Program Notes
Ring that bell, if you can find it. President Pam Moulton replicated the ding noise and we all got started at 7:30. Actually we all got started 34 years ago in a bowling alley in Windsor. Happy Anniversary meeting!
A moment of flag appreciation with a “live” flag. That was the reference of the mystery Rotarian that led us in a pledge.
When Pres Pam announced that Bill Bolster was the day’s song master, we all decided to play along and beat it, just beat it. Good reworking of the lyrics by Mr. Bill.
Pretty good photos by Sue Nelson, and words by Tom Boylan.
Introductions:
Larry & Monika (didn’t catch their last name) dropped by our Rotary Bar and decided to ask for more, so they dropped by our meeting. I think they appreciated that Champagne was being served.
Catherine Hanron introduced her Sista…
Katherine Williams came to the meeting with her son Brian Williams, who also introduced the speaker for today’s program, Steve Lehmann, President of the Windsor Historical Society.
Announcements:
Renee Hyde says the Rotary Bar is doing a bright business with a net of over $2500 to go towards our international projects. We have a chance to dance and serve at the bar on a special event on Sunday, October 3rd with Elton John in the early years providing the music.
Renee also told us that Franco our wayward skier with the youth exchange, who fell off a mountain but fell into many of our hearts, has sent his brother to visit with Renee and we need to entertain him. If you would like to have a fun conversation and have something fun to do, let her know.
Happy Birthday to Windsor Rotary, we are celebrating our 34th year… a long way from the bowling alley and a lot of great projects completed. Plan to attend the Rotary celebration social at the Rotary Bar on The Town Green Thursday, September 23rd.
If you can’t make the bar, plan to get social on the Smart Train October 21st. Ride the rails for a rally good time.
Patrick Dunn is starting a Wine Fellowship for Windsor Rotary and Rotarian’s beyond. It sounds like we might have a long list on the sign-up sheet.
Pres Pam made much to do of our Catherine Hanron, the Rotarian of the month.
Steve Klick was singled out for attending the opening game of the LA Raiders, in Las Vegas. He brought Pres Pam a special Winter cap for the Oak… LA Raiders. Steve got ahead of a fine by making a donation to the Windsor Community Foundation.
Susan Cole and Renee Hyde got a special thanks from Pres Pam for their stepping in to help the president by running meetings. It takes a village.
Pres Pam provided the highlights to all of the most recent Windsor Rotary Board meeting:
BUDGET (Carol Martin and Ed Turner)
- PLEASE PAY your dues – but basically all is GOOD!
We are doing REALLY WELL at the ROTARY BAR…. Please ALWAYS wear your Masks!
YOUTH (Bill Bolster for Pegi Ball)
- Board approved for TWO outgoing students for 2022-2023
- Rotary International likely to offer special program for students who did not get to go abroad – including Kate Smith!!
CLUB OPERATIONS (Chris Landwher)
- We now have 3 branches of service for morning set up – Zoom, AV and regular room set-up
CLUB CULTURE (Joan Mora)
- Looking to have the 3rd Thursday of the month for our Socials – SMART Train on October 21st…Artisan Alley on November 18th…..NEED to finalize the Holiday Party – date, and location
ENVIRONMENTAL (Barbara McChesney)
- Ambassadorial affiliation approved for RC Windsor, with international access to “End Plastic Soup” placing us as a Model/Leader club at an International level in supporting environmental issues
- Leader in field will be speaking to our club on January 18, 2022
- Collaborative efforts with WHS student group for becoming PLASTIC FREE”
SERVICE (Susan Cole and Sue Nelson,)
- Approval of funds for victims in Greenville, California
- Approval of funds for Water Catchment tanks in Peru and Haiti
- Encouragement for more collaboration with other clubs to support international projects
COMMUNICATIONS (John leCave)
- Well…still working on the website – but hoping that it will be done in October!
FOUNDATIONS
- NEED to start to talk about Foundation and its impact, focus during November, Foundation Month
CLUB RECOGNITION
- Focus is being given to program to honor Fire Service
- Maintain continuity of program for the Teacher appreciation program in May
- We are good with the student of the Month Program
- NEW Veteran’s program is being constructed for November 16th, by Mike Merrill
HEALTH/COVID PROTOCOL
- Recommendation for some revision but essentially Board approved requirement that anyone who attends our meetings or social gatherings is vaccinated
CLUB BASED FUNDRAISING MEETING ON OCTOBER 5TH
MISSION STATEMENT TO BE REVISED/WORDSMITHED BY SUSAN COLE
Anniversary look back:
We were entertained with a blast from the past as we watched a slide show that took the club back to the beginnings… can you say Balloon Festival. I think at some point they started using pictures of members children, because it is hard to believe we were once that young.
