On a regular basis, our resident photo pros Warren Smith and Ross Andress submit 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 and Ross! Link to Meeting Sightings. The most recent are on the last page!
Santa Rosa Junior College District Police Department
Lorenzo Dueñas is the Chief of Police for the Santa Rosa Junior College District Police Department. He is a Santa Rosa native and grew up in this community. He served in the Marine Corps for six years before graduating from SRJC. He started his 28 year distinguished career in law enforcement with the Healdsburg Police Department and is a former Sonoma County Assistant Sheriff with 25 years with the department.
The Santa Rosa Junior College District Police Department is a full-service, fully certified, police agency within the State of California staffed by sworn peace officers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. The Department is not a branch of any other law enforcement agency. District Police Officers are empowered with full peace officer status with law enforcement authority throughout the state and make felony and misdemeanor arrests, investigate crimes, and enforce traffic laws. Each officer graduated from a regional police academy, receives training throughout the year, including firearms, defensive tactics, and first aid/CPR. All newly hired Police Officers must pass a 16-week field training and evaluation program. The District includes 13 sworn Police Officers, 6 police dispatchers, 6 non-sworn Community Service Officers, and 15 to 30 Cadets (varies by semester). SRJC has over 36,000 students, faculty, and staff a semester combined with dozens of other sites across Sonoma County.
Katie Lightfoot is the Director of BOOST Conductive Education, United Cerebral Palsy of the North Bay's premier summer mobility clinic.
Ms. Lightfoot has nimbly guided hundreds of children and teens to increased mobility, independence and self esteem. Since 2003 when she was an eager teenager exploring career options, Katie has discovered her calling and transformed her vision into a fully functional education based rehabilitation program.
Boost Conductive Education Camp in Santa Rosa, is an intensive, six-week therapeutic movement program for children and teens with cerebral palsy and motor disabilities. Participants use repetitive motions to improve tasks from grasping utensils to taking first steps.
BOOST began in 2001 after two Sonoma County moms vowed to find an easier way than traveling out-of-state to help their daughters with cerebral palsy get the care and support they needed to progress. Since that time, BOOST has helped children by using the practice of Conductive Education (CE) to maximize participants’ independence and quality of life, and to improve the confidence and psychological well-being of both BOOST participants and their families. Every day at BOOST, students are taught motor skills and their families learn how to integrate the practices of CE into all aspects of daily life. BOOST serves up to 20 participants in 3 classrooms, and each room is staffed with conductor-teachers, participants, parents, and volunteers. Participants’ results and improvements range from sitting independently, to catching a ball, and to taking first steps. The results are life changing for BOOST participants and their families.
Ms. Lightfoot recently competed her undergraduate degree at the University of Oregon and has been accepted to Medical School at St George's University in the Caribbean. Her dream continues to grow, and envisions a year-round BOOST program with recognition from insurance carriers, providing extensive life enhancing benefits.
BOOST would love to invite anyone interested to come and see the program this summer at Spring Creek Elementary School. The dates for BOOST are June 20 through July 29. Mark your calendar for the BOOST graduation July 28 at noon.
As with Rotary Exchange programs hosting is an amazing experience. BOOST has two hosting openings still for this summer's program. Please contact Katie at 707.569.4412 or klightfoot@ucpnb.org
Go Katie: Your BOOST energy has bundles of BOUNCE, a prescription for SUCCESS!!
Paul O'Rear - Craft Talk Covering Three Continents
Red Badger Paul O'Rear delivered an impressive, illustrated Craft Talk on his career in finance and real estate. From a University of California, Santa Barbara graduate to a loan (foreclosure?) specialist whose renowned clients included Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos; O'Rear's career has taken him to Europe, Asia, Australia and the South Pacific. His wanderlust was cured when, in Santa Rosa, he was introduced to a beautiful blond CPA named Penny Millar, who became his wife. If you have seen "The Big Short," check with Paul for the real story from someone who has been there and has lived to tell about it.
The mother of Rolf Wessman, Sonja, died Friday in Sweden following an automobile accident. Rolf deeply appreciates our support in the form of visits. Afternoon, between 1 and 5 are his preferred times.
Sunriser Carolyn Anderson is patiently recuperating at home following recent globe trotting. Spirit lifting cards are prescribed.
QUESTION: How many announcements does it take to get Sunrise Rotarians to actually hear what you say?
ANSWER: As many as the president will allow you deliver, again and again, at every meeting.
