Real Estate Bubble Getting read to Burst? Or was that just a hiccup?
We have a "Demand" problem currently in Sonoma County. Sales have plummeted with a 25% drop year over year but a 32% drop from August to September. What's going on? We'll explore the market dynamics and ponder if this is a bubble in the making or just some air being let out at a predictable and gradual pace. Overview of the State and Local real estate markets.
Sunriser Peter Treleven proudly takes a leadership role in the annual Veteran Luncheon, each November. This year, in addition to providing key leadership behind the scenes and on site, Peter moderated the panel discussion featured at the event.
Sunrisers Ralph Harryman, Roy Johnston, Ezbon Jen and Del Ray are prominent among the many Rotarian, Kiwanians, veterans and other guests who attended the festively decorated 2018 Veteran's Luncheon held at the Santa Rosa Vets Building.
I would like to extend my thanks to you all for supporting the annual Veteran Day Lunch (not the official name). I appreciate the Rotarians who purchased tickets bringing a veteran and those who purchased tickets and gave them back to be given to veterans.
Many members helped out:
Warren Smith was there to take pictures
Del Raby, Steve Olsen and Jim Kirkbride helped in the setup, take down and took tickets at the door.
Jim Kirbride located and transported one of the panel members both Wednesday and Thursday. He was Phil McSpadden, a veteran of WWII, Korea and Vietnam, who made such a positive impression.
In addition let me thank those who donated $500 as a sponsor:
Dan Davis - Scott Holder - John Jones - Penny Milar
On a regular basis, our resident photo pro Warren Smith submit pictures of what is going on at the weekly meetings. You can always find the most recent pictures at the websites photo journal called "Meeting Sighting" Please note that all the meeting photos for the entire Rotary year are at this location with the most recent on the last page.
Thanks for all the great pictures Warren!Link to Meeting Sightings. The most recent are on the last page!
Even without hearing the amazing virtuosity of Jason Buckalew's playing and singing, the moment captured above represents a Club's Fireside dream come true: Multiple generations coming together to enjoy shared interests, discover more in common and experience the creative strengths expressed and latent within an enclave of artistry and hospitality.
These 7 shown were among the nearly 70 total of members, family, friends and resident artists within Fulton Crossing where we met to get to know each other, build Goodwill and enhance Friendships new and old.
Many thanks to organizers Marty Behr, Jennifer Adams, Merle Hayes and Jeannine Sheppard for bringing us together, reminding us how we support each other and inspire Service Above Self in what we do!!
One early June, more than 30 years ago, I had a business trip scheduled to Las Vegas. I had been a Rotarian for about six years, and I thought of myself as an active member: I attended every meeting, I’d served as club secretary, I knew everyone in my club. But for me, Rotary was very much a community organization. It connected me to Nassau and perhaps even to the Bahamas — but no farther.
I had never given much thought to Rotary beyond the Bahamas, and it had never crossed my mind to travel to a Rotary convention. But that spring, I realized that my trip to Las Vegas would coincide with the Rotary International Convention and thought, why not? I sent in my registration and paid my fees, never suspecting that the experience would change my life.
When I walked through the doors of that convention, I was stunned. It was one thing to know that I was part of a global organization with over a million members around the world. It was something else altogether to stand there in the middle of it. I went to every general session, looked in at every booth at the House of Friendship, and learned about projects that I hadn’t even known you could do in Rotary. That convention didn’t just open my eyes. It opened my mind. It inspired me to completely change the way I saw Rotary, what Rotary could do for me, and what I could do through Rotary. That inspiration has stayed with me ever since — and is renewed every year, at every Rotary convention.
In June 2019, Rotarians from all over the world will converge in Hamburg to Capture the Moment at the 110th Rotary International Convention. Many, like me, will have been coming to conventions for years; many others will be coming for the first time. Whether they’re looking to connect with old friends, to find inspiration for a new Rotary year, or simply to see what Rotary is all about, each of them will find their own moment in Hamburg.
Hamburg is a port city that connects Germany to the world and that has been an economic and cultural hub for centuries. It’s a wonderful place to visit — to stroll the shores of the city’s lake, take a boat trip on the Elbe River, dine out, hear great music, and explore fascinating museums. It’s also the ideal place to kick off a European vacation.
If you’re a regular convention goer, you absolutely won’t want to miss out on the friendship and inspiration you’ll find in Hamburg. And if you’ve never been to a convention, please consider this my personal invitation. Register at riconvention.org by 15 December for the best rate — and let this convention Be the Inspiration for your Rotary journey.
Every year we celebrate November as Rotary Foundation Month. How fortunate we are to have a world-class Foundation that allows us to do so much good in the world. We should all take pride in the fact that something good happens every second of every day because of Rotarians and our Rotary Foundation.
Remember how excited we were at the 2017 Rotary International Convention in Atlanta, where we celebrated the Foundation's first 100 years? The fundraising goal for that year was $300 million, and, as you recall, we raised $304 million to exceed that goal. It was a landmark year for the Foundation.
