We began gathering and sharing some holiday banter and just generally enjoying each other’s company. President Bill Bolster let us know the meeting was on time when he rang the opening bell at 7:30… “Good Morning President Bill,” was the chorus of 36 in attendance.
We received a little review of the last meeting. It was a memory test.
Alison Huber came back from Chicago to share a pledge of allegiance.
Barbara McChesney offered a quote by author Leo Buscaglia, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which has the potential to turn a life around.”
John How had a simple task and that was to get us to sing a song for Rudolph the Rotary President, No simple task at all.
No visiting Rotarians, but we had a few other guests. JB Leep introduced our speaker Jeff Davidson, to the program for today. Heather Cullen introduced her children as guests for the day, welcome Autumn, Spring, and Ephraim.
Barbara McChesney has only been a member of the Windsor Rotary for the past eight months, but she has risen to a higher level of service which is recognized by Pres Bill as he credits her with Rotarian of the Month for December.
The events we have coming up still need a few volunteers and Carol Martin asked us to consider volunteering wither our own time or others that we know to take part.
Windsor Middle School this past weekend had several Rotarians sharing in a drive-thru food drive that saw a lot of Windsor teens participating.
Carol says she has enough boxes to package toy donations, but keep the toys coming.
Michael Merrill let us know there are still a few openings for bell ringers to carry on the Dick Bishop Holiday Bell Ringing. We need a few bodies for December 19th. Please let Mike know of your availability. Doug Williams stepped up and one more would make it a full schedule for the ringalings.
Sandie Krutz reminded us that we have been placed on teams that are being asked to adopt a family. Each team is being asked to purchase gift cards and deliver these to Sandie’s home on Sunday, December 13th. Gift cards are preferred over gifts due to COVID complications.
Doug Williams shared us know that we are prepared to hand off the gift cards for teachers. Each teacher in Windsor received a thank you letter and a $5 gift card for Cafe Noto. Thanks, Ken Moulton for your letter, thanks to Tom Boylan for developing the collateral, and a special thanks to Doug Williams for coordinating this project… and thank you to Sandie Krutz for the suggestion of plying our teachers with a caffeine drink.
We are reminded that we have a virtual Holiday Social slated for December 12th at the Club ZOOM Room starting at 6 PM. For those who need a pick up for their toys, connect with Renee Hyde and Paul who will be driving the Santa Mobile to pick up toys on Sunday the 13th, or you can drop the toys off at Carol Martin’s home. The toys are slated to be handed off on December 19th at the Windsor Middle School under the guidance of the Windsor Fire Department and other non-profit groups from Windsor.
Clipboard info:
- Dick Bishop Salvation Army Bell Ringing needs one more ding a ling. Contact Mike Merrill at [email protected], or call 707-484-0310
- Fundraisers – Need volunteers; Food Drop Off, Santa Tim Gift Wrapping & Gifting –
- Gift Wrapping 7 Food Sorting Till Dec 19
- Gift & Food Distribution Dec 19 – Sign Up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0e49afa72ca5fa7-windsor1
- Boys & Girls Club “Families in Need” (8) Christmas Gift Cards
- Join in your group and help the family you have been assigned
- Questions – Your Group Leader or Sandie Krutz – [email protected] (650) 339-0953
- February Valentine’s Day Tri-Tip – Contact Carol Martin at [email protected] / 707-403-8200
- “Ladies on Line” on Wednesday, December 16th at 5:30 contact Pam Moulton at [email protected] / 707-328-0026
- 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!
- www.rotary5130.org/district-disaster-response-plan
- Mail your donation to: Ashliegh Diehl, District 5130 Treasurer, 1315 Fourth Street, Eureka, Ca 95501
Next week is our ugly Christmas sweater contest… It sounds like there is going to be a prize, but we will have to tune in to see who wins the car… or maybe I got that wrong
See Diane Brabitz’s COVID report at the bottom of the bulletin.
Program:
JB Leep let our speaker Jeff Davidson, former fire chief, and home builder know that we have 40 Rotarians in the house. Jeff let us know that he would hang around after our meeting ends to answer any questions that might come up.
Jeff is talking to us about his trek along the Camino de Santiago. His talk is titled the Journey is the Destination. We heard about his past as a fire chief and his work in Mexico building homes for the underserved. Jeff is also a current instructor with Santa Rosa JC’s Windsor Fire Academy.
