Flag Salute: Jack Hyde
Inspiration: Maureen Merrill, with a little help from her friends, Pam Moulton and Sue Nelson offered us this rap:
We knew this thing would be off the HOOK
The vibe came alive, you had to LOOK
Music and drinks and food were KILLER
People, we carried off a THRILLER
Raisin’ funds to help us SERVE
Touchin’ lives with style and VERVE
Kids get genuine shopping SPREES
And movies fit for FAMILIES
Scholarships that keep grads LEARNING
Job programs encourage EARNING
Plan A was to raise that serious MONEY
To write Plan B would have just been FUNNY
Bein’ a team, smooth as CREAM,
Stickin’ together like sweat and LEATHER
Livin the dream that we’d SUCCEED
A victorious, glorious LOBSTER FEED!
Song: Warin Parker had a short song “Hey, look me over, Lobster up to here.”
Introduction of Visiting Rotarians:
| Club | Classification | Name | Notes |
| Sebastopol | Newspaper Publishing | Rollie Atkinson | |
Introduction of Guests of Rotarians:
| Member | Guest | Notes |
| Jack Hyde | Janet Hyde | Jack’s wife |
| Jack Hyde | Jana | Our Youth Exchange student from Switzerland |
| Craig Curreri | Cecilia Hewlitt | Youth Exchange student |
| Tammy Hewlitt | Cecilia’s Mother | |
| Teray | Talon | Her son |
| Larry Wasem | Abigail | Robin’s new baby |
Renee Hyde Mother of our Outbound YE
Announcements:
President Steve announced that our own Cali Calmecac school in Windsor was awarded a $25,000 grant in Category E, which was a nationwide competition. Thanks to everyone in Rotary who voted for Cali.
Sandy Krutz and Carol Marin encouraged everyone to go on-line and vote for the Rotary International website for a Webby Award.
Warin Parker introduced our last Student of the Month for this year: Cecilia Hewlitt. Cecilia made a short and quite effective presentation, letting us know that she was in Nueva School for the Arts. Started as a performer, but discovered that she loved being behind the scenes when she served as Stage Manager for the school production of “Peter and the Star Catcher”. She is planning to attend a 4-year university – either UC Santa Barbara or Emerson College.
President Steve was a little shy about bragging on his wife, Mapi, who won the award for Best Presentation by a group of professional judges at the “Art of Dessert” event last weekend. Craig Curreri jumped in to help Steve and didn’t have any trouble singing Map’s praises, which were well-deserved. At our own Lobster Feed, there was a bidding war for a “Mapi’s Cake” between Craig Curreri and Michael Juric. We learned that Michael was bidding for his son and fiancé for a wedding cake. Both Craig and Michael gave $25 to their John Lewis just because they are so impressed with Mapi’s cakes!
Michael Juric announced very preliminary numbers for our Lobster Feed earnings: These are gross numbers – costs still have to be calculated against these gross earnings”
Ticket sales: $27,000
Live Auction: $31,500
Silent Auction: $8,700
Wine Cave: $5,000
Fund-a-Need for Kidspree to be donated to 20/30 Club: $18,000 or 120 kids! Way to go, Rotary Club of Windsor!
President Steve announced that Saturday, May 5 will be the Windsor Day Parade with our big cold air balloon. Everyone is invited to participate.
Maureen announced a mini-fundraiser: A private theater evening social to see the play: “Women in Jeopardy” All $30 of each ticket sale will go to the WRCF.
President Steve reminds us that the District Conference is May 18-20 at the McClellan AFB in Sacramento.
Wally Krutz announces that Dick Bishop is home now with a home health worker. He is looking good and in upbeat spirits, especially since Wally and Sandy brought him a lobster from our Lobster Feed!
Bill Bolster reports that he heard from our outbound Youth Exchange student, Emma Hackethorne, in Sweden, and her message was in Swedish! She sent along a picture of a reindeer and “everything cold” according to Bill. He encouraged Emma to communicate in the only language Bill claims to barely know – English.
Renee Hyde announces that Wednesday evening (tomorrow) at 6:30 PM will be information night to learn about the Youth Exchange program. She tells us that if we know anyone who will be 15-1/2 to 18-1/2 years old for the 2019 school year, to encourage them to come to this meeting at Windsor High School audio-visual room, aka the library.
Renee also says she is looking for host families for our Youth Exchange student next year, even though we don’t know yet whether it will be a boy or a girl. Talk to Renee if you even think you might want to host. It is a most rewarding time with wonderful kids.
Our Rotary Scholarship committee met last week at Allen Christensen’s AltaPacific Bank: Allen Christensen, Warin Parker, Bill Bolster, and Michael Juric, the committee, awarded ten (10) scholarships to graduating seniors. Four scholarships were for $1,500 each and six were for $1,000 each.
Speaker:
JB Leep introduced our speaker for the day, Rollie Atkinson, of Sonoma West Publishers.
Rollie has worked in newspapers for 43 years, starting as a reporter in his hometown of Frederick, Maryland, before moving to Sonoma County in 1981.
He has worked as sports editor, editor, and general manager and finally as owner and publisher at our local group of weekly newspapers including The Windsor Times, The Healdsburg Tribune, Cloverdale Reveille and Sonoma West Times and News in Sebastopol. He and his wife have been owners of the parent company, Sonoma West Publishers, since 1995.
Rollie was part of the team that started The Windsor Times in 1987, right around the time the Rotary Club of Windsor started up! He has a lot of friends in the audience of our Rotary Club.
Rollie began by reading the front page of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, which was just awarded the Pulitzer Prize for their lucid and tenacious crisis reporting about the October firestorms here in Northern California.
He discussed the many challenges facing newspaper reporting and the statistics regarding lost newspapers and lost jobs. He talked about a new model for newspapers and reporting, and one he has begun with Sonoma West Publishing: Direct Public Offerings. Most of the questions and follow up discussion was centered on DPO’s and this new model.
Rollie’s strong conviction is stated this way:
Local News Matters
Local Readers Matter
Local Ownership Matters
President Steve gaveled us to a close encouraging us to “Do Something Rotarian” today.