Hear about the adventures of our Exchange team to Kagoshima Japan: Ian Azmoudeh, Tiffany Liang, Kenny Petro, Nash Raven, John Vozaitis and Deborah Cullen, Chaperone

Sunrise Rotarian John Jones recapped his and wife Ardys' Avalon River Cruises float down the Danube through Prague onto Berlin.  Enchanted with the Czech capital which survived WWII with only one dropped bomb, and that was a mis-released Allied armament, Prague was not considered a strategic target, possessing more in terms of art than industry, it's centuries of old treasures were sparred destruction.  Among the most prominent is the 1410 Astronomical clock, now featuring statues of the 12 Christian Apostles.

The Bone Church, Sedlec Ossuary also in Prague represented an artistic solution to scarcity of burial space during the Black Death, Bubonic plague years in the early 1500's:  Use the bones for decorative purposes and preserve the sacred tradition held at the site.  Over 30,000 bodies were waiting for underground internment, only to find rest above in creative, iconic repose.

On a brighter note, John and Ardys visited the Passau Dom Organ in Bavaria, an 18,000 pipe composite of 5 organs boasting claim to the largest in the world outside the United States.

John and Ardys also witnessed art history in Berlin at the Pergamon Museum.  Appropriated by the Germans from the Middle East as far back as 1910, the Museum is the most frequently visited in Germany and 9th globally.  

Rick Steve's would be proud of this couple's itinerary and attention to historic significance.  Where are you traveling next??

On a regular basis, our resident photo pros Warren Smith and Jack Strange 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 and Ross! Link to Meeting Sightings. The most recent are on the last page!

Additional photos may be found on the SR Sunrise Facebook Page.

Holding a drawing marble, as if it were the jewel of the project itself, John Jones beams with the realization that the 7 year incubation of the envisioned surgical center in Sabalos, Nicaragua now has emerged.  Recently returned from his church related vision project in the surrounding area, John brought his first hand account with photos of the immaculate new 2,000 sq foot newly completed wing at the Sabalos regional health center in the wide-spot-in-the-river village of Sabalos.  See the club's Home page for the most recent photos of the staff in their soon to be state-of-the-art Surgicenter.  

Sunrise Rotary is in the final phase of this nearly decade-long development project.  Sunrise and our community partners raised over $100,000 which was sufficient to construct the building.  The final phase, providing equipment and fixtures will be enhanced by District 5130 and Rotary International Foundation Global Grant funding.  Diagnostic instruments such as digital X-ray and ultrasound are planned, empowering doctors to routinely assess and treat traumatic injury as well as monitor the regions pregnancies for possible complications and intervene well in advance of heretofore unforeseen, avoidable life-threatening emergencies. Surgeries are expected to be available by late this year or early 2018.

Sunrise Rotary has scheduled it's every other year vision and dental project to Nicaragua between January 27 and February 4, 2018.  Contact John Jones if you would like to join in the service and celebration of this life-changing, landmark opportunity!!

Sunriser Randy Seelye has raised $34,000 in pledges to support biking athlete Peter Hoberg's ride from Crescent City to Petaluma.  Checks are due and will be collected by Seeley.

"Welcome home!," President Doug Shureen declared as Sunriser Dell Raby stood to acknowledge this greeting.  Dell had just returnedned from West Virginia where he celebrated his 91st birthday with Boy Scouts and their leaders from all over the world.

An out-of-state trip, plus a birthday, what recognition would be worthy of this dual event?  Eventually the sum of $30 was proposed and sunriser Paul O'Rear immediately rose to announce that he would pay the recognition amount as a gift to the Foundation in honor of Dell   This generous offer triggered a sea of waving hands from Sunrisers who also offeried $30 to honor Dell.

Sunriser Kent Seenmiller, always eager to collect recognition gifts, gave up attempting to identify the more than a dozen donors making this commitment and requested that they see him after the meeting.

The scouts had sung Dell the traditional birthday song.  However, Dell noted that the add on line, "And many more..." had not been included.  Dell also shared that he had volunteered to serve on the next National Jamboree, to be held in two years, but had hesitated to sign on for the following one to be held in four years. Sunrise photographer Warren Smith interrupted to encourage Dell to make that four year commitment, assuring him that he would be ready and able to honor that date.

Coordinators Rich Randolph and Eloise Tweeten informed members that Eloise would be assuming committee leadership as Rich ramps up for his 2018 year as president.  

Club members Tom Eakin and Stacey Andress-Drucker could use some encouragement:  Tom for a recent arm mishap and Stacey for her seriously ill mother.

