Volume XIX
Number 16

Tuesday
Jan. 28, 2003

Rotary Meeting Notes -- January 21, 2003
by Tim Doran

This week's meeting was officiated by Phil Toohey as President Jeff is in Nicaragua playing baseball and helping others. (By the time you read this, Jake Scheideman and his helpers should be back from what we hope is a very successful trip to Nicaragua.)

Phil Toohey

Anniversaries:  Ron McGowan - 31 years in Rotary. Father Mac - 9 years in Rotary.

Winter Ball information:

• 1700 invitations have been mailed.
• Joel Toller said that silent auction items are still needed.
• Bring in furniture, old boots, TV's, or your Mother-in-Law.
• Live auction items will appear on the web site soon.

Joice Beatty - Elder Care Management - Joice said the best way to avoid problems with old age is "don't get old". Joice handles day-to-day problems for the elderly in the Napa Valley area. Many of the people she assists are by court order, where family members can't or will not help their parents or relatives. Many relatives, mostly male, as Joice pointed out several times, will not adequately provide assistance hoping to retain most of the elderly person's money for themselves. If you need help in dealing with elderly family members, or  yourself, call Joice.

Rotary Meeting Notes -- January 14, 2003
by Colin Ware

Jeff Epps Club President 2002-2003

The second meeting of January welcomed visiting Rotarians from as far away as Nantucket, and as close as Calistoga. Mark Terrell , Jake Scheideman and Natalie Klug all welcomed guests as well.

Next year's President, Phil Toohey, was celebrating a birthday, and Roger Adams, Mike Thomas and Dennis Kelly all celebrated their second Club anniversaries.  

After the welcome singers, Tim Coon shared some thank-you notes from the third-graders and a letter from his sister who is in Uganda doing charity work. Those wanting to learn more about Katherine 's work in Africa can contact Tim and be on her e-mail distribution list.

Earl Rogers

During announcements, Earl Rogers thanked the club for the $1,100 raised for the family of the dying child at last week's meeting. He had pictures of the baby to share. Dave Brotemarkle also announced a trip into San Francisco in early February to see his wife Kathi in the Lamplighter's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Queen Ida. You can call Dave to get on the sign-up sheet.

All eyes this week were on the raffle, where Mark Terrell (still gloating, by the way), had a 1 in 3 chance of choosing the black marble. He didn't. Next week, the odds are 50/50. Come early and get your tickets.  The odds don't get much better than that.

Kathleen Patterson

Rex Stults took the podium as Finemaster. Elaine John rose to announce that the St. Helena Hospital Foundation had raised over $3.2 million this year. Kathleen Patterson announced the arrival of a new grand daughter, and Linda Beard-Delucchi shared with the club that her daughter had participated in a ride-along with St. Helena Police. "This town is too boring" was her (welcome) observation.

Rex Stults

Rex then quizzed the assembled on various Chamber activities, raising quite a sum from Ed Beard, Ron Clark, Bert Johansson, Dave Brotemarkle, Jerry McQuiddy and Katherine Parrett. The marketing department at the Chamber must be doing its job. Almost everyone answered their question correctly.

President Jeff Epps then introduced Paul Krsek, who gave his annual financial outlook for 2003.

War: This year's talk included much speculation on the impact of a war with Iraq -- the real wild card in the coming year. Paul's take was that the critical factor in assessing the impact would be whether or not the Iraqi dictator is able to destroy his oil fields. If successful, this action would likely have significant and negative consequences on the economy. If not, the economic impact might be quite small. So, investors would likely know within hours of the onset of hostilities how bad things might be.

Paul Krsek

Bond Market:  Paul sees the bond market as remaining stable, with no sign of significant increases in interest rates coming any time soon.  He believes that the two decades long bull market in bonds may be coming to an end, but does not see a collapse as likely.

Dividends: Paul believes that President Bush's proposal on eliminating the dividend tax would be a strong stimulus for the economy.

Asset Allocation:  Paul believes that the largest gains in the coming year will come from asset allocation, more so than stock picking.  Once again, he is advising caution with equities, urging investors to explore utilities, REITS and Bonds and his firm is still avoiding the tech sector.

Time ran out with many unanswered questions. Any Rotarian wishing a copy of his firm's annual newsletter prepared for their clients, can contact him and request a copy.

We adjourned into the beautiful winter sunshine.

Rotary Meeting Notes -- January 7, 2003
by Colin Ware

A large assembly of Rotarians gathered for their first Tuesday meeting of the New Year, swapping stories about their holidays and families and discussing their plans and aspirations for 2003. 

Bill Word

President Jeff Epps rung in the meeting, and for a change, St. Helena was hosting no visiting Rotarians. Dave Brotemarkle's birthday and Bill Word's first club anniversary were serenaded by the Welcome Singers and the club as a whole.

Phil Toohey , next year's Club President, started work on his administration by announcing his new Board of Directors. The club approved the slate unanimously.

Joice Beatty led off the announcements by thanking the club for the $875 raised for the State Hospital's Holiday fund. Phil Toohey followed, reminding members to take out their new calendars and mark off March 14 ^th and 15^th for the District Assembly. Earl Rogers who volunteers one day a week at Napa Hospice, rose and asked for support for a family with a dying child so they could pay their rent. 

Tim Coon

Tim Coon gave a quick report on community service. First, dictionary giveaway was the most successful ever. For the first time 100% of all third graders in the County received a dictionary. Tim also let everyone know that the Teen Center project is approaching completion. Later this winter, there will be a few Wednesday night work parties to finish things up. Finally, Tim oversaw Jeff Epps "weighing in" before his trip to Nicaragua. Tim is taking "over-under" bets on how much weight Jeff will lose on the trip. Jeff's outbound weight: 174.

Mark Terrell, an Ohio State graduate (as is his entire immediate family), took the podium and promptly gloated about his school's National Championship Victory. Fully decked out in Buckeye regalia, club members grumbled that Mark will likely be gloating well into the summer. 

Mark Terrell

In honor of the trio of Nicaragua-bound Rotarians, Mark's questions were all about that Central American country. Joice Beatty, Rob Andreae and Mike Thomas were all queried and fined accordingly. Miles Metzger, who was not in attendance, was fined for not being in attendance as well.

The week's program featured Professor Rhoda Stewart, author of Zinfandel Odyssey, who gave the club an informative talk about the origins of the grape that is California's unique, signature grape, grown here for more than 100 years. 

Rhoda Stewart Author of Zinfandel Odyssey

Interesting facts about Zin include: 

• Its origin is Croatia where it is known as Cjeer
   
• The grape is phyloxera resistant
   
• It was the grape that replaced the mission grape at the turn of the century for wine making
   
• It is grown throughout the state, as far south as Rancho Cucamonga, and as far north as Mendocino.

We were adjourned.

Home  |  Leadership  |  Make Up Clubs  |  Calendar  |  Newsletter  |  Winter Ball  |  District 5130  |  Rotary International  |  Archives  |  Contact Us

Copyright 2003 - St. Helena Rotary Club - www.sthelenarotary.org