Chef Robert Nieto launched Fleur Sauvage Chocolates in April of 2019 after over 18 years of working as a professional Pastry Chef, Chocolatier, Sugar Artist, and Baker. Robert’s nickname, Chef Buttercup, came about like most nicknames, as a joke… 14 years later it has stuck!
In 2016, Robert was named one of the Top 10 Pastry Chefs in America by Dessert Professional Magazine. Throughout his career, Robert has completed a myriad of pastry competitions including being a member of Pastry Team USA for the Mondial des Arts Sucre international competition in Paris France (2018). Robert and his teammate came in 5th in the world in this intense and highly competitive competition. Robert has also competed in the Valrhona Chocolate Chef Competition (C3), Pastry Live, and even completed a full Ironman Triathlon.
In December of 2019, Robert and his team won the Food Network series, Holiday Wars! In December of 2020 he competed in the show Food Network series, Candy Land!
In December of 2021, Robert realized his dream of opening his own chocolate shop after years of planning, preparation and hard work. Fleur Sauvage Chocolates (Fleur Sauvage means Wild Flower in French) makes artistic and delicious chocolate bon bons, candy bars, chocolate tablets, and chocolate showpieces.
The speakers from our January 5th meeting were our very own committee leaders!
This past Thursday we had our semi-annual club assembly. Santa Rosa Sunrisers stayed out of the torrential rainfall and met on Zoom. President Jack's focus was on successful takeaways from the first half of the Rotary year. Our club has had many victories; therefore, it was a delight to reflect on the events that shaped 2022.
President Jack requested that a handful of members share highlights of the year. Club Administrator, Tom Eakin talked about our venue at Francetti's and our ongoing effort to provide a delicious breakfast while keeping costs down. He expressed deep gratitude to Stacy and other members who help serve breakfast each week.
Unsung hero, Rich Randolph provided the club with an update on his adaptive swing project underway with the City of Santa Rosa. After navigating those murky bureaucratic waters that surround our local government, Rich has received approval to install two swings in local parks. Rich would love to have a committee to help him finish strong. If you're interested, please reach out to him.
Paul O'Rear and Debra Robertson talked briefly about our fundraiser. We have a lofty but obtainable goal of $85,000 in raffle ticket sales and corporate sponsorships. We are all superheroes and will help rescue some of the most vulnerable members of society through our monetary contributions.
Eloise Tweeten shared her agenda on our upcoming speakers. She has creatively organized speakers that are associated with each Rotary monthly theme. She and her committee have done an outstanding job coming up with engaging content for our weekly meetings.
The amazing, dedicated, and always colorful Jennifer Adams touched on Service Projects and highlighted our involvement with the food bank, Forget Me Not Farms, and the Winter Shelter dinners for the homeless. She commended Stacy for organizing our annual Mike Kelly Warm Clothing Drive and Leroy (The Golden Hammer) for his ongoing commitment to several non-profit organizations in the community. Leroy worked every day in December doing countless repairs.
John Jones updated us on Nicaragua. Sadly, the country is under a dictatorship and has required us to provide documents regarding our visit. John has been working tirelessly on preparing and sending the requested documents for the past several months; however, our mission had to be postponed due to red tape. We deeply appreciate John's ongoing efforts to maintain contact and connections with our friends in Nicaragua.
Shauna Lorenzen and Steve Amend discussed our invitation to the Kagoshima West Rotary Club's 60th Anniversary celebration. Several members of our club plan to travel to Kagoshima to celebrate. Shauna plans to discuss the fate of our SRKSP exchange program. Steve will meet with a past District Governor in Kyoto who does tea ceremonies to promote world peace, which has been featured in Rotary Magazine.
We wrapped up the assembly by participating in breakout rooms and discussing ways we can recruit new members to join our club. Some key insights were to focus on individuals who have recently retired or are established in their careers and have more time and financial flexibility.
