John Mensinger is a member and Past-President of the Rotary Club of Modesto, California. His classification is Building Materials, Retail and he is the third generation owner of American Lumber Company which his grandfather founded in 1923. In addition to running a lumber company he is an elected Director of the Modesto Irrigation District which supplies water and power to 200,000 Central Valley residents, primarily from its interest in the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park. John has been in Rotary for over 27 years and is a proponent of home exchanges as a way of seeing the world. His family has exchanged their home twenty times and he has written a book on home exchange. John He was the District 5220 Youth Exchange Officer for several years.
Michelle Donati-Grayson on AAA Northern California, Nevada, & Utah
Our Speaker for Thursday, May 6, 2021, was Michelle Donati-Grayson from AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah (“AAA NCNU”). Michelle spoke about AAA’s mission; helping others. With the onset of the pandemic, AAA ‘leaned into’ its mission of helping others. It reassigned 1,000 employees to make goodwill visits to members. The goal was to provide a sympathetic ear and find out if members (like Leroy Carlenzoli, for example) needed help. Some employees were able to provide specific help, such as when AAA employee Bryan Cherry found a member who had just given her children the last of their food supply. Bryan went to a local foodbank and returned to the member with the food and some toys for the kids! AAA has also provided free roadside assistance to first responders and health care workers during the pandemic. Rumor has it that Leroy asked for a fishing pole!
AAA has long advocated for child passenger safety through car seat inspections and car seat donations, educating more than 450,00 families every year. It also shifted resources online to continue to deliver on its commitment. AAA launched a Gig car share program called “Gig4Good.” This program provided car share credits to help important services, such as food banks like the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano. Gig4Good enabled program staff and volunteers to get to their many food distribution sites. AAA has now introduced a program to reimburse new and existing members for up to one hour for gig trips to go to vaccine appointments. AAA is also donating trips for these vaccine appointments to qualified organizations.
AAA stayed the course during the pandemic. Its members say they have greater peace of mind knowing that AAA is behind them. AAA has been rewarded by the highest membership retention in the company’s history. Valued employees came together to show how adversity breeds innovation and can bring out the best in humanity: Kindness, empathy, and resilience. AAA is a great place to work and also makes AAA the membership organization that its members keep for life.
Aside from its legendary roadside assistance program, AAA offers a full range of insurance services, travel help, DMV alternatives, identity protection, a smart home security service, and free car seat inspections. Its website contains a complete listing of all of its programs and services, many of which we probably do not know about. AAA has also put most of its maps online and its TripTik gives you travel directions and lets you know about Covid restrictions at the destination and enroute. Using your AAA mobile app allows AAA to pinpoint your location with the GPS on your phone. The App revolutionizes how AAA helps people with roadside assistance. AAA also allows members to identify charging stations along the route to allow electric car users to figure out how charge their cars along the route.
Thank you, Michelle, for the great job and valuable information. Well done!
On a regular basis, our resident photo pro Warren Smith, submits 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!
New Faces- I don’t have to tell you that we’ve all seen a lot of new faces on the Zoom meetings recently. We’ve inducted five (count ‘em, f-i-v-e) new members this COVID year with a sixth likely when most other clubs in the district are experiencing a loss of members. At our monthly District 5130 Presidents call several Presidents have asked, “What is Sunrise Rotary doing differently?” and I say, “Just the ABC’s. We’re getting great speakers since they don’t have to be local, we have a great program of keeping in touch with each other and looking after each other, we haven’t slowed down on service projects much and everyone just seems to be having a good time.” I love strutting our stuff. Anyway, this month we’re going to have several Craft Talks so we can get to know more about these new Sunrisers. Lotasha Thomas gave a beautiful, personal Craft Talk last week- you must watch the recorded meeting on the website if you missed it. This week Kelly McGlinchy will share a little about herself, IRS willing, given that it’s so close to the tax deadline, and Lori Rodrigues after that. As much as I like everyone who has been in the club for a while, it’s refreshing to see new faces and meet new people. Hopefully we will all get to meet the new members in person sometime soon!
Posted by Rich Randolph, John Jones on May 09, 2021
Sabalos Surgicenter Up and Cutting
Rafael Prasyln of Rio San Juan Relief, our "Boots on the Ground" presents the Sabalos Medical Director the plaque commemorating Sunrise connection to Sabalos.
Every great venture starts with a single step. The new paint and landscaping just hint of the clinical readiness inside the 2000 square foot admission, operating salons and recovery areas.
Life and livelihood saving skills are active day and night now. The center is equipped with climate control and emergency power backup. Your support of this project, and the ongoing club mission trips for vision and dental projects have positively impacted thousands of lives.
This 2018 photo shows many members who saw and were inspired to keep Sabalos hopes alive.
After 10 years incubating, the vision of a surgical center in Sabalos Nicaragua has become a reality. Dedicated last month the center's staff performed three operations on the ribbon-cutting day heretofore impossible at that regional health center. Previiously only patients willing to travel by boat two hours to a hospital in San Carlos could have been treated. Most did not choose to leave their familiar village.
