Inspiration was provided by Sandi Krutz Songmeister for the day was Bill Bolster, We are the Champions a tribute to the Warriors by Queen.
Visiting Rotarians: George Lawson – Healdsburg Sunrise Club
Guests: John Jansons, Windsor Town Manager and soon to be member of our club Exchange Student Yanna
Announcements:
July 2nd winner of the salmon fishing with Warren Parker– sign up sheet going around.
Thank you postcard from global press team
Update from George Lawson– Thank you to Healdsburg City for help with SNAP. District grant on its way. Thanks for all of Windsor Rotary’s support.
Sandi– books lost in the fire. List of kids in need- pick “better world books” to purchase a book.
Update on Polio- 10 new cases: 2 Pakistan and 8 Afghanistan.
1989- Venezuela- return of polio
Board meeting Report: membership dues- going up again from $295 to $324
Upcoming community projects:
July 3rd Kaboom 20/30 club. $500-no? Vote during meeting- yes.
Relay for life- August 4th and 5th at Cardinal Newman.
Food bank- volunteers? 4th Friday if interested.
Project Linus Blanket- cancelled, Joan having surgery- rescheduling a new date
Kids Summer Movie Series tonight: Despicable Me 3, we have a 3-fold to hand out at booth
Rotary Bar $1366 last week this week’s music: Dirty Cello
John LeCave– Debunking! July 14th 5-9pm Steve’s brothers home will be the location and E-vites coming your way $20 guests Michael Juric will be our emcee.
Program:
Our speaker for the day- Renee Hyde Home insurance- Post Fire Windsor Rotary 15 years. State Farm 29 years. “Work hard, do good, have fun!”
Questions from customers:
Brice to build: $300-600+ sqft 8000 claims from fires 700 claim reps from State Farm
Building Law- sprinklers, septic, energy laws, min 25%
The meeting was opened by Steve Click at 7:30 AM. The Pledge of Allegiance was initiated with all present.
INSPIRATION:
Maureen Merrill provided a nice dose of inspiration with a quote from Henry James (1843-1916), a famous author and Harvard Law School graduate. He said, “three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind, and the third is to be kind.” Stay kind Windsor Rotary!
SONG:
Doug Williams led song for our group with “I’ve Been Working On The Railroad” in anticipation of the upcoming Sonoma County Smart Train extension into Windsor.
GUESTS:
Allison Hoover. This was Allison’s 4th meeting with our morning Rotary group!
Hewlett. Future 2019-2020 exchange student.
Hewlett’s parents.
Jana. Current exchange student
Abigail. Robin Phillips’s baby daughter.
Marianne McBride. President & Ceo Council On Aging.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Diane Brabetz informed us that Jack M., Jackie Coffin’s husband, is very sick and currently at Memorial Hospital. She also said Dick Bishop is back in the hospital at Kaiser.
Maureen Merrill offered 4 free tickets to the Giants game!
JB Leep and Carol Martin shared their Project Grad experience at Windsor High School. JB wore his classic bow tie and Carol wore her dealer vest and dealt cards to the 2018 grads until 3 AM! They said it was a really fun event to be a part of. They recognized Allison Hoover for her instrumental clean up efforts once the event ended.
Renee Hyde said this is the first time in many years that she can’t find enough host families for the next incoming exchange student. She needs help and asked to call if you have an extra bedroom and want to host for a two to three-month timeframe. She said it creates an international family in your house. She also said to let her know if you have a friend that has an extra bedroom who may be interested in hosting. The incoming exchange student is a young man from Paraguay, age 16-17 years old. Maureen Merrill announced that she will be the first host family for this student!
Renee Hyde discussed State Farm grants that Windsor Rotary may want to get involved with Windsor Town Parks and Recreation and Sonoma County Parks and Recreation to see if they want to compete for these funds. Grants are $25,000 in categories such as, Health and Safety, and Community Improvement.
Steve Click announced that June 15th is Linus Blanket Project event.
JB Leep announced Kids Summer Movies Series kicks off on the Town Green tonight. There will be a kids concert at 6PM with band “ABC ROCKERS”. The movie begins at 9PM.
Jack Hyde announced Jack’s Bar needs more staffing for the Town Green’s first Thursday Night Market this week.
Carol Martin announced that we will take a break from Redwood Empire Food Bank volunteering for the Windsor Rotary group for the months of June, July, and August of this year.
Sandy Krutz shared her birthday experience. She said she enjoyed brunch in Geyserville and manicures with the girls in her family. She quoted that she’s older than she’s ever been!
