A Sonoma County Treasure - the Robert Ferguson Observatory
"Stephanie Derammelaere came to RFO with a background in marketing, PR, and journalism. She previously founded and operated Career Leap that assisted individuals in job searching, creating business plans, and developing small business feasibility studies. She was also a writer for local business publications and community newspapers. Stephanie holds a degree in Business Economics and an MBA. At RFO Stephanie is responsible for strategic leadership, fund development, daily operations, partnerships and relationship management, communications, and the recruitment, retention, scheduling, and training of volunteers. In her free time, she loves spending time with her husband, two teenage children and two dogs and is an avid cyclist and swimmer.”
This story goes beyond our recent meeting at Pacific Coast Air Museum at Santa Rosa's Charles Schulz Airport last week. Given this date five years prior in 2017, our club, its members, and our district have witnessed over 1500 sunrises into new dawns of personal and community challenge. MJ Girard a member of Sunrise Rotary at the time was quoted in the Press Democrat with recollections of his acute awakening the morning of the Tubbs fire.
Each of us have experienced deep adaptations to events of that first fire and of those in succeeding years. As individuals, as members of Rotary, our landscapes are permanently changed. This article is dedicated to the remarkable resilience inspired by the events set ablaze back then.
Members lost homes: Amend's, Bridge's, Carlenzoli's, Chaney's, Coffey's, Girard, Olsen's, O'Rear's parents, Riels'. Relocation stress eventually claimed Rolf Wessman. Evacuations affected all. Arising amidst the recovery efforts was Rotary Fire Relief, an expanded outreach from Lake County area Rotary Clubs local response to earlier fires. Members of Sunrise joined dozens of other District 5130 members in interviewing and assisting in applicants for recovery grants, funded by worldwide contributions and distributed to survivors putting their livelihoods back on track. Over one million dollars were raised and the model of administration shared with other districts, including 5150 in Marin County, where Sunrise made a presentation to the Novato club. Kagoshima generously contributed over $40,000 towards our recovery! Members donned heavy duty PPE to assist Leroy Carlenzoli clear and prepare his lot for rebuilding. We adjusted, we adapted. We continue to learn and better understand our interdependence.
The Fountaingrove Inn which had been our weekly meeting venue was lost to the fire. Del knows the story on how our club banners badges and supplies survived. Our first in person meeting was at Church of the incarnation weeks after. More moist eyes than dry were seen in our faces as our sagas were shared. Our resilience and focus on leveraging the ongoing recovery process is echoed in Sunrise' community engagement, at Redwood Empire Food Bank, Women's Recovery Center, The Living Room and Forget Me Not Farm to name a few. President Doug Shureen and his Board had to navigate to a new venue in a sea of competing priorities. They led us through!!
Taken shortly before the Tubbs Fire incinerated our venue at the Fountaingrove Inn, this photo displays the enthusiasm embedded in Sunrise. That vitality is our DNA to act and serve, each other and the wider community, regardless of the season or time of day.
And, we had an invigorating and informative Sunrise meeting at the Pacific Coast Air Museum.
No matter where or what the circumstances confronting us, we rise to the occasion and find a role to take moving forward.
Lori Rodirgues and Steve Zwick braved the hour and the temp. We all heed the call.
Share one of your stories of gratitude and service.
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
Shauna Lorenzen presented Penny Millar with a Paul Harris Fellow award honoring her daughter in law, Katrina Boldoc.
Cindy Gillespie made a bold announcement - She's retiring from Amy's Kitchen this week!
Do you have Happy or Sad Dollars to share? There is no need to wait until the meeting. Send them to the editor.
In August, I was proud to visit Pakistan and highlight Rotary’s top goal, eradicating polio. It was also a tremendous opportunity to spotlight female health workers who are playing a critical role in protecting children from this vaccine-preventable disease.
This month, as we celebrate World Polio Day, we are shining a spotlight on our more than 30-year effort to lead the first global polio eradication campaign and our success in forming partnerships capable of completing this massive goal. We all know that this is one of the most ambitious global health initiatives in history and that we’ve reduced polio cases by more than 99.9 percent worldwide.
Pakistan is one of only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus remains endemic. (The other is neighboring Afghanistan.) I was able to witness and take part in vaccination campaigns in Pakistan, and soon after I left, a monumental nationwide immunization campaign took place, focused on 43 million children under the age of 5. I saw the incredible work of Rotary members on the ground. More than 60 percent of vaccinators in Pakistan are women, and they are doing a remarkable job building trust and convincing mothers to vaccinate their children.
