ROTARY FOUNDATION MONTH KICK-OFF DAY – Nov. 2, 1998

Wake-up call!

Chris Rosell and Jim Valinoti motivated us with the pledge and a traditional Rotary Moment. Duncan Holt introduced 8 Visiting Rotarians, who were looking forward to a chance at the $1,360 orange marble.

GUESTS [an expanded recognition feature in the bulletin] - name of person hosting visitor in (parenthesis)

Tom Boylan - (Lori Burmeyer), Allan Brenner, President of the Earle Baum Center of the Blind (Jim Valinoti), Noel Buehler (John Withers), Dr. Mark Doolittle SSU professor and Rachel Treieno, counseling intern (Dr. John Palmer), Bruce Ketron, legal beagle (Rick Rybicki), Janice Knetziger (Janet Codding), Jennifer MacIntosh (Charles Stark), Patrick McNeany, new employee at MicroAge Computers (Gary Dugger).

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Paul Schwartz, standing in for Foundation Committee Chair Harry Rubins, reminded everyone that this was the last call for buying tickets to the Rotary Foundation dinner this weekend.

Teri Evans, Membership chair, reminded us to use the new guest registration forms whenever you bring someone to the meeting, and to turn in the new member proposal forms ASAP.

Bob Harris said the roster is being updated soon; be sure to send changes directly to him. He will find a printer who can differentiate between the letters "v" and "y", "a" and "g", "p" and "backward a".

Terry Price, back from campaign overload, announced that crab feed tickets will be available next week. Chris Rosell said corporate tables are still available.

Dr. John Palmer announced the XMAS FAIRE which benefits the SOS Program will be held Dec. 4-6 and Dec. 11-12. They are seeking raffle gift donations as well as volunteers to sell raffle tickets and provide other assistance as well.

Paul Stychno is giving away a 4 week all expense paid trip to the Philippines. One small catch - he needs applicants for team leaders and members to head up the GSE teams. If you're interested give Paul a call.

Ray Mattison has a time-share rental in Hawaii available Nov. 21 - 28 at Pahio Kai Resort in Princeville, Kauai; 2br/2ba unit.. Rent is negotiable, contact Ray for details including how much of a fine he should pay for getting this into the Bulletin.

EARLE BAUM CENTER OF THE BLIND

Allan Brenner, president, received our $1,000 donation to special organization which is run by the blind for the blind. These people help others of all ages to lead independent lives. Past President Jim Valinoti presented the award. This group also received a special unsolicited "prevention" award from the County.

CRAFT TALK- Teri Evans

Teri Evans, Membership Chair, took the final step toward earning her blue badge. She has been the Finance Manager for Reliance Trailers for six years. Her job involves arranging leases, purchase financing and other special financing needs for dealers and customers; she also deals with regulatory compliance. What she did NOT say is that she keeps Don Ling out of the office, out of trouble, and out on the fishing and golf circuit. She also helps keep sales people out in the field with customers by providing "in-house" support. She came to Sonoma County from Sacramento where she spent about 15 years in transportation and related business. Teri grew up in Colorado and attended college there before moving to California. Welcome aboard Teri, and thanks for taking over membership!

Jim Benoit, who served as president in 1987-88, got everyone’s attention with the "gorilla in the tree" story. He reflected on major advances made in the Polio Plus Program with the help of the ever so humble and bashful Bob Marigo. He also noted that the club grew significantly, thanks to the efforts of Richard Pratt and others.

RECOGNITION

Future President Patsy Barnes (left) received a warm "Happy Birthday" from about 100 people in the room, which cost her $0.20 per singer – what a deal !

Bob Zeni was nailed for $25 for his 7^th grandchild, 44^th anniversary and recent travels.

Marc Matson found that his Denver trip to learn more about Advanced Nutrition and country western dancing in Denver, and meeting John Elway in the hotel would cost an additional $30.

Chris Rosell (right) was debited $25 for the increase in Sonoma National Banks profits. Finally, Ken Danzie coughed up $25 for meeting an actress in a hotel lobby (no, not in a room). Mark your calendars … Board Meeting next Tuesday November 10th, be there for an educational experience you won’t soon forget.

PROGRAM

John Blount, past DG (1990-91) and current District 5130 Communications Chair, delivered a powerful presentation to help kick off Rotary Foundation Month. His topic was "Begging, Bragging or Brilliance". He discussed the Foundation’s broad-based programs and long range goal to exceed $1 billion. He said the Foundation appeals to people worldwide on a social, spiritual and intellectual level.

Rotary is rich and unique in contacts and resources (people and financial); our members are "doers" and "dreamers". He cited examples such as the "give a dam" program that was successfully launched in Mexico to help conserve scarce water resources for agriculture. Another program mentioned was the PAL (preserve a life) program which benefits children (i.e., food, clothing, special medical attention, etc.)

Grants are available for special projects to help children ages 16+ in the US as well as other countries. The Rotary Foundation is the 6^th largest contributor with the 7^th smallest administrative costs among the top 100 non-profits. The donations and investments have brought the funds up to nearly $70 million in the last two years. The annual giving fund was recently at $57 million, the permanent fund was around $10 million, and the directed fund (i.e., Polio Plus, etc.) was above $1 million. The investment and donation objective is to have these funds reach $425 million by 2005. Currently, about 30% of the funds come from the US and Canada, and 38% from the Asian countries. Over one billion people have been vaccinated, thanks to Rotary. Overall, this was a very inspiring program.

This bulletin was written by Ray Mattison

The Crab Feed Crew