Cleft Palate Project in Mexico

Good Day fellow Rotarians and friends and family who are reading our weekly bulletin.  Today’s minutes are from TUESDAY,  June 7, 2022.

Pledge of Allegiance:  Led by Monica McCabe

SONG:  Susan Cole led an impromptu singing of God Bless America!

Rotary Moment: Pam announced that gift bags are on a table for a price.  Money made will be put towards air conditioning for cleft palate clinic. She auctioned off Mickey Mouse Bubble wand for $50!!

INSPIRATION:  The inspiration for today was the friendly reminder to sign up to attend Pam Moulton’s debunking. It will be a fabulously fun affair at the home of Barbara McChesney and David Doht.  Susan Cole and Bill Bolster provided a description of the party and a special request from all members.  There will be an email sent to all members, other than Pam, with details.  Be sure to read!

VISITING ROTARIANS: No visiting Rotarians today.

GUESTS OF ROTARIANS:  Kate Smith and Bekah Mortensen

Rotarian of the month:  Congratulations to Beth Smith, June Rotarian of the month.  Pam acknowledged Beth for many reasons, but especially the incredible amount of work she put in to creating Project Grad 2022.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

• Passport Meeting in Lakeside room was canceled due to lack of attendees.
• Ed Turner announced that the Rotary Bar made $2,322 for our International project fund the first night of the Town Green concerts. Thank you to all who made this fun event possible.
• Top Gun Movie night mini-fundraiser is happening on Wednesday, June 22 at 6pm.  $25 gives you entrance, wine, and popcorn. Airport Cinemas.
• Sandie shared photos and the story of her 75^th birthday sky diving experience!  She loved everything about it and would like to do it again!!  She didn’t remember to put her arms out during the free fall portion.  JB, Carol, Kurt, Jo, Sue, and, of course, Wally cheered her on!
• Beth thanked all the Rotarians who participated in Grad Night 2022.  It was a wonderful success even with the rain.  This event allows a safe and sober fun night for the graduates.  Beth expressed sincere gratitude for those Rotarians who gave their time and gave up sleep to make it possible.
• Barbara and Bill drew 5 names of the 21 who participated in the May ‘Find your carbon footprint’ challenge.  Prizes included plastic and tree-free napkins and paper towels, steel drinking cups, mesh produce bags, and laundry sheets.  Winners were JB, Pam, Daniel, Mitchell, and Joan!  Thank you to all who participated!
• June Challenge is to “Reduce your carbon footprint”.  
• Bill announced and encouraged club members to join him on Saturday June 18^th for the Adopt-A-Road clean up party.
• Rotary Club of Windsor knocked it out of the park with our hospitality suite at the recent district conference.  The theme was “Rockabilly – Rocking in the Redwoods.”  Pam’s wardrobe crew switched her out of rockabilly wear into Marie Antoinette, suitable for the Windsor Rotary “Paris Bistro” themed hospitality suite in a corner of the ballroom. French cafe music blared, Brian Ling served up “Les Drops de Limon” in martini glasses with blueberries in a fabulous mélange of mixed metaphors!  For this effort, our club was awarded the grand prize winner of $1000 to be used for a district or international project.  Congratulations to the team who made this possible.

 June Challenge:  Reduce your carbon footprint

• Walk, ride your bike, or carpool to club meetings, grocery store, or other errands. 
• Eat a 100% plant-based diet for a week.
• Eat only locally grown food for a week.
• Do a project to improve energy efficiency at home.
• Cut your trash in half. 

SPEAKER: Our very own nurse extraordinaire, Diane Brabatz, shared her experience assisting with the Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.  Diane was educated at John Hopkins and is the only woman in the Rotary club of Playa del Carmen. The Community Center built by Rotary is used for club meetings and  Saturday health clinics. The community has a high incident of hyper tension and diabetes. 

There are two primary doctors who do the cleft surgeries and both happen to be named Dr. Ricardo. The cleft surgery process begins with a meeting with a psychologist who spends time with parents to explain the process and talk about their fears and concerns.  Children with disabilities are hidden from view in Mexico so this surgery makes a profound difference in their lives.  The clinic is very careful to ensure long-term success, so there is a lot of follow-up, including speech therapist services.  Children usually experience speech challenges.

The process for babies begins with a feeding tube to make sure they are nourished. This is followed up with the installation of screws in the upper gumline to hook rubber bands and make a prothesis to pull teeth back. Treatment and evaluations happen and the surgery is done elsewhere.  The goal is to fix the nose as well. Cleft lips and palate are generally the result of both genetics and a lack of folic acid in the diet of pregnant women.

The club in Playa del Carmen is all men except for Diane but the Rotary Annies are very involved in the clinics helping in every way they can. The clinic faces many challenges and Diane thanks the Rotary Club of Windsor for our generous $10,000 contribution. This amount funded doctor costs including airfare and hotels for 9 clinics per year.  There is tremendous attention to detail making sure kids can live productive lives. Diane invites any member of our club to help at a clinic. No Spanish necessary. . . just a hug, smile and embrace. 

Pam thanked the following:

Set-up: Daniel Myers
Greeter: Wally Krutz

Secret greeter: Mike Rausch
Song: Susan Cole
Scribe: Barbara McChesney

A/V set-up: T.B.D.
Zoom team: Michael Juric

Next week: Jaime Carroll talks about the impact of Rotary.

Foundation Awards and Fun

Good Day fellow Rotarians and friends and family who are reading our weekly bulletin.  Today’s minutes are from TUESDAY, May 31, 2022.

Pledge of Allegiance: Meeting led by Susan Cole

INSPIRATION: The inspiration of the day was the induction by Renee Hyde of new member David Doht, husband of Barbara McChesney.  Dave wore a sequin shirt in honor of this wonderful occasion.  Dave will be a wonderful addition to our club.

SONG: In honor of Memorial Day, JB led the club in singing America the Beautiful.

VISITING ROTARIANS: No visiting Rotarians today.

GUESTS OF ROTARIANS:  John Nelson, guest of the club. Kate Smith, guest of her mom Beth.  Domingo, guest of Renee Hyde.

Rotarian of the month: Terry Andreacchi honored.

