As we gathered here today… we had a nice chat session prior to the official ringing of the bell. 32 Rotarian’s were on hand when the official start of President Maureen Merrill’s next to last meeting.
The Club Survey Results are IN! Available to view here.
Club Survey June 2020 Summary Ratings
Windsor Rotary June 2020 Survey WRITTEN COMMENTS
Rich Mucci gave us a grand ole reading of the flag salute, and he let us know that Arizona is calling so he will be moving there in July.
The privilege to serve others was the theme offered by our own Susan Cole, who was reciting words our outgoing District Governor shared.
If your scribe had not slept in you would have seen Tom Boylan on ZOOM camera.
Lamar Collins and daughter Alia were on hand and Alia gave us a beautiful song with her rendition of ‘Rise Up.’ We look forward to next week’s meeting and a time of discussion about race with Lamar and Alia. Plan to send questions to Pres Maureen and plan to be a part of “Honest Talk about Race.”
(Please see the Rotary International statement at the bottom of the meeting notes)
Announcements:
Tom Hassur continues to be the Powerhouse of the month for our Rotary club.
There is a drive around parade scheduled between 10 AM and noon on July Fourth, contact Pam Moulton for additional information on the 7:30 am set up.
Incoming president Bill Bolster warned us that next year’s theme is “Calamity” and we are ready to learn more.
Food security once again became a key topic and Barbara McChesney let us know that last Sunday was an extraordinary day for food drop offs. Pres Maureen asked that we share ideas on how to keep it going.
The Healdsburg 20-30 Club is looking for volunteers to help them provide some guidance to shop for kids in need. Each child is allocated $200 and they need a personal shopper, a Rotarian, to fulfill the requests of the child. We can donate directly to WRCF. It is a $200 donation that will go a long way toward helping. Either write a check and send it to Ed Turner, or make the donation via our club website. Be sure to use the notes section to mark Kids Spree, so we will know what to spend the money on. Diane Brabetz stepped up and made a sizeable addition to her donation from last week.
Speaking of kids, Pres Maureen had asked for photos of club members in their youth and the guessing game was on. Some have changed… OK all have changed. We got to see early photos of Michael Juric, Diane Brabetz, Mike Merrill, and Heather Cullen.
Program:
JB Leep introduced our program for the day by handing off the introduction to Carol Martin. She let us know that our District Grant went to Windsor Rotary Robotics. The Club picked this project and offered a monetary donation which was matched with a 50% increase by the District. Glenn Sugden shared the spotlight on this unique project that allowed for a package to be created to promote robotics within the community. Mark Galli, the Robotics advisor for Cali Calmeca’s program was then handed the reins to better inform us of the program we helped fund.
Mark let us know his daughter was an inspiration for his involvement, she is a student at Cali and a robotics enthusiast. We were given an update on the program which shortly after rolling out saw a set back with all the commotion associated with last year’s fires.
The Cali Robotics Club started with nine members, eight girls and one boy, a brother of one of the girls. Robotics became an official program of the school and when it was announced to the students and their families, more than 40 students stepped up to learn more. Although there was the interest, limited resources only had so much to go around, including seven robotic kits, which typically might have two students per kit, and now needed to be stretched to accommodate four students each.
We learned there was a lot of excitement among the parents, including a parent whose day job was working as the Robotics instructor for Windsor High School. He became so enamored with the program that he offered nine of his students as advisors to the younger students. In the end the program made available to 24 students total, fourth through eighth grade students and evenly balanced between boys and girls.
Training for parents and high school volunteers was provided by Rick Phelan with the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE). The combination of supporting cast gave the program a great boost and a plan to build on the program into the future.
We learned that when you place 24 students in a room with robotic Lego kits, you have a greater challenge to get a lesson plan put into action. For all the efforts to get the kids on track to compete in a larger year end competition, the fires last fall disrupted the programs opportunity to compete. The disappointment was felt by both the program coordinators as well as the students. However, the fall season did end on a high note with internal competition where the students raced their creations against each other’s robots.
The Spring semester kicked off with a lot of enthusiasm, but unfortunately just when the gears started moving, COVID hit. The challenges for the program became even greater to try and teach from afar. SCOE came out with an alternative game plan called the Alternative Robotics Challenge, which gave the kids imagination the freedom to explore beyond the norm.
If nothing else, students had an opportunity to find out who Rube Goldberg was. One of the winners of the awards is Gavin R., a sixth grader with Cali Calmeca, he shared how he had an opportunity to continue with the distance learning program and then shared some of his programming skills demonstrating his entry into the alternative challenge.
Mark then gave us a look at the challenges the robotics program is facing and the plans he and his team have to allow for continued growth through virtual robotics, which they will be working on through the summer in hopes that the future will get them back into the classroom with a chance to introduce the world of robotics to an even greater number of students.
We had more than 37 people watching from the comfort of their homes when the bell rang for the end of the program.
RI shared the following:
Statement from Rotary International
At Rotary, we have no tolerance for racism. Promoting respect, celebrating diversity, demanding ethical leadership, and working tirelessly to advance peace are central tenets of our work.
