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Military Man Colonel Bob Erlach provides a different meaning to “drill”

President Louis kicked off the meeting with a rap on the bell and a welcome to “The Best Rotary Club in the World, With The Best Members in the World.”

Visiting Rotarians

Phil Talamantes did the introduction of visiting Rotarians

The Rotary Moment:

Gary Leopold...(from the hip) the thought for the week.

Announcements

THE ROSTERS ARE HERE! THE ROSTERS ARE HERE!

GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY, THE ROSTERS ARE HERE!

Yes you guessed it. If you weren’t at the meeting today you missed the long awaited for arrival of the latest version of our club roster. Ed Burr & Heather handed out our new club rosters.

This issue was once again written, produced and directed by Past President Chuck Stark. It comes to us in the “abridged form” or “pocket sized” version, handy for office, car, boat, or of course, yer back pocket. Each of these crispy printed and staple bound gems comes complete with:

• The Objects of Rotary
• The Rotary Four Way Test
• Dignitaries (not necessarily appearing in order of importance)
• The Organizational Chart of The Rotary Club of Santa Rosa West
• Charter Members
• Past Presidents
• Member Profiles
• By Laws Of The Rotary Club of Santa Rosa West
• Club Secretaries
• Club Rotarians of the Year
• Santa Rosa West Sister Clubs
• Cub Home Page, Meetings, Partial List of Major Community Service Projects
• Rotary Club Of Santa Rosa West Community Fund Inc.
• New This Year

Jack Levar got booed and made and announcement about the downtown club fundraiser May 8th $40.00 per person contact anyone in downtown for tickets. It’s an all you can eat Shrimp feed (imagine that!)

Roger Olson, who was sitting with a guest today, couldn’t miss the opportunity to once again remind us of just how many tickets to our major fund-raiser Jack sold for us. Thanks, Jack!

Ed Burr needs help with the Lake Raphine fishing thing on April 3rd. Volunteer, It’s a fun outing and you’ll have some great stories to tell your friends for the next few weeks?

Craft Talk:

Gary Leopold, having been rejuvenated and restored to us as yet another returning member, gave his craft talk. He attended UC Davis where he earned a degree in engineering and was welcomed into the Aerospace industry. I believe he said he worked at that profession for about 9 years until the decline of “jet building” was on the horizon.

He then went back to school, did his math, came up with the right sums and was therefore able to sit for his CPA exams. In 1977 he encountered Rich Pratt who was toiling with the sums at Linkenheimer, blah, blah LLP, CPAs. Rich quickly inducted Gary into that job and Rotary as well. Some time later Gary moved to a few other firms; (Weightronics, Lasercraft, and probably a few other firms while traveling to the Netherlands and Norway in particular, to visit the home of one of he and wife Lynn’s sons. Much lutefisk and lefsa later he returned to Santa Rosa and took up with Moss Adams where he now resides. Man this guy has been in a lot of different things (so many jobs so little time). Welcome back, Gary?

Recognition:

Past District Governor John Withers’ grandson again. Is this kid fast or what? The USAF made him late for a meet by 20 minutes. Heck, he could have run over there that fast. John really put one over on us when, after his proud response to President Lou’s discussion of his grandson, he took the microphone and began, "The Amazon River is 2000 miles long...”

President Lou visited Bill Dodson while he was making the rounds among his subjects. They had a discussion about Bill and partner Peter Witter being so prominently displayed in the latest addition (pp 35 March ’04) of Northbay Biz magazine. Bill said it was just ‘cause he purchases so much “display advertising” in the mag. Truth is it looked like some advertising rep for the mag had a field day selling space to the real estate firms. Did anyone see Cal Kimes in the on page 40 of the Bonus Issue (Top 500 Northbay Companies)?

Ron Allen - Baby Day - as is our custom, when there is a birth in the immediate family of one of our members, we all pass the hat to start a savings account for that new child. The proud member-parent is then required to match the amount donated by the membership, put it into a passbook (do people still actually use those things?), and return with it to verify for our President that indeed the account has been established in that child’s name. Ron will match the $225. And for those of you who might have missed it:

Rotarians, “Just a short note from the Allen family to say thank you for the generosity. She certainly looks REALLY smart to me, so I think the beginning of a college fund is warranted! Laura and I really appreciate the donation toward our new daughter's future.”

Bill Dodson...Toodie’s Birthday.

Birthdays for Jeff Ray, Tom Laengle, Ann Abrams.

6th Anniversary for Rich & Kathy Pratt & #1 Anniversary for Ken & Marla Kushnir.

Raffle

Bob Reinking had a chance at the big bucks, but the right color eluded him.

PDG John Withers won the bottle of wine.

The Program:

Our guest speaker was LTC Robert Erlach, D.D.S.

Dr. Bob Erlach is a dentist who practices cosmetic and restorative dentistry. His practice is Fountain Grove Dentistry on Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa. In his other life he is a Reserve Lieutenant Colonel in the Medical (Dental) Service Corp of the United States Army. Bob has been a member of the U.S. Army for 23 years, and actually began his military career in Armor (tanks and artillery).

Uniquely enough, Bob is also Airborne qualified, and, speakin’ from experience, you don’t find many docs or dentists in the Army who can say that! “I Wanna Be An Airborne Ranger, I Wanna Live A Life Of Danger, Up the Hill! Up the Hill! All the Way! All the Way, Airborne! Airborne!...makes me winded just thinkin’ about those days!

Colonel Erlach has been involved in the Army on active duty and reserve status since 1981. During his career he has served as a both an armor and dental officer. He has provided dental care to US soldiers and local civilians in Korea, Honduras, Fiji Islands, Peru, El Salvador and Kosovo. He gave a Power Point presentation on the United Nations involvement in Kosovo and his experiences there.

Dr. Bob recently returned from a four-month tour of duty in Kosovo, where he served as a dental officer in the US Army. While there he treated both military and civilian folks. He provided a very educational and informative slide show on the country and how it has changed with the different occupations, as well as in interesting look at his practice while there.

Colonel Erlach’s commanding officer would have been proud to witness his knowledge of the country in which he was stationed, and the people he dealt with there both medically and militarily. He is a credit to the United States Army as well as his profession. Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Bob!

Your Bulletin Reporter, Roger Olson

Your Bulletin Editor, Jim McValinoti

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Changes or comments?

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

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