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Announcements   ROTARY DONATIONS & CONTRIBUTIONS   Ready to Use!   ROTARY MYSTERY GOLF TRIP   RESCEHDULED TO WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16   In 2019 we went to Blue Rock Springs GC in Vallejo. Where will we go this year???   $100 PER PLAYER   STILL SOME SPOTS AVAILABLE   CONTACT CHUCK MALTESE         Help us make this the 'go to place' for all your Rotary information.  Email comments or suggestions to Kris Kristensen, or call 530 304-5641.

ROTARY CLUB

OF WOODLAND

Rotary Theme 2020-21

What Does Rotary Do?

We improve people's lives, locally and globally, through service.

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Chuck's Corner   

Words of wisdom from our own  

 Chuck Maltese

8/5/2020 - I can’t believe I am the only one that is perplexed with the ongoing riots on our streets.  Sorry, but it is hard to call them demonstrations when there are bricks, industrial strength fireworks, bottles filled with kerosene, etc. being thrown.  I am not going to comment on whose fault it is.  But I do have some questions:

(1)  I thought that it was a crime to burn our American flag

(2)  Who feeds these people?

(3)  Who pays for the professionally-made banners, posters and signs?

(4)  How long do those FEW arrested stay in jail? 

(5)  Does anyone have to stand before a judge? 

(6)  Where did they get the walkie talkies I see the leaders use? 

(7)  Who pays for the truckloads of bricks deposited at several corners during the day for the evening’s festivities?

The other evening I finally realized that my Humanities courses I took in college have begun to help me. Now when they show me the graffiti on public buildings I can say “look a Doric column” or “was that a Greek column?”

How about a few smiles for the day:

+  At the store there was a big X on the floor by the register for me to stand on.

    I’ve seen too many Road Runner cartoons to fall for that one.

+  It’s been a blessing to be at home with my wife for these last 3 months.  We’ve

    caught up on everything I’ve done wrong in the last 20 years.

+  As I watch the upcoming generation re-write history, one thing I am sure of—

    it will be misspelled and have no punctuation.

+  Now that we have everyone washing their hands correctly—how about turn  

    signals next?

July 28th Meeting

President Tabb Randolph provided us with another Albert Einstein inspirational thought to start today. Tabb (and Gary Wegener) shared the news the old Spring Lake Triple Whammy fire truck our Club had been working to transfer to Mexico, actually arrived at its new home in El Grullo, Mexico this past week. Tabb had President-elect Dan Stroski share recent news about the Club receiving the award of District 5160 funds for the Woodland High School Scoreboard project; and had Kris Kristensen highlight the new PayPal Donations & Contributions page on the Club's website. Tabb was also happy to have recovered from a bout with kidney stones last weekend. 

Immediate Past President Tony Delevati was happy he could spend this past weekend at home. Seth Wurzel and family enjoyed a visit to an uncrowded Yosemite National Park recently. Jim Nolan was ready for his August 4th wedding anniversary with Barbara. They were married in Turkey in 1972 while Jim was in the service.

Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, a former member of our Club, was our guest speaker today. Jeff provided an overview of the activity in the DA's office, but mainly discussed the general topic of 'defunding' law enforcement being debated around the country and here locally. Jeff indicated significant cuts in the District Attorney's budget currently being discussed by the Yolo County Board of Supervisors would have the impact, if actually enacted, of eliminating the prosecution of several misdemeanor crimes (see list above) within Yolo County. He urged people concerned with this potential to share their opinions with their County Supervisor.  

Woodland High School

Scoreboard Project Update

President-elect Dan Stroski reports our Club has been awarded $9,300 in 2020-21 District 5160 Designation Funds toward our effort to fund the $71,180 needed for the new scoreboard in the Woodland High School Stadium project. The 2020 Dinner Auction generated $35,000 for the Scoreboard. We also have a $500 commitment from the Sunrise Club. Our Club Board has agreed to upfront the remaining $26,380 for the Scoreboard, with the amount to be replenished from the 2021 Dinner Auction proceeds.

Meet Our Newest Member -

Jayne Williams

Ms. Jayne Williams has been advocating for 'unseen' young people most of her adult life. Originating from Colorado Springs, Colorado, Jayne struck out for California on her own in 1975 at the age of 18 and landed her first job connected with young people - working for the California School Boards Association. Later she worked for the State Assembly Ways and Means Committee (Chair, Assembly Member Vasconcellos).

