Quietly Do Something Amazing: Lily Rubio and Zela-Lee Flores, Co-Presidents of the St. Isabella School Interact Club
Our guest speakers for August 11, 2022, were co-presidents of the St. Isabella School Interact Club, Lily Rubio and Zela-Lee Flores. Lily and Zela-Lee are now entering high school at Marin Catholic in Marin County and gave us an enthusiastic and enlightening summary of their time running the Interact Club during their 8th grade year at St. Isabella. By the way, Lily and Zela-Lee had lots of kudos for their St. Isabella Interact coordinator, our own President Jack Strange. Jack has every reason to be proud of these energetic young women!
Covid-19 put their Interact Club on hold for most of 2020 and 2021. They had only one Interact meeting after the mandated health closure of 2020. Lily told us that she had been so excited to become involved in Interact when she first became eligible (6th grade) and was dismayed about not being able to participate once the closure occurred. She said it was like having your favorite TV show cancelled! When Lily and Zela-Lee entered their 8th grade year, and the Covid-19 restrictions were mostly lifted, they decided to resurrect the Club. They had strong support from President Jack. They had no problem getting a very large number of interested members and had a flood of applicants for the Board of Directors. Once they selected the 18-member Board, they had their first meeting on September 29, 2021. Their meetings were always student-run and follow Roberts Rules of Order. They make all of their own financial decisions, with approval of an adult to sign the checks.
Their club’s accomplishments were amazing. They instituted a Music & Memory program at Broadway Villa in Sonoma. This program allows these institutionalized elders, most with some form of memory loss, to enjoy great music and recall what their lives were like when they were younger. The club instituted a winter coat drive at Redwood Gospel Mission, sold 8,000 Christmas ornaments made in Vietnam, delivered 40 St. Patrick Day cards to elders at Broadway Villa, delivered 781 books to the Global Book Exchange, donated $2,000 to Ukrainian relief efforts, and made $1,100 in a bake sale. They also had a wonderful “Winteract” dance at the Marin County Country Club! They were also very proud of planting a bougainvillea plant at Broadway Villa; they say that the plant will get prettier as their club gets stronger.
All of these accomplishments earned the St. Isabella School Interact Club an award for “Interact Club of the Month” from their District. Their club’s vision for the future is “quietly do something amazing.” Many thanks to Lily and Zela-Lee for their presentation. We predict great things from these young women; they will undoubtedly keep up the good work in high school and keep their vision in mind as they make their way through a world of many distractions!
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!
Stacy Drucker Andress and Kristine Burns held Entrance Duty Sunday at the Farm Trails annual Gravenstein Apple Fair in Sebastopol's Ragle Park.
Saturday Harry Coffey held post, and Rich and Betsy Randolph joined Stacy and Kristine's shift.
Preliminary estimates were of 12,000 visitors.
Our volunteers took in cash for tickets sales and answered basic questions.
Exhibits and demonstrations featured cow milking, sheep shearing, horse tending and two music venues. We heard some lively Cajun style! Prominently promoted was the premier Gravenstein Apple! In pies, fritters, cider, or just off the tree. this fruit's unique tartness and popularity for baking kept bulk sales brisk.
The Apple Fair benefits Sonoma Farm Trails scholarship, education and public awareness programs for improving agricultural understanding.
Farm Trails is a year-round opportunity to discover our relationship between grower and eater. Follow this link for the menu available to see and taste Sonoma's treats!
Seeing so many people enjoy being out and about in such an upbeat. diverse setting was a great reminder of just how nourishing Sonoma County is and how interdependent we are. Sebastopol and Sunrise Rotary were heartily thanked by Farm Trails for stepping up to handle the essential gatekeeping role! High Five to Stacy, Harry, Kristine, Rich and Betsy!!
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
Happy Wedding!
Last weekend Paul and Penny’s daughter Madeleine married her longtime partner Manish Mamidanna in a beautiful pair of wedding ceremonies spanning two days. Saturday the bride and groom were wed in traditional Hindu style, accompanied by 230 friends and family, at Shiva-Vishnu Temple in Livermore. The ceremony was colorful, long, all in the Hindi language, full of ritual and at time humorous (including the bride being delivered to the hall carried in a basket by her brothers).
On Sunday the wedding shifted to Kirigin Cellars, a beautiful winery and grounds in the hills above Morgan Hill where a Western-style garden wedding, dinner and evening of enthusiastic dancing was enjoyed by all. Madeleine is a 6th grade teacher at Kawana Springs Elementary in Santa Rosa while Manish is an electrical engineer at Keysight, with a Ph.D. from U.C. Davis. Both bride and groom spent the first 10 years of their lives living in various countries before the respective families settled down to stabile residency in their middle school and high school ages, Madeleine in Santa Rosa, Manish in Cupertino.
Sad Dollars
Penny's mom, Ardie Millar, passed away on July 16th. She was 89 years old. Mom was a free spirit, loved to dance, travel, and be with friends. All my life people said I looked and sounded just like her, so in her own way, she carries on! Thank you to Eloise for finding her a residential home where she was well cared for.
Teaching is not for sensitive souls. While reviewing future, past, and present tenses with my English class, I posed this question: “‘I am beautiful’ is what tense?” One student raised her hand. “Past tense.”
Stephanie A. Urchick is selected to be the 2024-25 president of Rotary International
By Ryan Hyland
Stephanie A. Urchick, of the Rotary Club of McMurray, Pennsylvania, USA, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International for 2024-25.
Stephanie A. Urchick, of the Rotary Club of McMurray, Pennsylvania, USA, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International for 2024-25, a decision that would make her only the second woman to hold that position. She will be declared the president-nominee on 1 October if no challenging candidates have been suggested.
With the world facing incredible challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, disasters driven by climate change, and conflict in many regions, Urchick says Rotary’s leaders can offer a vision and a plan for overcoming these challenges.
“Measures taken by Rotary leadership to survive and end critical challenges often make our organization stronger and more resilient for future events,” Urchick says. “This kind of essential leadership also creates new levels of cooperation, even among rivals, when Rotarians pull together as people of action to serve and solve a crisis.”
Making regionalization a priority is crucial, says Urchick.
“Because Rotary operates in more than 200 countries and regions, it is vital to recognize that the organization has the potential to become more efficient and effective by understanding and reacting to how regional differences affect the way Rotarians work together to address providing service, promoting integrity, and advancing world understanding, goodwill, and peace,” Urchick says.
Urchick is partner and chief operating officer of Doctors at Work LLC, a consulting and training company. She holds a doctorate in leadership studies from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She is active on numerous community boards and committees, and has been honored by organizations including Zonta International and the Sons of the American Revolution.
A Rotary member since 1991, Urchick has traveled to Vietnam to help build a primary school and to the Dominican Republic to install water filters. She studies several Slavic languages, has mentored new Rotarians in Ukraine, and coordinated a Rotary Foundation grant project in Poland.
Urchick has served Rotary in many roles, including as a director, Foundation trustee, and chair of the RI Strategic Planning Committee and the Foundation’s Centennial Celebration Committee. She currently serves on the Election Review Committee and the Operations Review Committee. She is a Rotary Foundation Major Donor and a member of the Bequest Society.
To learn more about Urchick, read her interview and vision statement, which outline her goals for Rotary.
The members of the Nominating Committee for the 2024-25 President of Rotary International are: Floyd A. Lancia (chair), Rotary Club of Anthony Wayne (Fort Wayne), Indiana, USA; Guiller E. Tumangan (secretary), Rotary Club of Makati West, Makati City, Philippines; Jeffry Cadorette, Rotary Club of Media, Pennsylvania, USA; Bradford R. Howard, Rotary Club of Oakland Uptown, California, USA; Per Høyen, Rotary Club of Aarup, Denmark; Peter Iblher, Rotary Club of Nürnberg-Reichswald, Zirndorf, Germany; John M. Lawrence, Rotary Club of Paddington, Queensland, Australia; Jan Lucas Ket, Rotary Club of Purmerend, Netherlands; Seiji Kita, Rotary Club of Urawa East, Saitama, Japan; Sam Okudzeto, Rotary Club of Accra, Accra, Ghana; Bharat S. Pandya, Rotary Club of Borivli, Maharashtra, India; Kamal Sanghvi, Rotary Club of Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India; José Ubiracy Silva, Rotary Club of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil; David D. Stovall, Rotary Club of Hall County, Georgia, USA; Bryn Styles, Rotary Club of Barrie-Huronia, Ontario, Canada; Giuseppe Viale, Rotary Club of Genova, Italy; and Chang-Gon Yim, Rotary Club of Daegu West, Korea.
Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise - Founded June 30, 1986
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