Seeing it all firsthand, I know that the will exists across the Rotary world to end polio, and I’m confident that we have the strategy. The Pakistani media has been very supportive of our efforts as well, and this is making a difference. This month, a new global pledging moment at the World Health Summit in Berlin promises to pull together more resources to fund these time-sensitive eradication efforts. Now it is up to us to do our part and raise $50 million this year to earn the full 2-to-1 match from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
There’s great cause for optimism on the polio front — but also some staggering new events that have further raised the stakes. Over the past few months, new polio outbreaks have occurred in Israel, the United Kingdom and, most recently, in the New York City area. These stories are frightening, but in every case, the response is clear — vaccines work, and if polio is spreading, we need to make sure the most at-risk people have kept their vaccinations up to date.
Most importantly, we need to eradicate this virus now. If polio exists anywhere, it can spread everywhere. What I saw in Pakistan convinced me that we can and must finish the job, but it will only happen if we remain committed to a strategy that’s working and back it with all necessary resources.
Through our commitment, generosity, and sheer determination, we will #EndPolio.
Who are your Rotary heroes? One of mine was Clem Renouf, 1978-79 RI president. I related to Sir Clem, who died in 2020, in many ways. We shared the same profession and Australian nationality and a passion for polio eradication. It was Clem’s leadership that first put us on track to embrace the cause, mobilizing what is today a global partnership that has led us to the cusp of eradicating a human disease for only the second time in history.
What Rotary and its partners have achieved is nothing short of remarkable. We have helped reduce polio cases by 99.9 percent worldwide, immunizing more than 2 billion children across 122 countries. Last year alone, more than 370 million children were vaccinated across 30 countries, using more than 1 billion doses of oral polio vaccine. As a result, we are seeing near historic lows in the number of cases. In August 2020, the World Health Organization African region was certified free of wild poliovirus, an incredible achievement for Rotary members and a huge step on the road to eradication.
But remember that as long as polio exists anywhere, it is a threat to people everywhere, especially to young children. You may have heard about importations of the disease to Malawi and Mozambique, detection of poliovirus in sewage in the UK, and a recent case in the U.S.
To stay agile, Rotary and its partners are deploying a new polio vaccine, novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2), to fight outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus, also known as variant poliovirus, which continues to threaten children in Africa, as well as several countries in Asia and the Middle East, including Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Rotary is as active as ever. We are calling on every member to take action and be part of this historic fight. Take the fight to your clubs and communities on World Polio Day, 24 October. Keep raising awareness of the importance of polio eradication and Rotary’s critical role in that effort by holding events and fundraisers. Don’t forget that contributions toward the goal of $50 million per year for polio eradication will be matched 2-to-1 by our generous partner, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Like Sir Clem, we can all be Rotary heroes, each playing a part in our organization’s great legacy. Through giving, raising awareness and funds, and providing hands-on service, each of us brings Rotary a step closer to fulfilling our promise to the children of the world by eradicating polio for good.
World Polio Day 2022 and Beyond: A healthier future for mothers and children, will be held virtually and in-person on 21-22 October in Geneva, Switzerland. The event will highlight the status of polio eradication and address the potential for community-based solutions that go beyond immunizations to enhance the health of mothers and their children.
Following the announcement of Rotary's pledge of an additional US$150 million toward future polio eradication efforts, Rotary International President Jennifer Jones will join Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) in discussing the state of polio eradication and its broader relevance to global health. Register now to attend in-person. (Registration not required to take part virtually)
The recent detections of the poliovirus in New York and UK have increased awareness of the disease's continued threat. Earlier this year, an unvaccinated man in New York was paralyzed and poliovirus was detected in sewage in London. The moment presents an opportunity to highlight the importance of vaccinations as the only form of protection against polio and many other diseases.
At the Geneva event, experts in polio, vaccines and maternal and child health will also discuss the benefits of going "beyond" immunization efforts to invest in the children protected by these vaccines and their mothers. Building on the current investments will ensure that the mothers and children saved from vaccine-preventable diseases can benefit from other preventative and life-saving services, enabling mothers to have a positive experience with their pregnancy and empowering young children to achieve their full potential.
The event will be held in English with French and Spanish interpretation.
Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise - Founded June 30, 1986
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