Most embarrassing fashion trend you use to rock:  President Pam asked Rotarians to wear and/or share their most embarrassing fashion trend you ever rocked.  Pam rocked her very colorfully mismatched outfit today beautifully.  Not so sure if Tom rocked it but wore his bright green penguin polyester suit!  Favorite fashion trends through the ages of club members were: polyester leisure suits, parachute pants, Canadian Tuxedo, micro-minis, sequin shirts, maroon leisure suit, mushroom haircut, big shoulder pads for the women, hot pants, hip hugger bell bottom pants, pajama baggy pants, long wild hair, double breasted suits, silk bow ties, paisley, neru jackets, cut off jeans, short-short shorts, hot pink ditto jeans, granny dresses, gunny sacks dresses, elephant bell bottoms, bandanas, bolo ties, mullet, and Bill Arnone’s home made leisure suit that looked like a Hershey bar.  This club was clearly quite the fashionable bunch.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

• Renee gave a shout out to all her construction crew who helped make upgrades and improvements to the Rotary Bar signage and booth. She and Domingo shopped for supplies and the bar is fully ready for this Thursday night grand opening.
• Jo Timmson: Sandie has a significant birthday this week and has chosen a parachute jump to celebrate. Jo invited Rotarians to join Sandie at the airport to cheer her on.  Her adventure begins at 11am at NorCal Skydiving in Cloverdale.  Happy birthday Sandie!
• Beth Smith is still looking for volunteers for Windsor High School Graduation Safe and Sober Grad night.  Please contact her immediately if you are able to help.  donsmith34@sbcglobal.net, 815-353-4444
• Kate Smith is making and selling jewelry to raise money for her travels abroad as a youth exchange student.
• Joan Moura announced next club social will be a showing of the new Top Gun movie at the airport cinemas.  Date to be determined!
• Rotarians have been traveling. . .Maureen, Mike, and Barbara just returned from a fabulous 8 day Grand Canyon whitewater adventure rafting 220 miles of the Colorado River and sleeping on cots under the stars each night.  Robin just returned from an amazing 2 week trip with her mom backpacking through the backcountry of Scotland. WOW, we have some adventurous club members!

Acknowledgements:

John Hackenburg and Kurt Mitchler honored special guest John Nelson for applying his incredible photography skills to the Spark Success fundraiser. He created all the videos for the event as well as the live video the night of the event. Dev Sodagar was not in attendance but was also honored for working directly with John as producer. Together they created a highly successful event allowing the club to raise funds for all of our very worthwhile causes.

John Hackenburg and Diane Brabatz acknowledged the newest Paul Harris Fellows. They are first time recipients Doug Williams and Barbara McChesney, 4^th time recipient Tom Boylan and 5^th time Londa Faber. Thank you all for your generosity.

Brian Ling acknowledged new John Lewis Fellows Beth Smith and Kurt Mitchler’s two sons.  Thank you both for your generous contributions.

Brian provided an explanation about the John Lewis whistle and many in the club donated funds for various happenings in their lives.  

This was a very full meeting.  Brian provided a brief summary of his upcoming year . . . has purchased more train whistles and is looking for volunteers to take on this task, Board is set, plans for 35^th club anniversary is in the works, and many more exciting things coming up in his year.

In closing:

Pam thanked all of those who made the meeting possible and finished with this quote:

Winston Churchill- “From what we get, we can make a living, what we give, however, makes a life”

Next Month:

Diane will present the cleft palate project in Mexico.

June Environmental Challenge:

June Challenge:  Reduce your carbon footprint
Walk, ride your bike, or carpool to club meetings, grocery store, or other errands.
Write your name on a piece of paper each time you avoid the car, bring to a meeting, put in basket at front table or email  Barbara at barbsmcc@gmail.com

If unable to do above. . .How can you educate yourself this month? Ask for ideas!From Your Rotary Nurse…. COVID Update….
 
                                                                                                               
05/31/22
 
NEWS:           

FDA APPEARS POISED TO AUTHORIZE NOVAVAX CORONAVIRUS VACCINE!  This could help us reach those people who are not vaccinated who do not want to take a mRNA vaccine.
Novavax is a protein derived vaccine grown in cell cultures and is much like our Flu vaccines.  This could reach the tens of millions of Americans who have avoided our vaccines for health concerns or conspiracy theories.  It is already licensed in 41 countries and at least 42 million doses have already been distributed.
 
                                STATE OF CALIFORNIA TOTAL DEATHS FROM COVID HITS 91,469!   New cases in California for the last 24 hours is 12,524. 
 
 
COVID UPDATE:   

We are seeing an increase in new COVID infection and we need to continue to encourage those who have not had their booster to do so.   The 2^ND booster dose is available for those over 65 or those 50 years old with chronic health conditions.   We have experienced 2 more deaths in our community and the current wave of cases is tied to the variant BA.2  and a newer variant, BA 2.12.1.

Total Cases:        91,440  (last week 90,056)           Recovered:   86,481   (last week 85,406)             Active Cases: 4466 (last week 4158)        New Cases on Sunday: 665
 Deaths:                493   (last week 491)
 Hospitalized:      42 confirmed cases and 5 in the ICU      (last weeks  37 confirmed and 3 in the ICU)
 Vaccination information….  As of May 29 th, 2022,   1,091,587  doses of vaccination have been given to residents in Sonoma County.  (last week 1,084,678).     We remain at 82% of our population 5 years and older who are fully vaccinated and 6% have had at least one (1) dose.   We continue stagnate in getting more people to vaccinate.   If you know someone who has not and is eligible, let them know how important vaccines have been in our community!

MASKS:              

Masks are being encouraged to be used again in crowded, indoor setting because of the rise in hospitalizations, ICU admits and surges.  Masks are now optional on airplanes; however, they are still required in airports and most other forms of public transportation.  The CDC is still recommending masks on airplanes so it has now become a personal decision.
Vaccine sites are still open and offering vaccinations and boosters.   We continue to encourage everyone eligible for the booster, to get one.   We have seen the proof that this prevents disease and hospitalizations and those who still breakthrough have minor symptoms.   