The finish line for this Surgical Center was crossed this month with the addition of funding for its very own cauterizing scalpel AND Portable Xray!! Your support of this clinic in an exrtremely remote area of Nicaragua demonstrates how Rotary Opens Opportunity with Service Above Self!
Our Club will continue to monitor progress and receive updates from Rafael and Ninoska his wife. Tell all you know about this landmark, 10 years in the making success for visionary, concerted collaborative comittment to Goodwill, Better Friendships and Healthcare arising from Service Above Self!
M.J. Girard is currently an on air personality on KOWSfm.com His “Roots of Rock” is broadcast every Sunday morning at 7
It’s grand to be on the road seeing the great expanse that is America 🇺🇸
As we travel the southwestern states I am recalling that period in popular music of the early 60’s…it was not completely devoid of innovation or excitement. The surfer craze and the Twist did occupy the radio … as well as Folk music and the Wall of Sound from Berry Gordys Motown.
Bob Dylan ruled the roost along with Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, Pete Seeger, the Kingston Trio, Burl Ives and others.
As far as the soul of Motown, let’s not forget the airwaves were full of the Temptations, the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Four Tops, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, et al. The soul of Motown remained vital to the continued core and growth of popular music as well as Rock.
So into this mix came the invasion from the U.K. Lead by the Beatles, the Stones, The Who, the Seekers, Herman’s Hermits, Dave Clark Five, the Animals, and the myriad of others crossing over to dominate the musical community and spawning great interest in the resurgence of the core of Rock and Roll that is the essence of our memories.
Our next encounter with the Fab Four will be their fourth studio release “Beatles For Sale” which will shed light upon their finesse as well as their journey into mind altering substances, introduced to them by Dylan during his 1964 concert tour of England.
As we progress further into the minds and souls of these musical innovators, a change will become self evident, not only in their musical releases…but in their lives.
There was this guy at a bar, just looking at his drink. He stays like that for a half hour. Then a big trouble-making truck driver steps next to him, takes the drink from the guy, & just drinks it all down. The poor man starts crying. The truck driver says, "Come on man, I was just joking. Here, I'll buy you another drink. I just can't stand to see a man cry." "No, it's not that," the man replies, wiping his tears, "This day is the worst of my life. First, I oversleep & I go in late to my office. My outraged boss fires me. When I leave the building to go to my car, I find out it was stolen. The police say they can do nothing. I get a cab to go home, & when I get out, I remember I left my wallet in the cab but the cab driver just drives away. I go inside my house where I find my wife in bed with the gardener. I leave my home, come to this bar, & just when I was thinking about putting an end to my life, you show up and drink my poison."
For years, Susanne and I hosted many Rotary Youth Exchange students in our home. This program was an entry point to Rotary for me, and my heart is truly in it. When Rotary’s exchange programs were suspended because of COVID-19 to keep students and families safe, we felt sorry, especially for the participants, because those years cannot be repeated.
Because of the many uncertainties of the pandemic, the Rotary Board has decided to suspend in-person exchanges through June 2022. As we look ahead with hope, we thank Youth Exchange officers, host families, and volunteers for their contributions in years past, and we encourage districts to offer virtual exchanges as a way of connecting students around the world with each other and with our communities.
For those who are not able to participate in Rotary Youth Exchange, Rotary offers other opportunities. New Generations Service Exchange (NGSE) is a Rotary program that deserves wider recognition: It is an excellent opportunity for young people ages 18 to 30 to participate in community service as individuals or in a group and to gain internship experience. Simukai Matshalaga, a Rotaractor from Zimbabwe, stayed with us in Ratzeburg during her NGSE experience three years ago.
When I applied for the New Generations Service Exchange program, I did not realize that I was signing up for a life-changing experience. This program gave me that opportunity and much more. It taught me about the importance of failing fast, learning quicker, and being myself.
Some of my greatest experiences happened at the dinner table. The warmth and kindness of every home I lived in still resonate with me today. It took me weeks to understand how a stranger could care for me as deeply as these members of the Rotary family did. I am inspired by the lessons of humility I learned from all the amazing people I met. I came to understand a new culture and realized that the only things that separate us as people are our experiences and, at times, our false assumptions.
Professionally, it gave me confidence in my own abilities as an engineer. Seeing how other organizations handled problems made me aware that the best person to solve the challenges in my country was me. Returning home from northern Germany, I declined a promotion, quit my job, and began building a family business — a decision that previously I would have never made, out of fear.
I am indebted to the Rotary family. I am not sure whether the friends, mentors, and families I left behind knew that they changed my life permanently. I hope they now do.
New Generations Service Exchange changed Simukai’s life. It can change yours, too. All Rotary members can experience something similar at any time: I encourage everyone to take a virtual journey this month and visit meetings of other clubs online. You will see how different Rotary is around the world as you meet great people and make new friends.
