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Polio Eradication Kickoff

Good King Elect Louie rang the bell to start the meeting promptly at 12 something or other. Boy, I feel sorry for President Mike, having to return next week and try to hold his own against Mr. Capuano's demonstration of leadership……and not to worry Mike, the proposal to elect you for another year as club president failed for lack of a second.

Pledge:
Terry Galazzo with an excellent rendition of the pledge

Rotary Moment:
Scott Bartley with an invocation that apparently was from some song by Booker T and the MG's...go figure?

Bill Dodson, demonstrating again, that architects can draw, but are incapable of writing or spelling.

Visiting Rotarians:

Ginny Pitts, approached the podium with her usual Long Tall Sally stroll……then proceeded to announce the visiting Rotarians with her usual graciousness. This elicited the usual remark from Bob Marigo,"Gawd…….it, at this rate it will take all afternoon for her to finish!!!"

Announcements:

Susan Nowacki let the club know that Mike Mullins mother passed away. The member's thoughts are with Mike and his family.

Susan also announced that she is starting to organize the list of member fireside gatherings for the year. She has two tentatively lined up but is looking for a couple more members to sign up to host them; no fireplace required. These casual gatherings of members after work are a good way to get to know the other members of the club and also learn something about the business of a fellow member. Let Susan know if you are interested in being a host.

Janet the Planet Codding announced the Pacific Coast Air Show is this weekend and is looking for volunteers to help man (or woman) the Rotary Booth there. Give Janet a Call if you can help out. Roger Olson said something about being there with the inflatable gear...I guess that is so you will bounce after they throw you out of the plane...(this was a line from the bulletin a year ago, but I like it so I am repeating it.)

Gail Johnson introduced Rafaella, the exchange student from Brazil that our club is co-hosting with the Windsor club. She will be staying with Gail and Don for the next couple months. Rafaella's presence actually got Brian Ling from the Windsor club down to make up at our club. Ginny Pitts wondered during the introductions if he had ever met Don?? Ling, that is....

Gail's husband Don, ("The Real Don Johnson") from the Windsor club announced that this year's Rotary exchange is with Vietnam. They will be interviewing for team leaders on September 6, and following with interviews for team members in October.

Phil Talamantes wanted the club to give Ken Dansie a round of applause in absentia for the hard work he does with the scholarship program for Ridgeway High School. Phil announced that 6 of the 8 students who were awarded scholarships this year for the JC have enrolled and received them. That is the highest number yet.

Janet Codding outbid Pete Lamonica for two VIP tickets to the Air Show this weekend. $75

Arnie Carston did a quick reminder that, as chair of the Live Auction for the Crab Feed, he is looking for 25 items, each with a value of at least $500.

September 9th is the date of the next Crab Feed Committee meeting after our regular meeting that day. Chris Parr wanted to let the club know that there will also be the auction of the advertising for the Raffle ticket backs that day. A great opportunity for some advertising, and important money for the Crab Feed. Come early and bid high!!

Jeff Ray reminded the club that our Golf Tournament is September 6th. He is still looking for 10 more golfers. Let Jeff know if you want to join in this fun afternoon.

Terry Galazzo announced that if you are interested in helping out this weekend when the new playground at Kids Street Theater is being installed, they could use any help you can offer, even if it is only for an hour or two on Saturday. Give Terry a call for details. (528-6103)

Recognition

Ginny Pitts' 72nd birthday this week, cost her $10. Well preserved for 72...(I should say
so! -Ed J)

Louie recognized Dave Wattell for being there, although which one was the one missing from the club was a point of confusion.... Anyway, Dave 'fessed up for celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary on July 9th. A record that many of our members could only brag about if you counted cumulatively. He offered a $50 donation to start a Paul Harris Fellowship for his wife. What a nice 25th anniversary gift!

Bill Dodson coughed up $10 for his birthday (sorry, no song this week) and a trip to Monterey. Or was that not a trip to Monterey??? It's so hard to keep track of what's going on when you sit next to you-know-who.

Chris Parr gave $50 to the foundation in honor of her hula skirt and big plastic American breasts.... Hey, I don't make this stuff up, I just write it down like it's told. For more information on big plastic American breasts, see Chris. Needless to say, this conversation woke Mr. Marigo up. "What? What are they talking about??"

Mike Merrill was fined for visiting the family estate in Grass Valley. It was only going to be a $15 fine, but Mike upped it to $125 towards his double sustaining member status.

Raffle

Proposed member Dorsey Goolsby didn't draw the right marble. That's ok; we only put the right marble in when a bona fide member of our club is drawing.

The bottle of wine that wasn't: Bill Daniels from Sebastopol. No wine but a free meal ticket for lunch at our next meeting....hmmmmm, that's a toss up, lunch at the Los Robles or a half empty bottle of $5 wine??? Which will it be?

Program

Oh my God, and holy mouthpiece, Robin! It's Chuck Stark! Déjà vu all over again! No, it's OK, he's not back as president (whew...we are the world). He was the program, along with PDG Larry Myers. 

Larry's story of his youth as a victim of polio was impressive, and should give us all cause to pause and think about this task that Rotary has taken on. In a nutshell (to quote a past president standing before us - and of course, being an attorney past president, it's one hell of a big nutshell - you are billing by the minute after all), the cost to eliminate polio from the world is 1 billion dollars.

$725 million of that is already pledged and that leaves the balance of $275 million for Rotary to raise. Making that better, the Gates Foundation has pledged 4-to-1 matching grants to Rotary for this cause. That means Rotary must raise $75 million in the next year. A contribution to your sustaining membership of $125, plus an additional commitment of $78 will satisfy the District Governor's per capita goal for our district. But we can do more, can't we?

Because of Rotary, almost all the world is totally polio-free. We need to eradicate polio from those last strongholds. It will be costly, yes, but the benefit to society will be something we all can be proud of. Since 1987, the incidence of polio worldwide has dropped from more than 400,000 cases per year to less than 200 cases per year. That is impressive, and it's due to us. We CAN do the rest!

Secretary Fred let nothing escape him as he ran the green stuff through his fingers over and over again….J

Caroline just smiled and took it all in...

Your Bulletin Reporter: Scott Bartley

Your Editor: Jim Valinoti

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Changes or comments?

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

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