TESTING:  

Go to socoemergency.org  to learn more about free COVID -19 testing in Sonoma County.  Look for COVID-19 Testing and Tracing in Sonoma County.   In addition my staff at At Home Nursing still are available to provide you COVID testing if you need it (PCR), FIT testing for a N95 mask so that it fits properly or answer any questions you may have.    Call our office at 707-546-8773 to schedule an appointment.    If you want to schedule either a booster or the vaccine, appointments can be found by visiting:  https://socoemergency.org/events/category/pop-up-vaccine or call 707-565-4667.  
 
Continue to stay safe, protect yourselves and others as this pandemic is not over.   If you have small children, stay tuned for whether the FDA will approve the vaccine for our under 5 year olds.   They are the ones most at risk right now.    Just be smart, well read and stay safe! 
Di

Good Day fellow Rotarians and friends and family who are reading our weekly bulletin.  Today’s minutes are from TUESDAY, May 31, 2022.

Pledge of Allegiance: Meeting led by Susan Cole

INSPIRATION: The inspiration of the day was the induction by Renee Hyde of new member David Doht, husband of Barbara McChesney.  Dave wore a sequin shirt in honor of this wonderful occasion.  Dave will be a wonderful addition to our club.

SONG: In honor of Memorial Day, JB led the club in singing America the Beautiful.

VISITING ROTARIANS: No visiting Rotarians today.

GUESTS OF ROTARIANS:  John Nelson, guest of the club. Kate Smith, guest of her mom Beth.  Domingo, guest of Renee Hyde.

Rotarian of the month: Terry Andreacchi honored.

Most embarrassing fashion trend you use to rock:  President Pam asked Rotarians to wear and/or share their most embarrassing fashion trend you ever rocked.  Pam rocked her very colorfully mismatched outfit today beautifully.  Not so sure if Tom rocked it but wore his bright green penguin polyester suit!  Favorite fashion trends through the ages of club members were: polyester leisure suits, parachute pants, Canadian Tuxedo, micro-minis, sequin shirts, maroon leisure suit, mushroom haircut, big shoulder pads for the women, hot pants, hip hugger bell bottom pants, pajama baggy pants, long wild hair, double breasted suits, silk bow ties, paisley, neru jackets, cut off jeans, short-short shorts, hot pink ditto jeans, granny dresses, gunny sacks dresses, elephant bell bottoms, bandanas, bolo ties, mullet, and Bill Arnone’s home made leisure suit that looked like a Hershey bar.  This club was clearly quite the fashionable bunch.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

• Renee gave a shout out to all her construction crew who helped make upgrades and improvements to the Rotary Bar signage and booth. She and Domingo shopped for supplies and the bar is fully ready for this Thursday night grand opening.
• Jo Timmson: Sandie has a significant birthday this week and has chosen a parachute jump to celebrate. Jo invited Rotarians to join Sandie at the airport to cheer her on.  Her adventure begins at 11am at NorCal Skydiving in Cloverdale.  Happy birthday Sandie!
• Beth Smith is still looking for volunteers for Windsor High School Graduation Safe and Sober Grad night.  Please contact her immediately if you are able to help.  donsmith34@sbcglobal.net, 815-353-4444
• Kate Smith is making and selling jewelry to raise money for her travels abroad as a youth exchange student.
• Joan Moura announced next club social will be a showing of the new Top Gun movie at the airport cinemas.  Date to be determined!
• Rotarians have been traveling. . .Maureen, Mike, and Barbara just returned from a fabulous 8 day Grand Canyon whitewater adventure rafting 220 miles of the Colorado River and sleeping on cots under the stars each night.  Robin just returned from an amazing 2 week trip with her mom backpacking through the backcountry of Scotland. WOW, we have some adventurous club members!

Acknowledgements:

John Hackenburg and Kurt Mitchler honored special guest John Nelson for applying his incredible photography skills to the Spark Success fundraiser. He created all the videos for the event as well as the live video the night of the event. Dev Sodagar was not in attendance but was also honored for working directly with John as producer. Together they created a highly successful event allowing the club to raise funds for all of our very worthwhile causes.

John Hackenburg and Diane Brabatz acknowledged the newest Paul Harris Fellows. They are first time recipients Doug Williams and Barbara McChesney, 4^th time recipient Tom Boylan and 5^th time Londa Faber. Thank you all for your generosity.

Brian Ling acknowledged new John Lewis Fellows Beth Smith and Kurt Mitchler’s two sons.  Thank you both for your generous contributions.

Brian provided an explanation about the John Lewis whistle and many in the club donated funds for various happenings in their lives.  

This was a very full meeting.  Brian provided a brief summary of his upcoming year . . . has purchased more train whistles and is looking for volunteers to take on this task, Board is set, plans for 35^th club anniversary is in the works, and many more exciting things coming up in his year.

In closing:

Pam thanked all of those who made the meeting possible and finished with this quote:

Winston Churchill- “From what we get, we can make a living, what we give, however, makes a life”

Next Month:

Diane will present the cleft palate project in Mexico.

June Environmental Challenge:

June Challenge:  Reduce your carbon footprint
Walk, ride your bike, or carpool to club meetings, grocery store, or other errands.
Write your name on a piece of paper each time you avoid the car, bring to a meeting, put in basket at front table or email  Barbara at barbsmcc@gmail.com

If unable to do above. . .How can you educate yourself this month? Ask for ideas!From Your Rotary Nurse….

COVID Update….


05/31/22

NEWS:           

FDA APPEARS POISED TO AUTHORIZE NOVAVAX CORONAVIRUS VACCINE!  This could help us reach those people who are not vaccinated who do not want to take a mRNA vaccine.
Novavax is a protein derived vaccine grown in cell cultures and is much like our Flu vaccines.  This could reach the tens of millions of Americans who have avoided our vaccines for health concerns or conspiracy theories.  It is already licensed in 41 countries and at least 42 million doses have already been distributed.

  STATE OF CALIFORNIA TOTAL DEATHS FROM COVID HITS 91,469!   New cases in California for the last 24 hours is 12,524. 


COVID UPDATE:   

We are seeing an increase in new COVID infection and we need to continue to encourage those who have not had their booster to do so.   The 2^ND booster dose is available for those over 65 or those 50 years old with chronic health conditions.   We have experienced 2 more deaths in our community and the current wave of cases is tied to the variant BA.2  and a newer variant, BA 2.12.1.

