The speakers from our January 5th meeting were our very own committee leaders!
This past Thursday we had our semi-annual club assembly. Santa Rosa Sunrisers stayed out of the torrential rainfall and met on Zoom. President Jack's focus was on successful takeaways from the first half of the Rotary year. Our club has had many victories; therefore, it was a delight to reflect on the events that shaped 2022.
President Jack requested that a handful of members share highlights of the year. Club Administrator, Tom Eakin talked about our venue at Francetti's and our ongoing effort to provide a delicious breakfast while keeping costs down. He expressed deep gratitude to Stacy and other members who help serve breakfast each week.
Unsung hero, Rich Randolph provided the club with an update on his adaptive swing project underway with the City of Santa Rosa. After navigating those murky bureaucratic waters that surround our local government, Rich has received approval to install two swings in local parks. Rich would love to have a committee to help him finish strong. If you're interested, please reach out to him.
Paul O'Rear and Debra Robertson talked briefly about our fundraiser. We have a lofty but obtainable goal of $85,000 in raffle ticket sales and corporate sponsorships. We are all superheroes and will help rescue some of the most vulnerable members of society through our monetary contributions.
Eloise Tweeten shared her agenda on our upcoming speakers. She has creatively organized speakers that are associated with each Rotary monthly theme. She and her committee have done an outstanding job coming up with engaging content for our weekly meetings.
The amazing, dedicated, and always colorful Jennifer Adams touched on Service Projects and highlighted our involvement with the food bank, Forget Me Not Farms, and the Winter Shelter dinners for the homeless. She commended Stacy for organizing our annual Mike Kelly Warm Clothing Drive and Leroy (The Golden Hammer) for his ongoing commitment to several non-profit organizations in the community. Leroy worked every day in December doing countless repairs.
John Jones updated us on Nicaragua. Sadly, the country is under a dictatorship and has required us to provide documents regarding our visit. John has been working tirelessly on preparing and sending the requested documents for the past several months; however, our mission had to be postponed due to red tape. We deeply appreciate John's ongoing efforts to maintain contact and connections with our friends in Nicaragua.
Shauna Lorenzen and Steve Amend discussed our invitation to the Kagoshima West Rotary Club's 60th Anniversary celebration. Several members of our club plan to travel to Kagoshima to celebrate. Shauna plans to discuss the fate of our SRKSP exchange program. Steve will meet with a past District Governor in Kyoto who does tea ceremonies to promote world peace, which has been featured in Rotary Magazine.
We wrapped up the assembly by participating in breakout rooms and discussing ways we can recruit new members to join our club. Some key insights were to focus on individuals who have recently retired or are established in their careers and have more time and financial flexibility.
Our assembly illustrated that we are indeed people of action. Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary will continue to make big strides in positively impacting our community and the world in 2023.
