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President Maureen Merrill was on time and got the meeting started at 7:30
There was a volunteer song Meister in Joe Deacon as he led us in “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
The scribe, who was a few minutes late to the meeting, is Tom Boylan.
The photographer of the day is Sue Nelson.
Guests of Rotarians:
Brian Ling introduced Windsor High School principal Lamar Collins.
Carol Martin Introduced Marie Bannister with the Windsor High Vineyard Academy.
Announcements:
Maureen reminded us that the Foundation Dinner is November 2nd, and we have a table, with room for more. Let Maureen know if you can join the Windsor table to celebrate the past year’s accomplishments for our Rotary District.
Leah Hansenreminded us the Veteran’s Day lunch is November 7th, and there are 15 people signed up to attend the lunch.
Bill Bolster gave us a few tips on Rotary Youth Exchange. We currently have two programs, short term and long-range. Our short-range person can spend as little as 6-weeks, and the long-range is for a full year. We are looking for candidates for both. Ideally, the Junior and Senior school person is short-range, and the sophomores are for the long-range. Contact Bill if you know of someone who would benefit from Rotary’s program.
Bill shared a few comments from a letter that Caden Hulett sent us from Holland. Read the entire letter below.
Jose Diego was given his new blue badge. It goes along with his dancing lessons as he gets ready to compete with Dancing with the Stars, a fundraiser for the Veteran’s Resource Center.
Carol Martin gave a shoutout to Bill Conklin, David Culley, and Marie Bannister along with others who made Tri-Tip Tuesday a success. Check out the graphics at the end of this bulletin to get all the details on what made the event a success… 180 meals were sold!
Marie Bannister, director of Windsor High School Vineyard Academy, was asked to join Maureen and David Culley as they presented the Vineyard Academy a check for $3119. An excellent kick-off to our efforts at community engagement.
If you have an announcement you would like to have brought to our attention, be sure to send it to Maureen for inclusion.
Program:
Craft talks were the theme of the day, and Pegi Ball kicked off the round.
Pegi Ball
Pegi was born in Palo Alto and raised in the South Bay. She moved to Sonoma County in 1986. Pegi has four children, seven grandchildren, and a slew of adopted grandchildren who have shared a couple of great-grandchildren to the crew.
Her move to Sonoma County began with her having a position with a dinner house. Eventually, she transitioned to a full time catering person, Pegi Ball Catering was born. She met Maureen, Chris Parr, and Janet Codding, among many others during one of her catering events. Her connections put her in touch with the Windsor Bowling Alley and their cafe. This is where she found Rotary, and in 1996 she was sponsored by Maureen to join the Rotary Club.
Pegi’s life went up, up, and away when she became a Rotarian and wound up working the Hot Air Balloon Festival. She appreciates the success she has found through her association with Rotary friends.
Her plan to retire was sidetracked by her becoming the Original Certified Santa Rosa Farmer’s Market manager. There went the retirement, but it has given her a chance to explore a lot of healthful foods. Today she is happy to report her interest in food, and the benefits of good food have allowed her to share those benefits with a much larger audience.
Bill Rash
Bill took the mic and let us know he is a San Francisco native with roots to the neighborhood around The famed Cow Palace. He worked with his dad at an earlier time and then went off to the phone company. He shared that he was fired, but it turned out to be the best thing to happen to him because he was rehired by someone else in the organization and made the boss of the man who fired him… a fun turn around, but it turns out that he treated that person with a good spirit.
Bill went rogue, and his first client happened to be the phone company. Today he is working in fiber optics, phone systems, and as a sound man for a local church. He is proud to share that his grandchildren and his children are working with him.
Most of his work is with municipalities, including the San Francisco Airport. He shared that if you stick around long enough, you wind up working with a lot of familiar people… oh yes… he also shared that he is married to Earleen for 50+ years. He is a member of Windsor Rotary because his wife, a past president, suggested he should join. He followed her footsteps and has had quite an impact on the club and the community. E Clampus Vitus is his secret society, which is not all that secret.
Larry Wasem
Larry is a charter member and the club’s 2nd president. He went off on a significant spin-off to let us know there were commonalities between Pegi, Bill’s, and his stories. Larry also shared that he has an exciting adventure back to Germany to share some time with his family and a special wedding.
Count Von Hingle Heim (He didn’t spell it out, so forgive the scribe for overindulging in the German pronunciation and be glad he wasn’t going to Hawaii) had 12 sons that were all farmers… His father moved to Idaho in the late 1800s. And the point of the story was to share that his entire family has a history that centered on farming.
Larry told us he was the first member of the family to attend college and probably the first to move away.
