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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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December 1st Meeting

Roy Holmes, with help from son Jim and daughter Marjorie, celebrated his 95th birthday on November 28 (Clarksburg). Kevin Haarberg happily reported that WalletHub did a study, with input from Charity Watch and Charity Navigator, to find the best charities for 13 different causes. Within the cause of 'human services', on a scale of 0-100,... 

...the Rotary Foundation was not only the highest ranked,

but scored 100!  

Chuck Maltese took the helm on Recognition today and asked 'Where in Woodland or Davis have you received take-out meals and do you have any recommendations?' Peter Holmes liked Maria's and Kitchen 428. Aniek Ramsay liked Mojos and the Burger Saloon. Tim Pettit enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving Day meal from Kitchen 428. Other recommendations received included Swagat for Indian food, Main Street Lounge, El Patio, and Thai Pepper.

Chad Rinde, Chief Financial Officer for Yolo County, was our guest speaker today, giving us a presentation on his Department of Financial Services.

November 24th Meeting

President Tabb Randolph opened the meeting

by wishing everyone a

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Chuck Moore was happy to find out recently that the grandchild his family is expecting will be a boy! Kevin Haarberg celebrated his 66th birthday today (Yankton SD).

 Karl Diekman, in charge of today's Recognition, asked 'What has brought you the most joy during the pandemic?' Tim Pettit likes the reduced traffic congestion. David Pinto and wife Rebecca enjoy hikes in remote areas of the Capay Valley & elsewhere. Jim Nolan and wife Barbara enjoy short trips to Lake Tahoe and other places in the region. Absolutely 'nothing' declared Mike Chandler who can't do any traveling.

Sunrise Rotarian and retired Pharmacist Richard Sakai, Pharm D, FASHP, FCSCHP, was our guest speaker today providing us with a presentation on 'Pills, Profits and Politics'.

Fund Raising in 2021?

Since the pandemic related restrictions may prevent the Club's normal Dinner Auction event in 2021, President-elect Dan Stroski has been working with a committee to explore alternatives for fundraising. View the minutes from the committee's November 8th meeting to see the ideas being explored.

Rotarians on a 'Hunt'

Blair Voelz reports he and Seth Wurzel met Pete Martin on November 22 at the UCD Student Farm and enjoyed a 'hunt' with Pete's trained Harris Hawk 'Zeva'. This was an auction item donated by Pete and Don Hildebrant at our Club's 2020 Dinner Auction and purchased by Blair & Seth. Blair says Zeva and another trained bird, working as a team under Pete's instructions, were able to flush out and kill three jackrabbits in the effort. Meat from the hunt is saved and will be used as feed for the birds later.

Rotary Calgary Nicaragua Project

This project involves establishing a UNICAM or “University in the Country” in the Nicaraguan municipality of Tuma-La Dalia (located approximately 100 miles northeast of Nicaragua’s capital of Managua) to train local high school graduates to become qualified dentists, optometrists, and family doctors and provide care for a medically underserved population of approximately 300,000 people. The training duration will be 5 years for dentists and optometrists and 6 years for family doctors, and result in providing 30 physicians, 15 dentists, and 15 optometrists. University of Managua faculty members will provide training for these students, all of whom are from this region, and most of whom are likely to remain after graduation.

Due to problems associated with the COVID pandemic, the starting date was delayed from February 2020 until July 2020. This project’s model is considered so successful and its sustainability so likely that 3 more UNICAM training programs are already being planned for this region. Responding to a request for additional funding from the International Host Rotary Club of Calgary (Canada), the Rotary Club of Woodland made a contribution and solicited additional financial support from other Rotary clubs in our area, as well as several individual donors. We collected a total of $5000 USD which has been forwarded to the Rotary Club of Calgary. This sum will allow purchase of badly needed teaching equipment. The total funding for this global grant project is $212,399.

At a recent Club meeting, Board member Jim McGibbon

gave a verbal update on our Club’s efforts in this Rotary project.

This is a written version of that report.

Welcome Our New Member -

Yvette Roy

Yvette Roy was inducted as a new Club member on November 3, 2020. She works as a Project Manager with Siemens Healthineers. Yvette provided us with the following bio at our request. Take a moment to introduce yourself to Yvette when you meet and welcome her to the Club.

Yvette was born and raised in Woodland, CA and attended her local Parish School, Holy Rosary.  After graduating from Bishop Manogue High School, now known as Christian Brothers she went on to earn her BA from University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA.

After high school, Yvette lived in the Sacramento area for many years but returned to Woodland in 2001 with her husband Craig to raise their two daughters, Claudia (25) and Jacie (18).  At that time in 2001, it was always planned they’d return to Sacramento when their youngest daughter entered high school so as not to have to endure the traffic nightmare in commuting to Christian Brothers.  When that time finally came, her family was deeply rooted in Woodland and chose not to leave.  Woodland is Home!  

