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!
Nearby Sonoma County club from Glen Ellen- Kenwood reaches out during the July 4 celebration in Kenwood's community Park.
This year, the parade, attendance and participation were record setters. KRON-TV reported the parade as one of the 10 top Bay Area celebrations. A 5 and 10K run started off the day which included the annual Kenwood Community Church marathon pancake breakfast. Just ask Steve Zwick how many flapjacks his family consumed!
What's any event without good food and drink? Rotary members organized the vending for hot dogs and beverages.
Not only did the Club booth attract possible recruits, but also veterans as evidenced by Santa Rosa East West Rotarian and former Sunriser, Dan Lambert. In the booth, Glen-Ellen, Kenwood members Christine and Pam check out their Sign-Up sheets for perspective members.
When was the last time you visited another Rotary Club?
Rich had a big dilemma. A car 100 miles away and no driver's license while pending storage fees were mounting.
Applying the fifth rule of the 4-Way test, "will it be fun?" Rich asked Max Childs if he could join him on the rescue journey. Max replied I'm down! And the multi-hour-miles father-daughter Odyssey began.
Rich's daughter Rebecca drove Max and Rich to Max's daughter Bridget in Sacramento.
The four of them enjoyed a great father-daughter lunch before proceeding to the donut auto repair shop to bail out Rich's car.
Rich and Rebecca enjoyed a conversation with Bridget and Max and Bridget got to know Rebecca and Rich better. The lunch at Seelands was wonderful, including the chocolate chip salted caramel cookie, which was enjoyed mainly by Rich.
It was all downhill so to speak as Max took the wheel and piloted back to Santa Rosa.
Thank you, Max, for giving of your time and reminding me of the value of conversation.
Francesco Arezzo is an orthodontist in private practice. He is active internationally as a member of the Italian, European, and American orthodontics associations. He is vice president of the National Association of Italian Dentists for the province of Ragusa and was the founder and head for seven years of the delegation for Ragusa of the National Trust for Italy. He is a Knight of Honor and Devotion in Obedience within the Sovereign Order of Malta.
A Rotary member for more than 30 years, Arezzo has served as vice chair of the Joint Strategic Planning Committee and as RI director, learning facilitator, and as district conference presidential representative.
Arezzo is a Major Donor and Benefactor of The Rotary Foundation. He is married to Anna Maria Criscione, an entrepreneur in the tourism field. They have two children.
You can find all prior "RI President's Messages" at this LINK
When you joined Rotary, chances are it was because you wanted to make a lasting difference. Arch Klumph felt the same way.
When he proposed The Rotary Foundation in 1917, he envisioned more than just a fund. He saw an enduring vehicle for Rotary members to serve their communities and create lasting change. More than a century later, that vision thrives, thanks to your dedication and to the Foundation’s unique structure, which empowers members to identify and solve global problems at every level.
Today, I am not asking you for a donation. Instead, I invite you to look at The Rotary Foundation with fresh eyes. Imagine a charity governed by its own members. A global mission carried out by those very members. A foundation that reflects the shared values of its members — ensuring clean water and literacy for all, eradicating the scourge of polio, building local economies through entrepreneurship, and making the world more peaceful through conflict resolution training.
Doesn’t this sound like an interesting charity? The Rotary Foundation is trusted around the world because we have earned that trust. After our successful Programs of Scale initiative in Zambia, the Gates Foundation and World Vision invited us to lead again — resulting in the $30 million Rotary Healthy Communities Challenge across four African nations.
We are efficient, strategic, and guided by dedicated professional staff and passionate volunteers. Our Foundation consistently receives top marks from Charity Navigator. And the Gates Foundation matches our $50 million annual commitment to polio eradication 2-to-1, depositing $100 million into our account each year. That is trust, delivered.
Even in conflict zones, we are there. In Gaza, a single confirmed polio case triggered a humanitarian pause in the war, allowing health workers to vaccinate children and quell an outbreak. Rotary helped fund that urgent response. Once again, we proved to be a reliable partner in a crisis.
