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Wednesday, February 20, 2008 convened by President Sally, theme for the year ‘Rotary Shares’.

Forrest F. led the pledge.

Thought of the Day:  Provided by Russell Rice:  If you want to make it to Rotary on time, leave earlier (famous quote from our very own treasurer, Liz).

VISITING ROTARIANS:  District Governor-Elect Ed Fullerton and his wife Carol (Petaluma); Al Kaplan (underground construction, Petaluma); Ken Hillman (locksmith, Petaluma Sunrise). 

VISITORS:  Travis White and Pat Landrum, Petaluma Circle of Change; Andrew Kern, local estate attorney; Richard (Kenya, Fed-Ex); Bonnie (Circle of Change).

ANNOUNCEMENTS / EVENTS.

Golf Tournament planning meeting – tomorrow (Thursday) evening 5:30 PM Rooster Run organizational meeting for the tournament. 

Libby gave an update to South County Rotaract progress, seeking new members 18 – 30 years of age.  Thursday, February 21st 6 – 8 PM at Rooster Run is the third introductory and informational meeting.

DGE Ed announced the two upcoming events:  PETS for Jim O’Grady; District Assembly April 12th with a big party the night before (come one, come all); International Convention in June in Los Angeles (compared to Hallie’s Comet, it will never get any closer, so attend this golden opportunity).  Sunrise has arranged the Starlight Express for people interested in attending by train.

District Assembly – get your reservations into Liz Marquardt ASAP, includes special programs for Rotary spouses, so bring your better half. 

This month’s SCARC is in Cloverdale, RSVP to Walt by this Friday or miss out on the fabulous crab feed.

Bartenders are needed for the Sonoma Mountain Elementary fundraiser on March 1, 2008, 5:30 – 10:30 PM at the Petaluma Community Center, Luchessi Park.  Call Jim Furuli’s cell (484-0263) to sign up; don’t make the four lonely PVR members who have signed up be the only folks pouring drinks that night – come and join the party and help. 

HAPPY DOLLARS, FINES, ETC.: 

Mo Jacobson celebrated his (no, Beverly’s) birthday back east with a gift to his Harold Alexander.  Bob Hill finished his fine schedule by celebrating almost a year’s worth of special events and trips (too many to even include in the viewpoint); Sue and Walt celebrated his daughter Heidi’s birthday; Kevin D. celebrating his Club anniversary by finishing off his fine schedule;

SHOWERS:  Jennifer C. emergency medical procedure, everyone should include Pedro in activities, especially this weekend.

Shadi S. offered to do a Persian dinner to raise funds for Cool Kids Camp ($100 per person idea to raise money for sending 10 kids to Camp).  If she hears from 40 people by March 5th for a dinner on March 16th, then we can move forward. 

Linda P. presented a $300 check to Sally on behalf of Stanley Mouse.  Special event with 10% to Rotary (Polio Plus or Cool Kids Camp), April 1st, let Linda P. know if you want an invitation.  President Sally passed the Uganda basket around to start the funding for next year’s project in Osukuru.

Ellie thanked Mo J. for helping with the Valentine’s dinner and dance; and Shadi S. for her generous donation for the live auction; with a gift toward Shadi’s Paul Harris.

Ray and Sue gave a happy dollar for Ray’s new kitty, Chico.

Diane Z. had an announcement but I missed it – so sorry.

Raffle:  The wrong colored marble was picked by Kathy F, so she didn’t win $100.

PROGRAM:  Challenge Day and Be the Change Movement.  Travis White, Pat Landrum and Bonnie.  Pat Landrum started the program with questions to the Rotarians about being bullied, picked on as a child; and whether it affected who you became as an adult.  Petaluma is a community committed to all young people succeeding.  No one operates under the misconception that all youth are doing fine – there is a gap.  How do we get ahead of that curve, so that a tipping point occurs, so all young people succeed, and never face fear to attend school, or an event.  What are the ways that we can open our hearts, so young people can flourish and grow, so that they can be everything possible.

Healthy Communities Consortium (HC2) was thinking and talking about opportunities to work on this issue when the Circle of Change came to light. 

Travis White, Wachovia Bank as mortgage team manager.  Circle of Change is a small sub-group of HC2.  Travis shared the vision of the group.  The Challenge Day is a day long program that takes place on the school campuses. Students experience an emotional day of learning empowerment.  Travis shared a video on the concept of Challenge Day, titled The Bully Solution.  The results of this program are pretty amazing.  The website offers impressive information and material www.challengeday.org . 

Goal is to provide funding for 10 days per school year in Petaluma; now looking for time volunteered and money to pay for the program.  Facilitators are both school staff and volunteers.  Cost is $3200 per day, $200 per school per year for ongoing services.  Each campus ends up with a ‘Be the Change’ Club to ensure continuation of the program throughout the four years of high school experience. 

Questions:  With over 2000 youth at Casa Grande High School, how does the program cover the students?  Answer:  the focus is on the freshmen class.  Pilot is Petaluma High, on April 1st.  Working with one of the teams teaching 100 students.  The program was introduced to the teachers and principals about a year ago; there continues to be issues around school climate, including racial tension, and upper/lower class teasing and bullying.  Once the date had been scheduled, other team teachers and the junior high indicated an interest in participating.  Funding sources are being sought – so if you or your business is interested, contact Tanya@healthycommunities.org to volunteer or donate.

$3,000 per Challenge Day goes to the Challenge Day organization for their highly-trained staff who participate in the program; remaining money goes to cover local expenses.


Your hapless Editor,
pt