A little about Yvette’s family; her husband Craig is employed at Sutter Roseville Medical Center, Claudia is pursuing a career in law enforcement and Jacie is a Freshman at the University of Portland, School of Nursing.  They have two dogs, Cody (Chocolate Lab) and their rescue dog Bentley (Terrier Mix); Bentley not only rules Cody but he rules their home too!  Their family enjoys traveling and often made at least two trips a year back to New Hampshire where her husband Craig’s family resides.

Yvette has spent the past 28 years in Healthcare Administration and is a Credentialed Project Manager with Siemens Healthineers USA; she manages project teams to install IT Information Systems in Radiology, Cardiology, and Hemodynamics Labs.  Prior to working at Siemens, Yvette began her healthcare career at Radiological Associates of Sacramento, fulfilling various roles as a Radiology Information Systems Trainer, IT Systems Administrator and Radiology Business Manager.

Yvette is an active member of Holy Rosary Parish.  Enjoys her many volunteer projects, most recently as a Pink Lady for the Albie Aware Breast Cancer Organization.  She likes to spend her personal time reading, crafting, gardening, golfing, and splitting time between her home in Woodland and Lake Tahoe.

Meet our New Member - Eric Sharp

Eric Sharp was inducted as a new Club member on October 20, 2020. He works as a Pension Consultant at Future Plan in Sacramento. Eric provided us with the following bio at our request. Take a moment to introduce yourself to Eric when you meet and welcome him to the Club.

Might as well start from the beginning… Eric was born in Woodland, CA (referred to as the center of the universe) and has been married to Tia for 43 years. His father, Herbert Sharp owned and operated Scotty’s Cleaners until his death in 1977. Grandparents owned Columbia Market on Main Street until Louis Calloni retired in 1962. Two children are in the family along with 4 grandchildren. Meredith (40) is married to Shane Heskett and is a teacher at Woodland Christian. Children are Elly (16) and Austin (13). Meredith has a Master’s Degree in Education with a BS Degree in Criminal Justice from Sacramento State while Emily (38) is married to Justin Tozzi and is a project manager for Formation Information in Sacramento. She graduated from UCD with a Masters in Soil Toxicology and BS in Environment Science. Sam is 6 and Eliot is 4. Dogs? Yes (3)  Chickens? Yes (3).

After graduation from Woodland High School where he played Football, Basketball, Baseball and ran Track he attended Sacramento State where he earned a BS Degree in Business Administration and a concentration in Finance. In addition to his degree, Eric was a 4-year starter on the Football team. During the offseason instead of getting ready for Baseball he started playing Rugby with the River Rat’s which he continued over the next 14 years.

Professionally, Eric has been in the Financial Services industry since 1974 when he started his career in Woodland working with William Griffith setting up and providing services on retirement plans for individuals and businesses.

He joined the Woodland Rotary Club in the mid 90’s and took a long leave of absence in 1998 when he took a position as the VP Retirement Plans for Oppenheimerfunds, a position he kept until December of 2011.

Eric joined PenSys, Inc. in Roseville in January of 2012 as a partner and Director of Sales and Marketing. The firm focused on the design and administration of retirement plans for individuals and businesses working closely with Employers, CPA’s, Attorney’s and Financial Advisors. The firm sold to FuturePlan, www.futureplan.com, in 2018 which is now the largest Third Party Administration / Consulting firm in the country. Eric was asked to stay on the Leadership Team and help guide the development of the Sales Team.

Currently he is sitting Secretary on the Woodland Hospital Foundation Board and has been active in the past when fund raising was being done for the Woodland Community Stadium was building the Field House and Weight Room.

Activities outside of work include everything under the sun. His lifelong sideline has been taxidermy which he has done since the age of 13 and at one time presented to the Rotary Club at a lunch meeting. Other activities include golf, fishing, hunting, outdoor activities, painting, sculpting, drawing, wood working. Family BarBQ’s are the best. Loading up the grill with Chicken, Tri-Tip or Salmon.

Favorite Music: Classic Rock and Country 

Best Group of all time: Beatles, Huey Lewis & the News, Journey, Led Zepplin 

Best Country: George Strait 

Cowboy Country: Riders in the Sky 

Favorite Sport: Rugby 

Favorite Football Team: 49ers 

Favorite Baseball: Giants 

Favorite Rugby: River Rats, All Blacks 

Favorite TV Show: YouTube Fishing Video’s

Kenya WASH Project

At their October 2020 meeting, our Club’s Board of Directors approved Club participation in the Kenya WASH project to improve Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) at the Karen C Primary School in Karen, Kenya. This is a Rotary Global Grant proposal sponsored by the Rotary Club of Karen (Karen, Kenya; http://rotaryclubofkaren.org/ Rotary District 9212) to make improvements needed at the Karen C Primary School in Karen which serves 1200 students, 50 teachers and a community of 500 residents by installing water storage tanks, plumbing, wash stations, modern toilets, and training students and teachers and otherwise creating a communitywide awareness on hygiene, water usage and sanitation.

Karen is a suburb of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city. Karen Blixen, the author of the colonial memoir ‘Out of Africa’ owned a farm where much of the suburb now stands. While we in this country take clean water for granted, in Karen water is a precious necessity and scarce. Facilities at this school are basic & aging, and include urinal and pit latrines.

The project consists of two phases: Phase One involves putting up large, steel water storage tanks, connecting plumbing to and from tanks, and portable washing facilities. Phase Two buys new toilets and sinks, the buildings to house them, as well as a large capacity septic tank. Phase One costs total approximately $40,000, while Phase Two costs are estimated at $75,000.

Our Club’s approval includes agreeing to serve as the international sponsor for Phase One of the project and to contribute a maximum of $5,000 in a Phase One local match once the District & Global Grants are approved. Remaining Phase One funding is expected from the Rotary Club of Karen - $5,000 in a local match; Rotary Foundation Global Grant funding (applied for by both clubs) - $20,000; and District 5160 Designated Funds - $10,000. In addition to funding, our Club will also provide oversight, monitoring and managing the Global Grant and reporting the project progress to all involved. A Committee including Blair Voelz (chair), President Tabb Randolph, Karl Diekman, Tom Schwarzgruber, Gary Wirth and Jayne Williams will oversee the Club’s involvement in this project.

Our Board is seeking member donations to make up most, if not all, of our Phase One local match. So far, donations from our Club members to the Kenya WASH Project have exceeded $4,000. Interested members can make donations by any of the following ways:

• Make a check payable to the ‘Woodland Rotary Endowment’ (note the ‘Kenya WASH Project’), and mail or deliver it to Tom Schwarzgruber at 938 Jordan Circle, Woodland CA 95695; or

• Make a donation payment to the Club  through Venmo (note the ‘Kenya WASH Project’); or

• Make a donation by PayPal or a credit card on the Club’s website designating the Woodland Rotary Endowment (note the ‘Kenya WASH Project’). If using this method please consider adding $3 to the donation amount to cover PayPal fees.

Member contributions will be held in the Endowment’s account until the Global Grant and District 5160 Designated Funds for the project have been approved.

Meet our New Member -

Brian Dwyer

Brian Dwyer was inducted as a new Club member on October 20, 2020 and works at Edward Jones as a Financial Advisor in Woodland. Brian provided us with the following bio at our request. Take a moment to introduce yourself to Brian when you meet and welcome him to the Club.

Brian and his wife, Janelle, have been married since 2008 and are the lucky parents of two young boys Cohen (11) and Rylen (1). They are active in the community where Brian is a current member of the Woodland Little League Board, Yolo County Farm Bureau and Yolo County YPN.  He coaches Cohen's Little League and AAU basketball teams in his downtime.  Janelle, who grew up in Woodland, owned and operated a small business in downtown Woodland called Sweet Potato Pie until 2018 and now stays home with the kids and volunteers for various organizations in Woodland.

Brian grew up in Nevada City, CA where he attended Nevada Union High School.  He was recently inducted into the Nevada Union Sports Hall of Fame.  He went on to receive a BSBA from Michigan Technological University (magna cum laude) where he earned a scholarship as a running back on the football team. After graduating, Brian was quick to retreat from the cold weather of the upper peninsula of Michigan, returning to California to start his career.  

Prior to Edward Jones, Brian spent nearly two decades in the corporate sector in various roles.  Most recently, Brian was a Regional Vice President for Superior Vision, a subsidiary of Versant Health, which is a leading eyecare provider in the vision insurance industry.  He also worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 12 years with Merck & Co where he was an award-winning sales manager.

As a Financial Advisor at Edward Jones, Brian has partnered with Kevin Haarberg who has been a long-time member of Woodland Rotary.  Brian is working with both families and business owners locally to navigate the increasingly complex and volatile investment environment. Some of his services include retirement planning, life insurance, college savings plans and business solutions such as employer retirement accounts, buy-sell agreements and key person insurance.   

In his spare time, Brian enjoys coaching, golfing and spending time with his family and friends.  Based on some personal experiences as a teenager, Brian also makes himself available to help kids who have been impacted by tragedy.

 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.

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