The bell rang for the last time for President Bill Bolster at 7:30
- Art Diaz led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, a very lively leader.
- Mike Merrill shared that Jimmy Dean was known for more than just sausage when he gave us his quote, “I can’t change the course of the win, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”
- Remembering the debunking from last weekend we slipped into a new dimension when Carol Martin and JB Leep gave us a repeat performance of “Meeting Bell Blues.”
- Today’s virtual challenge was met by Michael Juric and JB Leep. The words used to describe the event came from Tom Boylan and the photos are credited to Sue Nelson.
- The Rotarians of the Month continues to go to Michael Juric and his Best Shot fundraising team.
Pam Moulton’s sister and brother-in-law, Sheila and Doug, came down to cool California to visit with Pam & Ken Moulton.
Guests of Rotarians included the first recipient of the Ken Moulton Scholarship, Natalie Nava & her father Jorge, along with her teacher Ann Ryan
Michael Juric then gave us some additional insight into Dr. Ken Moulton, whose career in education has taken him to numerous positions of leadership, including Windsor Middle School principal, and founder of Windsor Oaks Academy We then had the opportunity to hear from the good doctor himself.
Ken let us know how grateful he is that we added the Ken Moulton Scholarship as part of our Windsor Rotary Community Foundation. He let us know that this scholarship is given to students that overcome adversity and demonstrate integrity in their lives. Ken let us know that our first recipient, Natalie Nava, is worthy of the award because of her commitment to her education and her community. Natalie’s journey in health services will start this fall at Santa Rosa JC.
Natalie took the mic and a bouquet of roses then shared her thank you as she told us of her past struggles in life and how this scholarship will open new doors for her and her quest to become an RN.
Tom Hassur gave an introduction to Rebecca Hernandez our Windsor Rotary Scholarship recipient.
Tom Hassur took center stage to introduce our other scholarship recipient for 2021, Rebecca Hernandez. Tom let us know that Rebecca also had to overcome life challenges to get to this new opportunity to advance her education.
Rebecca took us back to the wildfires and the fear she and her family went through as they faced the need to evacuate to Sonoma County Fairgrounds. The reaction to this traumatizing experience was to find a way to grow her knowledge through several programs that accredited her with certificates of skills for working within the community to help others change their outlook on life as well. She closed by reminding us that mental health is important to everyone and she is looking forward to giving back to our community and her new school community at UC Santa Barbara. Her goal is to travel the world educating those who have less opportunity to become educated.
We have a lot of upcoming events. But first… a Fractured Fairytale…
Bill got out of the Navy and went to work in San Francisco where he went to live at his wife’s home. One day while driving he ran out of gas and although he had spare gas in the trunk, he and Joni could not find the gas cap… hidden by the manufacturer of the classic car they were driving. When a passerby stopped to help, even she couldn’t find the gas cap, and after a few minutes of searching the car for the gas cap, she turned to Joni and asked, “Are we on Candid Camera?”
Mike Freedman gave us a craft talk and let us know that although he was fortunate to be born into a family that was successful, he had a blood disorder that kept him in and out of hospitals, losing a spleen at the age of two for the good of his future.
He attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he studied psychology and took a great interest in AI. He went on to find a job that allowed him an opportunity to get his Masters’s Degree and an introduction to his future wife. Hinting that her roots growing up in Hawaii gave her a great opportunity to spend family visits in the Islands.
Mike’s work kept him in the Silicon Valley where he ventured into many of the tech fields he was interested in. Xerox inspired him to gain more education, which he did.
Why Rotary? He wanted to have a broader impact on youth and Rotary looks to be a great vehicle. And he added I joined because of our club members.
Although Mike shared that his family is a loud one, he claims to be the quiet man. He shared that he is a person who knows a little about everything, but nothing about some things, except he does know the 1970’s punk side of music with the Clash and the Ramones among many others. He also likes to ride… a bicycle.
With two homes, one in Windsor and the other in Atherton, he has a choice for which one he spends the winter in and which one is the summer home. Regardless of where he is staying, it sounds like there is a chair in the backyard waiting for you to drop by and have a discussion. Maybe compare some musical notes.
Maureen Merrill asked Catherine Hanron and Mike Merrill to step forward and receive their official Windsor Rotary Badge.
Pres Bill gave us an explanation that his efforts over the past year are made better in large part for the efforts of his club members. We saw a list of Rotarian of the Month names, and we reviewed the efforts we made for helping the hungry in our community, introducing candidates for pre-election, our work on the Build Academy, along with our efforts throughout the pandemic generating literally thousands of dollars that went directly to our community. It can be said that we gave this year “Our Best Shot.”