Total Cases:        91,440  (last week 90,056)           Recovered:   86,481   (last week 85,406)             Active Cases: 4466 (last week 4158)        New Cases on Sunday: 665

Deaths:                493   (last week 491)

Hospitalized:      42 confirmed cases and 5 in the ICU      (last weeks  37 confirmed and 3 in the ICU)

Vaccination information….  As of May 29 th, 2022,   1,091,587  doses of vaccination have been given to residents in Sonoma County.  (last week 1,084,678).     We remain at 82% of our population 5 years and older who are fully vaccinated and 6% have had at least one (1) dose.   We continue stagnate in getting more people to vaccinate.   If you know someone who has not and is eligible, let them know how important vaccines have been in our community!

MASKS:              

Masks are being encouraged to be used again in crowded, indoor setting because of the rise in hospitalizations, ICU admits and surges.  Masks are now optional on airplanes; however, they are still required in airports and most other forms of public transportation.  The CDC is still recommending masks on airplanes so it has now become a personal decision.

Vaccine sites are still open and offering vaccinations and boosters.   We continue to encourage everyone eligible for the booster, to get one.   We have seen the proof that this prevents disease and hospitalizations and those who still breakthrough have minor symptoms.   

TESTING:  

Go to socoemergency.org  to learn more about free COVID -19 testing in Sonoma County.  Look for COVID-19 Testing and Tracing in Sonoma County.   In addition my staff at At Home Nursing still are available to provide you COVID testing if you need it (PCR), FIT testing for a N95 mask so that it fits properly or answer any questions you may have.    Call our office at 707-546-8773 to schedule an appointment.    If you want to schedule either a booster or the vaccine, appointments can be found by visiting:  https://socoemergency.org/events/category/pop-up-vaccine or call 707-565-4667.  

Continue to stay safe, protect yourselves and others as this pandemic is not over.   If you have small children, stay tuned for whether the FDA will approve the vaccine for our under 5 year olds.   They are the ones most at risk right now.    Just be smart, well read and stay safe! 

Di

Diana Borges – COPE Windsor

Rotary Moment:

JB Leep took the lead for our District Matching Grant this year with a Waste Less Windsor project to compose videos in English and Spanish along with a series of presentations about recycling. The project targeted 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders. After a lot of work, Brooks Elementary School achieved 100% participation!

JB went to great effort to put together this video series. It can be found on the Waste Less Windsor site here.

Guests of Rotarians:

Diana Borges – Leader of COPE, Windsor

Kate Smith

Domingo Calleja Lorenzini

Rotarian of the Month for April – Terry Andreacchi

    Announcements:

• Kate Smith went to prom!
• Brooks Elementary School planter box ribbon cutting
• District 5130 conference was a fantastic time. Windsor Rotary won an award for enhancing participation!

Guest speaker for today: Diana Borges who works for COPE here in Windsor. Communities Organized to Prepare for Emergencies.

A collaborative effort between the town, the police and the fire district. COPE aims to help everyone in the community to be prepared for emergency situations. It is focused on the concept of neighbours helping neighbours.

The Windsor chapter is part of 40 COPE communities, including many here in the North Bay that coordinate monthly.

Neighborhood Leaders (Block Captains) coordinate among 10-20 households to liaise with other Leaders and share resources throughout the neighbourhood.There is an Emergency Preparedness Guidebook put together by COPE specifically for Windsor. It is available for download from the Town of Windsor website.

Being prepared for Wildfires is more than just a Go bag and escape route – it’s planning defensible space and protecting property. Keep the 5’ around your property clear, enclose eaves, block anywhere embers can catch.

COPE needs more Neighbourhood Leaders! As well as a new COPE leader to liase with the wider COPE groups.You can reach Diana for questions by emailing cope@townofwindsor.com

Final quote of the day: 

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, it goes to his head. If you speak to him in his own language, it goes to his heart – Nelson MandelaSet-up: Steve Klick

Greeter: Mike Raasch

Song: Heather Cullen

Scribe: Dev Sodagar

A/V set-up: Mitch Grandi

Zoom team: Brian Williams

Rotary MOMENT – J.B.
From Your Rotary Nurse – Update on COVID
 
                                                                                                                
05/24/22
 
NEWS: 

PFIZER HAS REQUESTED FDA TO APPROVE VACCINE FOR UNDER 5 YEARS OF AGE.   FINDINGS FILED SHOW VACCINE IS 80% EFFECTIVE!  Each vaccine is one-tenth of the adult dose. STATE OF CALIFORNIA EXCEEDS 90,000 DEAD FROM CORONAVIRUS  (TOTAL DEATHS 90,724)    New cases in California for the last 24 hours is 22,586. 
 
COVID UPDATE:   

The pandemic is not over so encourage those who have not had their booster to do so. The 2^ND booster dose is available for those over 65 or those 50 years old with chronic health conditions. We do still have some of our community members dying (we lost someone in Windsor) and the current wave of cases is tied to the variant BA.2  and a newer variant, BA 2.12.1.

Total Cases:   90,056  (2 weeks ago 87,177) Recovered:   85,406   (2 weeks ago 84,196)   Active Cases: 4158 (2 weeks ago 2491)     New Cases on Sunday: 720
 
Deaths:  491   (2 weeks ago 490)
 
Hospitalized: 37 confirmed cases and 3 in the ICU  (2 weeks ago 23 confirmed and 23 in the ICU)
 
Vaccination information….  As of May 22nd, 2022, 1,084,678  doses of vaccination have been given to residents in Sonoma County.  (2 weeks ago 1,066,482). We remain at 82% of our population 5 years and older who are fully vaccinated and 6% have had at least one (1) dose. We continue stagnate in getting more people to vaccinate. If you know someone who has not and is eligible, let them know how important vaccines have been in our community!

MASKS: 

Because of the rise in hospitalizations, ICU admits and surges in some areas, some Counties has mandated mask use again.   Other counties are highly suggesting use of masks indoors but not going as far as regulating or mandating masks.  Regardless of vaccination status, here in Sonoma County masks are not required in most public settings, although Public Health Officials are strongly recommending the use of masks if you are indoors, especially in crowded or poorly ventilated spaces.  Masks are now optional on airplanes; however, they are still required in airports and most other forms of public transportation.  The CDC is still recommending masks on airplanes so it has now become a personal decision.

