Posted by Nathan Cobert on Mar 21, 2024
 
AT THE GONG
President Anne rang the bell at 12:19 and turned the meeting over to our host for the day, Craig, who led us in the pledge and gave a historical note that on this day in 1931, Nevada legalized gambling, with a related thought for the day that “gambling is a sure way of getting nothing for something.” The source of the quote was unclear to this scribe.
VISITING ROTARIANS AND GUESTS
Matthew Briggs was a Rotarian guest from the Rotary Club of San Rafael (“Main”), which co-sponsors, with the RCTL, the St. Isabella Middle School Interact Club.
Laurie Schneider was also a guest. She is the office manager at St. Isabella Middle School and presumably provided transportation to the speakers.
 
ICE BREAKER
Craig asked us to complete the sentence: “If not for Rotary, …” We heard lots of stories of friendships and travel, and even one about golf.
 
WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE CLUB
March 23: District Assembly and Project Fair at Redwood High School. Come support Millie’s year as president and see our table at the Project Fair
Connect to Your Legacy workshop video is now available online.
 
Rotary Club of Ignacio will be holding multi-club projects: Monarch Butterfly Project, Homeward Bound Veterans Housing hands-on project, of which our club has donated $300 to help furnish an apartment, and St. Vincent De Paul Homeless outreach and support project.
 
There is a Rotary Women of Excellence Honorees award celebration- details forthcoming.
 
Rotarian of the Month nominees are due 4/15. Please let Anne know if you want to nominate someone from our club.
 
President-Elect Millie went to PETS for 3 days and found it helpful and informative.
 
Rachel updated us on Extra Food; the next one is March 24. Please feel free to come, even if the volunteer slots appear full.
 
John updated us on a Community Service project we are doing: a hands-on workday at Sanzuma Farms, on April 10 from 9:00 – 12:00. So far John and Nathan have volunteers, and we are looking for more people.
 
John is also looking for volunteers for the Scholarship application committee, to interview and select scholarship applicants. We have $7,000 to award this year. Please consider participating in this fun and rewarding activity.
 
Brian asked for volunteers to hand out 250 dictionaries. In an inspiring show of Rotary volunteerism, Millie, John, Tony, Rachel and Dan all said yes.
 
Brian also told us that Senior Access is looking for help in building fences and building some wheelchair accessible flower boxes. More information to follow.
 
MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS
Anne celebrated her recent trip to Colombia in which she participated in an international convention and educational cleft lip surgery program. She will donate to the Club Foundation.
Nathan asked for everyone’s best wishes for a positive outcome for his 12-year-old dog’s cancer surgery today. He will donate $100 to the Scholarship Endowment.
 
SPECIAL MOMENTS
 
RAFFLE
Brian raffled off two Rotary mugs, which were won by Millie and our guest Laurie Schneider.
(Who won what raffle prize, who picked the marble and if they picked the winner or not)
 
PROGRAM SUMMARY
Our program was provided by the co-presidents of the St. Isabella Middle School Interact Club, Charlotte Maloney and Nikita Sriram. St. Isabella’s has had an Interact Club for the last 13 years, and has a long list of past and current projects, including:
·        Speaker project- both inspirational and vocational speakers
·        Book and Coat Drive- most recently donated 715 books to the Global Book Exchange, and 80 coats to the Redwood Gospel Mission
·        Bake sale as a fundraiser to fight malaria in Zambia- raised $1,000, which was matched by the Gates Foundation to become $2,000.
·        Cancer Care packages- which were sent to chemotherapy patients at Kaiser.
·        Broadway Villa music project, where they provide I-pods with music to residents of this assisted living and memory care facility in Napa.
·        This very active group is also recreating a newer version of their club’s introductory video to make it more current and appealing for newer members.
·        Finally, they are working on a Rotary Day of Service project, which will probably be a beach or park clean-up day.
 
NEXT WEEK’S SPEAKER
Next meeting is on April 2. Our speaker will be Vicki Masseria- Make it Home Bay Area. We will also have a mini presentation by Tabitha Sparks, Major Gifts Officer for Zone 26 and 27
 
Your scribe,
Nathan Cobert