July 18th Meeting

President Mark told us that change is in the air - after looking at many options, we will be moving our meetings to the Days Inn in Valley West. The change will take place with the first meeting in August. He said we owe a debt to Sir Charles Giannini, who checked out the access, the parking, the food (lunch and dinner), and the meeting space. The proximity of the venue to NAPA Auto Parts is purely coincidental.

Over the past seven years or so, we have been making donations to the Wheelchair Foundation in honor of our weekly guest speakers. We began this tradition during Janice Newman's year as Club President, and she gave us an update at our meeting. So far, we have purchased 28 wheelchairs for needy individuals in countries around the world, including Afghanistan, Mexico, and Colombia. Click here for more information about the Wheelchair Foundation.

SPECIAL DAZE
Past-President Lori Breyer's birthday was July 16th, and the festivities began with a Sunrise Rotary Board Meeting, which was immediately followed by jury duty. Woo-hoo! The birthday present was that she did not have to serve on the jury. She celebrated with friends visiting from Oroville, and they gathered around Lori's new dining room table!

Bryan and Susan Reeser celebrated their anniversary on Saturday, July 12th. Since they are remodeling, they planned a romantic trip to Home Depot. They did manage to squeeze in a dinner in Brookings, however, at the Whale's Head Beach Resort.

TALES OF FINEMISTRESS JESSICA
Robert Goodman was the first to feel the sting of Finemistress Jessica McKnight's talons last Friday. "You outed yourself last week," she said. Huh? Apparently Robert (or as we affectionately call him, "Robt") had something done to his hair, or he was doing something with his hair. Whatever it was ... it cost him thirty bucks.

Nothing happens in Karen Burgesser's life ... except when she goes to Oahu for a family vacation. Twenty-five people from Karen's side of the family converged in Hawaii for a week-long trip. The event was a Christmas gift from Karen's sister to the whole family.

Lori Breyer had to get her checkbook out again to pay for her "incredibly accomplished children". Lori admitted that the Redwood Acres Fair had been "a Breyer Bonanza" this year. Daughter Katie entered several baked goods, but her blueberry muffins were blue ribbon winners. Lori won her own blue ribbon for a quilt in orange, yellow, and brown.

Cam Appleton was recently OOT (out of town), for a family reunion, although he "was not in the sun, like Karen". His clan went to Lopez Island, one of Washington's San Juan Islands. Cam said that about 20 to 25 family members were in attendance, including his daughter Thea and son Chris. The event took place on the Fourth of July, so there was quite a bit of fireworks flotsam in the front yard the next morning.

Kathy Fraser also traveled north recently, but not quite as far. She had an interesting trip to Crater Lake - more interesting than usual because the lake could not be seen due to the smoke from nearby fires. Pressing on, she hooked up with her son, daughter-in-law, and their daughter. Her son soon returned with Kathy's husband Bill to Alameda to remodel a home, while Grandma Kathy, her daughter-in-law, and Kathy's granddaughter took a more leisurely return path.

Don Andrews is very proud of his daughter Sara, who "as we speak" was filming an episode of Monk, playing the wife of Eric McCormick. If I Googled accurately, the show (Monk's special 100th episode) will air on September 5th on the USA Network.

PROGRAM

Our Guest Speakers were Klark Depew, Kyle Clausen, and Jennifer Kinikin. All three are former Rotary Exchange Students who are now District 5130's Rotex Representatives. They all work and attend school, and they share their passion for the Youth Exchange program with Rotarians and potential Exchangers.

They reported on their trip to Los Angeles last month to participate in the Rotary International Convention. Their stay began with two pre-Convention meetings - one dedicated to Rotaract (500 new clubs are expected in this Rotary year), and the other focused on Youth Exchange.

Once the Convention began in earnest, there was no shortage of workshops. One workshop illustrated potential problems with Exchanges using skits. Among the topics were dropped exchanges, sending students home early, miscommunication between districts, and parents visiting host countries during the Exchange.

Another workshop was presented by District 5020, from Northwest Washington. That District's Youth Exchange Committee required their rebound students to write research papers about their host countries. The rebounders and their families were given their assignments in January, with the final paper due in June.

