The Wheel – April 28, 2021

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Due to the recent concerns about the COVID-19 virus and a desire to follow the suggestions of health care professionals, the club will be having virtual meetings until further notice.

“The Rotary Club of Stockton Begins the 2nd Century of Service to the Stockton Community”
(60)

Activities

• Call to Order and Welcome! President Gary called the meeting to order and rang the bell at the Stockton Country Club for the Hybrid meeting with a limited number of guests!
• Pledge of Allegiance & Four Way Test – Liz Hull.
• 

  Past-President Kuy Ky

  Thought for the Day – Past-President Kuy Ky talked about how Stockton Rotary has contributed and had a significant impact on the lives of his children who grew up attending and participating in various Rotary events ranging from the Mystery Bus Trip to the Salvation Army Bell Ringing event. He thanked Rotary for raising their kids to be fine human beings. Their oldest son, Dean is in the Dental school and Ben got selected to Stanford University. Kuy & Monie have two more daughters that are younger. He said that, “It takes a community to raise children” and Rotary was that community for his children.

• Special Thanks Today to – Secretary Matt Grizzle and Corie Stewart for the making this Hybrid meeting and getting all the technical stuff together for us. We want to thank Dudley Drake, now located in Arizona, for his leadership in getting our speakers. Leena Mittal, our meeting note taker and to Eric Duran for putting all in the Wheel.
• Concern Reports – Leena Mittal’s Father, V.K. Mittal, passed last Wednesday in India. He was a long time Rotarian and a large influence in why Leena came to Rotary and our club. His passion was helping handicap and challenged individuals by not only assisting with special needs but helping them to find opportunities for employment and building a feeling of self-worth.
• Visiting Rotarians – (none).
• Guests of Rotarians – First lady, Wendy Frush and Chris Camacho.
• Rotary News:  Rotary Direct – Latest sign up: Steve Luthy! Total members registered in Rotary Direct for Foundation giving are 18! Please consider signing up; it’s easy to do! Please call President Gary (209-601-3631) or Linda Guinn (209-639-1482) to sign up.  Goal is 150 members.
• Club Service & District Calendar for 2020-2021 – Click HERE for the latest list! Don’t miss out on some great activities that may or may not happen in the near future (due to the COVID-19 virus.)

Directions for members on how to make a payment to Rotary Club of Stockton: Click on “$ Online Payments” in the blue bar at the top (or click this blue box)

Club Announcements

• Rotary Club of Stockton in-person meeting announcement – May 12th will be the first in person inaugural meeting. There would be limit of 40 guests that will be able to attend in person meeting. The zoom option would be available for members who would like to continue attend online meeting. Reservations will be required for the in person meeting.
• Asparagus Festival – The Rotary Club of Stockton has always participated in the annual Asparagus festival. The festival is coming back this year. The club will be looking for volunteers to work in the Asparagus Alley. The volunteers would be cooking food. No previous experience is required. There will be slots available for May 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th. The Club will benefit from being paid for the shifts worked by volunteers.
• Use That Credit Card at The Meeting – You may now pay for lunch, raffle tickets (minimum Credit Card Purchase of $5.00) and other purchase at the Club meetings with a credit Card.
• Potential Members – To encourage Club members to bring a potential member to the Wednesday meetings the Rotary Club of Stockton will pay for the 1st meal of a potential member brought by a Club member. For the proper procedure when proposing a new member, read this document.

Meeting Note takers needed! Thank you Leena Mittal for volunteering to continue taking notes! Your help is much appreciated! Now it’s time for someone else to step up! PLEASE Consider volunteering (Like Leena has done) for a once a month (or more) opportunity to keep the Wheel rolling along. Our Wheel editor will appreciate you stepping up to assist! What’s a better way to know what’s going on in your club? -editor. Contact Corie Stewart at corie@gemcorp.com

Guest Speaker

Speaker: Stuart Spencer – Executive Director of the Lodi Wine Commission
Introduced by: Fred Weibel

Stuart Spencer – Lodi Wine Commission.
Stuart talked about how the wine industry was impacted during Covid. He explained how the wine industry has changed and adapted to the customer demands. About 18% of the wine sales used to come from restaurants and bars. With bars and restaurants closing due covid, wineries adopted by doing more online sales. Overall the wine sales have increased by 10% during the last year. They have created virtual tasting rooms and even did a virtual wine and cheese pairing. People from all over United States could participate in these virtual tastings which provided a new dimension to the tasting rooms.