Chris Landwehr shared his birthday experience. He said he enjoyed a few nights out on the Mendocino coast. He announced he will donate $100 to the Paul Harris Fellow! Nice Chris! He followed suit and said that he’s older than he’s ever been!
SPEAKER
Marianne McBride, President & CEO Council On Aging
Introduced by Diane Brabetz
Marianne said she comes from 5 generations of family in Sonoma County. She currently resides in Cloverdale. She has past history with Rotary International and has hosted an exchange student from Germany in the past. She’s been the President and CEO of Council On Aging since August 2009, and was previously the organization’s Development Director with the responsibility of raising $4 million dollars annually. She also had prior experience with United Way of Sonoma-Mendocino as Vice President of Resource Development and also served as the Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Cloverdale.
Marianne said we have approximately 130,000 seniors living in Sonoma County, and that number is expected to grow significantly in the future. She said 41% of seniors in Sonoma County are living in poverty due to the high cost of living. Her team has conducted many surveys on the senior population in Sonoma County over the years. She said the biggest concerns that seniors currently have pertain to high housing costs, and transportation availability. She said many landlords are raising rents on our seniors putting many in a housing crisis. She also said that 25% of our seniors will likely outlive their ability to drive. She said the Council On Aging is involved with the California State Homeless Prevention Grant, which currently has 80 seniors in Sonoma County on this waiting list. She also said they are also involved with an innovative program in Petaluma called Share Housing Petaluma, which assists seniors in shared housing arrangements.
Marianne Sonoma County seniors were greatly impacted by last year’s recent wildfire disaster. She said many seniors faced higher fleeing risks due to some not having any sense of smell, mobility issues, and lack of access to transportation to flee the fires.
Other survey results indicated that many seniors feel disconnected with their neighbors and the community at large. She informed us of the Older Americans Act of 1965, which was the first federal level initiative aimed at providing comprehensive services for older adults. It created Federal Funding that got passed down to the State level, down to the County government level, and then down to our local nonprofits. The goal of the funding is targeted towards promoting well being for our seniors, and to give them more independence.
She shared the Council On Aging offers social, financial, legal, and nutrition services to seniors. For a fee, some of the services offered are basic daily money management, such as bill paying and balancing bank accounts. They can provide basic estate planning, and act in the capacities of trustee, successor trustee, and conservator. They are currently acting as Trustee for 150 seniors in Sonoma County. They offer senior care program services in the home. Their adult programs provide help for many seniors inflicted with cognitive impairment and respite for caregivers. The adult programs also offer exercise programs for entire families. The Family Justice Center is involved with Elder abuse issues and family violence. They have 3 mental health programs for depression, peer support, and Project Hope, which is county and FEMA backed. Project hope is currently a 9 month program offering crisis counselors, who help seniors in the community impacted by the October wildfires in their recovery process. They have a full time Disaster Case Manager funded for a year to support the Journey’s End Mobile Home Park residents, who lost everything in the fire. They recently secured 5 modular homes in the park from a federal grant.
The Meals On Wheels program extends from Rohnert Park/Cotati to the Russian River area to the Sonoma Valley. They deliver 1000-1200 meals per day or approximately 200,000 meals per year. Marianne shared that Windsor in the only town currently in Sonoma County to partner with Meals on Wheels to help provide a subsidy for their food deliveries. Meals On Wheels currently has funding challenges. Their cost to deliver one meal is $7.50 and their current budget is underfunded to cover these costs. They offer seniors the opportunity to donate some money towards delivered meals. However, only 55% of seniors receiving deliveries donate money for the food deliveries they receive. The average donation is only 65 cents per meal, which is significantly less than past average donations from these seniors. This is mainly attributed to the high cost of living in Sonoma County.
Sonoma County Meals On Wheels provides food recipients 4 meal choices per day, which gives them more choices to select food they like to eat. Marianne said this is the first Meals On Wheels program in the country to offer this much variety of food choices. She said that they have new clients fill out a survey prior to establishing service and download it to their computer program, which then customizes meals for them. She hopes to expand this service nationally for a fee, which will help raise more money for her program in Sonoma County. The four food choices currently available in their Sonoma County program are Vegetarian,Diabetic/heart friendly, Beef, and Chicken/Fish/Pork. Some of the senior centers in Sonoma County have a Bistro set up, which provides entrees and deserts. There is no Bistro Set up in Windsor’s Senior Center, but they hope to have one set up in 3-6 months.
The goal of the Council On Aging is to be “Age Friendly”, where seniors wisdom is valued. Their vision is to create cities where it’s a great place for seniors to grow old, to be relevant, and to connect with the communities they reside in. Sonoma County has adopted their “Age Friendly” program, and have gone through two phases of integration for most cities in the county. These phases include projects like reviewing adequate benches are situated in parks, walking trail safety, availability of restrooms in parks, adjusting timing for crosswalk meters, and setting up contact networks for seniors in their respective neighborhoods.
