UPCOMING SOCIALS & PROJECTS & EVENTS  

More socials, projects, & events coming soon!

Rotaract Fund Raiser
If anyone would like to donate money to GRA (Global Rotaract Alumni Club) they can donate the money on the GOSC site and include a note that it is for GRA. This would help us tremendously to continue growing as a club and be able to conduct larger scale projects. Here is the donation link: Donate Now – Global Offsite Care

Opening The Meeting:

President Julia started the meeting with The Black-Eyed Peas before Casey D’Angelo led us in The Pledge of Allegiance and the Four/Five Way Test.  His Reflection was a quote from Mother Teresa,

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is a beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is costly, care for it.
Life is wealth, keep it.
Life is love, enjoy it.
Life is a mystery, know it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is a sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is Life, fight for it!

Visiting Rotarians:

Brian Bauer, Sebastopol Sunrise

Guests:

Liz Bortolotto, Mel Konrad, Michael Tonjim, Kevin Conway and Marcus Marquez

(Tom has applied for membership and Marcus is the new Major for the Salvation Army…new member?  Ann Gospe was discussing bell ringing with him).

Sunshine Report:

Cecil Humes has had diabetes most of his life and has done a fine job of not letting it rule his life. However, it did take his big toe this last week.  He is recovering at Memorial Hospital.

50/50 Drawing:

$41.00 in the pot and I don’t know how many marbles. Diane Moresi had the right ticket, but she pulled a yellow marble.  The pot rolls over!

Joke of the Week:

A preacher went to his church office on Monday morning and discovered a dead mule in the churchyard. He called the police. Since there did not appear to be any foul play, the police referred the preacher to the health department.
They said since there was no health threat that he should call the sanitation department.
The sanitation manager said he could not pick up the mule without authorization from the mayor.
Now the preacher knew the mayor and was not too eager to call him. The mayor had a bad temper and was generally hard to deal with, but the preacher called him anyway.
The mayor did not disappoint. He immediately began to rant and rave at the pastor and finally said, “Why did you call me anyway? Isn’t it your job to bury the dead?”
The preacher paused for a brief prayer and asked the Lord to direct his response.
He was led to say, “Yes, Mayor, it is my job to bury the dead, but I always like to notify the next of kin first!”

Secret Greeter:

Diane Moresi was our Secret Greeter this week. She said her best greeting today was from Fred Levin. Fred always greets her with a smile and a hug!

Livestock Auction:

FFA student, Amy Oros, sent us a note of thanks for supporting her hog. The money she raised from the sale of her hog will go toward a purchase this next year.

Announcements:

1. Women in Conversation is (was) tonight. All four Rotary Clubs are participating and sharing a booth.  Rich Rossi was helping Kris Anderson from our club. It is a fun event, and we get a lot of interest from the other booths as well as the people attending the event. (Check out pictures here)
2. Meat Auction is this Saturday. The lots have been announced.  It should be fun as we haggle over the yummy lamb and pork!  The party starts at 4:00 pm at the Gospe’s. (Click here for flyer) (Editor’s Note: The auction was a big success, more details to follow. click here for some great pictures)
3. Rotary Youth Exchange is now taking applications for next year’s exchange students. Please let Ann Gospe know if you know any kids that would like to apply.
4. Ray Giampaoli is still selling tickets for the Veterans’ luncheon on November 14^th.
5. Ray Giampaoli is now recruiting people for next year’s Giro Bello.
6. The Finance Committee was meeting after the luncheon today to finalize this year’s Rotary budget (it is balanced).

Recognitions:

1. 

   Paul donated $50 just because…

   Paul Hamilton donated $50.00 just because, “You know when you hear about these school shootings, you know it is not somebody from Rotary.”

2. Rick and Trish Allen are just back from a cruise, celebrating their 52^nd wedding anniversary, and Rick says they had more fun on this trip than he could remember. He is donating $52.00 to the club.
3. Diane Moresi is contributing because today her granddaughter, Mollie, was driving herself to school for the first time. She’s 16!
4. Peter Holewinski and Mary Frances just celebrated their 45^th wedding anniversary.

Today’s guest speaker, Brian Bauer from Resynergi

Resynergi has been quietly developing their process of recycling plastics to an oil that can be recycled into new plastic, since 2015,  when the city of Rohnert Park made sure the neighbors knew what was going on…and then it turned into a (pardon my language) “sh@t show.” Arg!

Brian put it this way, “It has been painful.”

The worldwide market for plastic resins, new and recycled, is a $742 billion business. The process of pyrolysis turns plastic to PyOil. It will reduce carbon footprint, may increase carbon credits. But there is more money in mining plastics than dumping plastic in a landfill.

He had a chart showing all the different grades of plastic and how they all can be recycled more often, except for PVC.  He told us about the science behind the recycling. However, Pyrolysis does have a perception problem. Notably the recycling industry’s overpromising and under delivering.  There is a misperception that pollution is inevitable, and big plants are scary. However, Resynergi’s plants are very small and built for communities.  For example, they are working locally with Recology at several locations. It reduces carbon footprint by 68% over virgin oil, there is no hazardous waste (solid or liquid), fewer VOCs than a passenger car, fewer emissions than a semitruck.  It’s quiet, produces light industrial jobs with minimal training required. The whole machine would fit into one shipping container and is quickly deployed.  It is portable and economical.

Special Update

PS: As of Thursday morning, The Press Democrat was reporting that Resynergi is moving out of California due to the public backlash. They are moving from Rohnert Park to an undisclosed location. For now, Brian Bauer says Resynergi intends to follow through on its bids for permits in Rohnert Park, the company officials say that may change in the coming weeks.

Good publicity for us!

The Rotary Club of Santa Rosa was mentioned in this attached article.

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2025/09/23/rotary-awards-santa-rosa-cycling-clubs-behind-the-scenes-boss/

 

CREDITS