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The main speaker, Diana Curtin, CEO of Community Matters, was unable to speak on “Safe School Environments & Solutions to Bullying” due to feeling under the weather. We hope to welcome her back soon to our future meeting.
Scribe: Jason Black
OPENING:
The meeting was opened at 7:30 AM by Maureen Merrill. Club recited Rotary’s Rotary 4-way Test.
INSPIRATION:
Susan Cole provided a nice dose of inspiration from a quote by Buddha where he said “what you think, you become. What you feel, you attract, What you imagine, you create”
SONG:
JB Leep led song by Peter Paul & Mary -. If I Had a Hammer. A 1963 hit! Maureen danced around the room, without a hammer in hand, and rang the rotary bell midway through the vocal session…
GUESTS:
No Visiting Rotarians today.
Matt Rush – a friend of Jason Black
Brian Ling introduced Jeff Harrison. Soco resource
Carol Leep introduced our outgoing exchange student Kate Smith and her mother Beth Smith. Heather Cullen introduced Cali Calmecac Language Academy Principal, Sharon Ferrer. Diane Brabetz introduced Joella Olson
Vittoria Castelli, our exchange student from Italy was also in good company with us. Wendy, Student Advisor at Cali Calmecac Elementary School
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Bill Bolster was honored as our PowerHouse Rotarian of the Month in spirit as he was not in attendance in our meeting. Congratulations Bill!
Sue Nelson presented that the Rotary Club of Coronado, California gave a generous $14,686 donation towards restoration efforts of Foothill Regional Park in Windsor. The check was presented on Saturday, February 29th to the Sonoma County Regional Parks, who was in attendance. A thank you card was put together and passed around the room to send to our Coronado Rotary fellows.
Diane Brabtz shared her recent trip to her house in Playa Del Carmen in Mexico. Egor, a former district governor, and his wife were there. They met with Diane and did a videoed interview on the beach around Egor’s journey in Rotary. The interview was going to be published in their Rotary magazine in Mexico. Wes and Diane were part of this video and it was played in the district conference. Diane was inspired by the video and offered to share it with our Windsor group in a future meeting. Pam and Ken and Diane partnered with Diane and Egor in participating in a water project in Playa Del Carmen. Windsor Rotary had presented them with a check to support this important project. Maureen said we are all world citizens and this conveys how we can impact the world with our international connections.
Sharon Ferrer, Principal at Cali Camec Language Academy spoke and said it is hard to find bilingual teachers with teaching credentials to hire at her school. If anyone has a candidate, then let her know. She went on to say that Sonoma State is offering bilingual teaching credential programs. She said there are 4-5 teaching positions open at her school and only 4-5 candidates have applied. She was elated that Rotary dictionary distributions to students are tomorrow. She said her teachers are excited and grateful. Sharon said this is her first time involved with this giving event.
Vittoria Castelli announced she visited her brother’s earlier exchange student family in Pleasanton, CA. She was introduced to the group and participated in some Q & A. She shared her experiences here as an exchange student. Maureen showed a picture on the slide show screen of them all sitting outside by a nice warm fire at night. Vittoria said she was very appreciative of Rotary and the opportunities she has been given. She loves staying with 3 families as it enables her to meet more people with different experiences.
Maureen had our group raise their hands on how many Rotarians in Windsor hosted Exchange Students. There were many in the room raising their hands and several in our group who have hosted several exchange students over the years.
Sandy Krutz said spring break is coming up. Vittoria’s parents were supposed to visit Victoria for Spring Break, but they fell ill and had to cancel the trip. She said Vittoria now has some availability to be entertained by any willing Rotary family who wants to include her on some spring break fun!
Matt Rush, one of our newest guests giving high consideration to join Windsor Rotar, did a craft talk and gave us an introduction of his personal life. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand. His family still lives there, but his brother who lives in Santa Rosa. He said there’s a lot to do in his home country, such as visiting beaches, fishing, surfing, and hiking. He enjoys mountain biking and rugby. Matt said he and his wife, and three children try to get back to New Zealand every 3-4 years to visit family. He has twins (Eva and Noah) and an older son, Nathan. His wife, Jennifer, is a teacher at San Miguel Elementary in Santa Rosa. He lived in Japan for 2 years. He came to America at the age of 24. He’s been married for 20 years. He played Rugby his whole life. He is a partner at Pound Management Inc ,which is a construction and property development firm. They represent owners in higher scale construction projects. They conduct project management, consultation, hiring contractors, and establishing and maintaining construction budgets. At the end of their projects, they help out with the closing process. Matt has been with Pound Management for 13 years. His company is located in the South Bay, East Bay, and Napa Valley. They specialize in building high-end custom homes, underground storage, commercial projects, and multi-family housing developments. Welcome Matt!
