The gathering had a great chat a little earlier than the 7:30 start time when President Maureen Merrill rang the virtual bell. We had 23 online at the start. More to follow.
Energy is the ongoing theme for the club and John Nelson’s photo of a seagull
Pres Maureen shared a quote that is credited to many and essential to our inspiration:
“There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it ill behooves any of us to find fault with the rest of us.”
Scribe for the day is Tom Boylan
Sign on for next week’s meeting:
To join the meeting (without a password): https://zoom.us/j/5130513051?pwd=clU0T1ljdTRyWm9OMnBPbDZIdGNRUT09
Join meeting 513-051-3051, and use the password if the link doesn’t work: a4wayTest.
Visiting Rotarian:
Mike Merrill, for one more week is a guest and then he joins our club.
Guests of Rotarians:
Our president introduced today’s speaker, Chris Smith.
Dave Ruprecht sang a little “Song of the South” with a Rotary twist.
Announcements:
Happy Birthday to me… and Phil Trowbridge… and my Father in law Mel Montero who turned 96 today.
Sue Nelson got one more round of virtual applause for her role as Rotarian of the Month, the Powerhouse Rotarian.
We heard from President Maureen that the District is awarding $500 to every club to help them out through the COVID-19 crisis.
Heather Cullen gave us a report on the recent food drive and is sharing that there is a continual need and another food drive is in the works. This next drive would allow us to place a box of food in front of our homes and a volunteer will drive by and pick them up. Heather, Barbara McChesney, and Carol Martin got a nod of thanks for what they did to help make this happen for the Windsor Food Pantry. Bill Bolster is asking that we make it a point with every trip to the store, just pick up more for those who have less. We will hear more about it.
A special thank you from Tanya with the Windsor Food Pantry:
So glad Rotary brought us food. We ended serving over 75 families today, many large and people walked up hours after we :closed: and we were able to send them home with food. Kind of a tear moment actually. Our shelves are almost empty, so we will begin shopping and gleaning again. Let me know when you want to meet me for drop off next week. So much appreciation, not enough words. Tanya
Beth Smith recognized Sandie Krutz and Bev Graham for making her anniversary special with a dinner from Sweet T’s and a candlelit dining table.
Play along! Maureen is looking for vintage photos of YOU along these themes – send from one category or all, or make one up. Just so it’s “vintage”!
- Grade school — 2nd grade or thereabouts
- “Awkward age” photo – pre-teen? Last week?
- A prom or other “dress-up” event from your teen years
- Wedding or other romantic event
- Embarrassing incident
- Sport, action or hobby photo
Program:
JB Leep gave an introduction to our speaker, Chris Smith, columnist for the Press Democrat. He started his career with the Press Democrat in 1977 and over time he had the privilege to write several columns, including his current column, which came about after the famed Gaye LeBaron retired from the paper.
Chris let us know we are a great group and thanked us for all we do and that Rotary International does for the world. He took us on a tour of his office and the newsroom at The PD. It was barren where normally they have a bustling team of humanity. He is amazed and proud that the entire PD team has been able to do their work remotely.
We were introduced to his latest column which touched his heart, because it was a story of the heart of a young man as he maneuvers life in a wheelchair, Ben Thornton. Ben had a remarkable life so far while living with a congenital heart problem from birth that made him a paraplegic, but Ben has been fortunate to have faced what would be a major adversity for most and is overcoming his affliction as he has been accepted by the University of Arizona with a full scholarship where he will get to play wheelchair basketball while pursuing his education.
Brett Crozier is another story that Chris had the opportunity to write. He spoke with Brett’s mother and found out that the inspiration for the aircraft carrier came from a movie outing in Santa Rosa when Brett was a junior in High School. That led to his eventual move to the Naval Academy and his successes as a pilot and a leader took him to the role of Commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.
Chris shared a view of today’s Press Democrat front page and was proud that the paper has a series of stories that are all locally written. He believes the writing is a testament to the quality of the people working as journalists for the PD. It is an interesting experience for all reporters who have to learn something new with each event that becomes newsworthy, especially calamities.
We learned that this crisis has become a death knoll for print newspapers. There are countless stories of papers going digital in an effort to minimize the cost associated with printing. He shared that we are going to see a greater number of papers moving to online, including the PD which through the crisis has seen numerous online subscriptions.
According to Chris, a community newspaper is essential for people navigating a disaster and the Press Democrat is fully aware of their responsibility to provide answers to keep their readers informed.
In the 1980’s the PD had 100,000 subscribers and today the paper has 32,000. The claim to have to have the paper in their hands is on the wane since most young people have rarely held a paper having been raised in the online world. The staff of the paper are sharing images from their home offices, which makes the five weeks of isolation so far a very strange scene.
The owners of the paper were credited by Chris for saving Sonoma County’s daily paper from a similar fate of other dailies in the country.
So how did he get here? Chris went to San Jose State and made a day trip to Rohnert Park and a visit to Sonoma State College, which appeared to be no more than a concrete box in the middle of a field of cows. On another trip he made the trek to Gualala and spotted a small newspaper and Chris became the reporter for the Independent Coast Reporter. This paper was the transition for Chris to move from Riverside, California to Northern California.
Next week’s speaker will be Steve Herrington, Superintendent of Sonoma County Schools.