Marianne Mcbride announced that the Wine Country Senior Games start this weekend (June 9th and 10th). She said 30 soccer teams are competing at “A Place To Play Park” in Santa Rosa. A team from Canada will be part of this event. Track and Field events will be coming soon after.
We thanked Marianne for her thoughtful and informative presentation to our Rotary group.
CLOSING:
The meeting ended at 8:30 AM, with Steve Click announcing that his last board meeting as President will be on Monday, June 11th.
We sang a song of May and were led by Bill Arnone.
Rotarian Guests
We had a gentleman from Southern California out to keep his perfect attendance
Our guest from Ukiah has informed us of his 47-year history but failed to give his name, although we do know that he has a daughter here today to be recognized.
Guests
Jack Hyde introduced Yana, our lovely exchange student, and Janet Hyde.
Bill Bolster introduced Alison Hooper
Art Diaz introduced our outgoing exchange student, Natasha Figueroa
Ken Moulton introduced a past member and Mayor of the Town of Windsor, Bruce Okrepkie
Pat Sabotage is here to represent Senator Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Jim Wood. Representing Supervisor James Gore was Ginny Chamberlain.
School of Windsor was represented by Superintendant Brandon Kreuger, Mary Burkey
After the introductions, we were read a series of proclamations recognizing the importance of teachers in our community.
Benita Jones was the first of the principles to introduce their respective teachers. Jen Grady with Mattie Washburn Elementary turns out to be the kindergarten teacher that everyone wishes their children had.
Her students had the following to share:
“She is always nice to us and is so sweet. I like that she lets us go to recess.”
“I like that she teaches us about frogs.”
“I like that she lets us play games in Morning Circle.”
“I like when she reads stories to us.”
Julie Stearn stepped up the accolades for Nicole Albini with Windsor Creek elementary. The kids said the following:
“Mrs. Albini is the most organized and clean teacher I have ever had. She makes things fun and makes me want to come to school.”
Brooks Elementary principle Kimberlee Kimes introduced us to Kimberly Van Pelt. Her student quote:
“Mrs. Van Pelt really cares about us and she can make us laugh!”
Brian Williams represents Windsor Middle School as principal and teacher enthusiast. He introduced us to the teacher of the year Pete Sullivan. Pete’s student said:
“Mr. Sullivan always makes his class entertaining and involving. No matter how creative an idea is, he will help you achieve it.”
Principle Jeanne Acuna with Cali Calmecac Language Academy introduced a 19 year veteran of the school, Beatrice Robles. Her student says it best:
“Maestro Robles is nice,sweet, funny and REALLY organized. She understands when you have problems. No matter what grade you have in her class, she still helps you. She has a lot of patience!”
Principle Susan Nystrom has been at the helm of change for the Windsor Oaks Academy to become Big Picture Learning’s North Bay Met Academy. Her introduction to Shannon Johnson as her teacher of the year. Her accolades are sometimes best presented by her student’s words:
“I was failing school my freshman year. Since being in WISH/Independant Study with Mrs. Johnson. I have been very successful at school and am on track to graduate in June.”
Victoria Long is the Administrator for North County Consortium Preschool Speech and Language Program. She introduced us to Lisa Needham. Lisa has spent the past 11 years of her 15 as a teacher working within the Windsor School District. Her student chose the following to say:
“Eatin’ ‘back an’ readin’ book.” When asked what he liked about Miss Lisa, he indicated that Miss Lisa likes ‘JiggyPuff’ from one of the Pokemon images on his shirt.”
Stacy Desiderata is the new principle for Windsor High School. It didn’t take her long to recognize the great skills that Danielle Buckman brings to the classroom. Several student quotes include:
“My favorite thing about being one of Mrs. Blackburn’s students is knowing how much she cares for us. She is willing to help with problems inside or outside of math. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to be her student this year.”
Mrs. Buckman is one of the nicest teachers I have ever had. She makes math fun and easy to understand.”
Ken Moulton took the reins and thanked everyone for their efforts to work with children. He especially wanted to recognize the 3 administrators who are retiring this year, including Benita Jones, Kim Kimes, and Jeannie Acuna. Each received a bouquet of flowers and a warm round of applause.
President Steve Klick opened the meeting at 7:15 a.m. by ringing the bell.
