Let the bell open the meeting at 7:30 with President Bill Bolster in command.
Diane Brabitz gave us the pledge of allegiance
Chris Landwehr shared some inspiration credited to Thomas Edison; “Success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.”
JB Leep and his fellow vocalist Carol Martin gave us a few notes to follow with a rousing rendition of “Do-Re-Mi.”
Visiting Rotarians… Nada
Guests of Rotarians
- JB introduced Ed Bogas and Desiree Goyette our speakers for the day.
- Kate Smith, daughter of Beth Smith was on hand.
Tom Hassur and Daniel Myers are recognized as the Rotarians of the month. Tom’s work on our scholarship program is exceptional and Daniel’s work with the various core groups of Windsor High has introduced us to numerous of the best of the best in students.
We learned that Alison Huber will be departing the Windsor club to move to a new home in Nevada.
Wally Krutz shared that Warren Parker’s planned surgery has been postponed, but keep the good wishes rolling in for a fellow Rotarian.
Wally also gave us a report on John LeCave’s rebuilding project to repair his home that caught on fire.
Sandy Krutz let us know that Kate Smith might not have been able to attend an in-person RYLA, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, but she did get the opportunity to break new ground with a RYLA online meeting. It turned out to be a lot of fun for our exchange student with no country. Interesting that the RYLA experience might have been Zoom, but the attendees went for a new term for a breakout room. They called the room a cabin and that made it even more personal for the seven youth in the cabin. Sandy let us know that Kate is on her way to graduating from Windsor High at the end of the month. According to Kate, her newly acquired bi-lingual abilities can open the door to travel and the possibility of attending college in a foreign country.
Tom Hassur gave us a report on his team’s work on the scholarship committee. This year’s focus was on students who had to overcome obstacles beyond the classroom. Each student had to send a letter detailing the struggles they had outside of school to win a scholarship. We can look forward to a future meeting to be introduced to some of our winners.
Beth Smith gave us a rundown on Windsor High School’s Project Grad, which will be allowed to have a live bash, socially distanced, but LIVE! The committee managed to raise some good donations for money, services, and food. Rotary has stepped up to provide some games, a new roof, and banners for display around the Town of Windsor. Friday, June 4th is a day of catching up to normal for graduates.
“Our Best Shot” was a success for the club and the leadership of Michael Juric. He gave thanks to his team and the club participants. It looks like we are going to Net over $18K for the club and our activities.
We have a workday planned at Brooks Elementary School, Saturday, May 15th, 9 AM – 12 PM. We have some improvements to make to the Scholar Garden. Bring your gloves and get those dirty!
There are a few events coming up, be sure to keep your calendar up to date.
PROGRAM SPEAKERS:
JB Leep introduced Desiree Goyette and Ed Bogas, two composers whose music has been recognized worldwide. Ed’s notoriety and acclaim include the Charles Shultz Peanuts soundtrack, but his first song to share was the “Monkey Island” song he wrote after visiting the San Francisco Zoo and seeing the enjoyment of the people watching.
Ed Bogas [BOW-gus], is a Grammy-nominated American composer and songwriter who has written and performed hundreds of songs for film, radio, television, video games, and stage. He is best known for his work in Charlie Brown and Garfield the Cat specials. But, in addition, he is also a mathematician and has dedicated years to developing innovative ways to teach math through music and animation.
Désirée Goyette, who happens to be married to Ed, also is a composer, arranger, vocalist, inspirational speaker, and voice-over actor. She is best known for her work on the Garfield and Peanuts animated television shows and has been featured in numerous television specials including Movie Blockbusters, The Lou Rawls Parade of Stars, Evening Magazine, Entertainment Tonight, and the legendary “Romance of Betty Boop”.
Ed shared that he and Desiree attended a Rotary meeting recently that caused him to reflect on many of the people in the music business, including an opportunity to coach Rip Torn who was not a good singer but needed to play country music singer. Everybody has a gift and you need to find what you are gifted at and then inspire others to find and use their gift.
