Cea Higgins serves as the Executive Director of Coastwalk/ California Coastal Trail Association-the only statewide nonprofit with the mission to promote, preserve, and complete the California Coastal Trail.
Cea is currently developing programs that increase opportunities for under-represented communities to experience and steward the Coast and the Coastal Trail. Her career includes serving as the Policy and Volunteer Coordinator for Sonoma Coast Surfrider Foundation, where she has coordinated beach clean-ups and conducted youth and community marine debris education programs for the last 20 years. Cea was also selected by NOAA to serve on the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council and chaired the Sediment Management Working Group working with governmental agencies and County planning departments to develop climate-smart adaptation policies to more effectively deal with coastal erosion and sea level rise. She is the coastal representative on the Sonoma County Water Coalition, which focuses on improving water quality. In addition, she is a founding member of the Bodega Bay Collaborative, which sponsors town halls, community forums, and provides a voice to unincorporated coastal areas. Cea also helped establish the Sonoma County Marine Protected Areas Collaborative, where she works with scientific institutions, environmental NGOs, and tribal governments to raise awareness of the value of marine protected areas amongst coastal residents and visitors.
Cea earned a BS in Education from the University of Virginia and a Masters in Science in Curriculum Design & Atypical Learning from the University of Wisconsin. To improve her ability to advocate for coastal preservation, she earned a Juris Doctorate with honors from Concord Law School.
An avid surfer, hiker, and trained in marine mammal and sea bird rescue, Cea believes in giving back to the ocean and coast that she is blessed to enjoy and work to protect.
Our guest speaker for March 18, 2021, was Claudia Vecchio, President and CEO of Sonoma County Tourism. Claudia has been with SCT for three years, which happens to coincide with wildfires, floods, and Covid-19, not the best foundation for visitors! She has 25 years of experience in the tourism industry. She has ushered in a new multi-year strategic plan to deal with these challenges with a new destination brand: “Sonoma County: Life Opens Up.”
Claudia gave us important information about tourism in Sonoma County. We are an amazing destination. Sonoma County is on Forbes’ bucket list of top 21 destinations. Conde Nast Traveler calls Healdsburg one of the top places to go in 2021. Prior to the pandemic, tourism brought $2.3 billion in direct and indirect income to Sonoma County. The pandemic has been a disaster for tourism. Tax revenue from tourism in Sonoma County dropped by 39% in 2020. 600,000 people lost their tourism-related jobs in California. Small businesses have been especially hard-hit. Rebuilding tourism is vital to Sonoma County’s recovery. SCT is working on doing just that. Claudia believes, and has the data to support that belief, that investing a dollar with SCT to advertise Sonoma County as a tourism destination yields $160 in dollars spent by visitors and $18.13 in total tax revenue! What an ROI!
SCT has worked hard to engage audiences during the pandemic. It has stayed in close contact with the Board of Supervisors, worked with the Economic Development Board, held town-hall meetings, engaged heavily in social media, and conducted photo-shoots, among other things. SCT is working hard to generate new interest in Sonoma County tourism and bringing people back to visit us. Economists think that tourism will rebound quickly. We are ready for a renewal and SCT is going to help make that happen.
Many thanks to Claudia for the great presentation and all of her hard working in getting Sonoma County back on top!
You may watch Claudia's Zoom presentation available HERE for the next week or so.
Our club is going to receive $100 from the District to do an environmental project between now and Earth Day at the end of April. I have a challenge for you- how can we turn $100 into the best environmental project? Leverage the Grant by asking clubmembers to match it 25 cents, 50 cents or dollar-for-dollar? Ask a nursery to donate some native plants or trees to plant? What should/could we do with $100 (or $500 or $1,000- whatever we can turn it into?). Plant trees? Sponsor a bed or beds in a community garden for a family that can’t afford “the rent” for a season? Donate to the formation of a new community garden? Sponsor a Public Service Announcement on the environment? Make a donation to an environmental organization like Oona Heacock that involves children? Send me your ideas and we’ll see which ones get the most traction. Thanks for putting on your thinking caps, Sunrisers!
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!
Count the people and multiply by two! Sunrise Rotary offered plenty of dexterity and with Cassidy Childs youthful agility garnered over 20 bags of trash and several recyclable containers. The Joe Rodota Trail received a freshening sweep and the Santa Rosa Creek/Russian River watershed lost pounds of waste, threatening habitats to numerous riparian residents.