Member Rolf Wessman continues to enjoy visits at his home and sharing a conversation and beverage of choice.

Please contact Eloise regarding any member including yourself who could benefit from some Sunrise Sunshine.

Relatively new Sunrise member and New Membership Chair, Paul O'Rear, Presented a three point plan for membership during the coming year:

1)  Actively recruiting new members to the club

2)  Proactively bringing recruited members into the fabric of the club

3)  Retaining existing members by being regularly in touch with those who seem to be drifting away

President Doug Shureen also referred members to the latest Rotarian cover article on "Why I Joined," a compelling story on one new member's Journey to various Rotary Clubs and what he discovered, that runs for several pages.

Membership chair, Paul O'Rear, reassured members that proven successful membership techniques are being put together and called upon them to invest the time and energy needed to pull these off.  O'Rear also announced that the next Greatest Guest Day will be on November 11, 2017.

Ian H. S. Riseley

President 2017-18

When someone asks you, "What is Rotary?" what do you say? I think we've all had the experience of being asked that deceptively simple question and finding ourselves suddenly at a loss for words. Even the most articulate among us have a hard time capturing the essence of our organization in just a few sentences.

As an organization, Rotary has always had a difficult time conveying the scope of our work: not just what we do, but how we do it, and the value of what we contribute to the world.

As an accountant, I like numbers. They work in every language, and often they communicate complex information much more effectively than words. That is why, in this Rotary year, I am asking each club to provide Rotary headquarters with two numbers: the amount of money, both in cash and in kind, spent on humanitarian service; and the number of hours of work performed in Rotary's name.

If we want these numbers to be useful, they have to be accurate. That means beginning now to accurately track the hours and the money that our clubs spend on their service.

The simplest way for clubs to provide this information at the end of the year will be by entering it every month on Rotary Club Central – a tool that has been completely rebuilt and relaunched to be significantly more useful, and user-friendly, than it has been in the past. If for some reason (for example, limited internet access) your club is not able to connect to Rotary Club Central, please be in touch with your district governor, who will ensure that your information can be submitted through other means.

I cannot emphasize strongly enough that the goal of this effort is not getting the largest and most impressive numbers. There is not going to be any competition, recognition, or public use whatsoever of the numbers reported by any individual club. The goal is accurate and reliable numbers that we can present confidently in our public image work, in our membership materials, and to our partners – numbers backed by specific data, on the club level, that answer not only the question, "What is Rotary?" but the question, "What does Rotary do?"

I strongly believe that with these numbers, we will be better able to demonstrate the value of Rotary: Making a Difference – which in time will enable us to make more of a difference, for more people, in more ways, than ever.

Paul A. Netzel

Trustee Chair 2017-18

What does the chair of The Rotary Foundation Trustees do, anyway? What do the Trustees do? These questions are often asked of me in different ways. The Board of Trustees manages the business of the Foundation, the charitable arm of our organization that transforms your gifts into sustainable outcomes that change lives – both close to home and around the world.

One thing we do is listen. We listen to you, the members. Your voice comes to us through many different channels and connections with feedback, ideas, concerns, and recommendations.

We listen to our Rotary Foundation committees. We listen to our regional coordinators and advisers, to the district Foundation committee chairs, and to our district governors. We listen to our associate Rotary foundations which provide local tax benefits in seven countries.

We listen to our colleagues on the Board of Directors, to our trusted Rotary staff, to our incredible PolioPlus committees and our polio partners, to our Rotarian Action Groups and to the Cadre of Technical Advisers. We listen to feedback from our six Rotary Peace Centers.

Rotarians are the backbone of the Foundation, so it's important to listen to you.

For example, listening to Rotarians' ideas at the 2016 Council on Legislation (COL) led to several significant reforms to enhance the membership experience. These reforms offer clubs more flexibility. For example, an exciting rules change allows a service project to count as a meeting. Importantly, Rotaractors can now become members of Rotary clubs while they are still in Rotaract.

How do these changes benefit The Rotary Foundation? The strength of the Foundation starts with our members, and we believe the new club flexibility options will attract and keep more members. What needs to be accomplished for Rotary to remain relevant today and for the generations to come? This is where the COL's three-year cycle is your opportunity to bring forward ideas to continue the evolution of Rotary. The deadline for submitting proposed enactments for the 2019 COL is 31 December.

You are our greatest strength. Let me hear from you. I can be reached at paul.netzel@rotary.org.