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Upcoming Events:
All members welcome:
Monday, Nov. 18, 5-6:15 PM Meeting, Board of Trustees, Windsor Rotary Community Foundation
145 Wikiup Drive, “South Windsor”
Monday, Dec. 2, 5-6:15 PM Meeting, Board of Directors, Windsor Rotary Club
145 Wikiup Drive, “South Windsor”
Saturday, December 7, 6 PM ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY!
Please see flyer attached. 302 Blazing Star Court, Windsor
At the home of Sue and John Nelson
RSVP: [email protected]; 707.292.5006
President Maureen Merrill rang the bell at 7:30 to start us up.
The Veterans in the club were gathered in the front of the room and recognized for their service. Bill Bolster spent his time on a submarine, John Hackenberg spent his time as a Navy Pilot, Joe Deacon shot laser off the moon when in the Air Force, and Tom Boylan spent his time between helicopters and nuclear weapons.
Susan Cole shared, “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I changed myself.” A quote by Rumi.
“Help,” was the song, and Heather Cullen, Susan Cole, and our special guest Mark Millan led the song… they got by with a little help from their friends.
Maureen let us know there is no Lobster Feed, but we will have an opportunity to join in a community engagement program.
Photography provided by Sue Nelson, words by Tom Boylan
Guests:
Bill Conklin introduced Marco Flores, the town barber, which elicited a question from Larry Wasem, “What’s a barber?” Marcos shared that as someone who grew up in Windsor, he appreciates that his work allows him to give back to his hometown.
Maureen introduced Dominic Foppoli, mayor, and Ken McNabb, the town manager.
Mark Millan got a shout out as a past member, and the tip is that he is planning to rejoin.
Announcements:
Bill Arnone lost his mother, Yolanda, while he and Deneene are on vacation in Hawaii.
Jim Rupert let us know that Brenda Hassur had a hip replacement and is doing well.
Diane Brabitz announced she is a Grandmother once again with her new grandson.
John LeCave, Club Foundation Chair, reminded us that it is still Rotary Foundation Month. There are opportunities for all of us to donate to either the RI Foundation or our own Windsor Rotary Community Foundation. He is going to introduce the “Why” we should be a part of the Foundation. Susan Cole shared that she recently gave to RI Foundation because of her concern for those in her life that were afflicted by Polio, and Rotary was at the lead to bring an end to polio… we are this close (please hold up two fingers… not the tequila… and repeat that we are this close.) Susan has had the opportunity to place the polio drops in the mouth of children she didn’t know, but well saved them from becoming a victim.
Bill Conklin shared he is going to start with Rotary Direct to make a monthly donation to education and literacy. He can only do this now because he is done paying for his daughter’s wedding.
President-Elect Bill Bolster asked us to remember that the Dick Bishop Bell Ringing will begin in December on the 7th and 14th. Be sure to sign up and have a fun time keeping the spirit of Windsor Rotary’s own Santa alive.
Powerhouse Rotarian of the month is someone that shows up and gives to Rotary as much as he gives to his town. Jose Diego is the recipient.
Program:
JB Leep introduced us to Ken MacNab, Windsor Town Manager. We listened to hear about his many accomplishments in planning and growth for communities in the North Bay. JB shared that Ken was instrumental in the fight to save Windsor from the Kincade Fire.
Ken shared that Rotary seems like a family having his father-in-law as a past president of his club in Southern California. He has deep roots here in the North Bay, having met his wife at Sonoma State. He currently lives in Santa Rosa with his wife and son.
The call he took that offered him a position with the Town of Windsor was interesting in that the Town had just lost two major administrators and had a new mayor. He took the job and is excited to let us know he isn’t looking back. Since his entry into the Town, there have been numerous new positions and leadership.
His first year has been spent building relationships and trust. The immediate boss is the Town Council, and he spends a lot of time working with the individuals building agendas and managing Town staff.
Making sure that staff understands the changes in the community is essential, along with encouraging their efforts to maintain morale and keeps the performance of his team at its peak.
Ken teased that he is enthusiastic about Rotary, and many other organizations that take concern for Windsor.
The future has challenges, but the past 25 years show how sound our community is and the future is going to allow us to make changes to the infrastructure to accommodate the growing population, which will include a new civic center, the arrival of SMART, upgrading the aging infrastructure, housing, and maintaining while strengthening the economic health of Windsor.
There is enthusiasm for what the future holds. He focused on 2020 and the transition to District Elections for November 2020. There will be four districts and one at large Mayor (Maureen says she is not running.) He has some good feelings for the distribution of votes and the representation it will afford.
SMART is on the way, and Ken is pleased to see it coming. The train will help local housing and tourism to the area. The service is slated to start by November 2021.
Trains to sewage… I mean, solar. The Town is looking to float a new project of solar panels within the sewage treatment ponds to become sustainable in our power usage.
There is a new Civic Center that will dominate the Northside of the Town Green. This is a project that will be a public and private partnership. It is anticipated that by early 2020, the Town will see the scope of the project and understand how it will affect the community as a whole.
Airports aren’t noisy, but aircraft are, and Ken is working with Sonoma County Airport to lessen the noise. The airports’ manager, Jon Stout, is open to working on solutions to mitigate noise complaints. There are also plans to allow for the growth of businesses and homes within the area around the airport. Windsor needs to be concerned with the water and sewer concerns for anticipated growth.
The Kincade Fire came with those warnings from Cal Fire that there was a good chance the community would be lost. He credited resources provided by the fire management team for the mutual aid, early evacuation. Ken shared that the entire town of 28,000 was evacuated. His staff worked the water tanks on Shiloh Ridge to keep the water systems of the Town energized. The team that did that work was told to evacuate, but they held their ground and kept water flowing.
The sewer system also posed problems due to the lack of digestive abilities for the treatment process. The Treatment professionals fed the ponds dog food to keep the system operational, and Ken offered that it will be interesting when the Town turns in the receipts for so much dog food for the treatment system.
In the close of his remarks, he brought up his thanks for the Town leadership to work so long and hard in the face of disaster, and for their willingness to personally welcome back the members of the community once the evacuation was lifted. He, along with many others responsible for our community, stood shoulder to shoulder to provide a welcome wave.
Questions came from all around the room…. why are we being subjected to no more natural gas in new building projects? Ken shared we are positioning for the future when even the State will be abandoning power sources that promote carbons.
Maureen cleared the house after presenting another cherished Windsor Rotary thermos. A reminder from the president, there will be a special meeting next Monday at 5 pm in Maureen’s office, which she suggested is “South Windsor.”