Message from President Michael
Who are we? We are the Rotary Club of Sebastopol Sunrise.
What is Rotary all about? It’s about friendship, giving back to the community, fun and entertainment, business development, and personal growth.
Come visit our club. We meet Wednesday mornings at 7:15 in the Masonic Hall. The address is Masonic Hall, 373 North Main Street, Sebastopol, CA. That is just across the street from Safeway.
Our meeting fee is $20 which includes breakfast (plus $1 if paying by credit card).
president@sebsunriserotary.org
Jean McGlothlin
Memorial Video
Click HERE to view or right-click and "save as"
(very large file - be patient)
Weekly Meeting
We meet Wednesday mornings, 7:15am – 8:30am, at the Masonic Hall - 373 North Main Street Sebastopol, CA 95472
Sebastopol
Sunrise Newsletter
March 18,
2026
Rotary International reminds us about World Water Day on
March 22nd. One-quarter
of our Earth’s people face a challenge to find clean water every day.
While we’re worried about being delayed by traffic congestion, the need
to mow the lawn, the inconvenience of not finding a parking spot close to the
front door of the market, or the bother of changing our clocks forward or
backward twice per year, a couple billion people are struggling to find clean water
to stay alive.
Time for a quiet moment of re-set, perhaps?
Club Service
PP Jolly Jim Goodenough was all fired up and ready to go to
run the show! But first the setter-uppers had to do their thing, and with
Jersey Joe back in the groove, and Barnacle Bob and Jerry the Jet calling out
the music, we were ROCKING! Jimmy G took the initiative to lead the Pledge to
the flag himself, and Jersey Joe took us way out West for a bullboys
and cowgirls serenade of “Home on the Range.” Buffalo Bill reminded
us that tennis great Arthur Ashe was more than just a
world class athlete, he was also a great motivator of youth with a Thought like
this: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
For his Environmental Moment, Linton cited the Grange as a great example of
minimizing waste, and hugger-extraordinaire Luau Laurie chimed in that her
Surgery Center had made changes to cut their trash load in half (no pun
intended…)! And a big THANK YOU to Starry Linda for today’s flowers
on each table – a touch of class in anyone’s book!
Announcements and Recognition
Our only guest this morning was our speaker, Steven
Levenberg, from Sebastopol World Friends.
Today was the RCSS Annual Meeting where the incoming
President and prospective Board Members for RY 26-27 were to be formally
considered by the membership. Nominating Committee Chair Laurie read out the
proposed nominations for Board Membership as follows:
President ’26-‘27:
Brian Bauer
President Elect ’27-’28: Linda Sinkay
Board Members: Allyson Taylor, Greg Freitas, Mark Reece,
Marty Webb, Diana Curtis, Joe Gadzowicz, Alicia Schroeder, Terry Kelley, Bob Keyser , David Mark-Raymond
Additionally,
it was announced that David Mark-Raymond has been appointed as the new Rotary
District Foundation Chairman.
Recognition was also given to Charlie Judson for his
continuing excellent job of providing good programs week after week. Thank you,
Charlie! And Mikel Cook was recognized for practicing the fine Rotary tradition
of referring business clients to other Rotarians for their service needs.
Jersey Joe captured the prize (yet to be identified…) for providing the
best caption for Jolly Jim’s foto of the week.
Program
Dr. Steven Levenberg brought us up to date on Sebastopol
World Friends, the local chapter of an NGO which promotes international peace
and understanding through “Sister City” and other exchange programs
for both youth and adults. Their mission is to foster global friendship
“one friend at a time.” Sebastopol’s first Sister City was
Yamauchi, Japan back in 1985, and that relationship continues today with
Yamauchi’s successor, Takeo City. In 1993, Sebastopol added a second
Sister City, Chyhyryn, Ukraine. To date, these
exchanges have been primarily focused on middle school-age youth from each
country. World Friends also organizes both sending and receiving good will exchanges
of professionals through the congressionally-sponsored Open World program.
Doctors, lawyers, farmers, civic leaders, educators, journalists and emergency
responders have all participated in these cross-cultural experiences. Like
Rotary, World Friends is always on the lookout for local families to act hosts
for our foreign guests, and for donations to help defray local expenses. Steven
told us that another middle school exchange group from Japan was coming soon,
with students from Takeo staying ten days and chaperones five days. Other
delegations coming from Takeo include one from Kagoshima University, and one
focused on “sustainable development.”
As an AFS host “brother” myself in high school,
I can tell you that these relationships can last a lifetime. Sixty years later
my brother Max and his family from Bonn are still close members of our family,
and when my own kids were in high school, we hosted a boy from Brazil and one
from Ecuador who each attended Analy. Exchanges are a hugely rewarding activity
for all concerned.
Next Week’s Program
Lynne Dooley of the League of Women Voters will be our
speaker. Show solidarity by wearing your grandmother’s suffragette sash!
Assignments for March 25
Cavalcade of Presidents: Analy Interact will run the show!
Environmental Moment: Ms. Mary of Dolly’s Library
Thought: Coxswain Bobby K
Joke: Deepest Charlie
End Game
Raffle: Alicia once again had the ticket….to nowhere.
(I finally figured out the secret of why Alicia keeps
getting her ticket drawn: She buys more tickets than anyone else! What a
concept!!!)
Joke: Starry Linda related a story about how some teenagers
got caught playing hooky by a clever teacher named… Mr. Webb!
BONG!
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