Rotary 2020-21 Year End Awards
Civic Award 2020-21 – Candidates Forums
- Maureen Merrill
- Bill Arnone
Santa’s Heart 2020-21
- Sandie Krutz
Our Youth are Our Future 2020-21
- Ken Moulton
- Tom Hassur
- Daniel Myers
Our Best Shot 2021
- Sue Nelson
- Diane Brabetz
Involved in Everything 2020-21
- Heather Cullen
- Glenn Sugden
Bean Couter Extraordinaire 2020-21
- Ed Turner
Rookie of the Year 2020-21
- Barbara McChesney for her efforts with the leadership training course and so much more
Rotarian Family of the Year 2020-21
- Carol Martin
- JB Leep
Rotarian of the Year 2020-21
- Michael Juric was recognized for his ongoing support to the president and he also took home the Rotarian of the Year award
The last award for the day was the awarding of an incoming president pin to Pam Moulton.
We then had an opportunity to share a standing ovation for the soon-to-be-stepping down President Bill.
President Bill said, “When you stumble, make it part of the dance!”
Bill Bolster Debunking
MEETING PICTURES
kurt and wally head shaving
COVID UPDATE
Total Cases:
- 31,103 this is 195 new cases! (last week 30,688)
Recovered:
- 30,165 (last week 29,747)
Active Cases:
- 621 (last week 522)
New Cases:
- Fri 33
- Sat 44 the problem with the reporting is that the lab is no longer open on weekends and so reporting is difficult
- Sun 0
- Mon 0
This is a total for 4 days of 77 (last week for 4 days was 72)
Deaths:
- 317 (last week 316)
Here in Sonoma County, we have seen over 58% of our deaths in whites, 30% in Hispanics, and 2% in African Americans and American Indians. 53% of deaths occurred in SNF’s and the remaining from community spread.
Hospitalized:
- 20 confirmed and 1 suspected (last week 11 confirmed and 3 suspected) Very alarming increase in hospitalizations we are seeing and in the ages of 25-44
The largest number of cases is in those unemployed or not working is at over 21% (probably more non-social distancing and large groups exposed by those who are working), healthcare makes up 9.3% and Service and sales have dropped to 16% with home care (my industry)continuing at 1.8%.
Today, with our State reopened, there continues to be mask confusion. Only the fully vaccinated are recommended to safely remove their masks but so many locations of businesses and services are relying on the honor system. So many continue to wear their masks out in public who are vaccinated. All businesses have been allowed to resume business at full capacity, including indoor service. However, health care is exempt, homeless shelters, cooling centers, and schools. What does it mean for our home care industry? It does mean that owners, like me, will need to communicate with Public Health to ensure that we continue to keep our clients and workers safe as the virus is still out there. We also will see businesses unable to reopen at 100% because of a lack of workers. Most business owners will have to continue with partial reopening because of the inability to staff up. Personal choice on wearing a mask will continue and each business owner can determine their own rules on wearing of masks or requirements. We are seeing a few fully vaccinated staff testing positive despite no symptoms. Does that mean that they are carriers? Does it mean that these folks who were among the first vaccinated in December already need a booster? Still no strong answers……………………..
Vaccines were begun…. As of June 28th, 593,808 residents in Sonoma County have received the vaccine (last week 574,631). 66% of our populations 16 and older are fully vaccinated and just under 75% have received at least 1 dose. County and nation are seeing an increase in people not returning for their 2nd dose and are having to begin the 2 shot process all over again. The county is reporting that our daily case rates continue to be high and are increasing. Most getting sick are unvaccinated and they have more chance of developing the variant. 87% of the new coronavirus cases lately have been among the unvaccinated and that figure rises to 95% in the local Latino population not vaccinated. How do we negotiate with those unvaccinated to see the need? I would like us to be able to forego our masks and worry less about travel. Until we get the unvaccinated convinced that vaccinations are safe and the risk vs. reward is worth it, we will continue to see masks and could even see future lockdowns with the Delta variant out there.
Please continue to be cautious while you are enjoying our new freedoms of getting out, socializing, and feeling like we can live again. Remember not all people are vaccinated and unless you know the people you are with have been vaccinated, wear your mask to protect others that may not be. We want to see this over but still, need to be cautious and very careful.
Thanks
Di