DMD Reporting--RTC Shooting
Jan. 10 - Ben Stone, Sonoma County Economic Development Board
Opportunities to Grow Your Business: What's Ahead in 2007
Jan. 17 - Todd Cary, Entrepreneur & Rotarian
Tips & Techniques for Taking Good Pictures with a Pocket Digital Camera
Jan. 24 - Capucine DeHedouville, Rotary Youth Exchange Student
Jan. 31 - Richard Herman, dickherman communications
Sonoma County Specialty Manufacturers ... Business Gems in our Community
Happy New Year!!
Other important dates:
Jan. 9 – PVR Board Meeting – 7:30 AM, Sunrise Assisted Living
Jan. 11 – Jr. Achievement Volunteers Meeting – 3:00 PM, Meadow Elementary School
Jan. 31 – Last day to pay dues and still be on time
Fearless Leader
Feb. 9 – Petaluma Rotary Crab FeedMay 24 – PVR 2nd Annual Golf Tournament
June 30 – PVR Debunking – Start thinking of creative ways to ‘Steam Rice’
Thought for the Day . . . Jerrie came through with one, therefore we are not a thoughtless group as first thought. “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
Diane Zimmerman brought our only guest today: Marlene Abel, Old Adobe School District Board Chair. Will, Pres. Elect. Sally’s other ha
lf was going to attend but alas had to return home to a
computer problem (I can really identify with that at this time).Our leader, eSteamed Rice, kicked off our new year with his favorite – an exchange of $$ for a found earring for which Libby was the a little poorer in the pocket-book.
JoAnn reporting on Sunshine and Showers: Liz is done with a scheduled surgery and with no surprises she is doing well. She is in a San Francisco hospital so well wishes and cards should be directed to her home address.
Not to jump ahead but at the end of the meeting President Russell told us that his wife Helaine took a spill skiing(doing 190 miles per hour) and was run over by a snowboarder, thus breaking her shoulder – Ouch! She is doing well and has to keep moving it – Ouch again, to keep it from freezing up.
Austin talked about Oktoberfest: in 2005 we made money but it went to Hurricane Katrina victims, in 2006 the gross was approximately $22,000 with a net of about $9,230 of which $2,300 went to lend a hand. The support of Albertson’s was appreciated and they will support us again next year so in return if you need to eat and that need is filled by buying groceries please think about shopping at Albertson’s.
Libby, while spitting rice, talked about ‘Lend a Hand to Education’. The 2003 – 2004 Rotary International Theme was ‘Lend a Hand’ to which the word education was added forming the name of a new program ‘Lend a Hand to Education.’ This program benefited the youth in the community funding about $10,000 in grant requests. The second year was only about $4,000 and this year we are still funding some of the mini grants. The grants are ones that the teachers usually supply out of their own pocket because the requests are ones that usually are under the amount that the district or other funding sources take care of. There are grants (approximately $4,500) that still need to be funded – contact Libby for more information.
Jim O’Grady was called on to speak about the 2nd Annual Golf Tournament – out of order – please sit down. Oops!
Walt had papers for everyone - Rotary dues are due today and late if not paid by the 31st of January.
Next Board Meeting is Tue 7:30am 1/9 at Sunrise Assisted living
Rickie 1st Friday – Jan. 12th at Pazzo (132 Keller Street) 5:30 pm (location of the old Tuttle Drug)
Now . . an update from Jim O’Grady Update on the Harold Alexander Trust: currently at O'Grady the under achiever approximately $96,709 – this year’s
golf tournament will use the proceeds to benefitthe Harold Alexander Trust – we would like to increase this fund to $200,000 so that we can increase the amount and number of scholarships given out each year. This year we increased the scholarship to $750.00 up from $500.00 last year. Forest Frey and John Strong have been honored for their ‘Service Above Self’ and have had a scholarship named after each of them. At the golf tournament we will honor an educator during the reception after the 9-hole event (5/24). $25.00 for the reception gets a credit of $50.00 towards your Harold Alexander and $50.00 for you and a friend gets you $100.00 towards your Harold Alexander. And . . . . word has it that there will be a 2nd annual Tiger award.
High School opportunities night Weds. @ Luchessi mock interviews contact Austin or Jim O’Grady.
