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7:30 the bell rang, and President Maureen Merrill asked for a redo on the greeting… It was a momentous moment.
We once again cited the famous 4-way test, with energy.
Susan Cole gave us some inspirational words by ancient philosopher Lao Tzu, “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
Next came a choral moment with JB Leep leading us in a rousing version of, “All you need is love.”
Images were provided by Sue Nelson and commentary by Tom Boylan.
Visiting Rotarians
Tom Boylan had an opportunity to introduce Daniel Powers as a visiting Rotarian. Daniel is the President of Petaluma Sunrise and was returning the favor of having President Maureen attend his club last week.
Guests of Rotarians
Bill Bolster introduced Beth Smith, mother of Kate Smith, our outbound student.
Pam Moulton introduced Vittoria, our resident daughter, from Italy. Pam also shared that Kate is going to Germany for her upcoming year. Kate shared she has plans for a journal so we can keep up with her travels.
Michael Juric introduced our newest corporate member, Brian Williams, principal of Windsor Middle School.
John LeCave introduced Lauren Antoni… for the last time, the associate director of culinary services at Sonoma State University.
Barbara McChesney, with the Veteran’s Resource Center, was introduced by the fleet-footed Jose Diego.
Announcements
President Maureen asked our newest member, Brian Williams, to step up and be received, and then Michael Juric gave an intro of the School District’s senior administrator. They were joined by Susan Cole, representing the Membership committee.
Plan to dine at KC’s Grill in downtown Windsor on March 12th. David Culley is donating 20% of the entire day’s proceeds to promote our very own footloose Jose Diego in his quest to win the Dancing with the Stars and Stripes competition in April.
Sue Nelson is promoting the “Mini-Fundraiser “ concept to the club. This is where a small group of members get together in smaller events and raise money for the club, including the Left Wing Theater, where your cost for a ticket is donated to the club coffers.
April 28th, we are all going to a drive-through for Tri-Tip Tuesday. Place your orders.
John LeCave introduced the club to the many donors who have given to the Rotary Bequest Society. Glenn Sugden is the first recipient of the level 5 legacy. Glenn offered some insight as to why he is committed to the charity work done by Rotary International.
Program:
JB began the heritage introductions for our senior members of Windsor Rotary as they graced us with their Craft Talks.
Tom Hassur took the microphone and immediately reconnected with his typical enthusiastic welcome call… and it had nothing to do with the 49ers. Tom was born in 1964 in San Jose, California. His family includes three sisters and two brothers. Tom is the baby, but he shares he is the largest family member. His folks migrated from the East to California in 1930. His father wound up having a career with Borden’s Milk. A far reach from the opportunity to become an enforcer for the mob in New Jersey.
We were reintroduced to Tom’s children and their latest adventures. A musician, teacher, and soon to be a veterinarian. His residences included a short stint in Westwood California, the mountain abode was not conducive to his wife, Brenda’s idea of California living, so he wound up in Windsor, and that is where he honed his craft of glass blowing, which he continues to this day.
Brian Ling brought his whistle and got right into his past. He has born and raised in Santa Rosa and a lifelong resident of the county. He grew up in the Santa Rosa Golf & Country Club, where he spends a lot of time as a member and as the Executive Director of the Sonoma County Alliance.
We learned that Brian stepped into the family business and met his wife, Debbie, while working out of the area. His work with the family business, Reliance Trailer, was his introduction to the manufacturing business, which became something he enjoyed. The ups and downs were dramatic and then added a recession, and the business came to a close in 2009. This loss was positive for Sonoma County because Brian took the role of Executive Director of Sonoma County Alliance, which meets on the first Wednesday of the month. Make a plan to check it out.
Brian shared the history of Rotary and the development of the Town of Windsor. It would appear that most of the founders were Rotarians, except Brian. The pressure of constant invites by Rotarians finally got him to move away from the 20-30 Club. His father was a long time Rotarian with Santa Rosa West and made a $100 donation towards Brian’s Paul Harris Fellowship. That giving has driven his appreciation for finding ways to promote giving. To aid his ability to recognize those who donate to the Windsor Rotary Community Foundation, he carries the train whistle in honor of our founder John Lewis.
Dennis Wilkinson claimed that the order of speakers was based on the best looking going last. He said he was not going to talk about his business, but he did manage to share a little… like the name of the business, which someone in the club asked for. D&S Awards in Santa Rosa should be a household name since the work they have done over the years can be seen all over the county.
We were told that Dennis was born in 1954 in South Bend, Indiana, close to Notre Dame. His family lived on a farm that had few amenities, but it kept the family close. The early years had the family bouncing around the mid-west, attending numerous schools, which has kept Dennis in touch with many of those he went to school within his early years through High School.
Dennis spent time as a diesel mechanic who gave him a short time in Texas, Denver, and Sturgis… Denver also gave him a divorce, which led him to Halliburton and an assignment in Abu Dubai, where he lived on a ship and serviced oil wells. This job gave him the ability to travel and explore many of the countries in the Middle East.
He returned to the States and spent some time as a doorman for a couple of bars, which then sent him off to another contract in the North Sea. There are some bold stories, and you’ll have to bend his ear to learn more about the deck of the ship splitting.
In 1984 he moved to Sonoma County and went to work for the Geysers, Halliburton again. In 1991 he went to a trade show in Vegas and found his newest calling, a trophy, and engraving business began in his garage and quickly grew to his current location in Santa Rosa, off Piner Avenue. You might also bend an ear with Dennis to learn about his rock & roll connections. President Maureen had to give him the hook because we ran out of time.
President Maureen gave a shout out to Craig Curreri for handing out dictionaries this afternoon to Windsor third graders.