CALL TO ORDER and PRESIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
President Bill Gittins called the 1240th meeting of West Santa Rosa to order on Monday, July 8. After the traditional flag salute, invocation and introductions of visiting folks, Bill took his place back at the podium. He then instituted a new tradition - asking new members, red badgers, to get autographs from each club member in the Club Roster binder. Mark Madison was the first to be charged with this new privilege.
Master salesman Jim generates rapid cash with raffle tickets.
TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED:
West Santa Rosa is now on the web. Bill drew our attention to hand-outs on the table. He had given out the incorrect web address so one hand-out addressed that faux pas. The other hand-out asked for members' e-mail address.
Bill said last week he received 46 responses to how members wanted to receive their bulletin. Only 5 members still want it mailed to them, the remainder prefer the web or fax.
$$$$$$!!!
With mixed feelings Martin Miller-Hessel announced a $25,000 gift to the Multi-Cultural pre-school. The gift was given by a member of Martin's church who has terminal cancer and wanted to make a difference in his community.
SUNSHINE REPORT:
Pete Hoogland reported the Moses Mitchell was out of the hospital and home doing well.
SEASON OF FINING:
Brian Herndon was given two shots at a pop quiz. He failed miserably..... President Bill first asked if he know the current president of Rotary International - answer by Brian - Boris Yeltsin. Next question: What was this years Rotary theme. Another bomb. It is Building the Future With Action and Vision. For this learning experience Brian was fined $10.
Robin Mars (photo above) was given praise for his role in supplying the first bulletin for the web and then chastised for mistaking President Bill for PAST President Pat. Robin was let off without a fine.
Roger Olson was embarrassed in front of his entire club for his overwhelming athletic prowess this past weekend. In three days lolling around the Airport Health Club Roger swam a total of 2 laps. Roger dug himself in deeper by discovering AFTER he told a bad Polish joke Monday that President Bill was Polish...... For this grave error he received a $30 fine.
Nancy Ramsey (photo above) escaped with a $9 fine, based on her new backpacking experiences at Shasta and Tahoe at 9000 feet.
President Bill, determined to fine Arrnie Carston for something, latched onto the new car Arnie had purchased for his wife LAST year.... A $20 donation to the club.
Red-badger Ty Pforsich was made a partner at Moss Adams, a CPA company. He was accused of being one of the few men to graduate from the accounting major at Sonoma State (jab at Wally Lowry in our midst) and was fined for this honor.
Doug gets cash for the foundation from the raffle.
THE VALUE OF MEMBERSHIP
"Take away my people and leave my factories and soon grass will grow on my factory floors. Take away my factories and leave my people and soon we will have a new and better factory." Andrew Carnegie.
Unique:
John Blount, Past District Governor and member of the Sebastopol Rotary Club gave a rousing talk about the value of members in Rotary. He stressed the importance of the people - the personnel of Rotary. Blount said there are two things to remember:
Our object and purpose as a Rotary Club is our service, and this is unique. We offer Acquaintances or friendship, Integrity or ethics, and Service. Blount acknowledged that most of the members belong to many different organizations but what makes Rotary unique are those three things. We belong to a club that has 1.2 million people with high ideals.
Impact:
Drawing upon examples from his own club, Blount shared with us the beginnings of the Learn to Swim program. In 1984 the club decided it wanted to work with kids. They decided every second grader in Sebastopol would know how to swim. Collaborating with the YMCA for Ives pool, the schools for bussing, and the High School and Rotary members for swimming teachers, a successful program was begun. Twelve years later, in 1996, the Learn to Swim program touches the lives of almost every 2nd grader in almost every school in the county. 3500 kids wear T-shirts that proudly proclaim they learned to swim because of Rotary.
Blount also gave a moving example of international service with their sister club in Puerto Vallarta and a young Latina woman. The Preserve Your Life (PAL) program was established in 1986 by the Sebastopol Club and many lives have been touched as a result. We Do Have Impact.
Members:
Blount encouraged each and every member to propose someone they knew as a prospective member. He asked the club members to raise their hands if they knew who the International President was when they joined the club, none, then who knew the District governor, again no hands were raised. But, we all knew who our President was when we became members as well as who sponsored us. He was demonstrating in a very personal way how people asking people is what was important We will only grow if we share the impact of the club with others and go out and recruit.
Many of us feel at times that nothing we can do individually can make a difference in the world. Blount quoted a song written by Garth Brooks after the Oklahoma City bombing that shares that "Its not the world I am changing - I do it so this world will know it won't ever change me....."
GOALS of SUNSHINE REPORT:
The goal of the "Sunshine Report" is to keep all members up-to-date regarding fellow Rotarians who may be "under the weather." Laura Bugbee will be over-seeing this effort and welcomes your input. If you know of a member that could use a cheery Get Well card, please call Laura at 538-4927 or Fax her at 538- 2980.
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