Leslie Lewis was asked to relay her Rotary moment based on her father, our founder, John Lewis. According to Leslie, “He would have used the term fellowship as a founding moment, which continues through all these years.”
The many projects we have worked on to improve and enhance our community and communities out of our Country. Leslie let us know her dad would be looking on us and saying, “what a long way to have gone from a start in a dark bar in a bowling alley.”
Program:
Doug Williams introduced our speaker for the day, Steve Lehmann who kept on theme and provided us with an update on his work with The Windsor Historical Society. Steve is the Honorary Windsor Town Historian.
Steve appreciated that our club is becoming a part of the Town’s history. He went on to tell us the Historical Society was founded in 1998 and took charge of the “Cunningham House” which is the museum for the Town. There are big plans for the actual building with plans to raise it… literally up… and place a new foundation under it.
We took in a few slides that gave us a look at the Pomo tribe’s origins in the area. Back in the day we were called a Windsor Township, and had a much larger footprint than the Town today. The Township lost land that was edged away by Healdsburg and Santa Rosa.
Camp Windsor was a prisoner of war camp during WWII. According to Steve, the camp is a gift to the history of Windsor with visitors coming back to share stories of the past. Horst Leland, an actual prisoner held at Camp Windsor, is now a resident in Portland Oregon, and Steve managed to interview him to learn more about what happened to prisoners after the war. All had to return to Europe for a two-year period, but those that came back had a chance to learn more about the little township where they were held, under fairly hospitable conditions.
Residents of the day came to enjoy the interactions they had with the prisoners, albeit limited.
We were introduced to Sarah Myers Rich Latimer, a pioneer of Windsor who owned a ranch off Chalk Hill Rd. Sarah was a suffragette in the earliest days of the late 1800’s. In 1872 she became the first woman elected onto a school board, which made her the first woman elected to any position in the State of California. Ironically her own vote was thrown out because she was not allowed to vote.
One of Sarah’s children Lorenzo Latimer became a well-known painter, who became a member of the Bohemian Club and a rather well-known painter who made pilgrimages back to his roots to clear his head of the alcohol (and they didn’t have tasting rooms back then). One of those trips became the title for a remarkable painting titled ‘Near Windsor,’ that featured a small cabin home nestled among the giant Redwoods. Steve said the painting became a quest for the museum to purchase it for permanent placement in the museum. They succeeded and now have a total of five of Latimer’s paintings on display.
Severe Lewis was the first unofficial mayor of Windsor. We learned that the town’s first hotel became a notorious place as it was identified as a house of ill repute. Today we have the Round Table Pizza located on the former hotel’s footprint.
I am certain there was more discussed, but due to a commitment, the scribe had to leave at 8:30. I think there was enough information missing that it warrants a visit to the Town of Windsor’s museum. Sounds like a social in the making.
COVID UPDATE
NEWS FLASH!!!! “ Pfizer says shot safe for kids”! Pfizer’s vaccine for young children aged 5-11 has been shown to be safe and highly effective against the coronavirus and the hope is that the vaccine will be approved for use by the end of October. We need something for young children as these kids now account for more than 1 in 5 new cases because of the highly contagious Delta variant. ICU’s and Pediatric beds are full and schools have sent thousands of kids home who are testing positive. Trials continue for children younger than 5 years of age and we are not expected to see results until the end of the year.
Total Cases: 39,075 (last week 38,520)
Recovered: 36,102 (last week 35,152)
Active Cases: 2595 (last week 3000)
Deaths: 378 (last week 368) Almost 56% of our deaths are now not a resident of senior living or skilled nursing facilities!
New Cases: 555 new cases this past week (last week 844 new cases)
Hospitalized: 52 confirmed and 6 suspected (last week 57 confirmed and 3 suspected)
Vaccination information…. As of Sept. 19th, 679,380 residents in Sonoma County have received the vaccine (last week 673,365). 76% of our populations 12 and older are fully vaccinated and approximately 83% have received at least 1 dose. With the FDA fully approving Pfizer vaccine, we are already seeing large employers as well as government entities and even private employers mandating the need for vaccinations. As a health care provider and an employer we have been notified by the State of California that because we received Federal funds, all of our employees must be vaccinated by October. We are also beginning to see announcements from Stadiums and events that only those who show proof of vaccination may attend.
Booster shots are in the news but most Physicians are asking residents to be patient. It does appear that the recommendation is for those immuno-compromised, receiving cancer treatment and those over 65 will be the first to be offered the Booster.
Please continue to wear your masks, be aware of your surroundings and even outside, if you are in crowded situations, mask up! Wash your hands frequently, use hand sanitizer and take precautions. The Delta variant is out there, very virulent, ready to strike and given that we have 17% of our citizens not vaccinated over the age of 12 and all of our young children, it still has “hosts” it can latch onto. We need to try and manage this disease as we are not going to control it!
Thanks
Di