MEETING MINUTES September 16, 2004 at Inn Marin, Ignacio

 

Submitted by Catheryne Diprete

 

President Garry Gast opened with Marie Borders led the pledge of allegiance.  Daryl Weinroth gave the invocation, recognizing the start of Rosh Hashanah, celebration of the Jewish New Year.  Rosh Hashanah is a time of reflection and atonement, ending ten days later with Yom Kippur. 

 

Visiting Rotarians

Our visiting Rotarians were all from Novato and included: Don Beyer, Nohemi Eb Mason, Tom Winner, Lynn Petty, and Russ Ketron.

 

Guests

We had Dennis Peppin as a guest today.

 

Announcements

Brenda Weidner from the Novato Theater Company reminded everyone that the Novato Company’s first play of the season is currently showing.  To see Sylvia, call (415) 892-3005 for information or visit www.novatocommunityplayers.org.

 

Fred Pfeifer informed us that the bocce ball tournament is this Sunday.  It starts at 10am and ends at 3pm.  Participants can arrive at 9am to warm-up.  To play costs $35 per person, including food.  Alcoholic beverages are extra.

 

The club also voted to hold a combined Christmas party this year with the other two Novato clubs.  Location and date to be determined.

 

The club will be represented (booth) Thursday night at the Novato Chamber Business Showcase from 4-8pm. 

 

Larry Carter gave a big thanks to everyone who helped with the Novato sign last weekend.  Good Job!

 

October 7^th will be a Fireside meeting.  No lunch meeting that day.

 

October 9^th is the Wine Tour.  Next week it will be open to friends of Rotarians, and a few spots will be available.  Contact Bob Carpenter to sign up.

 

November 11^th, from 6-12pm, will be the District 5150 Foundation Event at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos.  For $20, a bus will take Rotarians to the event.  See www.rotary5150.org for more information on this event.

 

October 21^st is the Whistlestop luncheon benefit at the Elbs.  Attending this event counts as a meeting or make-up meeting.  Contact Greg for more information.

 

Monte Carlo Masquerade – a fact sheet for the event was distributed.  Team leaders please attend the Next Captain’s Meeting on 9/28^th at 4pm, Inn Marin, to report on their progress.  It is important to coordinate requests for donations.

 

Shark Time

Marie Borders’ husband Jeff’s birthday was on the 13^th.  Happy Birthday Jeff!

John Colston’s anniversary was on the 5^th.

Kirk Highland was on time for his vacation in the Tahitian Islands.

Don Wichman had a great time in Aruba, stopping in Florida between Charlie and Francis.

Daryl Weinroth was in Miami between Francis and Ivan.

Fran O’Brien was in the newspaper, commenting on Novato’s General Plan.

 

Speaker

Santiago Sosa introduced Ross Ketrin and _____________to speak about Project Copper Canyon.

Upcoming Meetings:

September 23            Gene Thomas, Lifespan Video Port

September 30            Novato Councilmembers Bernie Meyers and Jeanne MacLeamy about the City Hall Plans

October 7            Dark at noon – Fireside in the evening

October 14            Regular meeting however will be at the Buck Center for lunch and tour

November 4            No Meeting due to District event on November 6

December 16            Lunch at the Novato Youth Center

 

 

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

 

 

Mark your Calendars Now!

 

Events:

The Wine Tour is October 9

Our holiday dinner and party will be on December 4

 

Upcoming Firesides:

October 7 at Indian Valley Golf Course

January 6 at Indian Valley Golf Course

 

Upcoming Socials:

October 1 at the Elshout’s

November 19 – location tbd

January 28 – location tbd

March 25 – location tbd

May 27 – location tbd

 

Upcoming Community Service Projects:

October 23 – Ignacio Blvd. Median Strip Work Party

November 11 – Novato Human Needs Center Food Drive

December 9 – Salvation Army Kettle (at our meeting)

December 16 – Toy Drive and Lunch at Novato Youth Center

December 19 – Holiday Food Boxing at Marin Food Bank

 

 

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

 

International

Rotaplast International Newsletter

Rotaplast Mission

Report One: Cumana, Venezuela

Sept. 8th to Sept. 12th, 2004

 

Submitted by: Blake Fitch, Photojournalist

 

The Rotaplast team departed for the Cumana Venezuela mission on Wednesday, September 8, 2004. The 33 member team is being led by mission director and Rotaplast ambassador Donna-Lee Young Rubin, past district governor. Dr. George Chatson is the medical director. They are both Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Andover, Massachusetts.