We have more work to do to create more just, open and welcoming communities for all people.
We know there are no easy fixes and that challenging conversations and work lie before all of us. Rotary’s strength has long been our ability and commitment to bringing people together. We will tap into that strength now as we stand with those who are working for peace and justice.
Rotary will do our part to listen, learn and take action to ensure that we continue to contribute to making positive change.
Be sure to plan to attend next week’s meeting for a powerful discussion on race.
Message from President Maureen
2019-20: Wham! Wham! Wow! Wow!
The theme is energy, and the energy’s been wild.
It’s usual for us to take the last meeting of our year for club matters such as wrap-up memories, awards, and many remarks and rounds of applause. But little about this year was typical.
Wham! Sure, we had a known disruptor for a president. As I saw it, many practices needed upgrading if we wanted to have a year full of new ENERGY. Even so, the year started with unexpected challenges. And yet, WOW! Windsor Rotarians stepped up with amazing creativity, grit and whole-heartedness.
- Wham! The board determines that insufficient interest and energy existed to plan on our usual Major Fundraising Event. Lots of ‘round and ‘round about a major or signature service project and what comes first, the cause or the fundraiser . . . and what about ongoing projects such as scholarships . . . ?
- WOW! All spring events were cancelled due to COVID-19 anyway; no losses in set-up or promo expense.
- WOW! We concluded a banner summer with the Margarita Booth at the Town Green, funding several life-altering international service projects.
- Wham! Fires in late October cause evacuations, displacements and bruising economic impacts—even as three of our members were still not back in homes after the 2017 conflagrations.
- WOW! Direct donations to our Windsor Rotary Community Foundation went super-sonic, led by Glenn Sugden’s striking $134,000 taking us to our “spend some interest” goal point . . . and notably engaging several more members who channeled their usual fundraiser-fueled giving (and then some) to cash contributions.
- Wham! Our past President (2000-2001), Carl Wiuff, dies in December. Then we lose past member George Johnston. And we’ve mourned Wendy How’s passing in June 2019.
- Wham! COVID-19 threatens public health, causing anxiety, a shut-down in business, a Shelter-in-Place order and waves of economic impact to nearly every one of us.
- WOW! We inducted 7 Rotarians into our club!
- Wham! Mass demonstrations across the country focus our attention specifically on racial injustice. Sadly, in their wake comes violence to our county. Serious threats concern downtown Windsor, where several merchants boarded up storefronts for several days and authorities call a town curfew.
- WOW! We initiated a new approach to scholarships, one that promises to lift our program to Signature level as it grows. Seeking to identify, understand and reward the resourceful resilience that many students must employ in order to succeed in school, we positioned our club for meaningful long-term engagement with students.
- WOW! We initiated a Food Security Drive led by two of our newest, passionate members, Barbara McChesney and Heather Cullen, again touching hearts and easing hunger for local families.
- WOW! Wham! We’ll close our year with lively meeting and a frank discussion on race and an invitation to each of us to answer the question, “What can I do?”
I could not include all the WOWs of every size that occurred throughout the year, yet I hold them in my heart forever.
Thanks for being a Rotarian with me, and thank you for all the service we do together.
Your faithful President,
Maureen
Meeting of June 30, 2020
Awards!
“Rotarian of the Year”
Other Awards
President Brief Remarks
Thank You to Board of Directors
Presentation of Pin to Bill Bolster
Program: Rotary’s part in the RACE Conversation: Honest, Awkward, Urgent Questions and Discussion
“Rotary will do our part to listen, learn and take action” – from Rotary International’s Statement on Racism.
Addressing questions about race, equal treatment, white privilege and the way forward. A conversation with Rotarian Dr. Lamar Collins, principal of Windsor High School, and his daughter, student Aliyah Collins, representing 2 genders and 2 generations of African-American experience. Lamar grew up in poverty and had many negative encounters with law enforcement in his neighborhood. Aliyah’s parents are an educator and an accountant; she and both of her sisters are university students.
Diversity is one of Rotary’s 5 core values.* Lamar will tell us about his first experience with Rotarians, which demonstrates Rotary’s potential in healing racial divisions.
Rather than give talks, Lamar and Aliyah will take our questions. With your help, I’ll collect some questions in advance; then also see what kind of time we have for back-and-forth. Click here to send your question to me.Bold, provocative, challenging . . . whatever. It’s clear to me that the questions we’ve already been asking haven’t had much impact. Or maybe we haven’t asked the right people.
“Let’s Get Uncomfortable” . . . Presented by our Rotary International Director Johrita Solari: Rotarian talk about race on FACEBOOK:
Our Rotary International Director from our zone, Johrita Solari, recently hosted a conversation in this FB video, featuring a Texas Rotarian CPA who is African-American
And for fun: See one of our July 30 guests, student Aliyah Collins, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NFiBTYoa6M
*Rotary’s 5 Core Values: Service, Fellowship, Diversity, Integrity, Leadership.