Santa Rosa West Rotary Bulletin

BULLETIN:
SPECIAL AWARDS & RECOGNITION DAY

Monday, May 11, 1998

A March opening in May

President Jim woke us up with a loud bell and promptly welcomed everyone to the "March ?? meeting, then brought us back to the present. Chuck Olson got us organized with the pledge. Chris Rosell gave an inspiring "poem about liberty" for our Rotary moment.

Visitors and Guests

A near record 15 Visiting Rotarians, who were looking forward to a chance at the $900 raffle pot, were introduced by Ann Abrams.

"Service Above Self" Award

Ann Abrams and Jim Sullivan presented this prestigious vocational award to Jim’s office manager, Chris Smits, who has put up with him for 17 years at Everen Securities, Inc. and other firms where they have worked together. She encourages Jim to attend Rotary regularly so she can get more work done, and also have time for her generous volunteer efforts.

Mark your calendars...

May 15 - Sunrise Club golf tournament

May 18 - Industrial Waste: How do we get rid of it? - Tom Leland

May 25 - Memorial Day -
We are Dark - no meeting

May 29-31 - District Conference

June 1 - Santa Rosa Players - Excerpts from Anything Goes!

June 6 - Healdsburg Rotary Golf Tournament

June 27 – End of Rotary Year Celebration at Lake Sonoma

June 30 - Windsor Rotary Golf Tournament

Books to Uganda

The Santa Rosa West Rotary Club has sent 1185 pounds of elementary school books to the Rotary Club of Kampala, Uganda for distribution in the area. The books were donated by the Piner-Olivet Union School District through a former club member, Rod Buchignani. Our club contributed one quarter of the shipping cost of the books, the District contributed another quarter, and we were able to get a matching grant from Rotary International for the remaining half. This project has been ongoing for several years by the World Community Services subcommittee.

Announcements

Contact Gil Lucas at 526-1139 (work) or home 579-4678. regarding two spots available for 17-18 year olds for the summer trip to Holland – July 17 to August 7, 1998.

We are losing Bo Simons to the Healdsburg Club; David Björklund will take his place as Bulletin Editor.

The District Conference is coming up May 28 through 31.

Jim Valinoti's reign is nearing an end. His Celebration is on June 27, at Lake Sonoma.

New Members Proposed

Teri Evans is proposed for membership. Teri lives and works in Windsor and her classification will be Truck/Trailer Finance and Leasing. Don Ling is Teri's sponsor.

Michael Levison is proposed for membership. Michael lives and works in Santa Rosa and his classification will be Executive Search Consultant. Michael's sponsor is Arnie Carston.

Inquiries regarding Teri or Michael should be directed to Paul Schwartz (work 566-2200; home 579-0977 email: pschwartz@sonic.net)

Rotarian of the Year

51198_3.jpg (15636 bytes) Phil Talamantes (center) was selected by a past presidents’ committee for this ultimate honor. District Governor Elect Mike Merrill (right) and Past President Bob Marigo (left) presented the club’s highest award to Phil for 22 years of outstanding service. He was described as a person who gets things done effectively – no whining, excuses or apologies! Phil joined Rotary in 1976, the same year he acquired the Cal-North Coast dealership of International Harvester (he was previously a District Manager for IH). Some of his accomplishments include: club President 1986-87, director of SRWRC Scholarship Foundation, District Awards Chairman 1992-96, various other committees, and Paul Harris Fellow – six times! He is also active outside Rotary as Chairman of the Commonwealth Club of Calif. – Sonoma County Region, SRJC Foundation member, Cal Alumni/Scholarship Committee, and President of HOBO’s. Phil has two sons – Patrick who is CFO for Sinclair Broadcasting in Baltimore, and Tom who works as an artist and landscaping consultant. Faye Eastman, his fiancée, was also there to share this "moment of glory". Congratulations Phil!

Internal Service Team Recognition and Reminder

Thanks to Dale Sipe for his assistance in setting up this week. Hey Harry Rubins, we sure missed you. Look out Denis Wilkinson you're up to bat for this coming meeting. If you can't make it, or if others of you want to offer to lend a hand, be sure you contact Janet Codding at (707) 576-0416 or Dale Sipe at (707) 526-6463.

General Recognition Dept. (a.k.a.: fines!)

Chuck and Barbara Baker are celebrating the graduation of their daughter Aileen from medical school at the Univ. of Vermont - $100 was offered to the Rotary Foundation.

Bob Harris was recently featured in Sonoma Business for his expertise as a chemist and environmental consultant in solving toxic problems affecting many property owners. He donated $500 to Paul Harris, a bottle of dark brown liquid (test sample) and other items used in his profession.

Ann Abrams offered $50,but was only assessed $25, for her recent camping outing and trip to the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve and two sunny (non rainy) spots in Baja California.

Ken Kushnir was recognized, but not fined, for the nearly completed house in Mexico. Sympathy prevailed, because the doors are missing.

Raffle

Duncan Holt picked the wrong colored marble that was in someone’s pocket. Award recipient Chris Smits won the $20 and the special table pool.

Program

Sam Crump was scheduled to present the Highway 101 solution. Since he was not present, here is what we hoped he would tell us. Widening the present four-lane "boulevard" to at least six lanes and fixing or replacing bridges and approach ramps between Windsor and Novato will start as soon as the money is available. Passage of a sales tax initiative is needed to make Sonoma County a "self-help" district to qualify for significant FHWA and State funding that now goes to the "big" counties. This funding would be supplemented by allocations or percentages of rents paid by Phil Talamantes to Jim Groom, sales of carpets and other floor coverings from Arnie Carsten (who might get a new sign near the freeway), some of Pete Magrini’s and Laurie Burmeyer’s auto / parts sales commissions, more generosity from Bob Marigo and the NAPA parts (no, not wine) business, profits from copiers sold by Mike Moore, assemblies built by Brian Herndon, coffee sold by Jeff Ray, stocks sold by Jim Sullivan, books written and sold by Emery Barrus, and attorneys’ fees charged by Mike Merrill, Jim Benoit, Jim Hinton, Pat Sizemore, Carson Mitchell, Chuck Stark and David Björklund. Let’s see – whom can we pick on now? Who would do the work? Well, we can assume that Caltrans will put 101 on the back burner, even after funding. Ken Kushnir’s new home is nearly completed; perhaps he could bring in his crew who would probably get the work done a lot faster. President Jim let us out early so we could have more time to contemplate near-term solutions to a long-term transportation corridor problem.