Vaccine sites are still open and offering vaccinations and boosters.   We continue to encourage everyone eligible for the booster, to get one.   We have seen the proof that this prevents disease and hospitalizations and those who still breakthrough have minor symptoms.   

TESTING:  

Go to socoemergency.org  to learn more about free COVID -19 testing in Sonoma County.  Look for COVID-19 Testing and Tracing in Sonoma County.   In addition my staff at At Home Nursing still are available to provide you COVID testing if you need it (PCR), FIT testing for a N95 mask so that it fits properly or answer any questions you may have.    Call our office at 707-546-8773 to schedule an appointment.    If you want to schedule either a booster or the vaccine, appointments can be found by visiting:  https://socoemergency.org/events/category/pop-up-vaccine or call 707-565-4667.  
 
Continue to stay vigilant as this pandemic is not over.   If you have small children, stay tuned for whether the FDA will approve the vaccine for our under 5 year olds.   They are the ones most at risk right now.    Just be smart, well read and stay safe! 
Di

Craft Talks – Scott Bonin, Mitch Grandi & Mike Raasch

President Pam Moulton rang the bell at 7:30am

Steve Klick to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance 

In the absence of song master Bill Arnone, President Pam & Susan Cole treated us with the beginning phrase of France’s National Anthem.  

Bill Bolster Rotary Moment:  Bill was initially drawn to Rotary when he realized many of the community leaders were Rotarians, however, his real Rotary Moment(s) occurred when Glenda Sales got him involved in Youth & Youth Exchange: Bills favorite participation is participating in Youth Exchange candidate interviews (selection process)  participating in the event YE students find out what country they are going to (reveal night),  and YE presentation to club after returning from their exchange year.  

No visiting Rotarians, but delighted to have Domingo from Chili with us.  

Rotarian of the Month:  Terry Andreacchi 

Domingo introduced our two visiting Mimes (Wally Krutz) & (John Hackenburg). You ask why mimes at Rotary?  DISTRICT CONFERENCE is Saturday May 21^st.  Rotary Club of Windsor is going with a French Theme for Saturday Night Hospitality Event.  Grab your beret, favorite un foulard and join the fun!

Environmental Committee: Bill Bolster announced Barbara McChesney emailed a Carbon footprint challenge to all members – please complete, only takes a few minutes and email results to Barbara:barbsmcc@gmail.com if you missed her email, here is the link to survey: www.footprintcalculatior.org.  Participants will be entered in a drawing taking place May 31^st.   

Adopt A Road project June 18, 2022, Fraught & Pleasant Rd.  Contact Bill Bolster for information.  billbolster@eoc-inc.com 

Youth Exchange:  In need of Host Families:  Fun, Rewarding experience: contact Sandie Krutz: sekrutz@gmail.com 

RYLA BBQ Lunch June 14^th, 11:30am, Westminster Woods, Occidental 

Diane Brabetz delivered a Big Thank You from the Rotary Club of Playa De Carmen to Rotary Club of Windsor for our participation in their Cleft Lip Project.  

Carol Martin traveled to Washington State with her Sister, Sandie & Wally drove to Nevada City to make plans for their daughter’s wedding and Monica & Larry visited Spain, Naples & Rome, to visit their son serving in the Navy.  All brought back gifts for President Pam, Larry summed up their trip with a word new to me “coddiwomple”  “to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination”   sounds like a great way to travel.  

Secret Greeter: Brian Ling 

Craft Talks:

Scott Bonin: Born & raised in San Diego, attended parochial schools and grew up with a strong belief in “service to others” and strives for excellence.   Scott received his Bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego in 1998.  He graduated with a DDS in Dentistry from the University of Southern California in 2002. After graduating he went into the Navy and served as a Naval Dentist for 4 years before doing a 13-month general practice residency at Balboa Hospital. He remained in Southern California for a total of 9 years before relocating to Santa Rosa/ Windsor area where he practiced dentistry for another 10 years and purchased Kurt Mitchler’s Dental practice in Windsor.

Scott is married and has two children, a boy 4 years & a girl 2years.  He was invited to Rotary by Kurt Mitchler and his goal is to make more time for Rotary, community and friends.Mitch Grandi and his wife Bunnie moved to Windsor in 1990 with their 1 month old daughter. They now have three children and their eldest daughter is getting married in July.  In addition to running his Chiropractic Practice in Windsor, Mitch coached baseball and basketball while raising his girls.  Mitch admitted it is difficult raising children but he would do it all again; he loves working with kids.

Mitch was a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor in 1993; at that time the responsibilities of running his business and raising his girls forced him to take a leave.  Mitch is now retired and has sold his business to a younger chiropractor; however, he is still passionate about the benefits of a good chiropractor and welcomes members to contact him if they have any questions about Chiropractor practices.  It is our good fortune that Mitch returned to Rotary.  

Mike Raasch: Police Chief Windsor Police Department, Mike attributes his success to Teachers & Coaches; he stated he could have easily ended up on the opposite side of where he is without their support.

Mike grew up in North Hollywood 1 of 12 children; not an easy childhood, however, when he started playing sports at age 12, and discovered the recognition and support of the coaches, he put his efforts into sports.  Mike played baseball in Jr College and at Sonoma State.  When he first arrived in Sonoma County from North Hollywood, he thought it was pretty “country” but he grew to like it.  Mike was a good baseball player and had the desire to play professionally. After a tryout session, he went to work for Petaluma Police Department, then moved on to the Sheriff’s Department.  Mike enrolled in an online Master’s degree course in 2019 and finished the course with straight A’s.

Mike has been married for 26 years, has twin girls. One of the girls plays softball. He has coached kids’ softball and coached at Piner High School.

Staying fit is important to Mike; he goes to the gym daily, has participated in Iron Man and swam from Alcatraz to SF yacht club.  

Mike will be traveling to Washington DC with an 8^th grade class as a chaperone; it is safe to say Mike’s passion is service and kids.  

President Pam recognized and thanked members for their assistance in today’s meeting & thanked Rotarian of the Month Terry.
We got to meet a few of our new members today – it is always wonderful when we have the opportunity to weave new people into our lives…

President Pam ended the meeting with a photo of our beloved Ken. Today would have been Ken’s 79^th Birthday, 

There will always be a reason why you meet people-  
Either you need to Change your life,
Or perhaps you are the one who will change theirs!

