October 25, 2021

The meeting was opened at noon on Zoom by President Klark Swan. Alicia Cox led the pledge of Allegiance. Thought of the day was provided by Greg Williston who talked about as a Rotarian being open to providing mentorships to others is a good thing.

CLUB BUSINESS:

  • Reminder that the Rotary Foundation Dinner is November 7 From 7-8:15 pm  on Zoom.
  • Nancy attended the District Converence and said it was good to go and valuable time to spend.
  • Please fill out the survey regarding Carson Park. It’s been emailed out or contact Klark.
  • Backpacks for kids – come help pack backpacks on Thursdays from 3:30 – 4:30.
  • Annalise von Borstel- is sending out the link to vote for Board of Directors. She sent it last week but if you haven’t responded yet please do.  Please check your spam if you don’t see it by the end of today.
  • You can help us become a Million Dollar Club by giving to the Foundation. More information to come.
  • Special Recognition- Jim Sessa. Jim donated 1,000 for polio and money to sponsor two kids for Backpacks for Kids, in thanks for being recognized for the District 5130 Rotary Ethic Award in business.
  • Volunteer Opportunities – Veteran’s Day at McKay is 11/13/21. Please email iestes@humboldtipa.com if you can help.
  • Done in a Day – November 7th 10-1pm @ Carson Park. Bring a sack lunch, tools and help clean up Carson Park.
  • Rotaractor Bollywood Event – November 5th    Buy your tickets at arcatatheater.com

ROTARY MOMENT:

Lynn Dugaw read a past youth exchange testimonial.  Brice Hutchins, was our outbound to Bolivia in 2015-2016.  He wrote an essay talking about what an impact the exchange year had on his life that Lynn read.

BOARD RETREAT:

  • A recent poll of over 50% of members attending meetings said yes to meeting in person
  • SW Rotary is meeting again starting November 5th
  • Many members have said they will ONLY come to in person meetings.

SOLUTIONS

  • Starting 11/15 meetings will be in person @ the Inn at 2nd and C.
  • Food will NOT be served
  • Coffee service will be available
  • They will NOT be offering hybrid meetings
  • Speakers will have the option to zoom in
  • After 6 weeks they will re-evaluate

 

TODAY’S SPEAKER:

BOB ROGERS IS A MEMBER of Rotary of Sebastopol and a Past District Governor. He is a polio survivor.  While he was District Governor he organized a pedal for polio event to raise money for polio. It raised $140,000 for polio which was matched to become $420,000 thanks to the Gates Foundation.  He is a retired airline pilot.

World Polio Day was yesterday.  When Rotary started working on polio 35 years ago, 125 countries had polio.  Today two countries have it, (see chart). It is very difficult to access those two countries Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Polio tends to attack young children. It can maim for life or even kill. Very few are lucky like Bob and recover almost unscathed. A new Vaccine is now available that has been improved to help reduce/eliminate outbreaks when Polio morphs.  There are no known side effects at this point.  The goal is to completely eliminate polio by 2026. The Taliban has agreed to allow the Polio Vaccine program to restart in Afghanistan.  They also agreed to allow women to be frontline workers for the effort. This is big news.

By donating $100 a year you or your friends can join the Polio Plus Society. Donators will receive a wristband, certificate and a pin.  All money will be two for one matched by the Gates Foundation making it $300 going to Polio.  Bob has emailed the forms to everyone in the club.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:20pm.