CLICK HERE TO SEE DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE LATEST CLUB MEETING
PDF of Meeting Slides: January 21 Rotary Meeting
The meeting got off to a great start at 7:30 with a ringadabell by President Maureen Merrill.
There was a “Four-Way” recital by everyone.
Martin Luther King Junior’s words stood in for the ailing Susan Cole, who is dealing with the flu.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Martin Luther King Jr.
After a moment of silence to take in the words of MLK, we had a song sung with enthusiasm… “Wild Thing.”
Photojournalism provided by Sue Nelson – scribbles by Tom Boylan.
Guest of Rotarians:
Barbara McChesney with Dancing with the Stars and Stripes was introduced by Leslie Lewis.
Matt Rush was introduced by his friend and our member Jason Black.
Renee Hyde introduced Lauren Anatoli with Sonoma State Culinary services.
Larry Wasem stepped up and introduced our program speaker and former Windsor Rotarian Judge Andy Wick.
Brian Williams, principal of Windsor Middle School was welcomed and introduced by Michael Juric, who then went on to introduce Windsor Town Council member Esther Lemus.
Announcements:
Glenn Sugden got the shout out as Powerhouse Rotarian of the Month.
Fine master and Niner fan Leslie Lewis recruited Pam Moulton to help her find those that were not present at her home for the big game.
A slew of Rotarians fell prey to her fundraising techniques when she started asking for money from those who failed to read the Windsor Rotary bulletin, and then she targeted those who wound up at Levy Stadium for the playoff game. Shady Bill Bolster was in attendance and offering support to the team.
If you let a “Niners” fan find those who are not, there are too many names to write in the bulletin. The Super Bowl follow up to the playoff event is to be held at Rene Hyde’s new home. Is it a trick that no one was given the address?
The festive mood turned sour when the finemaster tried to milk $5 from the scribe, but Pegi Ball played an end-around by donating the $5 in recognition for the writer of the club words. Pegi belongs in the Hall of Fame!
Daniel Meyers took the Mic and recognized the Student of the Month, but he credits her with the title Student of the Year, Sabrina Piana Cervantes. Ms. Cervantes is a student at the Axis Academy at Windsor High School. She is a science student with exceptional skills and an interest in Bio-Engineering. Sabrina gave us a limited introduction to her cell studies, which she would like to continue to pursue at the University of Nevada, Reno… or UC Santa Cruz. We are in good hands for the future.
President Maureen shared there is a new theater night coming up at the Left Edge Theater, located at Luther Burbank Center for the Performing Arts, on March 26th at 6:30. Consider your ticket a donation to the club fund.
We are promoting the Tri-Tip Tuesday in March… good eats and more money for the club and the culinary Academy at Windsor High School.
Dancing with the Stars and Stripes is an opportunity to support Jose Diego and his fleet feet.
Program:
President Maureen introduced our speaker Andy Wick, Judge, Sonoma County Superior Court, and a frequent Justice with the State Appellate Court. We learned of his long history and commitment to the creation of the Town of Windsor. He was kind enough to share those beginnings with numerous members of the Windsor Rotary Club.
Judge Wick shared that he was once called upon to consider running for Congressman of the North Coast. He shared that he was wise enough to know that wouldn’t be his calling, so he turned away from political opportunities. After turning down the opportunity to disrupt his life with a run for Congress, he became someone who was easily swayed by John Lewis to become a member of the Founding Fathers, and Mother, of the Town of Windsor.
As a Sonoma County judge, we learned that Andy has presided over more than 18,000 trials. Last year he was delighted to have been asked to become a temporary plaintiff to the Appellate Court of San Francisco. He was given all of a day to make a decision, and after a brief discussion with his wife that night, he took the position the next day. He was sworn in by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court while having a phone conversation. They took no time to bring him on board.
In Andy’s opinion, there is a real need for older white males to support the minorities and show that we can turn back the negativity associated with the past. He was honored to have the opportunity to make a lasting difference in the cases he was assigned. His first case was a difficult one in that he dealt with the trial of a man who was accused of killing a three-year-old. Difficult emotions, but dealt with fairly. His second trial was a major real estate case worthy of millions, and worthy of an appellate court decision.
His tenure with the Appellate Court ended last month and now he is back in his home county of Sonoma. Andy gave our guest and next week’s speaker, Esther Lemus, a compliment for her abilities as a prosecutor. He also shared a story about running into Mike Merrill and our president at a meeting he took with the Governor of California. Interestingly enough he shared that the Governor spent his entire interview time wanting to know about Andy’s childhood. We had an opportunity to see some true emotion on Andy’s part as he recalled his childhood and his time with the Los Angeles Police Department patrolling Compton, a very difficult neighborhood.
While serving as a police officer Andy was swayed by two judges that he ought to pursue law. One of those judges wound up on the California Supreme Court and remains a mentor and friend to Andy today.
