Behind the Iron Curtain
President Pam Moulton did the ring thing around 7:30, and Michael Ragsdale led us in the Pledge. From that smooth intro we were introduced to Bill Bolster and his version of “Sing us a song, you’re the Piano Lady… “
Rotarian guests included George Dutton and Larry Mills.
Guests of Rotarians included our speaker Keith Davis. Rene Hyde introduced her house guest Domingo.
Barbara McChesney filled us in on her Rotary Moment. She said the journey started two plus years ago when she and her husband were on a trip to Africa. The work we did there was the inspiration for her being here today, and well into the future. She added her international connection gave her inspiration and most important, her connection with Club members keeps her involved.
Announcements:
Joan Mora came to us from the online world… What’s Up? She said.
Pegi Ball let us know the Dictionary Program is underway. She has a lot of dictionaries ready to be distributed. Chris Landwher will get the books to the school on March 2nd, but we need a volunteer to help distribute them to every third grader in Windsor. Let Pegi know if you can have some fun and join the giveaway.
Youth Exchange is on and rolling back to the past, which is a step forward for going forward and off to the world. We are sending two students in an effort to make up for lost time.
Sandie Krutz is delighted to actually see our faces… she is also happy to talk with Alison Huber via phone. She reached out to ask her how she is doing, and she is doing well.
Domingo is looking for part time chore style projects. If you have something to do around the home or business and would rather not be the one doing it, ask Domingo.
Kurt Michler let us know we still have a need for more silent auction items. Get in touch with Catherine Hanron and let her know if you have a new patio umbrella that you didn’t return in time, or anything else with some value for others.
Bill Conklin let us know that those of us who don’t have social plans for our fundraiser event, should start to invite others to gather as a group for auction event.
Wine donations go to Jo Timmsen, and don’t forget to register for the auction … and get others to register.
President Pam gave us all the update on the latest board meeting.
If you have an item for the website, send it along to JB Leep, our esteemed web master.
Bill Bolster let us know who will be the President Elect Nominee. Barbara McChesney left the room for us to vote that she will be the president for year 2024-2025. Round of applause goes here.
Painted pianos are all around town… well actually according to Heather Cullen, they have all been auctioned off, but we expect to see more as they continue to find more in need of a paint job. So far they have had 60 pianos donated. If you have a piano to donate, let Heather know. They will provide the paint job, and a little piano music as well. Look for the big auction to happen in September!
Program:
Pres. Pam introduced George Dutton with Healdsburg Sunrise who then introduced us to Keith Davis as our guest speaker. Keith is a San Francisco native who moved to Santa Rosa with his family at an early age. He has had a long career as a consultant for transportation and a world traveler whose experiences included spending time in Berlin, back when the “wall” was still intact.
Keith went to the University of Berlin on the GI Bill. He became fluent in German, eventually he came back to the States and went to work at Hunter’s Point at the Naval shipyard.
Keith was recruited to carry messages into East Berlin to aid people looking for passage out of the Eastern Block. He gave us a story of intrigue and spying, mixed with some blues.
Interesting travels and an introduction to a 1958 Volkswagen with a hand crank sunroof. Keith shared a variety of pieces that we could get a glimpse of his time in Europe. In his adventures he became more than familiar with what living under totalitarianism could be like. The trickery used to establish who was pro regime, versus those that were being exposed to the West, became a way to ostracize those that were not conformists.
Keith ended the discussion with a story of Russian tanks surrounding his room in Czechoslovakia and that concludes today’s meeting. Or so we thought, he went on to explain that his escape was…
President Pam let us know what moved her about our day’s topic:
“To this day, I attempt to walk through walls, real and imagined, external and internal. Sometimes in the midst of stress, insanity, wannabe dictators, wars, cruelty, injustice, greed, quarantines, pandemic viruses, I think back to those days along these roads.
In my mind, I have never stopped walking.”
Kevin James Shay, Walking through the Wall?