Here Pres Paul and Past Pres Penny pause for a briefing.
While the litter disappeared, Sunrisers gained some great insights into river ecology and history. City Volunteer Alistair gave mini lessons on water flows, habitat needs and threats such as heat, silt, bacteria and unwanted nutrients from fertilizers.
Under his watch cap, Harry Coffey celebrates his haul with Max Childs Could you find that intersection?
Where is everybody? We are listening to Alistair's lesson on the Egrets perched below and how the Santa Rosa and Matanzas creeks converge underground near City Hall. The first day of Spring brought welcome sun, blue sky with great clouds and super Sunrise fellowship as always.
The City, trail walkers and riders, and river residents thank the following Sunrisers : PAUL AND PENNY, STACY, JIM'S K & M, KEN, MARTY, HARRY, RICH,MAX & CASSIDY, AND PETER H!!
This project, is one of an ongoing series developed by South Ukiah Rotary designed to improve Russian River water quality. Increase public awareness about the dangers of plastic and its prevalence, stop littering and illegal dumping, work to enforce anti-litter laws and coordinate with highway trash removal schedules.
In the doorway leading to the surgery salons, Rafael Prasyln proudly ushers in the first patients to the long awaited SurgiCenter in Sabalos, Nicaragua.
Rafael and spouse, Ninoska, were present last Tuesday documenting the ribbon cutting and celebration ceremony.
Moments earlier, the lobby was full of guests who came to celebrate and recognize the many people there and abroad who made this 10 year incubation dream come true.
Sunrise' role in this project began with out-of-the-box thinking by Don Floriani, John Jones, Peter Hoberg and Steve Zwick. Their envisioning, creating, collaboration, overcoming frustrating delays only strengthened their resolve to persevere. Today and tomorrow and in the years to follow, Sunrise' vision and commitment to opening doors of opportunity and building bridges with Goodwill and Better Friendships continues to inspire us toward Service Above Self.
Stay tuned for updates as the SurgiCenter advances healing, provides hope inspires confidence for a brighter, sustainable future.
.MJ. Girard is currently an on air personality on KOWSfm.com His “Roots of Rock” is broadcast every Sunday morning at 7
Ah, the 1960’s...popular music started to mature and almost every week presented a new dance step to learn from the “Twist” to the “Mash Potato” the “Swim” the “Jerk” the “Watusi” the “Pony”... just to tickle your fancy with a few of the memorable ones. You may recall a favorite of yours that will bring back the days of youthful endeavors. The mid ‘60’s saw Cannon Ball and the Headhunters hit the top 100 with their version of “Land Of A Thousand Dances”. The “Locomotion” and “Mash Potato Time” where written specifically to capitalize on the craze, oftentimes the choreography was published in teen magazines. Let us not forget the “Limbo Rock”...a knee bending balancing act dance that I doubt I could accomplish today without falling on my backside! Rock and Roll had a simple mission from it’s onset, to give the youth its identity, the music that some adults found annoying, which fed the fires of rebellion, the right of passage that all teenagers must traverse. Dancing 💃🏼 🕺🏼 is an excellent way to exercise and keep fit...restart your dancing activities, dust off your dancing shoes...start with something slow and easy... As the song says.....”Keep On Dancing”! Dance tunes from the 1960’s will be featured 28 March.
The Sunrise Bulletin Spotlight is searching for untold stories, little known background bios, news and clues and other tantalizing, informative angles on Sunrisers, both new and vintage. This week, the spotlight continues to search while members are busy tackling taxes (their own and for clients), cleaning up and cleaning out on their own and with other Rotarians (see story in this issue, with photos of busy ones) and having fun.
Watch this space for future Spotlights on Sunrisers who are currently taking their grandchildren sledding at Shasta, pouring over paperwork at home and in the office, and tackling much needed projects brought on and/or complicated by Covid-19. Who will be spotlighted next? Perhaps it will be you....!
Lively from his local domestic studio gym Jon Stark demonstrates his longevity form. Noted for his remarkable recovery from COVID19, Jon's medical team credits much of his resilience to his faithful fitness regimen.
The Supurunda Water Supply Project in Papua New Guinea has been a successful example of how Rotary is advancing peace and providing clean water and sanitation.
by Rotary Down Under
In 2018, eight villages inhabited by five cultural groups agreed to put aside past conflicts so they could enjoy the benefits of a safe, clean water supply. The resulting water system is now a common and enduring thread that, no matter what else happens, will unite them and will be protected by them for everyone to enjoy into the future.
