Rotary International Theme 2024-2025	THE ROWEL Rotary Club of Durham		Rotary International President: Gordon McInally Rotary District 5160 Governor: Clair Roberts Durham Rotary President: Glenn Pulliam _____________ Editor: Phil Price Publisher:  Jen Liu
	March 18, 2025	Harvest Festival  2025 will be held on September 21, 2025

The Meeting Opening We met at the BCCC. The meeting was called to order by President Peggi.  Peggi asked Mike Crump to lead the pledge, which he did.  Peggi then asked Sonny Ventimiglio,  President of Paradise Rotary Club, to recited the 4 Way Test, from memory, which he did.  He then explained how he memorized it. Jim Patterson presented the invocation. Following that Peggi asked Larry Bradley to lead us in a song.  He noted that baseball season was about to begin and then led us in singing “Take Me Out to The Ball Game”.

Announcements

Tom Knowles, who will be our president during 2025-2026, talked about his attending the Far West  President-Elect Training seminar (PETs), weekend before last, in San Jose.  He reported that they had great speakers and he learned a lot.  It was addended by presidents-elect from Districts 5130, 5150, 5160, 5170, 5180, 5190, 5220 and 5230.  He described a poster that he had made to take to PETs.

Sonny Ventimiglio President of Paradise Rotary Club talked about the Gala they are sponsoring to raise  money for a new facility the Butte County Search & Rescue needs:

Sonny also talked about the Peace Pole installed at Billie Park in Paradise to honor various communities, including Ukraine.  It was initiated by the Paradise Rotary Club.

Photo of a Peace Pole placed at Billie Park in Paradise, Calif. (KRCR)

Sonny Ventimiglio, President of the Paradise Rotary Club, said the idea originated from the Rotary International President, who aimed to create Peace Poles in every community with a Rotary Club.

The unveiling of the Peace Pole is part of the ‘Open Word Tour,’ where delegates tour Paradise to learn about recovery and rebuilding efforts following the 2018 Camp Fire.  Delegates from Ukraine did visit Paradise to learn about Paradise’s recovery from the Camp Fire. The knowledge they gained is intended to be applied in Ukraine as they begin their post-war recovery.

Introduction of Visitors

President Peggi introduced the visitors and the far table who were Christina Skaggs, Kevin Soukup and Scott Steel, who were here from Butte County Search & Rescue.  The first two were here to present the program for the night.  Scott is also a member of Paradise Rotary.

Tom Knowles introduce George Selland, Diana’s  husband.

Steve Plume introduced Ben Cooper (November Student of the Month) and his parents, Ray and Jenni Cooper.  He also introduce Coby Gausemel, March Student of the Month.

Also visiting was Jannelle Thorpe,  daughter of Jessica. 

Students of the Month

We had two Students of the Month.  Larry Bradley first introduced Ben Cooper, Student of the Month for November.

He then introduced Coby Gausemel, Student of the Month for March.

Our Next Meeting

Our next meeting, on April 1^st, will be at Lili's Brazilian Bistro, which is located at 142 Broadway St., Chico.  It will be a Club Assembly and a Social’.  Each member would pay for their own meal and drinks. A Rotarian from the Chico Noon Club, Dan DeWit, will give us a tutorial on how the Rotary software, Club Runner, works.

Recognitions

Steve Plume was recognized for, I think, failing to introduce Jennele Thorpe He contributed $20.

Tonight’s Meeting Program

Was all about Butte County Search & Rescue and their need for a new facility.  It should be noted that all of the members of Butte County Search & Rescue are volunteers.

Christina Skaggs talked about the need for a larger and more useful building.  Their equipment is currently crowded in facility that is too small.  When the need piece of equipment for a rescue, they losing response time moving equipment around to get the needed piece out.  It needs to be in the south Chico area near the Skyway.

Kevin Soukup talked about search and rescues.  He noted that they had 183 calls this past year and that they are one of the most active search and rescue units in the state.  He described many searches and rescues he has participated in, many of which were successful (some unexpectedly) and others that were not.  But he loves doing it.

Lastly, President Peggi presented them a donation from our Club.

Membership

Bring guests who you think you can interest in becoming a member.  Your dinner and your guest’s dinner will be paid for by the Club.  Also, bring a guest to one of our occasional social gatherings.

District 5160 Governor, Dan Geraldi is asking each club member to bring at least one guest to a meeting this year.

Go to the following Rotary International web site for information on membership development:  https://my.rotary.org/en/learning-reference/learn-topic/membership .  From this website there is access to membership development and other related information.

The Rotary Foundation Donations

You can make a difference in this world by helping people in need. Your gift can do some great things, from supplying filters that clean people’s drinking water to empowering local entrepreneurs to grow through business development training.

The Rotary Foundation will use your gift to fund the life-changing work of Rotary members who provide sustainable solutions to their communities’ most pressing needs. But we need help from people like you who will take action and give the gift of Rotary to make these projects possible.

