President Jack Strange - WE ARE NOT ALONE - UAP/UFOs
Will 2023 be the year that decades worth of closely held evidence proving the existence of non-human spacecraft be revealed to the American public, indeed to the world?
Alan joined the Santa Rosa Symphony Orchestra as its CEO & President in 2002, when it was a good quality, but minor orchestra among the approximately 150 Regional Orchestras in California. Over his 21-year tenure, he was guided by 3 tenets:
1. BHAG -- Big, Hairy Audacious Goals 2. Passionate Dedication to Mission and Vision 3. Persistence
And some of his major accomplishments, working with a dedicated staff, musicians and board were:
1. The Green Music Center, which took 9 years longer to complete (2012 vs. 2003 original estimate) and $100 million more ($140 million vs. $40 million original estimate). Now, arguably, one of the finest concert halls in the U.S. and THE finest for a Regional Orchestra in the country.
2. Development of one of the best Music Educational Programs among all orchestras in the country. With 4 Youth Orchestras, including Simply Strings for young grade-schoolers, which our Club has supported financially. Many of these youth programs serve our Latino community and have changed lives!
3. Financial stability has been the hallmark of Alan's tenure, growing the budget from $1.7 to over $5 million, the endowment from under $5 million to $17 million, and operating every year in the black, even during the Great Recession and the Pandemic.
It's a remarkable record, and our community is the benefactor of it.
Alan worked with three talented Music Directors over the course of his 21 years that he likened to marriages. the latest, Francesco Lecce-Chong, age 32, brings charismatic energy and innovation that helped see the orchestra through natural disasters and the pandemic. Thank-you Alan.
Click HERE to see a limited time recording of Alan's presentation.
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!
First it was "Fines". And when that was thought to be "negative" it became "recognitions" and after that "High Five". But Jack has announced a new twist for these moments, designed to fit every celebration as well as sorrowful news. And it does not have to be a "High Five". "Happy Dollars" and "Sad Dollars" can be whatever you want them to be. Or whatever you feel is appropriate.
Happy Dollars
Harry Coffey - kept us updated on his grandson's track & Field results from the Bay Area “Meet of Champions “held at Dublin H.S. Liam Currie made the podium and Grandpa couldn't be more proud!
Rob Sanville attended the Blues brews & BBQs at Ives Park on June 3rd and had to hand it to the Rotary Clubs of Sebastopol for doing a great job educating folks about Rotary.
Peter Hoberg announced Molly's retirement after 30 years of teaching. We look forward to seeing her more often.
Sad Dollars
Shauna Lorenzen - gave an update on her son, Cole, who was three days in to his summer plans to walk the Camino when his knees became injured and had to return to his home.
He was asking for a donation for our local swimming pool.
I gave him a glass of water.
Answers to last week's brain teasers:
1. Pronounced as 1 letter, And written with 3, 2 letters there are, and 2 only in me. I’m double, I’m single, I’m black blue, and gray, I’m read from both ends, and the same either way. What am I?
A) Eye.
2. What can you hold in your right hand, but never in your left hand?
Speaking to you through the pages of Rotary magazine this past year has brought me so much joy. I have especially enjoyed sharing the incredible stories of the wonderful people Nick and I have met on the Imagine Impact Tour.
From Patzún in the mountainous western highlands of Guatemala to a small village outside of Lusaka, Zambia, we have been greeted by countless people who imagine and work toward a better world.
We were inspired by teachers who imagine a better education for girls and boys facing gender-based violence, by Rotaractors in a refugee settlement who created a flour mill to provide for their families in a critical food shortage, and by brave polio workers who push tirelessly to reach every last child.
All of us have imagined Rotary this year. This means looking past what we are today and reaching for what we could be tomorrow. We imagine a Rotary that will continue to tell our stories in impactful ways, work to reduce our carbon footprint, and focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts that lift every voice in our organization and beyond.
Nick and I want to thank all of you for the moments we’ve shared and for your efforts to Imagine Rotary. And now, we look forward to continuing these efforts as we Create Hope in the World. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve with each of you.
June marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of another in Rotary, a bittersweet time to reflect as we look ahead.
Looking back on this year, The Rotary Foundation accomplished a great deal. We renewed our determination to fight polio to the end. Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are implementing a strategy to stop the transmission of all wild poliovirus in the endemic countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan and the circulation of vaccine-derived poliovirus in outbreak countries. Last October, Rotary, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the global community collectively pledged $2.6 billion toward this plan.