The trip is a 500-mile walk, which has been a pilgrimage for many to arrive at the tomb of Apostle James. Over 20 million people have taken the trek. The journey starts in France and terminates in the Northwest of Spain. A comparison of what the distance might be in California. If you walked from Novato, Jeff’s hometown, to Disneyland, you would still have 30 more miles to go to equal the journey.
Jeff let us know he budgeted a certain number of miles each day. His budget was 20 miles a day for 25 days, and that is what it wound up being. He shared a photo of his passport sheet with multiple stamps commemorating his journey. As an avid hiker with time on his hands, he found a unique opportunity to head to Europe where his wife had a month-long assignment and she went to Italy and he started walking.
For those who want to break in their walking shoes, Jeff shared a lot of the resources available to those who would like to walk the Camino. He also shared a photo of the items he did and didn’t need on his walk. His recommendation is that you can lighten your load and it might get you a little farther down the road.
The journey gave him an ability to connect through a Facebook, blog to keep his friends and family apprised of his experiences. Hostels were a regular sleeping area. Food was plentiful along the way, including meals offered at the Hostels. It turned out to be a great way to enjoy the local delicacies to make it a highlight of the trip.
The Camino allows you to walk on paths that still have the stones that were originally laid by Romans. There is a variety of art that can also be found on the paths. There was always some excitement to see a big city, but the noise increase became noticeable and that gave appreciation for the quiet time on the trail.
Although this was a solo walk, Jeff met many others along the way and wound up seeing them often on the trek. He remains in touch with many of the friends he made along the way.
Buen Camino!
Here is the latest COVID update from your Rotary Club nurse:
TWO AMERICANS /MINUTE IS DYING OF COVID IN THE USA CURRENTLY! (This is doubled from last week…..sigh)
Total Cases: 13,439 (last week 12,319)
New Cases: Fri 175 THIS IS 516 (last week 319) NEW CASES OVER THE WEEKEND AND THE LARGEST SURGE TO DATE!
Sat 183, Sun 88, Mon 70, deaths: 160 (last week 157)
Hospitalized: 41 confirmed and 1 suspected (last week 31 confirmed and32 suspected) Statewide, the number of hospitalizations continue to rise has doubled since last month! We have only 4 ICU beds left for care in Sonoma County for any kind of emergency
We continue with 19% of our cases in the 25-34-year-olds and 17% in the 35-44-year-olds. We have tested a Total of 315,727 and 10,707 recovered (last week 297,943 in our county with 10,010 people recovered)
Still seeing the largest number of cases in the Latinos (70% and whites are only 23%) ; cases are coming from close community spread or close contact and largest industry testing positive is services and sales. (this is not health care workers) 2nd largest group of cases are still in people not working and are probably cases caught from a family member! 10% are healthcare workers.
Governor Newsom has issued a curfew from 10 pm to 5 am and also a one-month limited STAY AT HOME for non-essential personnel. It has been recommended by Governor and the CDC that all travel be halted and that we not leave the Bay Area. (they were previously saying Sonoma County but so many travels for work) The issue with travel is not being on a plane but the time being in airports which is a closed, contained space. The CDC has issued a NO Travel warning into Mexico and some states here in the US have implemented a 2 week quarantine period.
Public Health, the CDC, and most infectious disease Physicians are worried about the increase in cases (a surge on a surge!) we will see because people did not stay at home and did travel; as well as the family /friend dinners that occurred locally with more than their own household bubble.
We also have Christmas coming and again it is being stressed to not travel, stay at home and limit your contact as much as possible. If you traveled at all and got together with others, the experts are advising you to get tested. The experts are also seeing it is taking up to 4 weeks, not just 2 weeks to see new cases or new positives because of symptoms not being reported, not seeking MD visits, and then getting test results back. By the time a Case Worker or Contact Tracer gets involved, it could be weeks. Public Health is working nonstop trying to contain this virus but it will take every citizen to do their part.
Please each and everyone do your part in controlling this disease and keeps your guard up until the vaccine is available to the general public. We are probably looking at 6 months and summer before we have enough immunity to see normal life again. It is up to each of us! We have issued a policy at our office that no one will be granted time off for vacation or travel.
Let’s really become SONOMA COUNTY STRONG AGAIN and concentrate on taking precautions, sacrificing now so that we can have future holidays with our loved ones!
Thanks, Di