Alan Silow is President and CEO of the Santa Rosa Symphony. He has held this leadership position since July of 2002 and will be retiring after 21 years in July 2023. During his tenure, the Symphony returned to a fiscally sound basis that produced surpluses in operations annually for 20 years, while tripling the annual budget to $5 million and growing the endowment from $1.5 million to over $17 million. Silow played a leadership role in the public/private partnership with Sonoma State University to build a new world-class symphony hall that opened in Fall 2012 where the Santa Rosa Symphony is now the resident orchestra of the Green Music Center.
Silow’s accomplishments were recognized with a nonprofit leadership award for innovation, community engagement and growth given by North Bay Business Journal in October 2012 and received several awards in recognition of service including the first ‘Heart of Sonoma County Excellence in Leadership’ in 2022.
Prior to taking this position, he concluded a successful, three-year tenure as Executive Director of ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio. Previous positions include Director of Marketing & Public Relations for the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and Executive Director of the Santa Fe Convention & Visitors Bureau. During his tenure, readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine named Santa Fe the top travel destination in the world.
Silow graduated Phi Beta Kappa with an undergraduate B.A. degree in Economics with Honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs. He is married to a lovely and talented university professor, with one son who currently practices as an attorney in NYC. He lives in Oakmont.
In a rarely seen scene without his camera, Charter President Warren Smith could relax and schmooze.
Sunrise meeting June 1 met at Landmark Vineyard in Kenwood. Many thanks to immediate Past President Jennifer Adams Special Event Coordinator with Landmark, Kent Seegmiller, Tasting Room Sommelier, and Tom Eakin, Club Administrator who along with spouse Joanne provided paired hors d'oeurvre par excellence.
President Jack enjoyed the perfect setting and weather to start his taper into Past Presidency term coming up at the end of the month.
Randy Seelye soaked in great snacks and conversation with the other nearly 40 guests. Is that Pinot or Cab Sav?
Encore~ ASAP ~ either as a group, or ala carte, the garden, fountains and trees around the comfortable furniture create the perfect wine country pairing.
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!
Posted by Carolyn Anderson, Merle Hayes, Rich Randolph
Elsie Allen Lobos Commence
Just over 300 seniors tossed tassels Friday June 2, last week and commenced their exit from extended compulsory education.
See photos of the commencement by clicking HEREto be taken to the Press Democrat.
Parents, siblings, teachers, counselors joined the celebration. Sunriser's Carolyn Anderson, Merle Hayes and Rich Randolph vicariously experienced some of the feelings students felt.
Having met students at performances, Interact service projects, career exploration and scholarship applications built a personal connection. Hearing names out loud gives a real sense of partnership with student success.
Merle will be succeeded in July by Willie Billeter as our Interact Advisor. Congratulations to both of you! Interact has become our channel of communication with Elsie Allen Lobos providing a means for students to discover Service Above Self on campus and beyond.
Graduates ongoing education has been bolstered by Sunrise financial scholarship support and leadership opportunities. Our confidence in Lobo students is assured as we continue to engage in supporting their plans to dream and achieve!
Above, the Fonseca's stand in front of Xavier's latest move, Nova University South where he will commence his continuing career an as Adjunct Professor in the School of Dentistry. Ana Lucia is preparing for her Dental Hygienist exams and plans to continue towards Dental licensure.
Here below is Sunrise in Sabalos, Nicaragua February 2018 on our semi-annual vision and dental project. Xavier participated while Ana Lucia was busy with 6 month old Luciana.
By way of Santa Rosa with a "Can & Will Do" attitude, the Fonseca's have successfully made major moves in their quest for career fulfillment and securer future for their daughter and themselves.
They arrived in Santa Rosa July 13, 2018. Penny Millar and Betsy Randolph greeted Xavier, Ana Lucia and 11 month old daughter Luciana at Charles M Schulz Airport.
And here they are starting to get settled near Fort Lauderdale. Luciana now nearly 6 enjoys dance classes, animals and adores her parents. Let the author know if you would like to contact the Fonseca's.
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?
2. What can you hold in your right hand, but never in your left hand?
Send your answers to the editor. Brownie points and answers will appear in next week's bulletin.
Answers to last week's brain teasers:
1. A cowboy rode into town on Friday. He stayed for three nights and rode out on Friday. How is this possible?
A) His horse's name is Friday (Kent Seegmiller got the answer correct).
2. How can you drop a raw egg from a height onto a concrete floor without cracking it?
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.
See the world courtesy of this year’s award-winning photographers
Writing in this magazine in 1946, Paul Harris remarked that “travel is a good corrective for … mental near-sightedness.” The same holds true for photography, especially if, like Rotary itself, the photographer takes a global perspective.
To verify that observation you need look no further than this issue of Rotary magazine, where we reveal the finalists in this year’s Photo Awards. Including the cover, there are a dozen photographs that carry us from Egypt to Idaho, from Nigeria to Taiwan. Along the way we see everything from an intimate moment as a medical team prepares for surgery to a sweeping nightscape illuminated by an aurora borealis.
Though they are shot in different parts of the world, employ distinct palettes, and evoke different emotions, all of these photographs have in common an unseen beauty. These days we’re constantly bombarded with images — and in an era of AI and CGI, it can be difficult to know if what we’re seeing is real. But in these 12 photos we have the privilege of standing in the photographers’ shoes and experiencing an honest understanding of a particular moment.
That generosity of spirit is another Rotary trait.
By sharing their pictures, the photographers enable the rest of us to join them on their journey.
— Jacqueline Cantu, art director, Rotary magazine
Winner
Photographer: Edward Uhalla
Rotaract Club of Ikate, Nigeria
In Lagos, Nigeria, I was trying to document the introduction of District 9110’s 2022-23 Rotaract representative. In the thick of the chaos, this happy Rotaractor locked eyes with me, and I captured this celebratory moment in time. Judges say: The photo captures the jubilance of the occasion and the excitement of the crowd of Rotaractors. Technically, the photographer’s command of the image’s sharpness and its excellent monochromatic shades are superb!
Winner: People of action
Photographer: Dan Milham
Rotary Club of Metairie, Louisiana
Dr. Dan Jacob (top left), co-founder of New Orleans Medical Mission Services, prays with nurses and assistants, including Rotarian Jennifer Esler (bottom left), before heading to the operating room for surgery during a medical mission in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, on 23 May 2022. Judges say: The moment, the composition, the light. Very simple and very, very impressive.
The judges
Maurizio Gambarini is chief photographer at the Berlin-based Bild am Sonntag newspaper. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Berlin-Tiergarten.
Paul J. Keenon, the proprietor of Covenant Eyes Photography, is a past president (2008-09) of the Rotary Club of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and has served as an assistant governor of Rotary District 6440.
Chao-an Liang owns a wedding photography studio in Taipei, Taiwan. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Chumeng, Taiwan.
Ed Zirkle is an award-winning photojournalist who has done work for the Associated Press and United Press International. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Upper Arlington/Grandview (TriVillage), Ohio.
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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