Category: 2016 Jan-Jun
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2016-05-31 Celebrating Rotary Youth Exchange
President Marc opened the meeting with a special Memorial Day video tribute that reminded us all to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice protecting liberty and defending our country.
For our inspirational message, Renee Hyde shared an insight from a blog on a website dedicated to veterans:
“People often complain that they need to find their passion. You already know it. There’s some topic or activity or idea that dominates a significant amount of your free time, your conversations, your web browsing, and it dominates them without you consciously pursuing it or looking for it. That is your passion. It is right there in front of you. To honor those in the military who make it possible for all of us to pursue our passions, your action for today is to recognize your passion and pursue it.”
Maureen Merrill took great pleasure in introducing Don Johnson (Past President for Windsor Rotary and current member of Santa Rosa West Rotary) who, in turn, introduced Anthony Galloway representing LEAP Science & Math Schools in South Africa. Anthony gave an update from his December 2015 LEAP Schools presentation to the Club which we now are connected to as part of a building multi-Club grant process. We also learned that since our last visit, Anthony was become a Rotarian (he gets extra-credit for that).
Give-Back Moments
Art Diaz shared some recent family photos of his son Benjamin taking part in his first high school prom — an exciting trip to San Francisco that included dad and sister enjoying a special late-night meal after the event. We also got to see Benjamin participate in the Sonoma County Special Olympics.
Steve Jorgensen also reflected on the Special Olympics event that featured several teams from the Windsor School District.
Jim Ruppert shared more good news about his granddaughter Delany White who recently earned 3rd Place and a personal-best time for the 3200m event at the Race of Champions that recently took place at UC Berkeley. The 3rd Place finish also earned Delany an invitation to compete at the State Meet!
Jim also shared about his anniversary with his wife, Kitty, and their gift to each other — tickets to the 2017 NCAA Basketball Championship that will be held in Phoenix — which is very convenient as they will already be there for Baseball Spring Training!
Leigh Mateas shared news about his granddaughter, Gabrielle Peterson, also ran in the Race of Champions at Berkeley. Gabrielle ran as a Freshman for Healdsburg High in the 1600m event. Leigh commented how Gabrielle she looks up to Delany for inspiration as a distance runner.
Bill Bolster had the lucky raffle ticket and almost completed the Lobster Claw building task with his chosen partner, Zach. Better luck next time!
Youth Exchange Program Presentation —
As Renee Hydee comes to a close on being district chair for Youth Exchange, she spoke about her passion for the program and what it means to her and the students who participate. She is very grateful for Glenda Sales persistency in recruiting her for this position and the strong legacy she provided. On a large scale, Renee has seen the impact that the program makes on the lives of everyone involved. For the students, they grow from typical teenagers to powerful young adults who know they can do anything they put their mind to. For the host families and counselors, they learn about another culture and gain a new member of their family. For the world as a whole, we get one step closer to peace and understanding. We gain new tolerance and we gain friends around the world. World events hold more importance to us and we all become global citizens.
Craig Curreri closed our meeting with more inspirational words connected to Memorial Day.
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2016-05-24 Xerxes Whitney
This week’s meeting kicked off with two thoughtful quotes from Rich Mucci who reminded us why Mark Twain is one of Rotary’s most frequent contributors.
Marc shared a story regarding U2 and The Edge who was on the cover of this month’s Rotarian magazine. He then overwhelmed us with several hundred inspirational quotes set to U2s “Sometimes you cant make it on your own” which helped set the tone for the rest of the morning.
Marc also highlighted Kurt Mitchler this morning, Kurt donated his hair to a Children’s Cancer charity over the weekend. He had been growing it out for over 2 years and does this regularly to help raise money for a very well deserving cause.
We had 2 guests this morning, Ida from Healdsburg Rotary and the Districts Assistant Governor and Retired Fire Chief Doug Williams.
Sue & Pam shared their recent experience in Healdsburg of helping prepare an exhibition highlighting the homelessness issues in our area. They shared a story of redemption for a man they partnered with, Rick, that had lived on the streets for some time having become addicted to meth at 10, but thanks to some help he received he is now reformed and was a key part of this event. Sue also gave a special mention to several members of the Rotary club that helped ensure the event was a great success.
Warren reminded everyone that Salmon fishing is probably the single greatest use of time known to man (and women too obviously!). He reminded everyone of the upcoming fishing trip the club is taking and invited anyone that is interested to follow the instructions from the email that went out to register and participate.
Tom updated the club on the Thank You ad the club is running in the local papers as a way of recognizing our sponsors. He also gave a special shout out to LeAnne Scally and 5th Street Financial as their ad was accidentally left out of the event program on the day.
John, Steve & Marc filled us in on the 3 amigos and clarified the way they expect the structure of the club to flow. The goal is to get full engagement throughout the club and to maximize the board’s ability to focus on decision making. John is looking forward to rolling out a “2 to 5 Campaign” which is aimed at optimizing the clubs committees and ensuring that each area has enough people to call on for support. Anyone interested in participating or in meeting with or even becoming an amigo is encouraged to ask. Everyone is part of the club and welcome to help in any way they would like.
Rich was thankful for a recent trip he took down the Amazon river. He regaled the club with fantastic stories of Pink Dolphins, Piranhas and Indiana Jones (well maybe not the last part!). He also let us know that the organizer is setting up another trip in February to visit the Mountain Gorillas.
This weeks guest speaker was Xerxes Whitney. Xerxes did a tremendous job of conveying his fantastic ability to motivate and energize a crowd with his presentation. He focused on a few key areas all built around “Bringing my awesome attitude”. He shared that he always asks people to focus on bringing their attitude and effort as those are the 2 things they can control. He also thanked the club for a $250 award he had received previously.
Xerxes went on to talk about a number of things, he asked the club “what does inspiration mean to you?” and shared the story of his grandmother who inspired him by helping shape his life at every turn. He finally shared one of his acronyms for life, PLAY.
P-Point Positive Approach
L-Love
A-Appreciate & Acknowledge
Y-Yourself-Take care of you
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2016-05-17 What do Kids Need Today?
Michelle hails from Tennessee, where she attended the University of Memphis. After moving to the Bay Area in 2005, Michelle began a career consulting with Non-Profit Organizations to work more efficiently toward the fulfillment of their missions. After earning a Master’s Degree in Organization Development, she continued working in non-profits and community organizing. She dedicates her work to improving communities and developing the resources necessary to do so. She excitedly joined Boys & Girls Clubs in 2011.