In the 2017-18 Rotary year, as the Foundation entered its second century of service, we had an even more ambitious fundraising goal of $360 million. At the convention in Toronto in June, outgoing Trustee Chair Paul A. Netzel told attendees that we once again had a landmark year for our Foundation, setting a one-year fundraising record of $373 million.
This year our fundraising goal totals $380 million. Our goal for polio is $50 million, which will be turned into $150 million through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation matching grant. Add to that a $137 million goal for the Annual Fund, $61.5 million for the Endowment Fund, and $31.5 million for global grant cash and other outright gifts, and our many programs will be fully funded and Rotarians will be completely equipped and empowered to continue making real change.
Now, it's up to you and me. We have the chance to forge a path of ever-increasing relevance and influence — to choose the direction and tempo of the Foundation's second century.
I'm challenging you to increase your involvement in our Foundation — by doing, by giving, and by inspiring. Together we can make tomorrow even brighter than today. We can make every month Rotary Foundation Month. So, Be the Inspiration, build your Rotary legacy, and let's make this yet another landmark year in our history.
Rotary Club of Vancouver Yaletown, British Columbia
At first glance, everything about the Rotary Club of Vancouver Yaletown seems modest: its meeting space (a cozy conference room in the lobby of a downtown high-rise); its roster (11 members at the start of this Rotary year); even its short list of past presidents (several of whom have held the office more than once in the club’s 10-year history).
Rotary Club of Vancouver Yaletown members Lejla Uzicanin (from left), Neil Mort, and Rebecca Donnelly.
But Yaletown’s achievements are disproportionate to its size. The secret to the club’s success? Every member is an active member.
“We’re a small club, but we do great things,” says Neil Mort, who is in his second term as club president. “They call us ‘the little club that could.’”
Indeed, the calendar that Mort projects onto the wall during a recent meeting is packed with activities: fellowship and service opportunities; networking, fundraising, and outreach events; and a celebration of the club’s first decade.
Yaletown Rotary was founded in 2008 by Rotarians who wanted a structure that was more economical and convenient than their traditional clubs. They meet for one hour right after work, with no meal, and plan social activities and patronize local businesses together.
The club is a favorite of out-of-town Rotarians. “We have visitors all the time because of our location,” says Jane LePorte, club secretary and youth services director. The Yaletown neighborhood sits at the southern end of Vancouver’s downtown business corridor, about a mile from where the cruise ships dock at Canada Place. High-rise buildings tower above street-level boutiques and sidewalk cafés. Restaurant menus reflect the city’s many cultures. A few blocks from the club’s meeting place, water taxis zip back and forth across the False Creek waterway to the Granville Island Public Market. A popular bike path parallels the park-lined shore.
As members joke around and discuss plans for their 10th anniversary party — which, it appears, will likely include either polka dancing or the use of a club member’s recently acquired karaoke machine — it’s clear that this isn’t just a Rotary meeting; it’s a gathering of friends.
The club’s outgoing nature is reflected on its active social media accounts. Its Instagram page has more than 600 followers, and members recently used Facebook to launch a fundraising campaign called the Every Drop of Talent Challenge, which called on supporters to post a video of themselves performing their talent, then tag three friends to do the same or to make a donation.
Another tip for small clubs? The Yaletown Rotarians piggyback on other groups’ outreach events, such as a Canada Day celebration put on by the Rotary Club of Lionsgate, which drew more than 20,000 attendees to a park in North Vancouver, a town across the harbor from Vancouver. Yaletown Rotary hosted a booth that featured a small pool filled with dirty water. “People came by and said, ‘What’s that?’” says Karen McDiarmid, membership chair and two-time past president. “We said, ‘Do you want to drink this water, or do you want to drink clean water?’ Then we’d get a conversation started.”
The Yaletown club’s focus on clean water came after hearing a presentation on rainwater collection last year. The club decided to partner with the Rotary Club of Hurlingham-Nairobi on a project that aims to bring fresh water to four rural schools in Kenya via a rooftop collection system.
“There’s a desperate need for water there,” Mort says. “They simply don’t have a water source that’s close by and sustainable.” During the dry season, children sometimes have to walk up to 20 kilometers per day to fill a 5-gallon bucket with water of questionable quality. “That’s all they do all day,” he says. “They don’t go to school.”
At the Canada Day event, a volunteer face painter and a stack of coloring pages kept kids busy while their parents learned about the project. The back of each coloring page featured information and a link to the club’s fundraising page. “We decided as a group to commit to the project,” says Mort, who traveled to Kenya for a site visit last year. Other members are promoting the project on social media.
There are challenges to being a small club, but there are also advantages. Unlike some clubs that have time for only a few members each week to share their news and contribute “happy dollars,” at Yaletown meetings, every member shares a happy thought each week and drops some coins in a can.
When everyone is engaged, a little can go a very long way.
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