Bulletin for April 27, 2009
Students' Speech Contest Attracts Big Crowd

Richard Pratt led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Tracy Kline gave us our moment.

Greeter Laura Buhrer did a wonderful job greeting and introducing our…

Visiting Rotarians:
Maureen Merrill, DGN and member of the Windsor Rotary Club
Mark Burchell, member from the Santa Rosa Rotary Club

Guests:
Patty Bernstein, Public Information Assistant, So. Co. Office of Education, Parents of the students making speeches, School counselors.
Diane Winsby’s guest Stephanie was also a good friend of Laura Buhrer.
PE Susan asked who was writing the bulletin. No one responded, so I volunteered. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch all the names.

May 4, or Quatro de Mayo: We have a change of venue to Harvest Moon Winery, 2192 Olivet Road, Santa Rosa. Ginny announced that the margarita machine will be pumping, wine will be pouring and there will be gastronomical delights to savor. Yum! $20 per person and spouses are welcome, too, for the same price! Don’t miss this fun event! Let’s party and enjoy fellowship!

Rebuilding Together - Tarina Hall thanked the team of Rotarians who worked this past Saturday while having fun. The laboring crew were: Doug Angelo, Chuck Baker, Janet Codding, Terry Gallazo, Tarina Hall, Jim Hinton, Gary Lucas, Mike Merrill, Ginny Pitts, Chris & Lina Young (with food). Thank you so much!

Ken Dansie announced interviews with the students of Ridgeway High School will be held on May 7, at 8:30 AM.

Mike Merrill announced that Past District Governor, Johnny Strong, passed away this past Saturday, April 25, after a long illness. If you care to, please send cards to: Mamie Strong, 2807 Eastman Lane, Petaluma, CA 94952. John Strong will not only be missed in our community but around the world as he made friends and made a difference wherever he traveled. Just in: Memorial Services for John Strong will be on Sunday, May 31, at Luchessi Park in Petaluma. More information to follow.

Carson Mitchell, Chairman for the Speech contest, in lock step fashion explained the premise for today’s speech contest. Each speaker would have up to 5 minutes to speak. The following students participated:

The Speech Contest is one of my favorite programs. Listening to these young ladies and gentlemen makes my heart sing. That they could grasp this interesting, perhaps difficult subject matter was astounding and outstanding. Three cheers to them for taking the challenge. Their parents and advisors must be very proud of them.

And the winners are:

1st Place: Isaac Caswell $1,000.00

2nd Place: D Blake Pepper-Tunick $600.00

3rd Place: Shawnee Miller $400.00

Many thanks to our judges:
Jim Benoit, Head Judge
Fred Zmarzly, Vice Chairman
Pam Davis, Timer-Whip
Barbara Larson
Phillip Talamantes
Dr. John Palmer

Recognition

Bragging Bucks: I can’t remember if we had any. I was still engrossed with the speeches. I apologize if I missed someone. (Well, yes we did. Barrister Mike Merrill stood to recount his "trials" at attempting to build this past weekend during Tarina’s successful Building Together Program, with shall we say "dated" plans? Seems that Head Construction Job Site Honcho Jim Hinton (yeah, another one of the "legal cloth") provided poor Mike with the "second to the last" version of the plans needed to complete the job. Fortunately, according to Past President Jim’s rebuttal, Mike’s portion of the plans were not among those that had been updated, so in spite of some confusion, Mike was able to complete his portion successfully, J ‘-Ed)

It was nice to see the always handsome Brian Herndon and the silent, but with an eye for beauty, Neil Silverman. Welcome back guys!