Our assembly illustrated that we are indeed people of action. Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary will continue to make big strides in positively impacting our community and the world in 2023.
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!
Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary, more precisely The Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise has been chartered since June 30, 1986. Our first President was Warren Smith. Have you noticed, he continues to show up and serve.
Our 36th year is midway and for 2023-2024 our leadership is preparing and into 2024-2025 and even 2025-2026 members have come forward to accept leadership roles assuring continuity of progressive engagement.
Within our Club website are several superb collections of our history, including our year-by-year "Golden Book" album recording Sunrise initiatives and accomplishments.
Rather than drink from a firehose of memories, I invite you to browse a couple now, and over the next several months, join a tour through our stories, and along the way discover. rediscover your paths forward toward our new Sunrises.
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
Ross Jones was recognized for a new beginning in his career and sums it up like this; "Since the "M" and "A" in MAJ are retired and our lease was up, it was a perfect time for me to go solo. Still running a full-service business law practice, and of course always appreciate referrals." All the best, Ross, on your new adventure!
And, Stacey had this to say; A huge THANK YOU goes out to our club for contributing to the Mike Kelly Warm Clothing Drive. Once again we collected many warm items that have been distributed to our homeless neighbors. This simple act of kindness is greatly needed and appreciated.
Sad Dollars
Ralph Harriman shared trials and tribulations with his hip replacement and now his knee may also need a replacement. Let's wish him well in his recovery.
Do you have Happy or Sad Dollars to share? There is no need to wait until the meeting. Send them to the editor.
Rotary recently surveyed our members and found something that should be unsurprising but still caused many of us in Rotary leadership to sit up and pay attention: The single most important factor in member satisfaction is the club experience. How at home you feel in your club, how rewarding club meetings are, and how engaged you feel in service projects.
I have seen this firsthand across the Rotary world this year. When members feel an emotional connection to their club, they cannot imagine leaving. And that connection is often forged in “Rotary moments,” when people feel that special connection to the people around them and the impact of their service. Our Imagine Impact Tour is all about shining a light on those Rotary moments and encouraging our members to tell their stories.
But there’s something else that makes an enormous difference in building and sustaining that connection. It’s the comfort and care of our members — both Rotarians and Rotaractors. As my Rotary friend Todd Jenkins says, “People can’t see how you think, but they sure can see your actions.”
We are in the relationship business, and if we take care of each other — genuinely show concern for each other — then we will make friends for life, and we will do anything to widen that circle of friendship.
The question is: How do we live with our eyes wide open and do the things that really matter? We do this by taking time for each other, actively listening to one another, and treating every Rotary member as equally valuable — no matter how long we have been a member or what position we hold.
People like me in Rotary leadership can offer all kinds of advice about how to make your club experience more valuable. But what’s most important is for everyone in every Rotary club to speak up and listen to one another. We should never be afraid to share with our fellow Rotary member what we expect to get out of our membership and have an open discussion about how to make that happen.
To lead a Rotary club is to invite such dialogue and to be willing to try new approaches. Good leadership is giving it away. Propping others up. Allowing others to feel the victory.
I have one last request for club leaders. We still need to do more worldwide to increase our female membership. It’s up a bit this year, but I know we can and must do better. Rotary is growing again. As I write this, we’re just a handful of members away from surpassing 1.2 million Rotarians again. So let’s redouble our efforts to bolster our clubs with great new members, then keep them for life by providing comfort and care.
A new year is upon us. As we look forward to new beginnings and experiences, let’s think outside the box and find new opportunities to serve through Rotary.
Consider taking up a community economic development project this year. In this Rotary area of focus, we apply our professional experience by promoting the entrepreneurial spirit as we help communities help themselves in a sustainable way. Community economic development projects, to paraphrase the universal adage, don’t just give someone a fish today but teach them to fish so they can eat for a lifetime.
