We gathered together in our homes to listen to the bell ringing at 7:30 when President Maureen rang the bell. There were 31 people in attendance… except David Ruprecht who we think was trying to sign in from an exotic location on the coast of Northern California.
Heather Cullen stood in for the songmiester and gave us a great rendition of Grand old Flag.
“Act as what you do makes a difference, it does,” was the inspiration offered by Susan Cole.
Tom Boylan , today’s scribe, used the best of his abilities to capture the moments.
No guests of Rotarians or visiting Rotarians to list:
Announcements:
Tom Hassur, our powerhouse Rotarian of the month, shared that Ed Turner invited him to join the club. He opted in when he realized how much Rotary does for the community he lived in. We heard a litany of events and projects that have reinforced his decision so many years ago. We heard that his ability to venture out of the country to attend a Brotherhood gathering in Mexico he became aware of the need to reach out beyond the borders to work with people in extreme poverty.
We learned that his first International Conference taught him that we are truly a worldwide organization.
Attendance update: 39 in the ZOOM room
Sandie Krutz stepped up to inform us of a request for our club to participate with a grant to help the community she has been working with in Brazil that is in need of hospital beds to deal with the COVID. We also found out that the Healdsburg 20-30 Club is giving us another opportunity to be involved with their kids go shopping, with a twist. The children can’t go, but we can be the personal shoppers for the Kid’s Spree event. Each child gets $200 to spend on school items, clothes and a personal item or two.
Renee Hyde let us know that the John Lewis Fund is a tax deductible option for raising money to pay for local projects and grow our endowment fund.
John LeCave recognized the efforts of Glenn Sugden for his donation to the Rotary International Foundation. The tables were turned on John when Pres Maureen gave him a Paul Harris plus seven pin. John let us all know that there is a simple way to donate to the Foundation by signing up for automatic deposits. If you need help, just ask John.
Joe Deacon may be far away, but he is close at hand through the wonder of Zoom. He let us know he is moving to Coer d’Alene, Idaho on the 4th of July to live an acre property with his son’s family. The packing is underway and we hope he continues to drop in for a meeting or two along the way. John How let him know that his hiking partner will be missed.
Michael Ragsdale was reminded that he has 38 years of wonder with his lovely wife Barbara. Technical issues prevented him from bragging about Barbara’s patience.
Art Diaz was recognized for his anniversary last month.
Heather gave us an update on the food drive that has been ongoing through the month of June. In addition to the food they are appreciative of bags and egg cartons, which are needed to hand off the food. Steady as she goes, we are asked to keep it going. Barbara McChesney was also recognized for her food drive efforts.
Carol Martin shared that her friend gave her a check, and we are all invited to use a check if we can’t drop off food. Ed Turner is willing to take the money that will help feed those in need.
Pres Maureen asked that we all be sure to take the survey she has passed along trying to understand the needs of the Club members.
Program:
JB Leep introduced our new member Barbara McChesney who gave us her Craft Talk.
Born in Texas, Barbara moved around with the help of her father’s military career. Somewhere along the way her parents divorced and she went to live with her mom in the East Bay for the school year, but she get the opportunity to travel with her father to exotic places due to his career in flying, including exotic locations in Nigeria, Iran and many more.
Barbara attended Sonoma State and received her degree in teaching. She eventually moved to Sacramento and received a her teaching certificate for working with children with special needs. Her career had a variety of turns, but always focused on children and their education needs.
She married her second husband after a ten year courtship and a lot of dancing at Munroe Hall. They have a combined family with four children, who are slow to want to become parents and that means no grandchildren… yet.
Barbara’s interest continues to be travel. Her observations of how others in the world live and the effects of a global community on the way Earth is evolving. She shared that she is passionate about the environment and social justice.
We know that she was the chair for the Veteran’s Resource Center’s annual fundraiser, Dancing with the Stars, and is disappointed that what was looking like a great year for the event, turned out to be lost to COVID.