Klark attended a workshop that explored the use of popular films to explore cultural differences and similarities. One of the movies they discussed was "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Klark also told us about a session on short-term exchanges - those that last two to three weeks.

Kyle participated in a discussion of the pros and cons of recruiting Exchangers via social groups on the internet, such as MySpace and Facebook.

President Mark's First Meeting! Governor Ed Visits!!

The Burtchett Era has finally arrived - President Mark took over the podium on Friday, to rave reviews. Mark said that he is looking forward to a great year, and he thanked First Lady Cammy for being so supportive.

Mark told us that there is an important item that is being addressed by the Board of Directors. The Senior Resource Center let us know that they will provide our breakfasts through the end of July, but not beyond. So the Board is looking at other venues for our meetings. If you have a suggestion, please contact President Mark or your favorite Director.


Past-President Lori called the Youth Exchange Team up to help her give Exchange Student Jessica Bono a farewell gift, a digital picture frame. Jessica will be returning to Italy next Tuesday, and she tearfully thanked our Club for hosting her.

District Governor Ed Fullerton and Past DG Terri Clark announced three Sunrisers are new Paul Harris Fellows. Scott Heller was not at Friday's meetings, so we will honor him later, but both Club President Mark and Past President Lori Breyer have completed their first $1,000 in contributions to the Rotary Foundation. Both Terri and Governor Ed noted the importance and impact of donating to the Foundation.

SPECIAL DAZE ...
"People keep insisting on cooking me dinner," said Wendy Madsen, whose birthday was July 6th. Wendy always tries to keep the celebration confined to a simple 30-day period each year.
The old convenience store jingle is, "Oh, thank heaven for Seven-Eleven ...", something Orrin Plocher must sing every year on his birthday. At least this year, it fell on the same day as our Club meeting. How did he plan to celebrate? "I went to Rotary ... and I'll let the evening unfold". He did note that the celebration would "probably not be up to my expectations".

FINEMASTER ...
On Friday Jessica McKnight debuted as the perky new Finemaster, and she hit up Hal Fitzpatrick. Hal's photo was in the paper as he held a bag of oranges he had received at the Senior Dining Center. "You got some oranges," asked Jessica, "and you got your picture in the paper?" Oh yeah, and he got a $20 recognition.

Harry Johnson was recognized, not for his profession, but for his lack (kinda) of one. Harry recently retired, noting (alliteratively) hat "It's a way to make my lackadaisical, loping lifestyle legitimate."

Rob McBeth had the misfortune of being in the paper the day before our meeting. "You go to one meeting, spout off, and you're in the paper," he said. And, of course, you're fined.

We already knew about Jason White's recent appointment as the new Athletic Director at St. Bernard High School. But he too made the paper - the front page of the Times-Standard Sports section on June 27th. Jessica asked, "How's the new job going?" "It's a lot of work," replied Jason.

Another Athletic Director - Dan Collen - was caught napping, or at least lying down on the job. Dan was on his deck, field testing a lounge when a fellow Sunriser drove by, calling out, "Dan - are you going to the social?" Dan had forgotten (momentarily, I'm sure) about the reception for District Governor Ed, but he hopped right up and drove up the hill to Julie V-E's.

Amy Bohner's Alchemy Construction was featured in last Thursday's Times-Standard along with Hal (but on a different page). The article recognized the company as a local leader in "Green Construction". Amy said that they have just finished work at Jacoby Creek School,
installing radiant heat in the walls, and she spoke of another project where a propane boiler was converted to use waste vegetable oil as its fuel. To see the article online, click here.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
The next Adopt-a-Highway foray is scheduled for this Sunday, July 20th. Remember, Scott Heller buys the first round at the Plaza Grill when it's over.

President Mark said that the Eureka Rotary will host a golf tournament on Thursday, July 31st. If you're interested, see Mark for details.

OUR PROGRAM
Assistant Governor Cindy Denbo, of the Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka, says that "everyone has a story". Some stories are more compelling than others. When a person has been a fighter pilot with the US Marines, a Chief Pilot for Pan Am World Airways, and has been married for nearly half a century, you can be sure that person has an interesting story. Ed Fullerton certainly does.