We know what it takes to eradicate polio, and we have the strategies to do it. I urge all clubs to continue to take action in this historic effort by raising awareness and funds, especially around World Polio Day in October. Also, consider joining or starting a PolioPlus Society in your club or district to collectively give a set amount each year until polio is eradicated.
Our Foundation also responded to the devastating earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey through disaster response grants that helped clubs and districts provide aid.
The Foundation continued to grow. Rotaract clubs began volunteering on and applying for Foundation grants on their own. And our next Rotary Peace Center, made possible by a gift from the Otto and Fran Walter Foundation, will be located at Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul.
To all who supported The Rotary Foundation by volunteering on grant projects or through giving, I thank you. If you haven’t yet made your gift to the Foundation, please do so online by 30 June so we can end this remarkable year on a high note and reach our goal of raising $430 million.
We can be proud of what we have done this year, but let us never rest on our laurels; rather, let us remain persistent.
One of those who best personified persistence was Nelson Mandela. Speaking to a crowd of global dignitaries before his 90th birthday in 2008, he said, “It is in your hands to make of our world a better one for all, especially the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized.”
Changing the world is indeed in no one else’s hands but our own, and helping those in need is what defines and will continue to define Rotary and its Foundation in the years ahead.
I wish incoming Trustee Chair Barry Rassin, the Trustees, and our staff continued success in making a difference through The Rotary Foundation.
Rotary clubs in District 5370 partnered with social service agencies to provide beds for families, including Ukrainian refugees resettled in the Edmonton area. More than 10 clubs teamed up with the nonprofit Sleep in Heavenly Peace for a bed-building day in October. Rotarians, Rotaractors, and friends and family assembled 35 beds in eight hours, says Kelly Baker, immediate past president of the Rotary Club of Edmonton Northeast. The district collaborated with Ukrainian Canadian Social Services and Catholic Social Services to arrange funding and to identify the neediest recipients. Rotary members followed up less than a month later with “Stuff a Van,” a bed linen collection at a shopping center. “Eighteen people braved the cool weather, and the Rotaractors were amazing as they promoted this event,” Baker says. “We had a number of Ukrainian nationals stop by and tell their story, and it really affirmed why we were doing this drive.” The clubs also raised about CA$10,000 (US$7,500), with some of it going to purchase adult-sized beds.
Grenada
Grenada’s national library, damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and forced to close a few years later, stands as a picture of decay, with its door padlocked and windows broken. The Rotaract Club of Grenada aims to show that the weather-beaten building is hardly symbolic: The nation, like many of its West Indies neighbors, has a high literacy rate. In July 2022 club members collected more than 500 books and, with assistance from a local carpenter, Rotarians, and friends, constructed three book boxes modeled after the Little Free Libraries. The club placed them in well-trafficked parks in the parish of St. George, home of the country’s capital. The club also renovated the library at its adopted Mt. Moritz Anglican School, supplying new shelves, desks, and a fresh coat of paint. “Our national library has not been functional for years so a lot of reading material is not as available as it should be,” club member Semone Sargeant says. The installation of the boxes “creates an avenue for persons to read whatever they want, how often they want.”
This story originally appeared in the June 2023 issue of Rotary magazine.
Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise - Founded June 30, 1986
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Rotary clubs in District 5370 partnered with social service agencies to provide beds for families, including Ukrainian refugees resettled in the Edmonton area. More than 10 clubs teamed up with the nonprofit 
Grenada’s national library, damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and forced to close a few years later, stands as a picture of decay, with its door padlocked and windows broken. The Rotaract Club of Grenada aims to show that the weather-beaten building is hardly symbolic: The nation, like many of its West Indies neighbors, has a high literacy rate. In July 2022 club members collected more than 500 books and, with assistance from a local carpenter, Rotarians, and friends, constructed three book boxes modeled after the Little Free Libraries. The club placed them in well-trafficked parks in the parish of St. George, home of the country’s capital. The club also renovated the library at its adopted Mt. Moritz Anglican School, supplying new shelves, desks, and a fresh coat of paint. “Our national library has not been functional for years so a lot of reading material is not as available as it should be,” club member Semone Sargeant says. The installation of the boxes “creates an avenue for persons to read whatever they want, how often they want.”