Desiree let us know that music has always been a part of her life, from her earliest days. Her goal was to be a new Judy Garland, but there was a change and she wound up following the path that opened along the way, which included her chance meeting with the Shultz family as a contestant with the California Junior Miss program. She had an opportunity to become a co-host of a TV program, that gave her a chance to travel to Australia, where a payphone call opened a new door to join a songwriting team, that happened to include Ed. The work they did became a joy in the world offering the soundtrack to Peanuts.
Desiree took advantage of an opportunity during one of her TV episodes to audition for the voice of Betty Boop. A familiar rendition was offered complete with the Boop-Boop-Be-Doo.
This was a fun program with two amazingly talented people.
We closed it out with a Rotary inspiration from President Bill.
Gratitude is not only the greatest virtue but the parent of all others.
COVID UPDATE
Total Cases:
- 30,002 (last week 29,897)
Recovered:
- 29,490 (last week 29,323)
New Cases:
- Fri 15
- Sat 9
- Sun 9
- Mon 18
This is a total of 4 days of 51 (last week for 4 days was 65) – we are seeing fewer cases, fewer people getting tested, more travel, more people out and about, and a general feeling that this is over. We hope that this becomes the case and new surges do not occur.
Deaths:
- 312 (last week 312)
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 the community spread.
Hospitalized:
- 11 confirmed and 4 suspected (last week 10 confirmed and 2 suspected)
We have tested a Total of 681,016 and 29,490 (last week 668,842 in our county with 29,323 people recovered)
The largest number of cases is in those unemployed or not working 26% (probably more non-social distancing and large groups exposed by those who are working), healthcare makes up 10.6% and Service and sales have dropped to 2% with home care (my industry) at 2.2%.
We continue to see the last percentages of our community hesitant to get vaccinated. It is reported that there are probably 15% who will not get vaccinated and another 12-15% that are in a “wait and see” mode or so hesitant / on the fence. Medical professionals are now being quoted that we may not ever be able to get to herd immunity and with new variants of the virus being reported that we may always have COVID but be able to prevent deaths and lessen illness, not rid us of it. There are still “conspiracy theories” going around and people who still believe this pandemic is not real and made-up media information for other reasons. We continue to see “breakthroughs” in some people fully vaccinated which is concerning. People totally vaccinated but testing positive. Testing is a way of staying ahead of new infections from nonstick individuals or from those of us vaccinated but recently exposed.
We need to continue to identify those people who for reasons of age, medical conditions, isolation, etc need help to obtain an appointment and get their vaccinations. We also need to continue to educate those who we can get to listen to the reasons for vaccination. We all need to get this message out and try and decrease the spread of variants and help to make people understand how important getting a vaccine is to the wellbeing, health, and staying alive of our community.
Vaccines were begun…. As of May 9th, 485,274 residents in Sonoma County have received the vaccine (last week 462,758). Fully vaccinated individuals now at 53% and adults with at least one vaccine dose is now at 16% (last week was 48.9% and adults with at least one vaccine dose 17.8%). Only 21% of Latinos (27% of our population and most at risk for COVID) have been vaccinated, compared to 72% of white, non-Hispanic races vaccinated. Only 1% of Black/African Americans have been vaccinated. Our current issue seems to be getting those that are vaccine hesitant convinced to obtain a vaccine plus our vaccination sites are seeing people not returning for their 2nd dose. J and J have now been re-released for use. Seeing residents seek J and J out for vaccinations will be interesting as people will weigh risk vs. reward. The issue with blood clots is so minimal vs. the reward of “one and done”, but will the public understand that??? The CDC has now approved Pfizer vaccine safe for children 12-15 years of age, so are now able to offer vaccinations to age 12 and up.
Please help us to educate others on the need to get vaccinated. We especially need to look at how we reach the culturally and diverse groups who are still afraid of the vaccine. These unvaccinated parts of our population continue to be difficult to get, require real outreach and education on why it is important for our community. The concern right now is the large number of appointments available for vaccines that are going unclaimed and trying to be creative at these vaccination sites to not waste vaccines once a vial is opened. As a Rotarian and fellow community member, help us get our remaining population vaccinated.
Thanks
Di
