Ringing the Bell:
Club President Bill Bolster opened the Zoom meeting at 7:31 am. Bill announced to the Club that the grandson of Pegi Ball had suddenly passed away over the weekend. Pegi is visiting her daughter, Nicole, and encouraged the Club to keep Pegi in their thoughts and to send condolences if possible.
Pledge Allegiance was led by Karen Ricketts.
Inspiration was provided by Susan Cole. “Keep pace always with the sunshine and the shadows will fall behind you.” – Walt Whitman
Song was led by Heather Cullen as she led “Accentuate the Positive” as we prepared for Election Day and whatever it may bring.
Guests of Rotarians:
- Guests of Rotarians included past member Jo Timmson introduced by Sue Nelson. Jo expressed interest in returning to the Club which was meet with a round of applause.
Rotarian Guests: None
Announcements:
Rotarian of the Month
- The Rotarian for the Month of November was announced. Congratulations to our own Tom Boylan for the many ways he contributes to the Club. Tom is responsible for our newsletter, maintenance of our web site and a variety of tasks at the District and Zone level.
Help Wanted:
- We are operating with a Rotary Clipboard that list the various needs of the club when it comes to volunteers. Identify the various needs and let members know they should either send an email to [email protected], or contact the person heading up the project in need of volunteers.
Covid 19
A special shout out to Allison Huber and Glenn Sugden who are both recuperating from the Covid 19 viral infection.
Total Cases: 10,236 (last week 9778)
New Cases: Fri 45
Sat 40
Sun 103
Mon 77
Deaths: 142 (last week 136)
Hospitalized: 26 confirmed and 6 suspected
There are now 19% of our cases in the 25-34-year-olds and 17% in the 35-44 year olds
We have tested a Total of 222,291 and 8211 recovered (last week 213,129 in our county with 7404 people recovered) Total negative tests 212,055
(unfortunately, this number does reflect people who have tested more than once and our health care workers are testing monthly)
Sonoma County is still on the strictest Tier of Lockdown (the Purple Tier – this is one time that being purple is not good!!!) because we have been unable to stop the surge of new cases. Our Transmission rate is still above the required 8% or lower, so it does not meet the State guideline in order to move into a less restrictive tier. Sonoma County is the only Bay Area county still in the purple tier.
Sonoma county had 27 new cases of COVID that tested positive before the fires and had to evacuate and another 22 who were infected during the fires and evacuations.
Public Health and the CDC are very worried about an increase in numbers all over the USA from the Halloween celebrations and large gatherings which even here in Sonoma county took place. Fines have been handed out to 2 such parties here in Sonoma County over the weekend that may have put all of us at risk. We have got to get people who have symptoms to stop, isolate, and get tested. (this is like stop, cover, and roll with an earthquake people, but related to our coronavirus!) This could save hundreds of lives if people would be more cautious and think of others.
Again, I cannot stress enough to rethink your plans for the holidays. I know most of us would like to be with family and are COVID fatigued, but the life you save could be yours or that of another family member. Do not take the risk; just because they are family members does not mean that spread of this virus cannot happen. If you want a holiday festival or dinner then only 3 separate households, a total of 10 people or less and if someone is coming from out of our county, have them quarantined for 14 days and be tested before they come. This is the only way we are going to contain this deadly disease!
I ask each and every one of you to believe in the reality of what is happening; this is not political, not a hoax nor is it media hype – we have had over 200,000 deaths in the US! Each one of these represents someone’s family member that cannot be at the table at Thanksgiving or Christmas even if they lived in the same household. Do not let the political divide that has been occurring cloud the fact that we are in a real pandemic with real people dying who do not deserve to. Help to control this awful, deadly disease so we can hug one again, socialize and support businesses. It is up to each of us!
Let’s really become SONOMA COUNTY STRONG AGAIN.
Thanks
Di
Virtual District Conference
- The District 5130 Conference was held on October 24, 2020. At that time, two Windsor Rotarians who passed away this past year were honored for their service. A moment of silence would be appropriate to honor long standing Rotarians Dick Bishop and Carl Wiuff.
Rotary Zone Institute
- The Virtual Rotary Zone 26-27 Institute will be held on November 12-14, 2020. All members are encourage to attend some of the sessions for great speakers and new ideas.
CLIPBOARD:
- BINGO Night, Nov 12 – email Barbara McChesney with the number of cards you want – [email protected]
- Gassaku Ramen Night, Nov 6 – WHS Vineyard Academy. Sign up & pay at https://m.bpt.me/event/4785396
- Dick Bishop Salvation Army Bell Ringing See Bill Bolster if you can assist in the organization of the event to be conducted at Walmart on December 12 and 19 from 10:00 – 1:00pm. A giant kettle will be provided by the Salvation Army on Saturday November 21 to accommodate drive by donations.
Rotary District 5130 Disaster Relief Fund – Fires. They will work hard to make sure every dollar donated will make a difference in someone’s life!
Mail to: Ashliegh Diehl, District 5130 Treasurer
1315 Fourth Street
Eureka, Ca 95501
Fine master:
- No recognitions for this week. President Bill Bolster avoided the bullet by not acknowledging his own anniversary on November 1!
Program:
SPEAKER; David Schreibman -”WHAT IS GEOCACHING?”
David Schreibman is a past president of the Rotary Club of Sebastopol and an enthusiastic advocate for geocaching. Geocaching is the practice of both hiding and searching for “caches” that are hidden all over the world. These caches come in all sizes, types and are hidden in a variety of locations. The hints to find these locations can be accessed by going to your smart phone or going to the website geocaching.com. These hints allow you to find caches hidden all over the world.
The size and value of the caches depend on the location and how they are hidden. They can be hidden in trees, buried and/or using magnets and tape. The are categorized as traditional, mystery, virtual, mule and earth caches. The caches are ranked in difficulty to find on a range of 1-5. Using a GPS will usually get you within 10 feet of the hidden cache. It is up to you to find the “hidden treasure”.
David Schreibman has personally found over 400 caches and hidden over 300 during his involvement in geocaching. Each cache uncovered needs to be “logged in” on the computer and carefully returned to its original location. The simple rule for participating in geocaching is “Cash-in Trash-out”. There are many sites to be discovered in both Windsor and Santa Rosa. Geocaching is an enjoyable hobby. The search allows for both adventure and creativity in the hiding and the finding. David encourages all to give it a try.
Closing:
Bill Bolster closed the meeting with a reminder to vote and to go out and do something “Rotarian today.