These projects can be microloans to start up a livestock breeding business, or they might take the adopt-a-village approach in which Rotary works with communities on multipronged efforts to boost local economies sustainably.
In 2000, during its transition to independence, Timor-Leste was reeling from political violence and destruction. Communities not only needed shelter and improved living conditions but also a new economy.
This is where Australian Rotary clubs stepped up with the East Timor Roofing project to produce and install corrugated roofing, and later, water tanks and grain silos. As the project grew, other organizations joined, including The Rotary Foundation, which delivered a grant that set the project on its path to success.
Before long, East Timor Roofing became a financially viable enterprise, raising enough money to build roofs for homes, schools, orphanages, and commercial buildings. Subsistence farmers got silos for their crops. Hundreds of Timorese received professional training in basic building and administrative skills. Thousands of new water tanks ensured that young girls could attend school rather than fetching water.
What began as a roofing project is today a commercial enterprise employing local people and making a huge impact. And your Foundation paved the way.
What experiences lie ahead for you in 2023? A district or global grant? Or possibly a visit to Melbourne, Australia, just up the road from my home, to make new friends, reunite with old ones, and find partners for projects during the 2023 Rotary International Convention?
Let’s make a New Year’s resolution to take advantage of opportunities to learn, grow, and serve. And let’s have some fun in the process. This is Rotary, after all.
So, my friends, let us go forth and carpe annum — seize the year.
Worldwide, only 17 percent of electronic waste and less than 5 percent of devices containing lithium ion batteries are recycled, even though their chemical elements offer a “cycle of nearly infinite recyclability,” according to Redwood Materials. Since early 2022, more than a dozen Rotary clubs across the United States have collaborated with the Nevada-based battery recycler to host collection drives, yielding tens of thousands of pounds of cell phones, laptops, power drills, electric toothbrushes, and more. “This is a turnkey project,” says Clari Nolet of the Rotary Club of Los Altos, California, a board member of the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group. “You clean out your junk drawer, address U.S. supply chain security and environmental issues, and assist in the adoption of electric cars.”
Canada
On 17 September, volunteers from the Rotary Clubs of Oakville, Oakville-West, and Oakville Trafalgar, Ontario, packed more than 1,000 bags of barley bound for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a Caribbean country recovering from a series of natural disasters. Rotary members emptied sacks of barley into bins, manually weighed the grains into 1-pound bags, and boxed them. Normally “it takes two shifts of five full-time people to accomplish what we did in three hours,” says Sundeep Khosla, an Oakville club member. His club has made a commitment to monthly shifts at the warehouse, run by GlobalMedic, a charity focused on rapid response to disasters worldwide.
Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise - Founded June 30, 1986
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Worldwide, only 17 percent of electronic waste and less than 5 percent of devices containing lithium ion batteries are recycled, even though their chemical elements offer a “cycle of nearly infinite recyclability,” according to Redwood Materials. Since early 2022, more than a dozen Rotary clubs across the United States have collaborated with the Nevada-based battery recycler to host collection drives, yielding tens of thousands of pounds of cell phones, laptops, power drills, electric toothbrushes, and more. “This is a turnkey project,” says Clari Nolet of the Rotary Club of Los Altos, California, a board member of the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group. “You clean out your junk drawer, address U.S. supply chain security and environmental issues, and assist in the adoption of electric cars.”
On 17 September, volunteers from the Rotary Clubs of Oakville, Oakville-West, and Oakville Trafalgar, Ontario, packed more than 1,000 bags of barley bound for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a Caribbean country recovering from a series of natural disasters. Rotary members emptied sacks of barley into bins, manually weighed the grains into 1-pound bags, and boxed them. Normally “it takes two shifts of five full-time people to accomplish what we did in three hours,” says Sundeep Khosla, an Oakville club member. His club has made a commitment to monthly shifts at the warehouse, run by GlobalMedic, a charity focused on rapid response to disasters worldwide.