The Living Room (TLR) at 1207 Cleveland Avenue in Santa Rosa is the offsite location for our regular meeting on Thursday, Sept. 26 7:15a-8:30a. The Living Room’s mission is to ease adversity and promote stability and self-reliance for women and children in Sonoma County who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness. The past 30 years have seen TLR grow strong roots at The Church of the Incarnation on Cherry Street. TLR moved and expanded at 1207 Cleveland Avenue in 2016 where for three and a half years thousands of women and children came to the campus for basic needs, classes, meals, fellowship, resources and safety. While COVID-19 caused many organizations to reduce or shutter, TLR grew its Transitional Housing Program, fortified its food program, and continued its street outreach which led to the opening of The Living Room Life Center on Dutton Avenue for day services in March of 2021.
Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary has been a supporter of The Living Room with contributions over the last several years, including a large contribution to enable the purchase of their Dutton Avenue facility. Three members of The Living Room staff will be with us at the meeting: Alethea Larsen, Executive Director, Elizabeth Beaty, Development & Community Engagement Manager (pictured below), and Chris Moonsammy, Food Services Director.
For those attending the September 26 meeting, please dress warmly as the meeting will be held in the outdoor garden, and there are no warmers. Also, this week's meeting will be live only, not available on Zoom.
Our speaker for Thursday, September 19, 2024, was Sunrise member, Eric Johnston. Eric is the CEO and Publisher of Sonoma Media Investments, LLC, the owner of the Press Democrat, Sonoma Index-Tribune, Petaluma Argus-Courier, North Bay Business Journal, Sonoma County Gazette, Sonoma Magazine, and La Prensa Sonoma. Eric has been in journalism his entire professional life, starting while in high school in Lodi. He’s worked as a journalist and news executive for over 20 years at various newspaper publishers throughout the Central Valley, in Seattle, and now in Santa Rosa. Eric joined Sonoma Media Investments in 2022. Eric’s topic was “How Do Local Newspapers Survive and Prosper?”
Eric provided us with a summary of the state of journalism in the U.S. Perhaps the most notable development in journalism is the drastic reduction in local media. Since 2004, the U.S. has lost more than 2,100 newspapers, resulting in the creation of “news deserts” in many locations. Currently in the U.S., 200 counties do not have a local newspaper and about half of all U.S. counties have only one newspaper, usually a weekly. Many newspapers continue to exist but have drastically curtailed newsrooms. These papers have sometimes sacrificed local staff in favor of profitability. The decline started in the 1990’s and has accelerated through the present. Estimated U.S. daily newspaper circulation peaked at about 60 million and is currently around 20 million. Only 4 major media organizations own most of the media companies in the U.S.!
These changes were caused in large part by the rise of the internet in the early 2000’s. The shift towards finding news online drastically cut the number of subscribers at local news companies and resulted in huge decreases in advertising revenue. Print newspaper subscription prices have skyrocketed. Now, however, newspaper companies have gone digital. 50-60% of U.S. advertising revenue is now digital. The New York Times currently has about 10.36 million subscribers, 9.7 of whom are digital-only. The NYT’s goal is to have 9.7 million digital subscribers by the end of 2027. The Press Democrat currently has 42,000 subscribers, half of whom are digital. A Press Democrat digital subscription is about half the price of a print subscription.
The Press Democrat’s response to these changes has been fairly atypical. While the newsroom is smaller than it was in the 1980’s and 1990’s, it is currently growing. The company now has 170 employees, with 80 in the newsroom. They have hired new reporters and are still recruiting for open reporter positions. The PD has a great pool of long-time reporting and newsroom talent; people who like the PD and community culture and values. The PD has the largest newsroom in Northern California, other than the San Francisco Chronicle. The PD has a new editor who is focusing on more local reporting, such as school board meetings, libraries, and other community interest stories. Eric emphasized that Sonoma County has several important advantages over other similarly sized communities; an engaged readership and strong local and regional advertisers.
Eric’s message is that news is not a spectator sport! To keep local journalism thriving we need to subscribe, advertise, and donate! Yes, the PD now has its own 501c3 company, the Press Democrat Foundation Trust, which, among other things, awards scholarships to young journalists. The PD also has a new Snoopy podcast (“You Don’t Know Peanuts”) and a local wine label (“Good Press”)! Thank you, Eric, for the fantastic presentation. The PD is yet another example of the greatness of Sonoma County!
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!
Kenae Nagasawa and the origins of the Fountaingrove community and winery
A dozen or so Sunrise Rotarians attended a great presentation on Kenae Nagasawa and the origins of the Fountaingrove community and winery last Friday evening. The event was at the Sonoma County Historical Museum and featured descendants of Nagasawa as well as our own esteemed local historian Gaye LeBaron.
The Friends of Kagoshima provided an intricate tea ceremony for the group, and Sunrise Rotarian Steve Amend read a letter to the gathering sent by Professor Mori of Kagoshima, an oft-time chaperone of SRKSEP students and host to several Rotarian visitors to Japan last year. Much history about Kenae Nagasawa- previously known and interesting new tidbits- made for a fascinating evening.
Soil, vines, grapes and creative discipline met and with the direction of Shogun exile Kenaye Nagasawa combined in creating much of Sonoma County's current viticulture reputation.
In 1875 Thomas Lake Harris arrived near what is Fountaingrove and planted, waited.
Above, a traditional Japanese Tra Ceremony is prepared to honor Mr Nagasawa. His genius created and sustained decades of fine wines, some exported to Ireland and Japan.
One of the two speakers was Great Grandniece of Mr Nagasawa Mary Ijichi. Her remarks emphasized Kenaye's deep Shinto traditions of curiosity and self-discipline.
Distantly related Eiji Akaboshi shared his similar circuitus route to Sonoma County. Born in Chile, raised in Ecudor, he was somehow drawn to the viticulture of Sonoma County, he is currently a winemaker with Freeman Winery in Sebastopol.
Sunrise Sponsors and Participates had a Hole Lot of Fun at the Golf Tournament.
On Saturday, Sept 14, the Rotary District 5130 Youth Exchange held a golf tournament fundraiser at the Windsor Golf Club. Our club was a sponsor for one of the holes. Ralph Harryman was the sole golfer from SRSR (he is filling out raffle tickets in this picture!) and Penny Millar volunteered at registration. Also pictured are Valerie Hulsey in red, Christine Shappy Salas in blue, and Paulie Johns in the white hat. The tournament raised $18,000 for Youth Exchange.
Posted by Rich Randolph Steve Herron, Jack Strange
Seniors Savor Sausage __
Sunrise Serves
The setting for this year’s Octoberfest was perfect on this beautiful, sunny day of September, held in the outdoor central courtyard of the Santa Rosa Senior Center located at College & Stoney Point Roads.
The staff of the Senior Center was well-organized, arranging and covering all of the outdoor serving and dining tables before our Rotary team arrived at 10am.
Most if the 100+ total of seniors showed up promptly for lunch just before noon.
Shauna organized non-alcoholic beer this year which was popular on this beautiful, sunny Friday. She lead the team including Stacey, Eloise & Rich serving beverages.
Ken P., Tom, MJ, Brian, Eloise, Marty and Steve's H and Z worked well as a grill team, and served the seasonal sausages for this annual event, which were appreciated by all.
Stacy’s guest Kevin oversaw the long line of condiments and salads.
For dessert, the staff provided ice cream sandwiches—always a big hit with the senior crowd.
The senior participants were very appreciative showering the team with numerous thank you’s on their way out of the courtyard.
Rotary commits funds to polio outbreak response in Gaza
By Rotary International
The recent detection of variant poliovirus type-2 isolates in environmental samples and the confirmation of a 10-month-old child who has contracted polio in Gaza is a stark reminder that as long as polio exists anywhere, it is a threat everywhere.
The ongoing crisis in Gaza has contributed to reduced routine immunization rates and an increased risk of vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio. The crisis also poses a significant challenge to fully implementing disease surveillance and vaccination campaigns.
The World Health Organization (WHO) considers there to be a high risk for the spread of this polio strain within Gaza and internationally, particularly given the current situation's impact on public health services.
A humanitarian pause has allowed a two-round polio vaccination campaign that began in Gaza on 1 September. Initial reports indicate the campaign started successfully, with teams showing strong commitment and high levels of community participation.
Rotary is committing US$500,000 to bolster the initiative, channeling these funds through a dedicated Polio Outbreak Response Fund. This contribution represents Rotary's sustained support to the WHO in combating polio globally.
Rotary will continue to work with its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and other agencies as vaccination efforts unfold.
Financial contributions to the PolioPlus fund will help Rotary and its Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners achieve a world in which no child is paralyzed by polio again.
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