue Symons’ home. All interested members are invited.
Visiting Rotarian (and guest speaker) Renee Hyde had the winning raffle ticket and won a bottle of wine which she graciously donated back to the Club.
Program chairman Dan Berry introduced our speaker, Renee Hyde.
Renee gave an interesting presentation on the Rotary Youth Exchange program including the new short-term summer program. It was an interesting discussion with lots of questions from the audience.
See you next Thursday when we welcome the District Governor!
Today's Editor: Al Cattalini