ALERT: President Eloise Tweeten has limited Steve Zwick to only three minutes at each meeting for announcements pertaining to our upcoming fundraiser -- one of only two S R Sunrise fundraisers each year that raise funds for local and international support of worthy projects. That just may be enough time for rotarians to get this important message:
Noel Glab is transformed from a third time guest of Warren Smith into a gracious and smiling new member of the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise. Welcome, Noel! And congratulations on being presented with the coveted Sunrise Red Badge!
Rotarian Host families are needed for a May 2016 visit by Rotarians from District 3060 (State of Gujarat India). As part of this years RFE program, our District will host an 8 or 10 person Team from District 3060 Between May 3 - May 20 or 21.
We are looking for host families willing to host an Indian couple n their home for two or three nights during this time, from the three major areas in our District: Northern District clubs, Central and Coastal clubs and Southern District Clubs, including but not limited to the following cities: Napa, Sonoma. Santa Rosa, FT. Bragg, Mendocino, Arcata, Eureka, Sebastopol, Petaluma.
Your participation as a host will be a rewarding and enriching multi-cultural experience. You will make great friendships and have and increased opportunity to go on a future RFE exchange. Clubs can learn about this program and inform their members by having a speaker from the RFE program talk at your club.
Many years ago, in Kolkata, India, I had the chance to meet Mother Teresa. She was an incredible woman with an incredible force of personality. When she walked down the street, the crowd parted in front of her like the Red Sea. Yet when you talked to her, if you mentioned the tremendous things she had done, she almost did not engage in this topic at all. By many reports, if you asked her what her greatest achievement was, she would answer, "I am an expert in cleaning toilets."
The answer was both humorous and absolutely serious. Her business was caring for others. Toilets had to be cleaned, so she cleaned them. There was no question of a job being beneath her. Helping people who needed help was her work, and there was nothing higher, nothing in the world more important than that.
So one day, when an elegantly dressed man came to Kolkata looking for Mother Teresa, the nuns who answered the door informed him that she was at the back of the house, cleaning the toilets. They pointed the way, and indeed he found Mother Teresa scrubbing the toilets. She said hello, assumed he was there to volunteer, and began explaining to him how to hold the toilet brush correctly and how not to waste water. Then she put the brush in his hand and left him standing there, in his expensive suit, alone in the lavatory.
Later, the man came out, found Mother Teresa again, and said, "I have finished; may I speak with you now?" "Yes, certainly," she said. He took an envelope out of his pocket and said, "Mother Teresa, I am the director of the airline, and here are your tickets. I just wanted to bring them to you personally."
That airline director told that story again and again for the rest of his life. He said those 20 minutes spent cleaning toilets had filled him with the greatest joy he had ever known – because by putting his hands to Mother Teresa's work, he became part of that work. For those 20 minutes, he cared for the sick just as she did: with his own hands, his own sweat.
That is exactly the opportunity that Rotary gives us. We might not do what Mother Teresa did – give up our lives, our homes, our families. But for 20 minutes, 20 hours, 20 days of the year, we can be like her.
We can do the work that others will not with our hands, and our hearts, and our sweat, and our devotion – knowing that what we do is the most important work in the world.
The numbers are impressive: Rotary comprises more than 35,000 clubs with 1.2 million members in 200 countries and geographic regions. It's big enough to be a major partner in the eradication of polio, the largest health initiative ever undertaken!
Despite its size and reach, Rotary is accessible to members through their individual clubs, which provide outstanding opportunities for friendship, fellowship, and networking at the local level. As a result, most Rotarians think of their involvement as primarily local, with ideas for service projects limited to their communities. They should recognize that, with the assistance of The Rotary Foundation, the sky is the limit!
Every great idea in Rotary has started in the mind of an individual. Even the success of End Polio Now can be traced to a few notable Rotarians around the world: Clem Renouf of Australia, for example, proposed a large corporate project to increase Rotary's visibility, while U.S. Rotarian John Sever identified polio as a worthwhile target. Each had an idea that was accepted and supported by other Rotarians, and polio will soon be eliminated from the world as a result.
When Rotarians begin to think of service projects beyond the size and scope of their clubs, they have access to district and global grants from The Rotary Foundation. They also have access to a team of Rotary volunteers at the district level, starting with their district governors and district Rotary Foundation chairs, to help them along the way. They also have the support of regional leaders, including the regional Rotary Foundation coordinators, and the entire Rotary staff in Evanston, Ill., and in the international offices.
Who knows where the next great ideas for Rotary will come from? Since Rotary is a grassroots organization, they are likely to come from individual Rotarians. It behooves all of us to encourage good ideas within the six areas of focus and direct local Rotarians with good ideas to The Rotary Foundation's resources. After all, it is the mission of the Foundation "to enable Rotarians" to do good in the world!
Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise - Founded June 30, 1986