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

Congratulations to our newest Rotarian of the Year Ken Kushnir

Our almost departed President Charles Stark, Esq., obviously still excited about what a great year he has had, led his "near-to-the-last" Rotary meeting at The Rotary Club of Santa Rosa West.

Ann Abrams led us in the flag salute and Scott Bartley gave his always-endearing Rotary moment.

Inner Wheel of Santa Rosa 
gets the job done!
Flags from around the world! Flags all around the room! Yes! We have Rotary Club flags representing many different clubs, from many different countries. As is the custom in Rotary, our present and past members have returned from their travels all over the world bringing back flags representing the clubs at which they have made up meetings. Also, many visiting Rotarians have exchanged club flags with Santa Rosa West Rotary. You can imagine how over 36 years worth of exchanges can produce quite a few flags. You can also imagine what a problem it might become to appropriately display and store them.

Special Recognition!

Scott Bartley took to the podium accompanied by Bill Gittins only to have Bill reduce his tie length in a symbolic gesture of what was to come. 

(Historical moment: On July 11, 1988 newly installed President Ken Kushnir, who is not one to wear ties, took the podium to conduct his first official meeting as president. Realizing that Ken’s year as a Rotary President would be much more fulfilling if he didn’t have to wear a tie as so many previous presidents, faithful sidekick Scott promptly cut off his newly donned tie thereby setting a precedent, and rattling the somber rolls of rotary. —Ed) 

Scott then proceeded to announce our 2001 Rotarian of the Year. This is an annual award given to a loyal and faithful Rotarian who has devoted countless hours in service above self to rotary for many years. This particular Rotarian has single handedly brought in 10% of our current club members, including yours truly. This is no easy feat. He has great cooking skills of which he has consistently donated, and who can forget he and Mike Moore as auctioneers for our crab feeds? 

Ken Kushnir is our newest Rotarian of the Year. Ken’s wife Marla along with all of the members joined in congratulating him for all his hard work. We all appreciate his outstanding efforts over the past 21 years that he has been a member of Santa Rosa West Rotary.

Paula Wrenn announced that Janet Codding would be our new Membership Chairperson in the upcoming rotary year. Club members with prospective candidates for membership should contact Janet. 

(Great opportunity here to once again recognize and thank Paula for one spectacular year of membership development! Congratulations Paula! -Ed)

Alert! Peter Lamonica had a near death experience last week. Stung by a bee, Pete went into shock due to an allergy to the bee sting. He is feeling much better now and is on the mend. Take care Pete, and we hope to see you back at the club soon.

Danielle from Kids Street Theatre thanked our club for helping them move into their new building. Over 200 volunteers worked 7:00a to 6:00p. They succeeded in renovating 4 single dwelling homes. 5 mobile homes cleaned up the pond at Julliard Park and planted trees at City Hall. What a wonderful job!

Our very own Past Prez Bill Gittins (‘96-’97) announced the Debunking of our soon-to-be Past Prez Chuck Stark. Chuck’s demise is scheduled for June 30, 2001 at Wikiup Swim Club from 5-8pm. The cost is $25.00. This is the second of two social gatherings we have each year that is a mandatory attendance event. You have to pay for it whether or not you attend,  so come and have a good time. The food is always great, and we’ve been known to put on some pretty creative "party-ings" for our outgoing presidents. (http://www.sr-rotary-west.org/Bulletins/1998-99/debunk99.htm - those of you who missed this one, can take a quick look!)

Christmas in April!

At today’s meeting we were proud to host Diane Cox, President of Christmas in April who introduced the Reverend James Marchbanks and his lovely wife Deborah who are among the proud beneficiaries of our recent participation in the Christmas in April program.  Reverend James and Deborah thanked the staff of Christmas in April, club members and all the other volunteers who helped to bring a real spirit joy and Christmas giving to their lives this past spring.

Raffle

This week’s Bulletin reporter Ginny Pitts was observed reaching into the "little red bag", but since she didn’t report anything about it I can only assume that she didn’t reach in the "right" place, although it also appears that John Withers was the recipient of a bottle of Bill Gittins’ and Bob Harris’ favorite "wine" from Kenwood Vineyards (what DOES he do with that stuff? J --Ed)

Program

Our guest speaker was Past District Governor Del Raby (‘92-’93). Del spoke about the 2001 Council on Legislation held in April in Chicago. Del is a representative of District 5130 and is also a member of the Santa Rosa Sunrise Club. There were 6 days of voting and discussion regarding by-laws of the Rotary Constitution. There were 530 districts and 523 voting delegates. There were 1250 proposals for 529 club in 219 districts. Here are some examples of the kinds of subject matter that the Council deals with each time that they meet:

Membership and Extension

• The Board approved a plan for achieving minimum standards in all Rotary clubs. Effective 1 July 2001, clubs that will be regarded as functioning effectively are those that pay their per capita dues, meet on a regular basis, ensure that all members subscribe to The Rotarian or an approved regional magazine and implement service projects either locally or in other communities. The plan offers a number of options to clubs deemed not to be functioning effectively in terms of the above criteria. Such clubs can choose to terminate voluntarily, consolidate with an agreeable nearby club, and cooperate with Rotary leaders to strengthen the club or request a presidential exemption from the club minimum standards for a period of up to three years.
• A list of multi-district administrative groups considered to be operating in compliance with Rotary policy received the Board's formal approval. RI will send to these groups an official letter of approval and key publications, including Rotary World. The Board agreed that approved multi-district groups should also receive regular information updates from RI, as well as copies of relevant club and district mailings.
• The Board examined the possibility of extending Rotary to China, Vietnam, Laos and Cuba. While affirming that any extension of Rotary should be in strict accordance with Rotary's extension policy, the Board requested that reports on the possibility of extension to these countries be presented at the February 2001 Board meeting.
• Beginning in 2001-02, the funds allocated to districts participating in the District Leadership Plan may be used to support the work of assistant governors.
• The Board agreed to the development of a Club Leadership Plan, which will be "test-marketed" with selected clubs in 2001-02.

Programs and Communications

• The Board authorized Rotary clubs and districts to collaborate with government monopolies in offering vehicle license plates bearing the Rotary name and emblem. Numerous clubs have requested permission to conduct license plate projects in order to increase the visibility of Rotary and raise funds for charitable purposes. Such projects shall be exempt from RI licensing royalties provided they meet certain criteria established by the Board.
• All governors are requested to ensure that district Rotaract representatives secure training either at the district or multi-district level, and to pay for such training. Governors are also encouraged to defray all or part of the costs associated with the attendance of district Rotaract representatives-elect at the annual Rotaract pre-convention meeting.
• To encourage more Rotarians to participate in Rotary Fellowships, the Board approved June as Rotary Recreational and Vocational Fellowships Month. The Board encourages Fellowships to host events at the international convention, thus promoting a larger number of convention registrations.

To view an ongoing report of legislative items voted upon please go to the following URL:
http://www.rotary.org/newsandinfo/rotarian/0101/page18.html.

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Your Bulletin reporter was Ginny Pitts
Your Bulletin Editor was Jim Valinoti

 

 

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STANDBY BULLETIN WRITERS ARE:
John PALMER & Tom LAENGLE

Changes or comments?

Contact Jim Valinoti at valinoti@sonic.net or (707) 829-2300.