Court Appointed Special Advocates
Good morning Rotary Club of Windsor!
Pledge of Allegiance led by Michael Juric
Inspiration offered by Renee:
“One of the marvelous things about Community is
that it enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn’t as
individuals”-Jean Vanier
And
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller
Song, Ol’ Blue Eyes Bolster led us in singing “Let it Rain.”
Guests: Larry McCabe invited Perry Austin, recently retired from Rayley’s and a
former member of Rotary. Welcome, Perry!
Domingo has two more weeks of school and then is available for small jobs. He is
earning money to go and see his girlfriend in Costa Rica. She loves him. He loves
her. She misses him. He misses her. Contact Domingo if you have some work!
Sandie Kurtz has some suggested ideas for “field trips” with the exchange
students Stefon and Gabi. Check with her if you can help!
President Brian put out one more plea for members to consider having an
exchange student in their homes next year. If we don’t get volunteers to host a
student for 3-4 months we won’t be able to send a child abroad.
Upcoming Events/Announcements:
-Bill Bolster is looking for Bell Ringers for the Salvation Army holiday buckets! Two
hour slots are available!
– Tuesday December 13 th : bring an unwrapped toy to Rotary for the Food and Toy
Drive.
-Tuesday December 13 th : Help serve lunch at the Bell Manor. Pegi Ball is leading
the event, back by popular demand after Covid. She needs help from 11:30 on to
brighten the residents’ holiday!
-Friday December 16 th :Club Holiday Party at Maureen and Mike Merrill’s! Sign up
to bring an appetizer or a dessert. Party starts at 6 , with some discussion as to
when it is over.
Saturday December 17th: Windsor Food and Toy Drive give away!! Larry McCabe
has been working hard on this big event! Please bring an unwrapped toy to the
Rotary meeting next Tuesday December 13 th . Check out
Windsorfoodandtoydrive.comto sign up to donate (toys, food, money) and we
can use some help at the day of the event – especially in strike down and clean up
(starting at 2:00pm). Don’t leave Larry sweeping the gym at Cali Calmecac in the
dark!
January 31 st is a 5 th Tuesday.
February 4 th , 7-10pm. Monte Carlo night fundraiser. Londa is heading this fun
fundraiser! It will be at the Community Store area in Raleys. With a James Bond
theme it should be lots of fun!
District Conference Entertainment alert: Michael Juric is throwing down a
challenge to the Windsor Rotarians to sharpen their lip-syncing skills. “Windsor
always wins,” said Jennifer Jones. The conference will be the first weekend in
May in Cotati.
Environmental Governors Citation Award Challenge: Barbara McChesney still has
the movie “Micro Plastic Madness” on single use plastics available for those who
would like to see it. Kurt Mitchler announced the December challenge which is in
regard to biodiversity and pollenators. Learn more about the ESRAG biodiversity
program at https://esrag.org/pollnators/ and https//dailyacts.org. Consider
planting flowers that bloom in the winter as well as plants such as lemons,
peppers, milkweed and more. Submit your monthly report and pictures to
https://www.rotary5130.org/environmental-service/
Speaker of the Day: Heloisa Heinen from Court Appointed Special Advocates
(CASA). Ms. Heinen described a volunteer program that seeks to enlist a
common thread for children in foster care. The purpose of CASA is to humanize
the complex child welfare system for the child victim by providing a trained
volunteer who will act as a consistent role model, advocate and potential life long
connection. Ms. Heinen can be contacted at [email protected].
Her description of the need of these children and value of the program was quite
moving and elicited a lot of thoughtful questions from the club members.
Thank you to our guests and volunteers:
Set up: Dave, Beth
Greeter: Doug
Song: Bill Blue Eyes
Scribe: Monica
Inspiration: Renee
Guests: Perry Austin, Heloisa Heinen
COVID, Flu and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) UPDATE…..
12/06/22
NEWS:
FLU SURGE HAS HIT SONOMA COUNTY! YEARLY OUTBREAKS OF SEASONAL FLU COMMONLY OCCUR IN THE FALL BUT IT IS A SERIOUS CONTAGIOUS DISEASE. FLU LEADS TO LOST DAYS OF WORK AND SCHOOL, HOSPITALIZATIONS AND EVEN DEATHS. Sonoma County Drs are concerned about the spike in local Flu, RSV rates and COVID-19. All three of these are on the rise in our community. Please be cautious – cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze, don’t share personal items, wash your hands often, protect others and stay home if you have a fever and get your Flu shot!
Flu vaccines have been mandated by Sonoma County Public Health this year for all health care workers as this has become critical to protect our very vulnerable populations. Healthcare workers are now mandated to have a Flu shot in order to try and minimize the spread of a communicable disease. Anyone 6 months of age or older is encouraged to get a Flu vaccine as soon as you can.
COVID cases has also increased and are impacting our Emergency Rooms and hospitals.
COVID UPDATE:
Total Cases:
110,326 (as of 11/15 109,189) Recovered: 108,879 (as of 11/15 108,151) Active Cases: 924 (as of 11/15 515)
Deaths:
523 (as of 11/15 523) (****Please be aware that deaths do not get reported always promptly for a variety of reasons and this does not mean that all of these newly reported deaths could have occurred in the past week. ****)
Hospitalized:
41 confirmed cases and 1 in the ICU (as of 11/15 – 14 confirmed and 1 in the ICU)
Vaccination information….
As of December 4th, 2022, 1,246,695 doses of vaccination have been given to residents in Sonoma County. (as of 11/15 1,228,865). We only have 79% of our population 6 months and older who are fully vaccinated and 6% have had at least one (1) dose. It is hoped that more people will consider getting vaccinated with the newly reformulated vaccines now available for boosters and obtain their Flu vaccine also.
MASKS:
Masks, although optional most places, still are required some places and should be considered if you are in crowds with people sneezing and coughing. With all of the flu, RSV and increased numbers of COVID, it is important for all of us to protect ourselves and others during our winter months from the Tri-demic! Use a good mask like the N95, KN95 or KF 94 as paper masks, cloth masks or even surgical masks have found not to be effective.
If you have any problems finding these, I do have them available at my office. They are especially critical to use when traveling. The ever replicating, mutating and changing virus that causes COVID is still with us, very infectious, easily spread and still causing illness. In the health care field we are being told that COVID infections are here to stay; just like the flu each year, we will need to get a booster to stay well and keep our chances of getting sick minimal! But the Flu and RSV are causing concerns.
TESTING:
Go to socoemergency.org to learn more about free COVID -19 testing in Sonoma County. Look for COVID-19 Testing and Tracing in Sonoma County. My Agency, At Home Nursing, is still available to provide you COVID testing if you need it (PCR) at no charge if you are having any issues finding an appointment. Just call my office at 707-546-8773 and make an appointment with us. We also provide FIT testing for a N95 mask at no charge so that it fits properly. We are able to sell you N95 masks. And we are always willing to answer any questions you may have. If you want to schedule either a booster or the vaccine, appointments can be found by visiting: https://socoemergency.org/events/category/pop-up-vaccine or call 707-565-4667.
Enjoy life, stay well and take care of yourself.
Carry a mask with you in case you need it …… Infections are still prevalent, happen quickly and will sideline you if you test positive. Practice good infection control and stay safe and protect our youngest citizens!