As a young mother of two, Jayne actively volunteered within the Sacramento City Unified School District, where she helped establish Leonardo DiVinci K-8 as the first magnet school within the district, designed to reflect and serve a broad demographic.

Beginning in 1995, Jayne spent five years on contract with the Anti-Defamation League to provide diversity training for Northern California public school teachers.

During this period, Jayne also acquired private sector business experience by spending seven years building a computer service business with her husband.

From 2001 through 2012, Jayne was employed by First Covenant Church in Rancho Cordova (over 3,000 members) to establish and manage an innovative, after-school program for low-income children and families. Jayne also administered a recovery program for individuals battling addiction, depression, and life's struggles.  Jayne built the membership of this program from three to over eighty active participants during her tenure. Additionally, Jayne developed a curriculum for life skills equipping classes and conducted these courses regularly.

Jayne was a Sacramento Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and a Sacramento County Sheriff's Chaplain for Grant High School, both volunteer positions.

2013 through 2015, Jayne was employed by the Shoulder-to-Shoulder organization centered in Del Paso Heights, CA, to help develop a mentoring program for fatherless boys. 

In 2015, Jayne founded All Leaders Must Serve – a wraparound concept of a clubhouse/training center for socially, emotionally, and economically disadvantaged youth that integrates (1) mentoring, (2) work ethic/business skills training, (3) business network, and (4) community resources.

July 21st Meeting

 President Tabb Randolph welcomed and installed Jayne Williams as a new member of the Rotary Club of Woodland today. Jayne had provided us with her bio, which Tabb read to the Club and which is now posted to this website. Jayne was sponsored by Mark Ullrich.Tabb also provided us with an Inspirational Thought from Albert Einstein.

Under Happy Time, Tony Delevati was happy to spend some time with his granddaughter this past weekend. Bob Nakken was happy about his daughter Alyssa's appearance as a first base coach at the Giants-A's game last night, a first for MLB. See related Daily Democratic article: http://woodlanddailydemocrat.ca.newsmemory.com/?publink=09c11cbe6

Blair Voelz enjoyed hiking in the rainforest with his daughter in Olympic National Park recently.

New Woodland Fire Chief Eric Zane was our guest speaker today, providing us a detailed overview of the Woodland Fire Department.

Club Assists in Gift of Masks

Kendra Martin of Dignity Health in Woodland accepts the gift from Shengie (Andy) Sun.

President-elect Dan Stroski reports the Rotary Club of Woodland has assisted in the donation of 1,000 brand new face masks to Dignity Health of Woodland to help protect first responders from the Covid 19 virus.

While Rotary International's philanthropy is well known, the circumstances of this gift were unusual. The masks were purchased and donated by a Chinese couple from Beijing whose son, Shengie (Andy) Sun, is currently attending Woodland Christian High School. When Mr. & Mrs. Sun became aware Covid 19 had reached Woodland, they offered to purchase and ship 1,000 masks as a donation. This act of kindness and generosity was not only to help protect their son, but the community in which he lives as well.

When Dan, who is Andy’s host father, received word of the generous offer he consulted the family and everyone decided an international gift from folks in China to folks here in Woodland was a good idea.  With this gift, it was hoped to show that, despite the vast distance between our two communities and their differing governing styles, we all are in this together. A simple act of kindness goes a long way.

It is hoped the masks will be distributed throughout Yolo County and given to those agencies most in need.

View related Daily Democrat article on page B3 in the July 18, 2020 edition: http://woodlanddailydemocrat.ca.newsmemory.com/?publink=114046963

Rotary Farm Tour 

Kris & Kathy Kristensen, along with Kris’ nephew, Matthew & Heather Kristensen (both teachers) and their kids Lars & Elska, enjoyed a tour of SB Voelz Farms near Arbuckle earlier this month, courtesy of Blair Voelz, his wife Janet and their son Eli. They gave an up close education in growing olives, wine grapes and rice right in the fields. The farm has been in Jan's family for six generations and she shared its history with old photos and maps. The day was topped by a great BBQ lunch. This tour was offered by the Voelz family at our Club's 2020 Dinner Auction.

Message from Club President 2020-21

Tabb Randolph

Fellow Rotarians,

THANK YOU for the opportunity to lead our Club over the next 12 months.  We live in unprecedented times, unlike any other in our 94-year history!  Can you believe the Woodland Rotary Club has been in existence since 1926!  Rotary is an amazing organization that reaches out to all corners of the world, with no limitations on race, color, ethnicity, gender – Rotary is inclusive, not exclusive!!