Ed joined Rotary at the invitation of a friend. When his wife Carol asked about the club (the Rotary Club of Petaluma), Ed was able to say that "they have lunches and great fellowship". When he told her that if he joined, he would be attending weekly meetings, Carol was all for it. Ed was retired, and he says that Carol favored any activity that got him out from underfoot.

The goals and actions of Rotary resonated with Ed. As a young boy during World War II, he was impressed with "all of those people going off to serve their country". Later, as a junior in high school, he was assigned to write about a career goal. Until then, Ed had been taking agriculture classes, and when his counselor looked at what he had written, he scoffed. Ed had said that he wanted to become a pilot. The counselor said to try again, but this time he should write about something Ed could actually achieve. Through the rest of the class period, Ed grew more upset, and he went on to change his class schedule to a college prep program, and he became that fighter pilot and more.

Ed spent ten years at El Toro Air Station as a pilot and as an instructor. It was there that he met his bride-to-be Carol, "at the top of a ladder", with both looking into the cockpit. "Can I help you?" Ed offered. "I don't think so," Carol replied.

When Ed left the Marine Corps, he joined Pan Am, which was then the premier airline in the US. He was with Pan Am for 27 years, working first as a navigator. He recalled that the main tool of the navigator in those pre-GPS days was the compass. "Rotary has a compass, too," he mused. "The Four-Way Test. It has four major points, just like a compass, and it can help guide you."

Ed was ultimately promoted to Pan Am's Chief Pilot, based in New York. It was a difficult job for him at first. He was concerned about his ability to make sure that all the planes and pilots were under his control. But he relaxed when he realized that the job was not about controlling the pilots, it was about allowing the pilots to do their jobs, and supporting their work. He sees his role as District Governor similarly - he doesn't have to run the clubs. He is there to help make the job of getting things done easier.

Our Rotary International President for 2008-2009 is D.K. Lee, from Seoul, Korea. Ed told us that D.K. is a "capable, good leader", who has asked us to meet some ambitious goals:

• Each club should realize a net 10% increase in membership
• All Rotarians should take a hard look at child mortality in the world, and act to reduce it in some way
• Continue the campaign against polio, with each club contributing $1,000 per year over the next three years

For his part, Ed would like each of us to contribute $200 to the Rotary Foundation this year. Expanding on President Lee's theme of child mortality, Ed would also like to see us "do something to save one child's life" this year. "Our mission [as Rotarians] is to relieve human suffering," he said. How better to accomplish that ... and then do it again ...

OUR 2008-2009 LEADERSHIP TEAM

From left:

• Cammy and Mark Burtchett
• Ed and Carol Fullerton
• Cindy Denbo
  

Catching up at the Close/Beginning of the Year

Hello, Sunrisers and Others!

We've got some catching up to do!

Back on Friday the 13th, in the Year of Our Lori, we visited the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts.

We gathered in the lobby, enjoying noshes from Los Bagels, along with our Kinetic Koffee. Here you can see Then-President Lori with some of her loyal Sunrisers in the sunrise light, with Katie taking a break on the stairs.

Our tour guide was David Kenworthy, the Technical Director for the Center. David said that he's the one who "takes care of the details" for each production.

David said that Sweasey Theater first opened in 1920, but nine years later, a fire forced its closure. A year later, it reopened as Loew's State Theater, and it was an active movie theater until 1973, when the Daly's Department Store moved into the building.

Rob and Cherie Arkley purchased the building in 2003, and began the restoration project. In 2007, the theater reopened as the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts. David said that the decor includes new elements, such as the chandeliers, which were purchased in San Diego. But many period touches remain, including the gold pillars, which were carved in the 1920's.

The facility originally seated about 1300 patrons, but the current capacity is 770. The reduction was the result of a combination of newer safety regulations and the Arkley's desire to expand the lobby.

We were able to take the stage, where we were treated to an actor's view of the Center. David told us that "above your heads is about 30,000 pounds of equipment", including lights, bars, counterweights, and other implements of the theater. The Center also has a fully-restored 1928 Steinway piano, and they are in the process of building a lift to store it safely.

From the stage, we descended to the dressing rooms, David's office, and the bar and kitchen area, before heading up to the balcony for some final remarks and a Q and A session.