Club adjourned at 8:30am

State is here doing a long survey since we have been closed down for a couple of years due to COVID.   Unable to put together a COVID Update.
thanks, Di

Youth Exchange Month

Call to Order – we were greeted by Brian Ling who introduced our Club to Past President Glenda Sales.
 
Pledge of Allegiance – led by Sandie Krutz
 
Song Meister – Bill Bolster who led us in a rousing song of “Charlie Brown”
 
Announcements:
                Barbara McChesney – spoke on the Environment, her passion and how the District will be issuing a monthly challenge leading up to the Governor’s Citation Award to the clubs in our District.  May’s challendge is to find your carbon footprint.  Go to https://www.footprintcalculator.org. Write your name and your score on a piece of paper, bring it to a meeting and give to Barbara, Bill, Heather or Dave or email to Barbara at barbsmcc@gmail.com
 
                Maureen Merrill – she just returned from Chicago as a delegate to Rotary.   The purpose of the meeting was for the Board and delgates to meet and vote on policy issues.  They meet once every 3 years and she was appointed by our District Governor to represent the 47 Clubs in our District.  Thanks Maureen for being there for all of us!
 
                Past President Glenda – she realized she forgot to do Introductions and fined herself $5….. she also shared with us if we catch her using swear words, the Past Presidents could fine her….. She hit Mike Merrill with “why do you have Dave Culley’s badge on…. She then did introductions and her husband, Sergio, Past First Husband was introduced along with Domingo who is staying with Renee.  Jack and Janet Hyde were also introduced on Zoom from New Jersey where they moved.   Both were formally in our Club and Jack was a Past President and founder of our Rotary Bar!
 
                Heather Cullen thanked our Club for the Grant given to Brooks Elementary and encouraged us to go see Moana that they are putting on.
 
                It was Renee’s birthday Monday and the Club celebrated her by singing Happy Birthday to her.
 
                Renee shared with us that our Rotary Bar will be starting up for “Music on the Green” nights.   She will need help and will be sending out an email of what nights and what positions she needs.  Regulations require that our Bar have at least one person trained in ABC on site at all times and she will help anyone interested in doing that training.
 
                Pegi Ball – RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) at Westminster Woods , a leadership camp will be happening once again.   It stopped because of COVID – we like to send 2 students but so far Pegi has no applicants.   She will focus on getting the word out more and let us know.   Our Club, Healdsburg and Cloverdale go together to do a BBQ on that Tuesday and she will need some help if anyone is interested.   More information to come.
 
                Thank you notes put around on the tables for us to read from students in 3^rd grade who received our dictionaries.
 
                Di Brabetz, RN CPNP PHN share she had been asked by her “other club” of Playa del Carmen, Mexico to thank our Windsor Club for the $10,000 donation for their Cleft Lip/Palate clinics.  Di volunteered at the first clinic in April and will be sharing photos and more information later, but wanted all of us to know that Playa was forever thankful….
 
                Pam Moulton – she shared with all of us her “Rotarian of the Month” is someone who joined us this past year and jumped in and got involved in the scholarship program.  Our Rotarian of the Month for May is Terry Andreachhi.  Terry asked to speak and shared that he had help from both Wally Krutz and Doug Williams and wanted to publicly thank them and made a donation to WRCF of $50 each in their names.
 
                Beth Smith – Project Grad is coming up and she thanked our Club for our $2,000 donation we made for a safe and sober night.   But she does need some help that night, June 4^th, managing booths, etc.  It’s only 3-4 hour blocks or anything you can do. Contact her if you are interested.
 
 
Rotary Program:
 
                Since May is Youth Exchange Month, it was perfect to have Past President Glenda Sales here to lead our program.   Glenda was our District Youth Exchange Leader for some time and she and her husband hosted many kids that became their children and are still part of their family.   Glenda and Pegi who also chairs Youth for us gave us an overview of the Youth Exchange program.   Students come in August and usually return in June or July.  3 Host Families are needed and the kids usually stay with the first family August to November, 2^nd family November to February and 3^rd family, March to June. The first family is extremely important as the kids are homesick, do not know the language or our customs and it is a big adjustment.  The 2^nd family has them during the Holidays and then the 3^rd family is dealing with a student who doesn’t want to go home and leave here. 
 
                We got to hear via Zoom from 2 of Glenda’s previous “daughters” both from Chile – Maria or “Kani” as we know her is now a nurse in Chile. (Di Brabetz was cheering as she spent time with Les and Di and went to Mexico with them in 2014)  She talked about all she learned and how she returned and began nursing school.  I don’t think we have seen the last of her and we hope not!!!!!  Di got to share the mic and tell her how proud she was of her! 
 
We also heard from Carolina from Chile, who was Glenda and Sergio’s first exchange daughter in 2005. She came to our club as a 16 year old and has since gotten married and has a baby now. Glenda and Sergio have visited and will always have her as a part of their family.
 
Jack and Janet Hyde spoke to us via Zoom from New Jersey – during the time they were in our club, they hosted 6 exchange students and took in 2 others from other clubs. They shared that these kids are bright, funny teenagers and the experience is life-changing for both the student and the Host family.
 
Di and Les Brabetz’ eldest daughter Melissa was our Club’s first exchange student we sent out and she went to Sweden. They, in turn, had the daughter of the family Melissa was staying with stay with them.  “We continue to consider Anja part of our family – she is our daugher, her husband is our son-in-law and their son is one of our grandkids.” 
 
Renee Hyde who also was involved in the Youth Exchange program for years and had many students shared that you are never too old to host, single is ok, if you have a vacation planned others will cover, and if you do not have kids in the school, so what?  But please contact Sandie Krutz if you are interested in hosting. WE NEED HOST FAMILIES!   Thanks to Brian and Jamie for agreeing to host and to Heather and Reg Cullen.  We have a boy coming from Germany and a girl from Brazil.  But we need more host families.    We will also be hosting some short-term exchange students for 3 weeks and will have more information on that later.
 
Please consider hosting a child. It is life changing, so much fun and we learn as much as we teach.  
  
Closure:
 
                Past President Glenda ended with sharing this…. “whatever you are, be a good one!”      Abe Lincoln…..
 