The physical tasting rooms have opened in Lodi with limitations. Stuart’s family winery at Lodi has been very busy. They get a lot of people coming in from Northern California. People are spending more time and money on wine tasting and sales have gone up. The challenge has been to hire servers and employ people to work in the tasting rooms. Due to unemployment benefits, people are not coming back to work at the minimum wages but Stuart explained that the servers could make up to $30 an hour due to additional tipping.

The other challenge has been with the wine growers because of the increasing cost of labor. They are looking at automated machinery to cope with the increasing labor cost in California. He also shared some history behind the wine industry and how wine growers used to have communal meetings and used to discuss and help solve the issues within the local community. The Lodi Wine Grape Commission is the place where the wine growers and winery owners come together and discuss their issues. Due to lack of in person meetings, they are losing the interactive problem solving conversations. They are eagerly waiting to go back to in-person meetings.

Next Meeting: May 5, 2021
Chuck Myers, “The Hornet Carrier”

Chuck Myers is a docent on the USS Hornet in Alameda, 3-time chairman of the Docent Council and currently chairman of the museum’s speakers bureau. He is a Navy veteran, having served as an officer on the USS Yorktown, an Essex-class aircraft carrier and a sister ship of the Hornet. After his Navy service Chuck joined what was then The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company and worked for that firm for more than 26 years, mainly in San Francisco and San Ramon. He took an early retirement from Pacific Bell / Pacific Telesis in 1992 and then spent nearly 8 years living and working in Europe as a telecommunications consultant. His principal residence was in Holland and he mainly worked in and around The Hague, but also spent time working in places like London, Paris, Brussels, Warsaw, Oslo, Zurich and Stockholm – something he attributes to serendipity more than talent or personal enterprise. He retired from it all in 2001 and returned to Alameda where he now resides.

Upcoming Speakers

(Virtual unless otherwise noted)

May 2021

• 12 – Past District Governor Robert Deering, Jr., “Human Trafficking”
• 19 – Dr. Michael Sasevich, “Latest Technology for Heart and Lung Surgery”
• 26 – Jonni Redick, “Leadership in Turbulent Times”

June 2021

• 02 – Tim Viall, “Worthy Road Trip Destinations”
• 09 – TBA
• 16 – TBA
• 23 – District Governor-Elect Tim Madden, “What May Happen in the Next Rotary Year”
• 30 – Kick Out

Birthday Celebration Challenge!!!

July finals 14/15 or 93.3%
August Wrap up – 10/11 or 90.1%
September Birthday Celebrations: 15/15 for 100% participation!
October Finals 14 of 14 = 100%
Both September and October were 100 percent participation.
November birthday challenge was 87.5%.
December Challenge Wrap Up: 90% Participation

2020 Challenge Total:  76 of 81 for 93.8% – Thanks!

January Birthday Challenge: 10 of 10 for 100%!
Final Wrap for February – 10/10 participated = 100 %
Final Wrap for March – 13/13 participated = 100 %

YTD: Now 5 months @ 100% = September, October, January, February, March

April Birthday Challenge – 17 Members

Birthday Recognitions

Weeks 1-5: 

• $500 (Heart Stopper!) – Pete Wolfe 4/10 ($500 SRE)
• $25 – Gerardo Garcia 4/20 (RI)
• $100 – Mel Rakoncza 4/28 (SRE)
• $100 – Past-President Karen Munro 4/29 (SRE)
• $70 – Madisen Sena 4/30 ($35 ea SRE & RI)
• Jessica Garcia 4/15
• Steve Bestolarides 4/26

April 2021 Birthdays…

Photos…