The project area is 30 km (about 19 miles) northwest of Goroka, in Daulo District, in the Eastern Highlands Province. With a total cost of US$62,969, the project was supported by a Rotary Foundation global grant of $24,011, along with funds from a number of Rotary districts and clubs in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
The Rotary Club of Goroka managed the project, and Osivo Ombuano, then the club's secretary, led the effort. Ian Cameron of the Rotary Club of Mitchelton, Queensland, and Wes Nichols of the Rotary Club of Toowong, Queensland, served as project directors and mentored the project delivery team.
The system supplies clean water to 3,000 villagers in eight villages for the first time ever. The water comes from a spring and is delivered through a gravity-feed system that has few parts, which will make maintaining it relatively easy and inexpensive. Construction materials were purchased locally, and the villagers completed construction within six weeks. Over 7 km (4.3 miles) of pipe were trenched as part of the project, tanks were installed to store the water, and 52 communal taps now provide free-flowing water to clusters of houses, schools, churches, and health clinics.
The spring can supply 2.25 liters (.6 gallons) per second — that's up to 65 liters (17 gallons) per person per day. Water from the Asaro and Gota Rivers, although not fit to drink, supplements the water supply to irrigate crops, helping drive the community's economic development.
Before the project began, a memorandum of understanding was developed between the five tribal groups and the owner of the water supply source to share the water among the villages. This agreement was used as the basis for a policy document, which is registered with the local court and is enforceable by law.
A water, sanitation, and hygiene education program was rolled out prior to construction, with sessions for schoolchildren and other villagers. A briefing was held for the Supurunda Water Supply Committee, and this helped ensure that the program was implemented effectively for the entire population. The program will be repeated each year for schoolchildren.
Osivo and his skilled team of plumbers, carpenters, concreters, pipe layers, and other water supply installers trained the local workforce in installing and maintaining the water supply system.
Everyone — men, women, and children — was involved in the construction phase, which gave them all ownership of the project to ensure that the system will be protected and preserved.
Celebrating the success with a feast
Around 2,000 people came to celebrate the completion of the project in a groundbreaking opening ceremony, where all eight villages were represented by people in traditional dress.
Supurunda Water Supply Committee Chair, Pastor Monda Kombai, said the ceremony was the biggest celebration they'd held since independence in 1975.
The villagers supplied 13 pigs — an unusually large number — to be cooked in a mumu, a pit in the ground for roasting pork and vegetables. Along with other food, it was divided and presented to various parties in honor of their contributions to the project. As a comparison, only one pig was shared at the most recent celebration before this.
Pigs play an important role in Papua New Guinean culture, where they represent social values and are a status symbol.
"When we asked why so many pigs were offered up, we found out that, as well as for the celebration, the pigs were being used to settle past grievances," Nichols says. "Peace and conflict resolution was happening right there in front of us and all as a byproduct of supplying safe, clean water. This was an extremely serious and important part of the celebration."
The Supurunda Water Supply Committee will oversee the operation and maintenance of the system, and a monthly levy on households will raise funds for its maintenance.
"They are a very professional team and have everything in place to ensure the sustainability of the project," Nichols says.
Since the initial project was completed, the water supply system has been extended to the nearby village of Osomea. A 5,000-liter tank from an unsuccessful European Union project was relocated to Osomea to be used as a distribution tank for the village.
The Supurunda Water Supply Committee still meets, the education program continues, and the people's health is benefiting.
"This has been a spectacularly successful project," Nichols says. "It is providing water to communities who never imagined they would ever see clean, running water in their villages in their lifetime."
The Supurunda Water Supply Project and its forerunner, the Dudumia Project, are being used as templates for five more projects now in progress. Global grant applications for water supply systems in the villages of Benga, Kranget, Obura, Sausi, and Waripo are currently being assessed.
• This story has been adapted from the November 2020 issue of Rotary Down Under
Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise - Founded June 30, 1986
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Ah, the 1960’s...popular music started to mature and almost every week presented a new dance step to learn from the “Twist” to the “Mash Potato” the “Swim” the “Jerk” the “Watusi” the “Pony”... just to tickle your fancy with a few of the memorable ones.