Austin on Jan. 11 will meet with volunteers along with Jim O’Grady as co-chair – Diane Zimmerman –Jr. Achievement. We are not doing the High Schools this year but will do Meadow Elementary School. There15 classrooms total only 7 at Meadow the others are at Miwok. Please join us for the 3PM meeting at Meadow School
Mary Celestre come on up! Now a Blue Badge holder and for the price of $5.00! Congratulations Mary!
Jo Thornton worked on and received a Public Relations Grant for $2,000 – focal point is our African Village, Osukura. Great work Jo!
Thank you notes from third graders for the dictionaries were passed around. Very touching and funny to read.
We are planning ahead for next year’s youth exchange program. We need a family to host a high school student for three months during the school year. Contact Terry Bryant for more information in this great experience. Caitlin Wyler has been selected as the outbound student.
Fine Time
Carol celebrated a birthday on December 25th – cool! She celebrated with a dinner at the Bodega Bay Inn, which was made special because her daughter from Sacramento was there.
Monica’s husband celebrated his 30th birthday for which she baked a cake.
JoAnn’s husband, Natale, celebrated a birthday with a Christmas dinner during which he took credit for over 1,700 Ravioli that she helped make.
Pam’s husband, Sam, celebrated a birthday for which Pam got a new car! The addition is a Toyota FJ Cruiser – black on black. Pam paid off her schedule.
Sally’s son Tyler, celebrated a birthday on Christmas Eve as he turned 31. He is 3 weeks away from completing his doctoral paper on organic chemistry.
Pam recognized Dave Johnson for something but I did not catch what – so sorry! (Editor's note: Dave quietly and kindly dealt with a possible disruption by a "visitor" in true Rotarian style.)
Mary Celestre visited Texas for 5 days and had a fine time!
Janet celebrated Jennifer turning 21! She finished Jennifer’s Paul Harris and paid $5.00 towards her fine schedule.
Rickie paid $3.00 to announce that Terry Bryant is engaged!
Congratulations Terry!
Ron Johns spent Christmas week in Oregon with his daughter and her husband. He also celebrated that his daughter in Southern California and her husband just bought a house.
$534.00 in Raffle – Austin AGAIN had the lucky number but failed to draw the blue marble – Terry got the second chance $10.00.
Program - Libby and Pam – New Year’s Resolutions from the members....some of whom fessed up.... some didn't!
“I resolve to never tell Austin anything”
“I resolve to buy my wife flowers every week”
“Happy Anniversary to Jerries heated toilet seat”--Libby
“To have enough employees that I don’t have to clean up poop” – Jennifer
“Grow hair higher than my ears”
“Eat less fat so I plan to move to New York City”?? – No takers, maybe just a thought
“Take ukulele lessons, clean the garage or burn it down, get a new kitten” – Jerrie
“Hide more blue marbles in the bag” – Austin
“Find my center” (in other words get my shit together!)
“Complete something each day that I have been putting off.”
“Invite more 20 – 30 somethings to balance out us old farts”
“Tango lessons, increase my cd compilation, take Spanish” – Shadi
“Create a motorcycle touring gang with Walt as the head dude”
“Paint two times each week” – Linda
“I resolve to make no resolutions”
That is all this reporter could write – there were more – you should have been here!
Austin had a re-do of his craft talk starting with the Sunshine Report that his father-in-law just got out of surgery and was doing good. Getting back to himself he started with the fact that he has no gall bladder – so he apparently has no gall. This was found out when he had some back pain and after an MRI and ultra sound they discovered that no gall bladder was the 1st of the checklist of what he is missing. Hmmm, I wonder what else he is missing?
In 2000 he moved to Petaluma from Larkspur and his life centers around is wife, Chandy, and their 2 young children. (That would be versus their old children but that is another story.)
He has been practicing law since 1996. He wanted to be ‘King of the World’ and practicing law might be the first step or the next best thing. He met his wife while attending college. His son, Jackson’s birth, 5 weeks early, found him trying to quickly clean up his desk while his wife (in labor) was answering traffic school questions on the computer. He grew up in Southern California so he has the traditional black lung that goes with that and he would never have left except that he went to law school, met chandy and moved to where she grew up in Larkspur. Rotary is one on the best things that has happened in his life and he loves being here where he feels like he belongs.
Missing gavel – Jim Furuli found it on the floor.
John Strong had the winning bid for a gift basket that was a thank you from one of the sharing tree facility recipients for which the proceeds went to Osukura. Thank you John and then he gave it back to this reporter so a big thank you again!
And....thanks to our Papperazzi T. Cary for the photos....more of which can be seen here