Born in Idaho, he shared that the location was “not exactly the middle of the Universe, but more like the middle of nowhere.” His family farm in Idaho was around 800 acres. His brother now runs the farm, and according to Larry, “it is a great life but not a great way to make a living.” Keeping with the family tradition, it looks like his brother’s oldest son has suggested he will carry on the farming tradition at the family farm.
Larry graduated in 1972 from a high school with all of 800 students. Logging used to be the most prominent industry when he was growing up, and there were four lumber mills, which are all gone today. A graduate in Economics from College of Idaho Larry shared that one of the benefits of a small college is the lifelong connections he maintains today. After college, he went to Washington, DC, in 1976, where he became quick to the ways of a major city. He wound up working for Steve Simm, the congressman who wound up becoming a Senator, who Larry maintains a connection with to this day. On his return to Idaho, he met his wife.
Larry went on to Stanford law school and eventually met up with an old classmate, Rich Coombs, and the Airport Business Center reflects what you can do with the right partner. Although he talks highly of his business, his real passion comes from a job that doesn’t pay well in dollars but pays a huge dividend to the heart. Larry is the first official neonatal intensive care baby hugger. He does this as a volunteer, but he would pay to do the job. Opioid addiction is the major problem that these babies are trying to overcome one hug at a time.
Caden Hulett
Windsor Youth Exchange
2019 – 20
The Netherlands
10/20/19
Bill!
I had my presentation for the club last Monday, and then it was nonstop school, but now it’s the fall break. Let’s see, impressions…
Many Dutch stereotypes are wrong, although they do love their dairy products here, cheese in particular. People smoke a lot more, although from what I’ve heard, that’s typical for Europe.
My host family’s been great, they’re traveling to visit my host mom’s host mom since her host dad passed away recently. I’ve made lots of good friends, and I’m actually staying at a friend/host parent’s family friend’s house for the week.
The deltaworks are amazing, just this incredible feat of engineering on such a large scale. The hunnebeds are also amazing, gravestones that have been preserved for over 5,000 years. Granted, some have been griefed, but people have been able to preserve them pretty well overall.
Dutch is a rough language to learn, the grammar rules are way less consistent than English and Spanish. My accent’s good, so I just need to build up my vocabulary. Lekker is one of the most important words in Dutch, it literally just means “tasty” but people use it for literally everything. Lekker weer – nice weather, that kind of thing.
The food’s been great, my host dad cooks as a hobby so I’ve gotten an amazing dinner almost every day. There’s also a burger place that actually has burgers on par if not better than back home.
I’m still traveling around the Netherlands. We got to go to Giethoorn during the DOC, and that was beautiful, plus sailing’s fun. I also got to visit the Hunnebed museum and Bourtange one weekend, which was quite a few awesome moments sprinkled in between long walks. I’m going to Rotterdam this Tuesday, where I’ll also get to to Spijkenisse, where someone decided to actually build the bridges that are depicted on the Euro banknotes. Thursday and Friday we’re going to Volendam, a Dutch folk town. I’m going back to Bourtange on Saturday for a steampunk festival, I’ve been putting together a costume for that over the past few weeks. The closest thing I’ll get to Halloween while I’m here.
Calendar Items:
| Date | Event | Info | Contact / comments |
| 11/2, Sat., 9 – 12 | Annual Foundation Seminar | Finley Center, Santa Rosa Registration link at www. Rotary5130.org | Contact Foundation Chair John LeCave 707.280.5236, jlecave@ sonic.net |
| 11/2, Sat, 5:30 PM | Annual Foundation Dinner | Doubletree, Rohnert Park Reception 5:30, Dinner 6:30, $70 per person Registration link at www. Rotary5130.org | https://www. rotary5130.org /calendar/ Windsor Rotary table! Contact Pres. Maureen |
| 11/4, Monday, 5-6:15 | Monthly Club Board Meeting | Maureen’s office, 145 Wikiup (N side of street) off ORH, in “South Windsor” | Special topics: Fundraising decisions and Project direction |
| 11/4, 5:30 & 7 | Rotary at Symphony | Green Center, see more info: google Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary | Marty Behr, behr@ Whidbey.com; 206.391.3427 |
| 11/7, Thursday 11:30 – 1:30 | Rotary Annual Veterans Lunch | Vets Memorial, SR | Leah Hansen, 292.5173, lmhansen1@ sbcglobal.net |
| 11/9, Sat., 9 AM – 10 or 10:15 | 2nd Saturdays Rotary Hiking & Dog Walking Club | Meet at Foothill Park, Arata Entrance | Just show up! |
| 12/7, evening | HOLIDAY PARTY! | Home of Sue & John Nelson – watch for more info | Bev Graham, Coordinator |
| 5/15 – 5/16/2020 | Annual District Conference | Fortuna River Walk Lodge in Humboldt County | Get rooms now! Ask Maureen for more info |