We can be proud that we made a difference. Now we look ahead to our ambitious $500 million fundraising goal for 2025–26. We can reach it together, as we boldly support a Foundation that is doing bold things.
Rotary is not going anywhere, because Rotary is everywhere! That is our strength. That is our unique opportunity. Be part of the legacy of The Rotary Foundation. It is one that Arch Klumph would be proud of. It is a legacy that has changed the world and will continue to do so, as long as we are all part of it.
You can find all prior "Messages from the Foundation Trustee Chair" at this LINK
Rotary clubs in Ontario’s District 7070 help establish Durham College’s virtual classroom
By Joe Engleman
When you tune into one of Lon Appleby’s Durham College classes, which are all livestreamed on YouTube, one of the first things you see is the professor’s podium. It’s labelled with a message acknowledging that Appleby’s Global Classroom is made possible by local Rotary clubs. “Together,” it proclaims, “we’re leading the way.”
At the Oshawa, Ontario-based institution, Appleby was teaching courses rooted in real time and addressing an international audience even before the Zoom era. But since 2020, those classes have been held in the Global Classroom sponsored by clubs in Rotary’s District 7070.
In 2017, Don Lovisa, who was then the president of Durham College, approached regional Rotary clubs about raising funds for the college’s new Centre for Collaborative Education. As an added enticement, Lovisa suggested that Appleby’s state-of-the-art classroom, which would be a focal point of the new centre, would proudly showcase the clubs’ crucial contribution.
The Global Classroom at Durham College is one of the many lasting local legacies bestowed by the Rotary Clubs of Durham Region.
Courtesy of Lon Appleby
The 10 clubs of the Rotary Clubs of Durham Region, along with the Rotary Club of Port Hope, agreed to support the effort to the tune of more than $100,000 over the course of three years. Ron Dick, the district’s 2021-22 governor, insists that fundraising for the college was not a hard sell. “Every Rotary club in our district, either with this campaign or past campaigns, has raised funds for Durham College,” Dick says. He credits Dave Andrews, who is the executive secretary and director of the Rotary Club of Oshawa-Parkwood, with doing the “heavy lifting in the background” that made the fundraising campaign a success.
Like the newly opened, club-sponsored swimming pool for Grandview Kids — a 72-year-old organization in Ajax, Ontario, that serves children with developmental, communication, or physical needs — the Global Classroom stands as further evidence of the many local contributions made by the Rotary Clubs of Durham Region. It also recognizes the ongoing and growing partnerships that link Durham College and the Ontario clubs with people around the world. In addition, it helps fulfill the promise of a more educated and interconnected world. “The Global Classroom can bring low-cost or free education to anyone,” Appleby says. “If you don’t have the technology, we will bring it to you through Rotary volunteers on the ground.”
The Global Classroom also offers a unique opportunity to keep the district’s members involved in the projects that they support around the world. The classroom’s video conference system “allows anyone using the facility to have a class with the world,” Appleby says. “You can connect with Rotarians across Canada and speak with fellow Rotarians on every continent.” Being on the ground doing international service work and meeting the people it impacts can “light a fire in you,” Dick says. But he also acknowledges that not every club member can visit those projects. “All the members of my club can come to the Global Classroom,” he says.
Since 2018, the region’s Rotary clubs have assembled in the Global Classroom, both physically and virtually, to observe World Polio Day and engage with vaccination projects around the world. (Again, Dick credits Andrews as “the driver behind” the annual gathering.) Earlier this year, members of the Durham regional clubs sponsored their second annual International Women’s Day event at the Global Classroom, an occasion they intend to observe in the years ahead.
In a more fundamental sense, Appleby believes that the Global Classroom strengthens the ties, built on shared values, that exist between Durham College and Rotary. “The Global Classroom stands for a vision I have,” he says. “Education is the new vaccine,” and in that context, the classroom is a “successful demonstration of how Rotary is making education as important as its fight against polio.”
This story originally appeared in the July 2025 issue of Rotary Canada magazine.
Rotary takes action to empower educators to inspire learning at all ages.
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