Submitted by Rob Sundberg

President Tony Elshout opened the meeting.  Roberta DiPrete led us in the pledge of allegiance.

Pastor Stan gave the thought for the day from Proverbs 1:10.

Visiting Rotarians

Bill Kelly introduced Joe Kreiner from Novato and Shelly Scott from Novato Sunrise.

Guests

Pauline Stuber introduced Lt. Jennifer Tejada from the Novato Police Department.  Dean Moser introduced his wife Michelle Moser.

Announcements

Next Thursday the District Governor, Holly Axtel will be at our meeting.  President Tony is hopeful many will be in attendance.

Fred Pfeifer reminded us that we will be having a Fireside at the Cacti Restaurant on August 17 – this is a Wednesday. 

Ron Kern gave his 5-minute talk.  It is always so wonderful to learn more about each other.  Officer Kern (retired, police) shared about his grandparents, parents and children.  He joined the San Francisco Police Department in 1968.  In has been with the Novato Police Department for the past 4 years.  Ron shared he lost his first wife in 1991 and is now married to his second best friend.  Both of his wives share the same birthdate just different years.  If you missed his story about writing tickets – please ask him it is very interesting.  Welcome to the club Ron.

Dennis Pepin announced on October 22 will be our wine tour.  More details to come.

Pauline presented Lt. Tejada and Chief Joe Kreiner with a check, from our Monte Carlo proceeds, for the Girls Forum Program.  This program is designed to help prevent sexual assault in our juvenile community.

Daryl Weinroth announced the Novato Rotary Club’s annual golf tournament will be on September 9.  If you would like to be a part of a 4-some please let him know.

Larry Levy thanked everyone for his or her contributions to the wheelchair campaign.

Wendy Irving reminded us about the wonderful opportunity to work at the beer booth at the Labor Day at the Lake event – on Labor Day, September 4^th this year.

Fine Time

• Rob “the Bear” Sundberg recognized

• Larry L. for his induction in July of 1995 which he had dinner at home

• Ron Kern’s anniversary was celebrated with dinner at Tommy Toy’s in SF.  There was something about a Jag SJX and 49er colors

• Wendy decided to celebrate her birthday over the course of a week with dinner at the 19^th Hole, then dinner with her dad and will have a party this weekend

• Greg Call had a birthday and celebrated by getting a big super duty truck and dinner

• Jerry Ghirardo shared a story about his shoes and mud and soccer and his daughter and celebrated his anniversary - #18

• Daryl shared that he celebrated his 21^st anniversary yesterday – 21 wonderful and unbelievable expense years.  Daryl also paid his Weinroth and a donation to the Ignacio Rotary Foundation.  (There was some rebuttal from Michael Fish however we then moved on.)

• Matt Pavone was fined for his new Lexus, which is the same color as Michael’s shirt (sort-of greenish)

Speaker

Miss Marin 2005, Monica Lusero was our speaker.  She shared her experiences, thanked Rotary for all their support and scholarships and her platform about saving others lives through organ and tissue donations.  Monica reminded us that there are 67,000 people on the waiting list for donations and about 5,800 will become donors during the next year.  If someone is interested in signing up to be a potential donor and lifesaver, you can find more information at www.shareyourlife.org.

Upcoming Meetings

July 28            District Governor Holly Axtell

August 4          A surprise  J

August 11       Novato Economic Commission- Talk on economic strategy for Novato (thank you Peter for lining this one up)

August 18        Dark

August 25       Mark Bartolini – about his recent trip to Iraq

All Rotarians are encouraged to think about speakers for meetings. If you have a suggestion, please contact Dave Pitchford at 382-8150.

Board Meetings

Ignacio Rotary Board meetings are the 2^nd Wednesday of the month.  They meet at the Bank of Marin located at 378 Bel Marin Keys Blvd.  They begin at 5 pm.

Upcoming Firesides

August 17            at the Cacti Restaurant on Grant Avenue in Novato

International

With charter of Tajikistan club, Rotary is now in 167 countries

Tajikistan became the 167th Rotary country when the Rotary Club of Dushanbe received its charter on 5 April. The event was the culmination of an eight-year quest by some of the club's 36 charter members to bring Rotary to the Central Asian country.

Ella Ryazanova, chair of the club's programs committee, was among the prospective members. In the late 1990s, she was head of a nongovernmental initiative aimed at identifying opportunities for individuals who wished to participate in the business and nonprofit sectors in transitional economies and post-conflict countries.

Ryazanova's team discovered Rotary while looking for examples of organizations that promote socially responsible conduct among business leaders and professionals. Inspired by Rotary's ideals, members of the group established what they called a "Friends of Rotary" club in Dushanbe. With the guidance of Renny Smith, wife of Rotarian Grant Smith, the U.S. ambassador to Tajikistan at the time, the "friends" started propagating Rotary values.

They initiated projects, including a joint effort with the Rotary Club of Boulder, Colorado, USA, to alleviate malnutrition among elderly pensioners in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. In 1998, Ryazanova represented the group at a Rotary-sponsored peace forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was interviewed by an editor from The Rotarian.

"[The] extension of Rotary to Tajikistan was announced [in St. Petersburg]," explains Ryazanova. "[But the] political situation in Tajikistan was not quite stable, and it prevented us from going ahead with chartering a Rotary club."

In 2002, Nancy Pasternak, of the Rotary Club of Bellevue, Washington, USA, arrived in Dushanbe as a volunteer with Doctors Without Borders. She became a liaison between the Friends of Rotary club and RI World Headquarters. Two years later, RI gave the green light to form a provisional Rotary club in Dushanbe.

"This was a chance of a lifetime to make a fine difference through Rotary and to carry on my father's legacy as a past district governor and very active Rotarian," says Pasternak. "My husband and I agreed I could afford to spend a month in Tajikistan to work on forming the club."

Working with RI staff and Rotarians such as Salem Mashhour, chair of RI's Extension of Rotary to Muslim Countries Subcommittee, and Erhan Çiftcioglu, governor of RI District 2430, Pasternak helped turn the dream of a Rotary club in Tajikistan into reality.

"Marilynne Davis, of the Rotary Club of Champaign, Illinois, and director of the Urban Institute in Tajikistan for the next year or so, is working with the club officers on-site, along with me by e-mail, to orient them and advise the club in its activities," says Pasternak.

Tajikistan joins District 2430, which includes Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

District 5150 Newsletter and Information:

For more information all you need to do is log on to the District Web Site at:

http://www.rotary5150.org/newsletter.htm
 

Need to make up a missed meeting?  Now you know where and when: