Mother of Bourbon: The Greatest American Whiskey Story Never Told
This is the inspiring story of the most successful and influential woman distiller of Kentucky Bourbon that nobody’s heard of – meet Mary Dowling, Mother of Bourbon. A force of nature, Mary overcame family tragedy, discrimination, and Prohibition, to achieve extraordinary success.
Eric Goodman is the author of seven previous novels, including Curveball (2024). Educated at Yale and Stanford, Eric lives in Sonoma County and Mecklenburg, New York. For many years, he directed the creative writing program at Miami University (Ohio). His previous novels have been named Indies Finalist for General Fiction and Silver Book of the Year for Gay/Lesbian Fiction.
Our speaker, Susan Farren from First Responders Resiliency gave a moving presentation about what their organization is doing to support the mental health of first responders.
Our club hosted the monthly Sonoma County Area Rotary Clubs (SCARC) on April 24th. We had a great turnout of our own club members as well as representatives from other clubs throughout the county.
The event was held at our venue, Chop's Teen Club which gave us the opportunity to highlight their event space and organization. Dan Rosaschi, the current board chair for Chop's took the opportunity to talk a little about Chop's and invite Rotarians to their fundraiser last Saturday. We also had to get over a small obstacle, we couldn't serve alcohol until after 7:00pm when the Teen Club closes. So, we had a mocktail hour with wonderful drinks prepared by bartenders Bill Bailey (Cindy's husband) and Ken Petro. It was so popular we ran out of glasses! Not to worry fellow Rotarians, we did bring wine to the table with dinner.
We also partnered with Sonoma Family Meals a non-profit that provides meals during disasters and is now offering culinary job training to youth. To support their mission, they have a catering team who we hired to provide our meal. The food was delicious! We also gave their Community Engagement Manager, Elana Nelson the opportunity to tell the Rotary group about their organization.
Thanks much to the SCARC Meeting Committee - Stacy Andress-Drucker, Peter Hoberg, Mark Campbell, Dan Rosaschi, Paul O'Rear, Lori Rodrigues, Penny Millar and all those that helped out on the night of the event.
Elsie Allen's renowned Marching Lobo Band is on their way to Disneyland June with partnering Ceasar Chavez Academy musicians in a Main Street Parade.
Recently featured in the Press Democrat for their outstanding performances in Healdsburg and Petaluma, the Band and Color Guard continue to advance to their Director Efrain Nava's goal of the Disneyland debut.
Whether you can cheer them at Disneyland, or by supporting this coming Friday's campus concert, you can be in their booster section via the QR link on the poster above.
Sunrise is a long-standing supporter of the Band, adding to their instrument inventory with Saxophones and clarinets as well as public engagements like the city-wide Veterans Tribute Luncheons.
Come this Friday and hear why these young musicians are indeed our ambassadors of music to the magic of Main
Street.
Click HERE for a link to purchase tickets to their May 2nd concert.
Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary and the Senior Center had a wang dang doodle of a Garden Party!
Have you ever heard a senior citizen’s ukelele band with a lead player who bent strings and “shredded” like Guns ‘N Roses? The guests at The Senior Center’s Garden Party at the Finley Center were treated Friday afternoon not only to a spread of BBQed hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, chips and soda but to an hour or more of ukelele music from a dozen great uke players.
Sunrise Rotarians looked after set-up, cooking, serving and clean-up while The Senior Center provided all the food. 50 to 60 seniors enjoyed the meal and the show, which featured music of many genres and time periods. Helping out at the lunch were Carolyn, Marty, Stacy and Kevin, Steve Z, Penny, Paul, Cindy, Lori and Shauna. A great time was had by all.
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!
When a primary school teacher in Vietnam’s highlands explained that many of her students’ families struggled to afford warm clothing, the Rotaract Club of One Million Lives Saigon mounted a collection drive. In December, Rotaractors delivered 1,000 garments to villages that are home to Indigenous ethnic minority groups in Dak Lak province, more than 150 miles from the club’s home base in Ho Chi Minh City. “Despite the challenging journey, we are committed to providing support to improve their living conditions,” says Thi Duong, the club’s president. Over 100 adults and children received the gently used clothing, including coats, shoes, gloves, scarves, and other accessories, which were shipped to the school along with food staples.
This story originally appeared in the April 2025 issue of Rotary magazine.
Connect with Rotary on WhatsApp
Rotary now has a WhatsApp channel! It has updates on Rotary projects, useful news, and plenty of fun. It’s in English only for now. See the channel here and select “follow.” Or find it by selecting “Updates” or “Channels” on the WhatsApp menu bar and searching for “Rotary.”
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When a primary school teacher in Vietnam’s highlands explained that many of her students’ families struggled to afford warm clothing, the Rotaract Club of One Million Lives Saigon mounted a collection drive. In December, Rotaractors delivered 1,000 garments to villages that are home to Indigenous ethnic minority groups in Dak Lak province, more than 150 miles from the club’s home base in Ho Chi Minh City. “Despite the challenging journey, we are committed to providing support to improve their living conditions,” says Thi Duong, the club’s president. Over 100 adults and children received the gently used clothing, including coats, shoes, gloves, scarves, and other accessories, which were shipped to the school along with food staples.