Monday Noon, Los Robles Lodge
925 Edwards Ave., Santa Rosa, California

Bulletin
February 28, 2000
by Ken Dansie

Weather Wise

Meager Beginnings

Bill Gittins opened the 1750^th meeting of the Santa Rosa West Rotary Club with an attempt to imitate the Kingliness of past president, Richard the First, and the Queenliness of her royal highness Patsy the First. Unfortunately, the derisiveness received from the motley crowd suggested the at best he could hope to pass for would be that of "Lord of the Manor", and even this title he would have to work for.

Past President Bill Gittins

With order restored, Louis Giacometti led us in the pledge and Bob Marigo finally gave in to the Rotary moment movement.

Announcements

John Palmer led the charge with notice of a joint meeting with the Sunrise Club on March 13th, the purpose of which is to give everybody an SOS update.

Bob Marigo was looking for $$$$ (as usual) from sponsors (people who pony up after having their arm-twisted) for the upcoming District Conference either in the form of advertisements in the program or in the Wheel News. Please see Chris Parr and/or Bob for details.

Janet Codding mentioned that the Projects Committee is looking for projects to fund with our hard-earned dollars. Also, the GSE team is arriving from India on April 1^st and Janet is looking for host families. Homes are needed for the three male members of the group. Interested parties, please see Janet.

Don Oliver gave us an update on the Rotaplast project and a team is being put together from District 5130. Currently, the project is servicing South America but plans are in the works to expand this to China and India. The District is trying to raise $45,000 to support the project.

Chuck Stark asked the membership to support through a vote the formation of the new Oakmont Club. The vote was passed unanimously by the membership even though there was a groundswell of murmuring relating to "Transfer" and "Franchise Fees" which apparently was started by our favorite TV real estate broker.

Blue Badges

Two members, Julie Scherer and Carl Vallejos, received their blue badges to loud applause from Lord Bill at the cost of $5 each. Except Carl was charged an extra $10 for being late at the gate.

Lord Bill recognized Rick Rybicki for travelling to far-off places such as Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Tierra Del Fuego and Chile without his wife. More importantly, he ended up contributing $100 to Paul Harris as a result of becoming a partner in his law firm which means he can now be called an "official" whining attorney.

Rick Rybicki

Chuck Stark was recognized for coming in second place in the Petaluma Crab Feed raffle and winning $1,200. After a lot of whining he contributed another $100 to Paul Harris, and, as a final gesture of good faith, Lord Bill introduced a new "Tithing" concept that cost the whiner an additional $20.

Chuck Baker was recognized for being the new treasurer of the Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association. Chuck took his recognition like a man, unlike the two whiners above.

Raffle

Ginny Pitts, who has won the opportunity numerous times before, somehow arranged yet again to get the winning ticket (she was selling this time!). However, this time her luck deserted her and she was a gracious loser to sympathetic applause. Neil Silverman donated his $20 second place finish to Rotaplast.

Program

Brent Alan one of the "Weather Anchors" from KFTY Channel 50 entertained us with his work background and education and convinced us that the ideal training ground for weather forecasters is as a sales assistant in either the Good Guys or Macy's shoe department. Brent espoused on his weather forecasting theories which appeared to be a combination of the "blindfolded dart throwing technique" and the "throwing business cards from a plane" methodologies. Ginny was so confused that all she could think about was her grapes.

Brent Alan

After much ado about nothing, Lord Bill concluded the 1750^th meeting of the Santa Rosa West Rotary Club at 1:30 p.m. and was heard muttering "only four more weeks" on the way out.

Your friendly Rotary scribe,

Ken Dansie