 
  
From your Rotary Nurse – Update on COVID
                                                                                                                 
05/10/22
 
NEWS:            STATE OF CALIFORNIA NEARS 90,000 DEAD FROM CORONAVIRUS!    California has one of the nation’s better vaccination rates – 72% and here in Sonoma County we continue to remain at 82%.   But, COVID-19 infections still continue to rise here in our county; our deaths, however, continue to be low.   Hospitalizations and ICU admissions are on the rise.

Please be aware that people who are immunocompromised are still at risk and continue to practice good hand washing and wear a mask around those who need us to. 
 
COVID UPDATE:   The pandemic is not over so encourage those who have not had their booster to do so.   The 2^ND booster dose is available for those over 65 or those 50 years old with chronic health conditions.   We do still have some of our community members dying (we lost someone in Windsor) and the current wave of cases is tied to the variant BA.2  and a newer variant, BA 2.12.1.

Total Cases:        87,177  (last week 86,174)           Recovered:   84,196   (last week 83,787)             Active Cases: 2491 (last week 1897)        
 
Deaths:                490   (last week 490)
Hospitalized:      23 confirmed cases and 23 in the ICU      (last week 17 confirmed and 3 in the ICU)
 
Vaccination information….  As of May 8th, 2022,   1,066,482  doses of vaccination have been given to residents in Sonoma County.  (last week 1,059,926).     We remain at 82% of our population 5 years and older who are fully vaccinated and 7% have had at least one (1) dose.

MASKS:

Regardless of vaccination status, masks are no longer required in most public settings, although Public Health Officials strongly recommend masking in public indoor settings, especially in crowded or poorly ventilated spaces.  Masks are now optional on airplanes; however, they are still required in airports and most other forms of public transportation.  The CDC is still recommending masks on airplanes so it has now become a personal decision.

Vaccine sites are still open and offering vaccinations and boosters.   We continue to encourage everyone eligible for the booster, to get one.   We have seen the proof that this prevents disease and hospitalizations and those who still breakthrough have minor symptoms.   

TESTING:

Go to socoemergency.org  to learn more about free COVID -19 testing in Sonoma County.  Look for COVID-19 Testing and Tracing in Sonoma County.   In addition my staff at At Home Nursing still are available to provide you COVID testing if you need it (PCR), FIT testing for a N95 mask so that it fits properly or answer any questions you may have.    Call our office at 707-546-8773 to schedule an appointment.    If you want to schedule either a booster or the vaccine, appointments can be found by visiting:  https://socoemergency.org/events/category/pop-up-vaccine or call 707-565-4667.  
 
Continue to stay vigilant as this pandemic is not over.    We need to live our lives but not at the risk of others.   So take care, be smart and safe! 
Di

Teacher Appreciation Day

This meeting is one of our very special events for the year.  The inspiration and birth of this program was by our own Ken Moulton, and his name and recognition was mentioned by virtually every speaker who took the microphone.

Pledge of Allegiance was led by Pegi Ball

Our song was the very appropriate “School Days” led by JB and Carol, a song from 1907!

The program of our entire Rotary meeting is below and tells the story of our valuable and inspirational teachers in the Windsor School District.

Photos from the meeting appear after the program shown below.

Update on COVID information from your Rotary Nurse…..
 
05/03/22
 
NEWS:

COVID-19 INFECTIONS RISE IN THE COUNTY BUT DEATHS AND HOSPITALIZATIONS ARE STILL LOW!  ICU ADMISSIONS HAVE NOT SPIKED.   Please be aware of those who are immunocompromised and continue to apply good hand washing and wear a mask around those who need us to.  FDA did approve the first drug treatment for COVID 19 for children younger than 12.  Remdesivir or Veklury was approved for pediatric patients 28 days and older and weighing at least 7 lbs for treatment of COVID 19.
 
COVID UPDATE:

The pandemic is not over so encourage those who have not had their booster to do so.   The 2^ND booster dose is available for those over 65 or those 50 years old with chronic health conditions.   We do still have some of our community members dying (we lost someone in Windsor) and the current wave of cases is tied to the variant BA.2  and a newer variant, BA 2.12.1.

Total Cases: 856,174  (last week 85,413)  Recovered: 83,787 (last week 83,320)   Active Cases: 897 (last week 1604)        
Deaths:  490   (last week 489)
Hospitalized:17 confirmed cases and 3 in the ICU (last week 18 confirmed and 4 in the ICU)
 
Vaccination information: As of May 1st, 2022, 1,059,926  doses of vaccination have been given to residents in Sonoma County.  (last week 1,059,017). We remain at 82% of our population 5 years and older who are fully vaccinated and 7% have had at least one (1) dose.

MASKS:

Regardless of vaccination status, masks are no longer required in most public settings, although Public Health Officials strongly recommend masking in public indoor settings, especially in crowded or poorly ventilated spaces.  Masks are now optional on airplanes; however, they are still required in airports and most other forms of public transportation.  The CDC is still recommending masks on airplanes so it has now become a personal decision.

Vaccine sites are still open and offering vaccinations and boosters.   We continue to encourage everyone eligible for the booster, to get one.   We have seen the proof that this prevents disease and hospitalizations and those who still breakthrough have minor symptoms.   

TESTING:   Go to socoemergency.org  to learn more about free COVID -19 testing in Sonoma County. Look for COVID-19 Testing and Tracing in Sonoma County. In addition my staff at At Home Nursing still are available to provide you COVID testing if you need it (PCR), FIT testing for a N95 mask so that it fits properly or answer any questions you may have. Call our office at 707-546-8773 to schedule an appointment. If you want to schedule either a booster or the vaccine, appointments can be found by visiting: https://socoemergency.org/events/category/pop-up-vaccine or call 707-565-4667.  
 
Thanks so much for all you have done to help in this pandemic and take it so seriously. You continue to be the key to keeping our community safe! 

Di

John Pomfret – Russia, NATO, Putin and Poland

Our Pledge of Allegiance was led by Monica Mcabe.

Past President Bill thanked the Club for its support WHILE Joanie was under medical care and
confirmed the good news that Joanie is BACK HOME!