Introduction of Guests
Visiting Rotarians:
Katheryn Maxwell from the Martinsville Indiana club and her Husband Robin Maxwell
Star Power, Valley of the Moon club (Sonoma, CA),
Ron Newell, club President, Fullerton South Rotary Club, Fullerton, CA
Guests:
Abigale Phillips (Robin Phillips daughter),
Yana Dittrich (sp?), Rotary exchange student,
Natasha Figaroi (sp?), Rotary out-bound student for next year,
Jennifer Brandt, Windsor High School project grad representative.
Art Diaz led us in the pledge of allegiance
Pam Moulton gave us inspiration and also led the “song”. We sang happy birthday to Ken Moulton who turned 75.
President Steve updated the club on the following items:
Talked about the Windsor Day parade that the club participated in.
Steve asked Maureen Merrill to give a summary of a social we did which was a play at the Left Edge theatre. Maureen said the club raised over $600 at the event.
Steve discussed some upcoming hands-on projects, one of which is Cool Kids camp. The camp starts June 10th and we’re looking for Rotarians to help get the camp facility ready.
Steve asked Allen Christienson to explain the North Bay Met Acadamy (Windsor Oaks) job interview fair, which is 5/29 to 5/31. Allen also shared that they took students from Windsor Oaks to the Sonoma County jail on a field trip.
Steve highlighted the birthdays of club members.
Carol Martin led the program for the meeting, which was to discuss the results of the Lobster Feed. She gave a brief introduction and then introduced Michael Juric, who gave an overview of the results. Michael highlighted the idea that the Lobster Feed was a celebration of our hard work throughout the year.
Maureen Merrill then discussed the results of a survey that was sent out to the club (for the Lobster Feed). The general feeling was the event was “very good” and we received many comments on how to enhance the event in the future. She also mentioned that 70% of the funds raised at the Lobster Feed was from non-Rotarians.
Carol Martin then reviewed the preliminary financial results from the event, which were:
Gross income: +/- $109,000
Expenses: +/- $46,000
Net income: +/- $63,000
She also explained that we had committed $34,300 to major projects so we had a nice balance remaining for future projects.
President Steve asked the following members to discuss the 3 major projects that we committed to this year:
Tuesday Night Movies at the Town Green. John Hackenburg discussed our sponsorship and explained that it gives us a good opportunity for P.R. for the club. He also asked if there was any interest in having a booth before the movies each week to promote our Club, and also there was an opportunity for someone to provide food and beverage. He said he would pass around a sign-up sheet to see if there was enough interest from the members to support this. John also discussed another hands-on project and was wondering if there were members who would help. We will be donating back-packs to a local homeless shelter (this is not one of our 3 major projects).
Kids-Spree: John Horton discussed this event which gives underprivileged kids an opportunity to go shopping at Coddingtown Mall. The kids also get a backpack with school supplies. The event is Saturday, August 4th and we are looking for volunteers to be chaperones for the kids.
Jennifer Brandt from Windsor High School talked about Project Grad, which provides a “safe & sober” party for graduating seniors. The date is Saturday, June 2nd and they are looking for volunteers to help with the event.
President Steve concluded the meeting at 8:35 a.m.
OPENING: The meeting was officially opened and called to order by Steve Klick at 7:30am followed by the pledge of allegiance. INSPIRATION: The inspiration was given by Larry Wasem ….wonderful as usual, however, when I attempted to figure out which one he had shared from his “hit list” of 100, I failed. Just know that his “words of wisdom” were well received!! SONG: “God Bless America” was lead by Susan Cole. GUESTS: Paxton Law – classification GRANDSON of Michael Juric Rolly Atkinson – classification “Newspaper Owner” Jana- classification “Exchange Student” Dominic Foppoli – Classification “Vice Mayor” Abigail Resendez – Classification “baby” Joe Herrington, Healdsburg District Hospital Allison Hoover, Classification “Manufacturer” Pam- Classification “Assistant to Dick Bishop” Lee Coates, Classification “Marketing with “At Home Nursing” Olivia Leman Classification ”Management Analyst” Bruce Okrepkie, Classification “Mayor” John Jansons, Classification “Town Manager Donna Legge Classification “ Parks and Recreation Director” ANNOUNCEMENTS
A special “hello” from Wally and Sandy Krutz, from Colorado
Michael Juris presented the club with four flags from the clubs in District 1700 (France) he visited while on the Rotary Friendship Exchange. The Rotary Clubs included Perpignan, Grenada, Balma and Font Romeu. He announced that the French RFE team from District 1700 will be visiting in September 2018 and May 2019.
