Club Meeting, May 28, 2019
Flag Salute : Marie Coakley
Inspiration: Leslie Lewis, with a moment of silence in honor of our Veterans on Memorial Day.
Warm-Up: Susan Cole
Introduction of Visiting Rotarians
There were no visiting Rotarians today.
Introduction of Guests of Rotarians:
| Member | Guest | Notes |
Michael Ragsdale Barbara Ragsdale His wife
Robin Resendez Abigail Our youngest member
Carol Martin Steve Mitchell Band Director, Windsor Middle School
Heather Cullen Music Goddess, Windsor Middle School
JB Leep Kerry Rego Our speaker today
Maureen Merrill Brian Williams Principal, Windsor Middle School
Alison Huber Joella Windsor Middle School
Announcements:
Status of Polio Plus as of May 20, 2019: District 5130 have raised $149,259 towards ending polio in this Rotary year. When the 2 for 1 contributions by the Gates Foundation is added ($298,518) we have been responsible for a total contribution of $447,777 toward saving children’s lives. Our Pedal 4 Polio fundraiser was included in this total and was responsible for $57,800 of the District total. Our club donated $1,942 just among our members toward this total.
Remember the blue cups on the tables and Pinwheels for Polio to contribute to get the ultimate job done – eradicating polio from the earth.
President Sandie read a lovely thank you note from Heather Christensen, one of our Teachers recognized for this year.
Diane Brabetz and President Sandie proposed that our Club purchase a park bench at the Town Green to be our “Rotary Bench” and put plaques on it for members who have died. Dick Bishop, Skip Graham, Van Ingretson, and our founder, John Lewis. Diane offered the first $500 to start the bench project quickly. Michael Juric immediately offered another $100 and the Club seems positive about the idea.
Jack Hyde reminds us that this Thursday is the first Town Green Jack’s Bar of the year. The sign-up sheet was sent around.
Glenn Sudgen announced that the Windsor Robotic Rumble competition is taking place this morning at Windsor High School. He encourages everyone to come and witness these great kids who actually create robots!
Alison Huber announces that Project Grad is this Saturday for Windsor High School. Helpers are needed for the late late late shifts (after midnight). She encourages all Rotarians to stay up past our usual bedtimes and participate.
Carol Martin brought together our fundraising efforts at the Lobster Fest and the actual giving to our major projects. Today was the great day when we actually give the checks to the community beneficiaries who asked for funding help. Carol and Sandie gave a total of $31,100 to the Windsor Middle School for a re-vamp of the Performing Arts Center at the Windsor Middle School, and band instruments for students. Brian Williams, Principal, delivered a heartfelt thanks to our Club for this donation. He said it was “life-changing” for the school. They will mark their days as “before Rotary” and “after Rotary”. He said it will fundamentally change the way we do things at the Middle School. He said the donation was “mind-boggling”.
Heather Cullen then invited everyone to an opera to be performed by the students, “The Root of Pure Joy”, It was written, produced, directed and set designed by the students.
Michael Juric recognized Allen Christensen for reading the letter from a student about the need for band instruments at Windsor Middle School. Allen’s words at the LobsterFest Fund-a-Need generated donations of over $11,000. Way to go Allen!!!
As we begin another Rotary year soon, it is important that we always go back to the WHY of why we fundraise. It is to enjoy moments like today at this morning’s meeting when we can actually give the money and make a difference in kids’ lives. Always remember the WHY.
Bill Bolster gave a shout out to our local celebrity, Guy Fieri, who attended an event at Santa Rosa Country Club to raise money for the culinary arts program in Santa Rosa schools. Guy made a fund-raising appeal and then disappeared. Bill thought he had left, but that was not the case. Guy was in the kitchen surrounded by 40 kids, and he was teaching them how to put together an excellent meal. Kudo’s to Guy Fieri for walking the walk.
Fines: Bill Rash was our Fine Master this morning, and he asked for folks to fine themselves. Leslie Lewis celebrated 31 years with Nirmal. Sue Nelson just returned from a photography trip to Paris and the coast of France. Jim Ruppert had his 70th birthday and 39 year anniversary. Bill acknowledged that his wife, Earleen, was having hip surgery and was committed to losing weight. All made generous donations, most to the John Lewis fund. Susan Cole reported that she is recovering well from knee replacement surgery and that Bev Graham is having the same surgery on Monday next week.
Speaker:
JB Leep introduced our speaker for the day, Kerry Rego of Kerry Rego Consulting. Kerry consults in optimization of social media presence or “reputation management”. She has taught at Sonoma State, Santa Rosa JC, and Windsor High School. She has authored several books on the subject of social media and how it affects our lives.
Today’s presentation was on how to achieve balance in our lives between our technology and our connection to people. Our phones are designed to manipulate our emotions and keep us engaged with the messaging on the phone, creating Pavlovian reactions to a phone notification.
Kerry had some interesting suggestions about how to deal with this and control the manipulation of our connection to social media. One was the Pomodoro technique. We are most productive in 20 minute segments. Divide every hour into 3 parts and change what we do every 20 minutes. A new task, walking away from the computer, stretching – just changing what we do.
Our eyes are also at risk with too much screen time. Kerry recommends: “every 20 minutes, look 20 feet away, for 20 seconds. She also recommends blue light blockers for our screens.
Kerry described “persuasion labs” which are specific classes in how to manipulate human behavior. App’s are designed to look like candy and invite us in to use them. The huge social media conglomerates – Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Google, and Salesforce – FANGS – are never going to have our best interests at heart. Her final caution is to find the balance between tech and our lives.
It was a powerful and compelling presentation today.
Sandie thanked all of our visitors and closed the meeting today with the thought, “Don’t confuse having a career with having a life.”