The following was offered by Rotary District Polio Plus Co-Chair Larry Myers
Attached is the latest financials for POLIO PLUS FUNDRAISING A/0 1.20.20. It details a tremendous increase in contributions since my last report. A total of $141,186 has been credited to our district POLIO PLUS ACCOUNT. The Gates Foundation will add their 2 for 1 donation of $ 282,372 which means you have been responsible for $ 423,558 since July 1, 2019.
You will notice 2 clubs had a substantial increase in contributions (Santa Rosa Sunrise & Sebastopol). This was due to individual Rotarians in those clubs making a major one-time contribution to saving children’s lives. Also, Calistoga Rotary completed a major fundraiser for POLIO PLUS which is included in this report.
Our top fundraisers are: Santa Rosa Sunrise $32,248, Sebastopol $23,267, South Ukiah $20,545, Calistoga $ 8199, Sebastopol Sunrise $ 4307, Crescent City $4219, Fort Bragg $3610, Santa Rosa $3550, Cloverdale $3514, Southwest Eureka $ 3420, Lakeport $3290, Petaluma $3054, Arcata Sunrise $2878, Napa $2718, Eureka $2392, Willits $2306, Mendocino $2230, Napa Sunrise $1702, Healdsburg $1593, Arcata $1592, Rancho Cotati $1452, Petaluma Sunrise $1392, Valley of the Moon $1102, Mad River $1055, Kelseyville Sunrise $1010, Windsor $966, Fortuna Sunrise $912, Petaluma Valley $ 640, Garberville $595, Santa Rosa East $450, Del Notre Sunrise $ 240, North Napa $200, Rohnert Park-Cotati $190, Glen Ellen-Kenwood $180, Healdsburg Sunrise $ 125, Old Town Eureka $100, Santa Rosa West $90, Fortuna $ 75, Clear Lake $50, Middletown $10.
So far 40 clubs have donated to saving children’s lives since July 1, 2019, leaving 7 clubs with zero donations. I HOPE TO SEE 100% PARTICIPATION IN THE NEAR FUTURE. I am sure we will make 100% of our clubs again this year.
Now an update on our goal of the total eradication of the poliovirus. As I mentioned in a previous report there were 3 highly infectious strains of the poliovirus when we started our initial immunizations in the Philippines almost 45 years ago. Today we are down to one strain. Quite a remarkable accomplishment but we knew that eliminating that final case would be difficult and it has been. Last year I talked about our challenges in Pakistan where we had a dramatic increase in cases. However, we continue to work with our global partners including those in the Muslin communities who have joined with us to establish a road map to reach the goal of total eradication. Last month I detailed the name of those worldwide partners but I am sure you noticed the list is headed by the Gates Foundation and Rotary.
Next month I will spend additional time on our immunization projects but today I primarily wanted to recognize what a tremendous District we have that continues to support our goal of changing lives & saving lives through Polio Plus. You continue to dig deep and so many of you have been with me from the start and will be with me when we reach our goal.
In closing, I want to share an experience that changed my life in the late spring of 1985. I had the honor of being your district governor in 1984-85 and was attending R.I. Convention in Kansas City, Missouri.
That morning at a General Session, we had the honor of listening to Dr. Albert Sabin who had developed the oral polio vaccine we use today. As Dr. Sabin started talking about Rotary (Rotarians) accepting a challenge to eradicate a highly infectious and potentially deadly virus from our planet
I started recalling my trials as a 6-year-old waking up one morning paralyzed. Memories that I had pushed way back in my memory bank likely because it was a difficult time for me.
Waking up that morning in 1946 with my head in a fixed locked position against my chest. The ambulance ride to Los Angeles General Hospital, the spinal tap late that night waking up in award of 20-30 boys most older than me. The Sister Kenny Treatment of scalding hot woolen blankets 8 times a day then therapy to try & move my paralyzed left arm away from my body, trying to straighten my paralyzed left leg.
After a couple of months being transferred to a rehab hospital, a converted WWII Navy hospital near San Pedro where I learned to use a wheelchair and to finally stand up and support myself on parallel bars. I remembered a morning between treatment using my wheelchair to explore wards down the hall & wheeling myself into a ward of iron lungs, not knowing what they were but seeing the heads of children my age and older outside of a cigar-shaped machine that enabled them to breathe.
Spending 1 year in 4 different hospitals and finally being able to go home.
All these memories and more came back to me that day. I actually heard very little of his presentation but it opened a door for me that culminated in a phone call from D.G. Terry Clark asking me to organize a fundraising effort in 2002 which raised $405,000 that year. I thought the task would last until 2005- when we would celebrate the eradication of polio on our 100th anniversary of Rotary. Well, my 3+ year term ending up being 19 years as your chair and now co-chair.
This short term commitment has not only changed my life but helped us join together to save children’s lives around the world.
Well, all of you know I can get carried away & I have done it again this month. We are making a difference in the world we serve, locally in your community, nationally and internationally through supporting the many programs of our Rotary Foundation.
Thank you for all you do each day to make life a little easier for those less fortunate.
Yours in Rotary,
Larry D. Myers, P.D.G., Polio Plus Co-Chair, 5130