During one of Barbara’s travels she saw a sign recognizing Rotary for their clean water and that was a driving force to learn more which eventually led to a conversation with Pres Maureen and her eventually becoming a Windsor Rotarian. She let us know that life has a way of offering a contrast, from dinner with a prince to dinner with people needing to search for clean water.
Barbara provided us with a visual tour of her life through photographs sharing her work, her family ,and her dancing.
Catherine Hanron is one of nine children who grew up in Boston (settled in 1700). We found out that Santa Claus made his first visit to the States with a visit to Boston. The town where she came from to move to Windsor is called Hull, a small town with a lot of water around it. Her husband and she did a lot of world traveling.
Catherine was moved by Rotary and the work she did with her Hull club to promote healing HEP-C in people around the world, and in particular Veterans who had acquired the condition.
In 2013 she took a trip to Windsor and met a friend who kept at her to leave Boston area and make the move to her new hometown. She let us know she is delighted with the decision and she has many friends that continue to welcome her to this new community.
We were treated to a series of slides that introduced us to her family. Amazing photos of the past. From Boston to Africa and amazing wildlife photos and then back to Boston. We also learned that we are all challenged to make the ZOOM thing work smoothly.
Pres Maureen reinforced that Catherine is not alone when it comes to the ZOOM platform. We ended with a catchy little number called Quarantine… search Google for a fun look. Be Kind!
PeaceBuilders
On the heels of World Environment Day (June 5), NewGen PeacebuildersSM and Footprint App, Inc., led respectively by Rotarians Patricia Shafer and Dakota Stormer, are announcing a Rotary-related expansion of their collaboration to support US high school environmental science and STEM teachers with interactive lessons linking environmental sustainability and peacebuilding.
In cooperation with Rotary International strategic partner Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), a new Ecological Threat Register (ETR) will be added to lessons and activities included in combined Footprint App and NewGen Peacebuilders educational materials. This is the first initiative to make the ETR available for youth education. The effort is aligned with the US 2030 goal of reducing carbon emissions, food loss and landfill waste by 50 percent.
WASH
The WASH Rotarian Action Group had planned a great agenda for this year’s Water Summit. Now with the assistance of Zoom technology we are delighted to share this year’s Summit on line.
Registering means you have a virtual seat at World Water Summit 12: “Partnerships that Work”. To accommodate time differences around the world we are offering the same program at two different times.
Join us to hear past RI President Barry Rassin share the details of the collaboration between HANWASH (Haiti National Clean Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Strategy) and its partners: Rotary District 7070, The Rotary Foundation, DINEPA, Haiti Outreach, Pure Water for the World and others. The goal is to provide clean water and sanitation to ALL the citizens of Haiti.
Later, Panelists from UNICEF, USAID and District Leaders will discuss Sanitation and Hygiene in the era of COVID-19. And there will be plenty of time for questions.
All this and more – there is no charge for attending the 2020 World Water Summit. But we do need you to register. Please click here:
Thursday June 18, 2020 – 7.00 pm Eastern Daylight Time
Friday June 19, 2020 – 11.00 am Eastern Daylight Time
AmazonSmile
Here is something to make us smile…
Your charity, The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, recently received a quarterly donation of $2,604.40 thanks to customers shopping at smile.amazon.com.
To date, AmazonSmile has donated a total of:
- $47,383.69 to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International
- $183,120,221.33 to all charities
Thank you for supporting The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International by shopping at smile.amazon.com. You can track your impact throughout the year at your My Impact page.
AmazonSmile is also available in the Amazon Shopping app on iPhone and Android phones. See how to activate here.
The Way Forward
Myke will speak to us about a way forward in response to the diversity and inclusion discussions so many of us have been having regarding injustice.
Please join us to hear from Myke Rousell of the Rotary Club of Temple-South, District 5870, Central Texas. Myke has a powerful message that deeply resonated with me, his own club and district. He has agreed to share his story with us.
Topic: The Way Forward: Let’s Get Uncomfortable With Myke Rousell, CPA
Time: Jun 18, 2020 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 862 9141 3446
Password: 202972