President Pam started the meeting by introducing President Richard Norgrove from the Healdsburg
Noon Club that has been active with several Roary Clubs in Ukraine and is supporting them through the
current crises AND by welcoming David Doht as our newest member. Rumor has it that he might be
tapped for some environmental projects!

Song Leader: Heather Cullen rebranded Elvis to start the Day: “You know you’re a Rotarian when your
serving all the time…” That’s us!

Beth Smith presented our check for $3000 to the Healdsburg 20-30 Club in support of the Kid’s Spree
Event – yea team!

Renee Hyde was acknowledged for participating in Earth Day events and winning first place in the
Crossfit competition – sounds like a Windsor Community Fund bell is in her near future!
President Pam Welcomed our speaker John Pomfret, a writer and columnist for the Washington Post
who held us spellbound with insights of the crises in Ukraine and its roots – plus views on the growth,
changes and dynamics of Russia and Europe that bring us to this place in history – in addition to several
good – and true –spy stories.

Mitch Grandi was revealed as our Secret Greeter – Did you miss him AND not “fess up!”

Final Thought from President Pam:
Peace comes from within! And it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or
hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.
Sounds like a Rotary Club…

NEWS:                 

FDA yesterday approved the first drug treatment for COVID 19 for children younger than 12.  Remdesivir or Veklury was approved for pediatric patients 28 days and older and weighing at least 7 lbs for treatment of COVID 19.
 
                                Please note that our active case rate for COVID has climbed; however with vaccination rates being over 70% we are seeing less people really sick and needing hospitalizations.   This does not mean we could not see another surge or infections climb even more, but for those that are fully vaccinated and boosted, we are now able to travel, visit with others and have some normalcy back.  Enjoy that but just be careful around those immunocompromised. 
 
 
COVID UPDATE:   

2^ND BOOSTER DOSE AVAILABLE FOR THOSE OVER 65 OR THOSE 50 YEARS OLD WITH CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS.  

New variant BA.2 is being seen in the USA and seems to be slightly more transmissible but no more severity of disease has been seen.

Total Cases:        85,413  (As of 4/5 83,997)           Recovered:   83,320   (as of 4/5 82,338)             Active Cases: 1604 (as of 4/5 week 927)        
 
Deaths:                489   (as of 4/5 488)
 
New Cases:         312 new cases on Sunday
 
Hospitalized:      18 confirmed cases and 4 in the ICU     
 
Vaccination information….  As of April 24th, 2022,   1,059,017  doses of vaccination have been given to residents in Sonoma County.  (as of 4/5 1,021,098).     82% of our population 5 years and older  are fully vaccinated and 7% have had at least one (1) dose.
MASKS:               Regardless of vaccination status, masks are no longer required in most public settings, although Public Health Officials strongly recommend masking in public indoor settings, especially in crowded or poorly ventilated spaces.  Masks are now optional on airplanes; however, they are still required in airports and most other forms of public transportation.
Vaccine sites are still open and offering vaccinations and boosters.   We continue to encourage everyone eligible for the booster, to get one.   We have seen the proof that this prevents disease and hospitalizations and those who still breakthrough have minor symptoms.    Enjoy our relaxation of mandates, but keep others safe please.
TESTING:   Go to socoemergency.org  to learn more about free COVID -19 testing in Sonoma County.  Look for COVID-19 Testing and Tracing in Sonoma County.   In addition my staff at At Home Nursing still are available to provide you COVID testing if you need it (PCR), FIT testing for a N95 mask so that it fits properly or answer any questions you may have.    Call our office at 707-546-8773 to schedule an appointment.    If you want to schedule either a booster or the vaccine, appointments can be found by visiting:  https://socoemergency.org/events/category/pop-up-vaccine or call 707-565-4667.  
 
Thanks so much for all you have done to help in this pandemic and take it so seriously.   You have been instrumental in helping our community!

Sonoma County Water Agency

Rotary Club of Windsor Meeting April 19th, 2022

Rotary Moment:

Pam – Grew up in a Rotary household with a sister, Terry, who is differently-abled. Both were raised the same and on last Friday’s social at Artisan Alley, it was a joy to see all the Rotarians treating Terry just the same.

All hail guest president Bill Arnone – for his presiding over last week’s meeting!

Guests of Rotarians:

Eric Keel – Water Agency

Emma Keel – Student of the month

Julie Keel – Long-time Sonoma resident

Mei Lee Purvis – STEM teacher at WHS

John Brito – Welding/Shop Teacher WHS

Marie Gannister – Culinary Teacher WHSRotarian of the Month for April – Doug Williams.

  Announcements:

• Susan Cole presents $33,000 to Windsor High School to revamp the Vasconi Welding Center
• Many thanks to all the members that were panelists for Windsor BUILD academy
• Windsor Day Parade is cancelled!
• Still time to book tickets for District 5130 Conference in Fortuna
• Pegi was in Hawaii and came back with a few gifts for the President
• Passport: This week’s topic  WRCF – Windsor Rotary Community Foundation. Learn the history and purpose of WCRF, the different funds and sources, and our current projects.

Student of the Month:

Melee is a new teacher in the STEM program, introducing Emma Keel who won Student of the Month for the STEM Core even programming robotic arms for our veterans!Guest speaker for today, Grant Davis is the General Manager for Sonoma County Water Agency – Sonoma Water. 

Eric Keel, Emma’s father keeps our water flowing and his daughter highlights the hope for the future. 

We are about to raise water rates, currently Sonoma County has the lowest rates in the Bay Area and possibly in the State. We are benefiting from the foresight of those before us, we now need the investment to continue to develop these programs. These rate increases are going to be consistent (3-6%) over time to bring us in line with our costs and allow for planning. We will also be improving efficiencies to reduce waste.

The last major drought was in 2008. We had to ask individuals to invest in efficiency gains in the midst of very hard economic times. We were able to get through that and will need to do that again in the coming years.

Lake Sonoma has about 3 years buffer but we need to ensure that is enough for us in combination with Dry Creek. We can get through this with continued support.

Final quote of the day: 

April 24th is Earth Day…sometimes we forget that we are all united on one physical front… Remember:The Earth is what we all have in common…Wendell Berry

Thank you to:

Greeter: Laura Buhrer

Song: Bill Arnone

Scribe: Dev Sodagar

A/V set-up: Beth Smith

Zoom team: Brian Williams / Michael Juric