I have been a member of the Club for nearly 35 years.  Yes, at one time I WAS the kids table, but those days are in the rearview mirror now!!  I was brought into the Club by late Rotarian Bob Moeller, who passed away last year in a tragic auto accident.  Bob was well known in the club for not being able to pronounce member names when he was the fine master – we had a lot of laughs at Bob’s expense!  I am forever grateful to Bob who saw this young kid trying to get established in the business world, he took a chance inviting me to a Woodland Rotary meeting, at the Bowling Alley in those days, and has forever changed my life!  I decided to join Rotary because of the opportunities it offered me personally, to meet like business owners in the community, get involved in community service projects, and finally, to have an impact globally with programs such as Polio Plus!  Over the years I have been approached to consider taking on this task, and my typical response was always, “I’ll do it the year AFTER Tom Schwarzgruber”!  Well, Tom has won, I have relented, and my time has come!  I remember when Peter Holmes came to my door that one wintery evening and asked me to come with him – that was nearly 2 years ago, and I thought – 2 years is a long time into the future……Well, here we are today…..WE GOT THIS!

A little about myself, I have been married to my wife Nancy for 33 years.  We have two grown children, son Ryan (27) works in sales for Cisco Air Systems, Inc out of Sacramento.  Our daughter Paige (22) is in her final year at Penn State University majoring in Business and Marketing.  Ironically, Paige has done her entire college education via ZOOM!  I have spent my working career, 41 years, in the insurance industry with our company, Wraith, Scarlett & Randolph Insurance Services, Inc.

It appears we will be meeting via ZOOM for the foreseeable future.   I would like to say that we will be back meeting in person at the Hotel Woodland in the coming weeks – but evidently, we are still a long way from this happening.  Our current Club membership is around 63 members – we are only averaging 28-30 participants each week on our ZOOM calls.  I would really like to see this number increase.  We will be reaching out over the coming weeks  to members who have not been participating in our ZOOM calls to see what we can do to get you engaged – we miss seeing you and would really love to have you join us once again.

If you have made it to the end of this message, I have one simple request, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, reach out to me with any questions, concerns, suggestions you might have.  I will be reaching out to members myself seeking advice and help in making our ZOOM calls a little more interactive – I do not want to be the lone voice; I want to see the membership be engaged as well.

Yours in Rotary,

Tabb Randolph

President 2020-21

Fire Engine Project

- update as of July 28

 Gary Wegener reports the project to transfer a local fire engine to Mexico is nearing its last stages, as the rig, known as the 'Triple Whammy' left Woodland on March 13. Some years ago the Woodland Fire Support Branch acquired and restored a stand-alone tanker trailer which was designed and built in 1972 by our local Springlake Fire Protection District. Though usable, the unit’s configuration was no longer insurable for operation in the United States. When the Woodland Fire Support Branch decided to get the unit transferred to a department that could use it, Rotary stepped in. Orinda Rotary, identified El Grullo, Mexico as the intended recipient. Our Club agreed with Orinda Rotary to split the $2500 cost of shipping the unit by semi-truck trailer to the Mexican border. Work on the complex details of transport, export/import, and ownership transfer aspects related to getting the unit to its new home is nearing completion. The Guadalajara Rotary Club is coordinating the various organizations in Mexico, getting commitments to help ensure the unit will be safely and efficiently put to its intended use. Members from Rio Vista and Tahoe City Rotary, who recently delivered a fire engine to Mulege in Baja California, have been a great help in navigating the border crossing logistics and ensuring the engine is ‘road ready’.  They took the rig to a Rotarian’s shop in Rio Vista for minor maintenance in preparation for shipping to San Diego.

On June 4, Guadalajara Rotary emailed the Mexican government's equivalent to the IRS 'confirmed the truck is exempt from import taxes and is expected to clear customs next week'. The email goes on to indicate representatives of the El Grullo bomberos (fire department) will soon fly to Tijuana to take possession of the Triple Whammy and transport it to its new home in El Grullo.

On or about July 27, 2020 the Triple Whammy arrived at its new home in El Grullo, Mexico.  

 Five Rotary Clubs effectively partnered on this project.

 Click to view Rotary International news 

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