Renee talked about the Power of 3 (Inviters, Process Folks, Mentors). Rene said she has passed out gift cards for those that introduced others to our group, such as Jason Black. She asked us to get into our groups again to brainstorm to think of those who we can invite to our group. Those that come up with someone, Renee asked us to email their name so that she can get the necessary forms to fill out. Orientation would be sent out to our Rotary group and then ultimately approved by the board. She needs to know at what capacity they want to join, such as an individual or corporate membership? She asked that we invite someone new for our breakfast meeting to see if we are a good fit!
Michael Raasch, our Sonoma County Sheriff member, said he is halfway through his masters program in Law Enforcement Leadership.
Joella Olson said she feels a sense of kindness in the room. She expressed her gratitude for Windsor Rotary’s donation to Windsor Middle School.
Maureen led us in a short catching and throwing exercise with a group of 5-6 individuals standing in a circle. 4-5 balls eventually getting caught and thrown to different people in the circle at the same time. Learnings from this exercise are that people can coordinate very quickly by picking up and to keep going. “Wait and chill and not panic”. Team collaboration! The most in sync group included the prized rugby player, Matt Rush!
Diane Brabetz shared her recommendations on lessening panic regarding the CoronaVirus. She emphasized we can’t do enough on hand washing. Wash often and thoroughly. Don’t touch your face. We need to disinfect our cell phone daily. Disinfect with alcohol wipes. If you travel, have disinfecting wipes with you.. Airlines not disinfecting seats, tray tables, or above storage between stops. She said you can get this virus through droplets in our nasal passages and lungs. Rich Muchi chimed in and said most people who die have underlying health issues already. Dianne said it doesn’t do any good for the public to use masks. Health care professionals need them. Shaking hands is not recommended.
Steve Klick will be traveling to Mexico March 20 through 24 with Salvador Rico of South Ukiah Rotary. This trip is honor of World Water Day and will include a river cleanup of the Lerma River that runs from the mountains above Mexico City to Lake Chapala. This is a joint project with our District 5130 and Mexican Districts 4140 and 4170. We will be including Engineers without Borders, of which Steve is a member, and scientists from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to evaluate long term cleanup goals for the Lerma River.
Steve is looking for sponsors of his trip to help with that Steve will be auctioning off a Paella Party at next week’s meeting. Any money raised beyond the expenses will be donated back into the Windsor Rotary Community Foundation. President Maureen is also requesting assistance from our International Fund.
Heather Cullen said this Friday, March 6th is the Windsor Talent Show. It starts at 7:00 PM. Tickets are only $15. Lots of prizes. Brian Ling and Sharon’s daughters are participants. The event always packed so get tickets early! There will be a father-daughter magician act. Proceeds provide scholarships for Windsor Performing Arts Academy’s summer music program and pay for the production costs at the public school sights.
Next Rotary Club Social Event is March 12th at KCs grill from 5-7 for Dine/Donate supporting Jose Diego and Rachel Kemiji fundraising for their ballroom dance competition on April 25th, 2020.
Windsor @ Weil community engagement on Wednesday, March 25th at the Green Music Center. Invite for students to see Windsor Middle school, Windsor Highschool, and Cali Calmecac students musical performance on this great stage. You need a Ticket. Can be bought at GMC.SONOMA.EDU/WINDSOR OR CALL 707-664-4246
Thursday, March 26th The Flick by Annie Baker at Windsor Rotary Left Edge Live Theater Night at Luther Burbank Center. Night. 6:30-8:OO PM Social Reception. 8:00 PM Performance.
Benefits Windsor Rotary Community Foundation. $25 per ticket or $180 Donor Tickets for 4 reserved seats + hosted beverages.
On April 15th, Pam Moulton announced Mama Mia! Dress Rehearsal Benefit at the Raven Performing Arts Theatre. This supports HCA, Healdsburg Center For the Arts. Tickets 35 dollars. See Pam if you are interested in attending.
On April 24th, 2020 from 6:30 – 10:00 PM, Santa Rosa Sunrise is hosting Rockin Rendezvous
Go Your Own Way event for $95 at Agatha Furth Center. Fleetwood Mask. Supporting Performing Arts in our Schools. Tickets go to https://srsr.ejoinme.org/RR or call Paul at
707-953-7475
On Saturday, April 25th, 2020 at 7:00 PM, Dancing with the Stars and Stripes fundraising ballroom dance competition at Jackson Theater, Sonoma Country Day School with our very own
Jose Diego and his dancing partner Rachel Kemiji. Tickets $35-$110. Proceeds benefit VRC, Veterans Resource Centers of America. See www.DancingWithTheStarsAndStripes.org
On April 28th, the second annual Tri-Tip Tuesday mini fundraiser partnering with Vineyard Academy. Coordinators Carol M. and Bill C.
Future Chili Cookoff with Steve Klick
Next speaker Amy Holter Active 20-30 Club. Part of our goals for this year is to engage further with these young adults who can partner with us in projects and, we hope, become Rotarians after they “age out” of 20-30.
Parting thought from Maureen Merrill. “Please take good care of your one and only body…it’s what got you here today.”
CLOSING:
The meeting ended at 8:30 AM,
Submitted by Jason Black, Scribe for the day!