Let us build upon these connections forged online — and later, when the time is right, enjoy in-person exchanges through Rotary Friendship Exchange, another excellent program for Rotary members of all ages.
Our ability to meet in person is limited now, but we know that Rotary Opens Opportunities, always. Now is the time to get ready, so that when the pandemic is behind us, Rotary’s exchange programs will come back stronger than before, serving a world that is yearning to reconnect.
In the classic film Lawrence of Arabia, Peter O’Toole plays T.E. Lawrence, the British scholar, military officer, and author who helped Arab tribes in their struggle for independence against the Ottoman Empire.
Lawrence leads a group of Bedouin warriors through the desert for a surprise attack on the Ottoman port of Aqaba. As they reach the end of the desert, they discover that a soldier, Gasim, has fallen off his camel during the night. But it is morning, and the tribesmen, led by Sherif Ali, played in the movie by Omar Sharif, advise Lawrence that going back to find him would be futile, that Gasim would already be dead given the sandstorms and the scorching heat. “Gasim’s time has come; it is written,” one of the soldiers tells Lawrence.
But Lawrence does go back and finds Gasim near death, staggering in the dunes. When they return to camp, Ali offers Lawrence water. Before taking a drink, Lawrence looks at him and says: “Nothing is written.”
This unforgettable scene means more than just a quotable movie line; it represents a way of looking at the world. It is a challenge to fatalism — that we must accept a certain outcome because of the way it has always been. No, Lawrence says, history is not written, yet.
So it is with The Rotary Foundation. We have not yet emerged from the sandstorm of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout from it. We are still occupied by work to raise awareness, deliver critical personal protective equipment, and provide support for frontline workers.
We do not know the day when, standing beside our polio eradication partners, we will announce that for the second time in history, a disease has been eradicated. We do know that, because we have worked steadfastly for years, the end of that story will be written soon.
And thanks to a $15.5 million contribution from the Otto & Fran Walter Foundation, we are also adding a new chapter in the story of our expansion of the Rotary Peace Centers: Plans are underway to launch a new peace certificate center in the Middle East or North Africa.
Rotary is engaged in so many noble efforts; it is an ongoing story that inspires me even more than Lawrence of Arabia. We do not yet know the name of the baby whose life will be saved because of a maternal and child health grant from Rotary, or the name of the girl who will learn to read with our support. When will those grants start, and will your district — or you — be directly involved?
The Indigenous Tarahumara people live on the remote slopes and canyons of Mexico’s Sierra Madre mountains, growing ancient varieties of corn and beans for sustenance. But the seeds for these plants, handed down through generations, were wiped out by a prolonged drought. In the wake of the resulting widespread hunger, many young people and women with children left their homes to beg on city streets.
The Rotary clubs of Chihuahua Campestre, Mexico, and St. Augustine Sunrise, Florida, worked with a nongovernmental organization called Barefoot Seeds to facilitate community discussions with Tarahumara leaders to come up with solutions. Community leaders said they wanted seed banks and improved water storage to support continued subsistence farming.
“As an environmentalist and proud Rotarian, having Rotary’s attention directed to the environment fits exactly within my interests.”
Wijdan Alsharif
Member of club of Ramallah, Palestine and co-founder of the Palestine Green Building Council
The project established seed banks, demonstration farms, and plots to grow additional seeds using sustainable farming methods; reintroduced goats to improve soil fertility; installed rainwater harvesting equipment; and provided training. The project also provided solar-powered chest freezers to further extend the shelf life of stored seeds. At least 500 Tarahumara farmers received seeds, goats, or improved water access the first year.
This story originally appeared in the March 2021 issue of Rotary magazine.
India
In response to the devastation of hurricanes Gaja and Thane and the Nivar cyclone, Rotary members in the agricultural region of Tamil Nadu, India, planted over one million square feet of saplings in 100 days. The tree planting projects follow the style established by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, in which trees can grow 10 times faster.
Volunteers dug a hole three feet deep, mixed in manure and soil around a sapling, and then built fencing to protect the young tree. Water is provided through irrigation channels from nearby wells.
“The clubs left no stone unturned in approaching landowners, institutions, campuses, and organizations in fulfilling their mission,” says club member R Balaji Babu.
The protection of rivers, lakes, and seas is a major global undertaking, as water is an elementary part of life.
Australia
The Rotary clubs of Plimmerton and Porirua, New Zealand, have planted 5,000 species of wetlands trees and plants and plan to plant an additional 5,000 in 2021 to protect a wetland near Plimmerton in hopes of creating a forest of peace and remembrance. It is part of a New Zealand wide project funded by the Billion Trees program celebrating 100 years of Rotary in New Zealand and Australia.
“Our vision is to start a forest that will be able to be enjoyed by our grandchildren’s grandchildren,” says Bill McAulay, president of the Rotary Club of Plimmerton.
This story originally appeared in the February issue of Rotary Down Under magazine.
Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise - Founded June 30, 1986
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