Steve Klick reviewed the conference highlights with a focus on the theme of “Dreams Take Flight.” He announced the number of awards that the Windsor Rotary Club which included awards for Youth, Public Relations, Club, Service, Vocational and Community Service. Steve showed a video of some of the highlights from the Transcendence Performance and the Youth Exchange portion of the conference. He made an announcement that Transcendence will be having two evening performances where Rotarians are invited. The two Rotary Nights are June 24th and August 3rd. He also made note that the Rotary Conference in 2019 will be held in Reno at the Peppermill Casino.
PROJECT GRAD: Questions were put to the club asking how many members had signed up to volunteer at the Casino night on June 1st.
KIDS SUMMER MOVIE SERIES: A check for $12,000 was presented to the Town Council members as part of the Club’s Community Donation. JB Leep, who has spearheaded this project, reviewed the logistics of the movie night events, which will be staring on June 5th. He reminded the Club members that the activities start at 6:00 pm and end around 9:00pm. He made note that a new piece of literature was being produced on Rotary to share with the community. He indicated that a “looping” y video would be shown before the movie, highlighting Rotary and its activities! JB indicated that he had connected with three companies who would be selling food, which includes “Extreme Pizza, Just Popped up Kettle Corn and Gaga Café. He indicated that the Club would receive $50 from each of the vendors resulting in approximately $1200 for the summer! The Club is looking for Volunteers for the movie series!!
SPEAKER
Joe Harrington, CEO for Healdsburg District Hospital Introduced by Tom Boylan With 35 years in the field of Hospital Administration, Joe came to Sonoma County from Lodi, California. He mentioned that he had originally in 2015, but came out of retirement after “doing all the right things” and returned to work because he was “bored,” and “like other Baby Boomers” “lives to work!” Joe mentioned that he had been a Rotarian, but is not currently in any club! He reviewed his having received a Fellowship to travel abroad and study Hospital Administration, where he was able to choose any destination. He chose Ethiopia where he lived for 6 weeks. He mentioned that while in Ethiopia, he and his wife attended a Rotary Club Luncheon, where, despite the fact that they were the only Non-Ethiopians, they felt welcome. He mentioned that working with the Healdsburg District Hospital has been a change for him, as he has always worked with Private Hospitals. Healdsburg is a public facility. He received the funding differences between the two types of facilities and made note that revenue generally comes from the subacute services that are provided. He indicated that the “outpatient” services are the “bread and butter” of hospitals. Joe reviewed the major services and supports at Healdsburg citing the Emergency Room, where they serve an average of 23 to 24 patients a day, and the “certified” Stroke program who serves up to 6 patients a month. He also reviewed the relationship that the Healdsburg Hospital has to CPMC (in San Francisco) which supports, through SKYPE, diagnosis for stroke victims. He made note that due to the high cost of living in Sonoma County, it has been challenging to review personnel, citing the challenges of the Behavioral Health Clinic who is “overwhelmed” with patient demands. He also made note that at the County level, the competition of Kaiser, Medic-Care/Medicaid, and Aetna, has been significant in keeping some of the rural hospitals open. Of note is the opportunity for Hospitals, like Kaiser, to compete with the insurance plans offered to employees. He stressed that focus on Wellness Programs is important, however, can run contradictory to the “natural” funding sources for hospitals. Joe reviewed the horrifying events of the October fires on local hospitals, citing the evacuation and closure of two hospitals, and the role of the smaller hospitals in serving the public. He indicated that there was “chaos” with “no internet and no cell service.” He made note that due to concern regarding the safety of the public, that there was a need to evacuate several patients and potential patients to outside the county. Mr. Harrington indicated that the hospital was in “Command Mode” for 10 days and that there was “lots of traffic” in the ER. As a result of this tragedy, Joe mentioned that the “eye-opening “event tapped into several skills, and allowed him to meet people from all over! He admitted that one of the challenges was being able to “calm” the staff, strengthen communication, and to “get the right people in the right place.” When asked about the long-range issues for hospitals, he identified the concerns surrounding a potential earthquake and being “seismically” prepared. He acknowledged that attending to inpatient care facilities would potentially cost $20 – $30 million dollars, however without an inpatient area, there is no need to upgrade. The other area of need is the upgrade of the information systems which is also a multi-million expense. At present, all hospitals are looking for both partners and loans to offset these inevitable costs. Joe reviewed the relationship that hospital statistics of the traffic flow in Healdsburg. He made note that 37% of patients are from Healdsburg, 22% from Cloverdale, 13% from Windsor, and 12% are from “out of town” (tourists). The additional 16% are from various other areas, but not tourists. The meeting ended at 8:30pm, with an announcement for the Next Week’s meeting which will be honoring our Fire and Police. Submitted by Pam Moulton, Scribe for the Day!