When every Rotarian gives every year, no challenge is too great for us to make a difference. The minimum gift to The Rotary Foundation is $25.00.   An annual $100.00 gift is a sustaining member.  Once your donations accumulate to $1,000 you become a Paul Harris Fellow.

If you have any questions, ask Steve Heithecker.

It is possible to learn more about The Rotary Foundation on the Rotary web site. 

Your gift can be made online or by sending Jessica Thorpe a check made out to The Rotary Foundation to Durham Rotary, P.O. Box 383, Durham, California 95958.

Must Be Present to Win Drawing:

Dear Fellow Rotarians,

Rotary District 5160 has gathered some of the brightest minds, most generous hearts and highly entertaining individuals in the world to bring you an exhilarating Rotary event: Building Bridges to Change Lives!

You are invited to gather with fellow Rotarians on Saturday, April 5th at Shasta College Downtown HSUC Facility, 1400 Tehama Street in Redding to collaborate and make a difference in your communities and the world. Whether you’ve been in Rotary less than a year or for over 60 years, this event is designed to introduce ways your Rotary District and Rotary International can provide support to help you achieve your goals.

Breakout Sessions include topics such as:

Bridging Borders with International Projects
Youth Empowerment-Creating Tomorrow's Leaders Today
Vision to Action: Mapping Rotary Goals
Think Outside the Box - How to Grow Membership with New and Different Club Models
Gratitude, Goals and Galas - Celebrating The Rotary Foundation

And Much, Much More!

Check-in will begin at 8:30 and the assemblies will conclude by 2:00. Coffee, pastries and lunch are included; please bring a refillable water bottle. To help offset facility and food costs, a nominal $20 registration fee is required.

 Register NOW for D5160 Spring Assembly & BETS (Board Elect Training) NORTH
 
Joy Alaidarous
District Governor 2025-26
Rotary Club of Rossmoor Walnut Creek
Cell:  925-300-7484

_______________________________________________________________ri

From Rotary International’s News and Features Website

{Note that the following may not be the complete article.  See the complete article on Rotary International’s web page.

Turkish Rotary member honored for advancing women’s leadership

ISTANBUL, Türkiye (22 Feb 2025) — Rotary International has recognized Ayda Özeren for her outstanding contributions to women’s leadership, education, and economic empowerment.

Özeren was presented with the Sylvia Whitlock Leadership Award, which honors Rotary members who have made a lasting impact in advancing gender equity and empowering women in their communities.

A member of the Rotary Club of Izmir-Gündogdu, Özeren is an author, mediator, and professional speaker whose work has impacted as many as 11,000 women and girls. A longtime advocate for women’s economic empowerment, she began teaching financial literacy at a bank, supporting female entrepreneurs before expanding her efforts through Rotary. She has visited more than 100 factories and small businesses, educating 8,000 women in rural areas, factories, and schools on finance and economic independence.

"We need to reshape the leadership landscape by creating more opportunities for women to lead," said Özeren. "I’ve seen how equipping women with the right skills and opportunities creates lasting change. True peace is only possible when women have a seat at the decision-making table—when they are included, societies become more just, resilient, and sustainable.”

Özeren has also led earthquake recovery efforts in Türkiye, launching mobile health services and economic relief projects for women. She helped women secure jobs in the ready-made clothing industry through the Golden Needle Project and supported farmers by providing olive and sumac saplings, an initiative expected to create 2,000 jobs. A strong advocate for girls’ education, she donated all proceeds from her 2021 book, Aziz Coguz Biziz (We Are More When We Are Together), to fund 1,000 scholarships for young women.

“Peace is built through actions that create a safe, prosperous, and equitable society, and one of the most powerful ways to achieve this is by unlocking the potential of women and girls,” said Rotary International President Stephanie Urchick. “This award recognizes a leader whose dedication goes beyond empowerment; it creates tangible opportunities that allow women to shape their own futures and drive meaningful change.”

The Sylvia Whitlock Leadership Award, named for Rotary’s first female club president, honors one Rotary member each year who has actively worked to advance women. The award was presented during the 2025 Rotary Presidential Peace Conference in Istanbul, Türkiye, where 1,000 Rotary members and peace experts from 88 countries convened to discuss solutions for fostering peace and sustainable development. The event also celebrated the launch of Rotary’s first peace center dedicated to peacebuilding in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region at Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul.

Rotary members throughout the world develop and implement sustainable, community-driven projects that fight disease, promote peace, provide clean water, support education, help mothers and children, grow local economies and protect the environment. Over the last 100 years, US $5.5 billion has been awarded through The Rotary Foundation – Rotary’s charitable arm that helps clubs work together to perform meaningful, impactful service.

About Rotary: Rotary brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges and creating lasting change. Rotary connects 1.2 million people of action from more than 45,000 Rotary clubs in almost every country in the world, including 6,277 members across 249 clubs in Türkiye. Their service improves lives both locally and internationally, from helping those in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world. For more information, visit rotary.org.

Contact: Claudia Brunner, +41-44-387-7116, claudia.brunner@rotary.org

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