 

Team members from the sponsoring Boston area Rotary District 7930 gathered at Logan International airport to fly to Miami, where the full team would assemble before flying to Caracas. Additional volunteers were flying from California with the boxes of supplies. Also joining us were volunteers from Montana, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Peru and Uruguay. We were scheduled to fly to Caracas and to arrive in Cumana late that night. Unfortunately, our departure was delayed by hurricane Ivan, a powerful category four hurricane which had hit Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent and drenched Venezuela with torrential rain storms that forced the Caracas airport to close and caused massive mudslides.

 

Our flight to Caracas was cancelled and there were no flights available for two days. After many hours of negotiating options with airline supervisors and trying to reroute the team to Caracas, Mission Director Donna-Lee was able to get the team re-ticketed for a flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico later that night. Our luggage was checked to Caracas. This flexible and spirited team extraordinaire flew without overnight clothes and gear to stay the night in Puerto Rico to wait for the hurricane to pass. We left for Caracas in the morning. Finally, after two full days of traveling and a day late, we arrived in Cumana, where we received an exceptionally warm welcome by the local Rotarians.

 

The unexpected travel delays gave the team plenty of time to get acquainted. The team had been well prepared pre-mission and knew that flexibility and a positive attitude were necessary prerequisites. While awaiting flights and transferring luggage from one conveyer belt to the next, mission veterans shared stories of prior trips, answered each others questions and settled the newcomers. The team had a high level of excitement in anticipation of a great mission accompanied by a palpable sense of the beginning of long-term friendships and life changing experiences.

 

Despite the late arrival and the fact that ten boxes with important supplies were misrouted, all has gone exceptionally well. We reshaped the mission planning by responding to new needs and circumstances. The team is very cohesive and jumped right in to fast track set-up. High spirits and clear mission expectations have helped to overcome the many challenges of our travel. This Rotaplast mission is truly hands-on world community service.

 

On Friday morning and running a day behind, the team spilt into two groups. The first group set up and ran the opening clinic at Hospital "Julio Rodriguez." Using every minute to the fullest and substantial extra effort, we quickly set up the clinic and by 9am were screening potential patients. By the end of the day we had screened 166 patients and confirmed 88 of them for surgery, while leaving another 12 spaces for walk-ins to achieve our goal of 100 patients. Some are return patients from previous Rotaplast missions scheduled for additional surgery. The remainder were new cases composed primarily of infants with cleft lip and or cleft palate.

 

The second group went to Universitario "Antonio Patricio Alcala" Hospital to set up the OR. The medical volunteers were pleased with the hospital facilities and well prepared for the heavy workload ahead. Our ten boxes arrived. Saturday, the first day of surgery, went remarkably smoothly with 13 patients operated on between three OR's. It was an especially exciting start to our mission, as we had an unexpected visit to the OR by the governor of Cumana.

 

This morning, doctors visited recovering children and consulted with their parents. Though the children were tired and sore, the mood in the hospital was very upbeat, as you can already see the amazing changes to these children's appearance. Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles were there to take them home. All but one patient who underwent a more extensive procedure was released. What a wonderful way to start the day, knowing that you have made such a positive impact on a child's life.

 

Fellowship is strong amongst the team and our Rotarian hosts, who have been taking excellent care of the team. The hospitality shown to us in Cumana has been heartwarming as we jumped hurdles to begin our mission. There is an atmosphere of deep love surrounding the children and their families. We asked one young mother embracing a child with severe anomalies how she found out about our Rotaplast mission and what she would do if there was no mission. She leaned forward and tenderly kissed her child and said, "I would love him anyway just as he is." Her eyes full of hope, she looked up and whispered, "God bless you for helping us."

 

We feel that we have only just begun to experience the endless rewards of this trip. We are "Celebrating Rotary's Centennial Creating Smiles with Rotaplast."