Dee Schweitzer tells us about the California Grand Jury system

President Pam called our meeting to order at 7:30 AM.
Wally Krutz led us in the Pledge of Allegiance

Bill Arnone called on us to remember that it was 80 years ago on this day that Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese. But we weren’t going to sing about that. He led us in a rousing rendition of “Deck the Halls” and the club performed admirably.

Terry Andreacchi offered the club two of his Rotary moments: first was when he attended a Rotary International Convention in Philadelphia. He felt as if the whole world was there – people from all parts of the world, all dressed in different ways and coming together for Rotary. He said it was “hair raising”. His second moment was at a District Conference where he was representing the San Carlos Rotary. And the whole event was about the people in the room: “friends and fellowship”. That’s what Rotary means to him.

Guests of Rotarians today were:
Dee Schweitzer, our speaker, about the Sonoma County Grand Jury
Charlie Johnson, representing the Windsor Girls Softball Team

President Pam then announced and recognized our December Rotarian of the Month. She said our December honoree was a longstanding member in the Club, Past President, big skier, a Paul Harris Fellow, a sustaining member and has served on several Club and District Committees, both in the areas of Youth and Membership.

She has been a long-standing part of our Rotary Youth Exchange Program. She recently hosted the brother of one of our former Youth Exchange students and provided avenues for amazing activities and contacts with other Rotarians – so much so that he now wants to move back to the states full time. And she is Leader of the Pack at the Rotary Bar. She is the impetus behind our Cub keeping International Service at the forefront in our Club.

And this year she created the “Passport for Success” which is creating opportunities for our new Rotarians to engage more easily and access information about Rotary and our Club at a very personal level. Hats off to RENEE HYDE – DECEMBER ROTARIAN OF THE MONTH !!!!!

Leslie Lewis acknowledged birthdays for the following members:

Karen Ricketts, who donated to Rotary International in honor of her Dad, Jack Ricketts. And, she also donated to the Ken Moulton Scholarship Fund, which generated the train horn whistle from Brian Ling.

Leah Hansen was recognized for her November birthday. Leah said she had two celebratory meals for her birthday and donated to the Windsor Rotary Community Foundation (WRCF) for her birthday.

Rags was on the recognition list, but insisted that his birthday was in September! He still donated based on his number of chickens, either 14 or 25???

President Pam announced:

Each month Rotary has a theme – a focus – we have tried to keep this in the forefront when planning our monthly meetings – to have at least ONE meeting that gives focus to the theme for that month

Last month was Foundation- we started the introduction with the purple pinky when Bob Rogers was talking about Polio.

In November – we had Greg and Lili Freitas who talked about some of the activities that the foundation is involved in – i.e. International exchanges, etc.

This month – the focus is DISEASE PREVENTION – again focus on not just POLIO but other areas in which ROTARY is involved in supporting training facilities and health camps in undeveloped countries who are also struggling with HIV/AIDS and malaria. Financing programs and working with communities to improve drinking water and sanitation infrastructure.

We are dedicated to working with partners on an international level to reach the one in six people in the world who can’t afford to pay for health care.

The world relies on Rotary to tackle these global challenges, and to set an example for others to follow. Our Club has been active and involved in international projects such as these, supporting a clean water project in Peru this year.

President Pam announced that Sandi and Wally had a family announcement: their daughter is engaged! Sandi said the news came at the first of November, that they like their son-in-law-to-be, and that he has red hair!

Joan Mora announced our ROTARY CHRISTMAS PARTY– this Saturday, December 11, at John How’s home, 9951 Troon Court, Windsor, at 5:30 PM. Members are to bring: drinks to share, a food dish to share, and an unwrapped gift that reminds you of the Rotarian name you drew. If you didn’t draw a name, contact Joan Mora or Sandi to receive a name. All the gifts we bring to the Rotary Christmas party will be donated to the Windsor Toy and Food Drive, which is co-chaired by our own Robin Resendez.

Bill Bolster rang the BIG bell – that is the Salvation Army bell – looking for more volunteers for December 11 and December 18. Bill reminded us that there are 1.4 million Rotarians in the world who have given 19 million hours of service in the last year. This is an impressive organization we belong to!

Sue Nelson offered a summary just to clarify all of the activities of our Club during this holiday season:

We are adopting Windsor families in need through teams established last week. This is in coordination with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Sonoma/Marin. See Sandi Krutz with your team donations of gift cards which will be delivered this Friday.
Our Club has donated financially to the Windsor Community Toy & Food Drive. And, to add to our fun we are buying a toy that reminds you of a fellow Rotarian whose name you have chosen. Bring this toy on Saturday to our Christmas party at John How’s home. The toy should be unwrapped or in a bag and we will try to guess who the Rotarian is. These toys will all be donated through Robin Resendez to the Community Toy and Food Drive.

Both of the above are part of our financial commitment to our community this Christmas. But there are also hands-on activities available for us to donate our time and our hearts:

Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army – see Bill Bolster to sign up
Community Toy and Food Drive needs volunteers working to wrap gifts and work the tables to give these gifts to families. Please go to this website to sign up and volunteer: https://windsorfoodandtoydrive.com/volunteer/. Volunteers are needed for this coming week and the event is December 18, 10AM to 2 PM, at Cali Calmecac.

President Pam called on Maureen Merrill to let us know about the Zone meeting she and Mike attended. Maureen offered a basket of gifts to Pam. Then she spoke eloquently about the RI President Shehkar Mehta discussing “Empowering Girls” program, and asking “what would you and your club do?”

Ed Turner offered this information to President Pam: We contributed $372.50 to the WRCF last Tuesday with our breakfast donations. Ed offered the additional $2.50 to make it an even $375 to the fund, echoed by Bill Arnone.

President Pam recognized Diane Brabetz for her generous contributions overall for our Club, and especially for her membership in the Polio Plus Society, which earned Diane a pin and bracelet. Special thanks to Diane for her time and offers of support to the Nations Finest home with contributions of time, expertise and medical boxes!

Also THANKS to Kurt Mitchler for donating 60 toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste for the Nation’s Finest Home.

Sandi Krutz reviewed the Monday visit to the Nation’s Finest event and said it went “swimmingly”. There was an emotional presentation of colors. Local politician James Gore attended as well as a rep from Mike McGuire’s office. There was a good deal of “pomp and circumstance”, and Rotary was acknowledged for our support.

Sue Nelson then summarized our Community Service donations which have been completed: Your dollars through Rotary Club of Windsor have supported:

$300 to Santa Tim
$500 to North Bay Met Academy for water catchment systems

And now – Sue made the presentation of the check for $835 to Charlie Johnson of the Windsor Girls Softball Team for new equipment bags carrying the Rotary logo.

Bill Arnone introduced our in-person speaker, Dee Schweitzer, who is a trainer with the California Grand Jurors Association. Dee travels throughout the state training new civil grand jurors. She served on the Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury 2017-2018 term, and as Foreperson during the 2018-2019 term.

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Dee has given us links to the following – click any one to access it:

The video she was trying to show. Agents of Chang e
Grand Jury Application
Grand Jury Flyer
Grand Jury Complaint
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Dee gave us an interesting and informative presentation about the civil grand jury. She began with the tongue-in-cheek quote from Tom Wolfe’s “Bonfire of the Vanities” that “the District Attorney could get a Grand Jury to indict a ham sandwich.”

She explained the difference between a criminal and civil grand jury – civil grand jurors serve as their own investigators as well as jurors. She offered the criteria to apply for the grand jury, described the “super majority” and what it means, as well as the strict confidentiality of the grand jury. And, she discussed the significance of the final report published every year by the grand jury. For more info, and to read the reports of our Sonoma County Grand Jury, go to http://sonoma.courts.ca.gov/info/administration/grand-jury

President Pam ended the meeting with this thought from William James Mayo, namesake of the clinic:
“The aim of medicine is to prevent disease and to prolong life. The idea of medicine is to eliminate the need of a physician.”