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Today's Greeter: Tabitha

 

Pledge: Lead by Forrest Frey

 

Thought of the Day: The man who promises everything is sure to fulfill nothing. Carl Jung

 

Today's Guests:

Al Kaplan, Rotarian from the Downtown Club.

Lane Morales introduced by Jim O'Grady.

                                Prez Russell introduced his colleague, Roark Hoffmann.

 

Announcements and Upcoming Events:

 

• Sandra Campbell updated the club on Cash for Cash fundraiser

• First Friday will be this coming Tuesday evening at the Banyan Tree ($15)

• Interact will hold their dance for fundraising Cool Kids Camp on March 31

• Our Club's Board meeting will be 7:30 AM on April 24th

• Next week our club volunteers begin Junior Achievement at Miwok School

• Friday evening before District Assembly (Apr 13-14) there will be a reception with incoming 
  District President Ken Moulton

• April 29 is the day for the Great Chili Cook-off - to benefit Cinnabar Theater

• District Conference May 18 to 20  in Rohnert Park

• Golf Tournament May 24

• Joint Board Meeting will be June 12

• Debunking (if no one is too busy) is on June 30

Tid Bits:

Our interact club was one of 5 clubs winning best projects award this past weekend at their assembly camp in Occidental.

Jeannie, Chuck Lewis' wife is in ICU down in San Francisco after suffering a serious heart attack and stroke.

Sandra Campbell won a bottle of wine today for most Cash for Cash tickets sold during past week!

Rickie Roark sang an advertisement for this Tuesday's Friday Night Social - be there at the Banyan Tree!

 

New Club Banner:

Jerrie Patterson has gathered several artful banner suggestions which the club considered and voted on in today's meeting - all were well presented and unique. She will tally the voting and report back to the club - thanks Jerrie!

 

New Member Induction:

Lane Morales become our newest member and has just now increased her circle of friends by more than 1.2 million - congratulations and welcome, Lane!

 

Craft Talk

Today Tabitha, one of our newest members, presented us with her Craft Talk. Here are some highlights:

Tabitha was born in Detroit but came to California in the 3rd grade. She attended Piner High School and SRJC - originally with the intention of becoming a peace officer. That changed as she was headed to the Police Academy in Los Angeles and happened on a friendly bank teller. Intrigued with banking she too a closer look and has been in the profession ever since.

Tabitha is married with 3 active, baseball loving, boys ages 9, 11, and 15. She loves to BBQ, ride horses, watch scary movies and go to the beach.

Today's Guest Speaker: Jo Ann Pozzi, Petaluma Valley Rotarian and volunteer for Rotaplast. Jo Ann shared with us her wonderful trip to India with Rotaplast.

Jo Ann's trip took place last August. After a short stop in Singapore the team of 25 headed for their destination in India. Normally such a mission is 8 days but this one last 16 - 4 days of travel and 12 days administering to their young patients.

Jo Ann shared with us a library of photographs which illustrated the scenery, villages, people, and youngsters of India. The photographs also gave us an idea of the working environment which the medical professionals and volunteers found themselves in. The surgeries themselves lasted about 90 minutes each. The team - hoping to complete 90 surgeries during their stay - became creative and set up a second operating area which allowed them to complete 120 surgeries.

The goal of Rotaplast International is to eliminate the incidence of untreated cleft lips and palates in children worldwide by the year 2025. Rotaplast will employ the following strategies to reach this goal:

• Facilitate medical missions to provide surgical intervention for children who are not able to receive treatment or who are in need of more complicated medical procedures than can be provided by local physicians.
• Counsel families about ways of reducing the incidence cleft palate anomalies through diet, vitamin supplementation, and life style changes.
• Collaborate with local health professionals on follow-up care and on development of comprehensive cleft palate programs where feasible.
• Learn about the incidence and causes of cleft lip and palate anomalies, including both genetic and environmental factors.
• Educate local physicians and specialists by urging them to work with our teams to broaden their skills in treating cleft anomalies.
• Foster international goodwill and fellowship by working with Rotarians as well as with health officials in host countries.

Jo Ann presented a "show and tell" of the Indian Culture and the realities of the suffering faced by these youngsters. Many of the troubles begin with poor nutrition during pregnancy; these affected young people also suffer related difficulties in speech, food intake, and psychologically because of their deformities.

Our club was not only inspired by what Rotaplast does as an organization but by our own Jo Ann Pozzi, a true Rotarian!

Meeting Adjourned

More images can be seen here.