Bulletin for August 18, 2008
Bessie, you’ve come a long way
By Jim Hinton
Preliminaries
 President David McDonald began the meeting of the "Cool Club" of District 5130 at precisely 12:30 pm with a smart rap on the bell. While he was cogitating about who should lead the Pledge of Allegiance, Carson Mitchell jump-started it and we all followed his lead. |
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Ken Prouty then followed with this Rotary Moment: "Success is getting
what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get." Well said,
Carson and Ken. |
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Phil Talamantes introduced our sole visiting Rotarian today,
Debbie Zaft, a member and Past President of the Santa Rosa
"Downtowners." Pam Davis introduced her guest, Casey Williams
(or perhaps K. C. Williams), one of her colleagues at North Bay Corp. |
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President David thanked Gary Lucas and Gail Johnson for their set-up work for today's meeting. Notably, he failed to thank Chuck Baker, Matt Delaney, Phil Talamantes, Harry Rubins, Jim Valinoti, Susan Nowacki, and your faithful Bulletin reporter, Jim Hinton for their contributions. Well, nobody's perfect up there in the heat of the spotlight, but he's gaining on it.
At about this point, Peter LaMonica interrupted to report a transgression at his table. It seems that Ralph Lassa had eight brownies on his plate. Peter thought this excess deserved a fine, but President David let it slide, perhaps thinking that *Ralph needed a sugar boost via that plate-load of brownies to stay awake the rest of the meeting. If you know Ralph though, you know he just has a healthy appetite & a sweet tooth. Power up Ralph!
Ginny Pitts thanked Mike and Maureen Merrill for their generosity in opening their beautiful home for the club social yesterday afternoon. Rotarians and their spouses enjoyed cocktails, wine, appetizers, live music, original art, and great conversation, and then had a sumptuous dinner featuring tri-tip and chicken cooked by Mike on his barbie. Mike received well-deserved applause.
Announcements and Such:
The Middle Part--Here Come the Announcements
SCARC will meet on Friday, August 22nd at The Legends, hosted this month by Santa Rosa East.
There will be a membership meeting on Wednesday, August 20th at Gail Johnson's home. Come at 5:30 pm for wine and stay for the meeting from 6:00-7:00 pm. Gail lives at 5476 Diane Way, which is off Peppertree, which is a right turn from Highway 12 eastbound.
The Crab Feed Committee will meet today directly after the meeting.
On Wednesday, October 22 at 5:00 pm there will be a Visioning Session somewhere (to be determined) to plan the future of our club and how to get there. If you're interested in attending, respond to Mike Merrill's e-mail announcement e-blasted to you by Jim Valinoti. Bring your long-range glasses. Mike didn't say anything about cocktails or wine, but he'll think of that.
There will be a Member Survey on the club's website and sent to you by e-mail. Responses are requested to help President David and the Board to gear up. Anonymous responses are ok.
While asking for volunteers, Rotary Foundation District Chair Debbie Zaft found Harry Rubins to her plan and organize the annual Foundation Dinner, this year to be held on November 15th at the Petaluma Sheraton Hotel.
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And it had to happen. The two bathrooms in the entry area are now both labeled "Women." Male Rotarians need to be alert to this and not use them, or at least knock first. A bit later in the meeting, Bill Dodson interjected a well-formulated thought. If any female Rotarian uses the coed bathroom in the hall out the far side of the meeting room, please be certain to leave the seat up!
Recognitions
The Penultimate Part--Recognitions and Fines:
Bob Reinking was recognized for Joan's success at the blackjack table on a recent adventure in South Lake Tahoe and for his prowess at the tables in an earlier trip to Las Vegas. Bob tried to divert President David's attention by extolling the convenience of the new flights from Santa Rosa to Las Vegas, but he got fined $20.00 anyway.
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Ginny Pitts, too, spent a weekend with children and grandchildren in Las Vegas, where she won $500.00 on a slot machine. Nice going, Ginny. That'll be $20.00.
Matt Delaney and his wife celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary--by being alone without their 2-year old for a weekend. Not much else was said about the weekend activities, beyond cards and flowers. Even though it wasn't their 25th, Matt got fined $25.00.
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Chuck Olson did it for the sixth time--a new grandchild 3 days ago. Her name is Delaney Renee Olson. Congratulations Chuck! And $20.00 please.
Pam Davis put in $5.00 "bragging bucks" for her husband's hang glider crash into a tree (no injuries). Phil Talamantes added $5.00 for the impending Florida hurricane "Faye" named after his wife. Janet Codding contributed for her new status as "not a single woman." And Bill Fisher added something for his cunning in getting rid of a "possum" in his attic by the light of the recent full moon at 2:00 am. Peter Lamonica told us about how great the train trip from Anchorage to Denali National Park is, but he contributed only $1.00.
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OOPS! There you are again Gil, stepping right into the photograph as it’s being taken.
Raffle
$375.00 and 20 marbles, but Chris Rosell picked a non-black one. At that point a stun gun or something got me and I missed who had the winning ticket for the bottle of wine.
Program: Bessie, you’ve come a long way
Marilyn Herzog gives us a look at women’s contribution to the Dairy industry in Sonoma County & how much it has changed.
Susan Nowacki introduced our speaker, Marilyn Herzog, the owner of a travel agency named "Marilyn Can Travel," a former designer fabrics saleswoman, a former California Dairy Princess, and a fund-raising phenom.
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The story of the dairy industry in Sonoma County is a story of immigrants--Swiss, Italian, Portugese, Danes, German, Irish, and others--who came to Sonoma County in the 1800s, especially after the gold rush of the 1850s, in search of a better life. They came as workers on newly established dairies along the coast, where cows thrived in the cooler climates of morning fog and sunny afternoons.
Her husband's grandfather started a dairy in Fairfax, Marin County, and in 1923 he bought 2,000 acres on Lakeville Highway to expand his operation. This dairy, well known as Sleepy Hollow, is the same ranch where Marilyn lives today, although it is now vineyard property. In 1923 and thereafter it was a very busy place where more than 100 workers milked the cows by hand.
Eventually, many of the immigrant workers, having saved their earnings, were able to buy property and begin their own dairies. By the 1960s there were more than 300 dairies in Sonoma County, where the social highlights were Saturday night barn parties and Sunday church. Today, the number has dwindled to about 80 dairies in Sonoma County.
Marilyn described the days when her husband decided to abandon the dairy business in favor of vineyards. When the cows were transported off their ranch, she cried and cried and cried because she loved them so much.
In 1961, she was allowed by her father to enter the Sonoma County Dairy Princess contest, but only after the organizers convinced him that she had no chance to win because she was still a high school girl. But she won. Then she went to Los Angeles for the state competition. She recognized that she was a "hick from the sticks" and had no chance whatever to win, and so she felt no pressure. But she won. And that began a reign of a year as California Dairy Princess, with dozens of television appearances and hundreds of speeches around the state.
Marilyn has also arranged our Crab Feed Tuscany trips as well as personally planning Jim & Mary Valinoti’s, fabulous stay for a month in the Tuscan Countryside.
Many thanks, Marilyn, for an excellent program.
| Your Bulletin Reporter: Jim Hinton  |
Your
Bulletin Editor: Jim Valinoti  |