HONORABLE GUESTS AND VISITORS OF ROTARY PERSUASION

Chris Lascz-Davis, bravely accompanying John Fazel for the umpteenth visit

Kevin Cragholm, with LMSR application in hand, matrimonially related to...

Alicia Cragholm, welcomed perennial guest from The Noon Club 

Mariam Worsham, long, long, long-suffering bride of our Chuck Yeager

Mitch Simmons, Rotarian Extraordinaire of Marietta, GA (one of those citified Atlanta suburbs) and old-time friend of Mark Roberts

Luis Alkon & Larry Slye, always welcome from Concord club

Mike Heller and Jay Lifson, LMSR "purple badgers" as frequent guests and contributors from The Noon Club.

Don Jenkins, friend from Orinda club

Dr. Steve Wolfe, our speaker and Concord club leader

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Kevin, you're early!!!

Lexical perspicacity from Kevin Croak, quoting  9-11 President GW Bush, "Our enemies have made the mistake that America's enemies always make. They saw liberty and thought they saw weakness. And now, they see defeat."

Recognitions of the Day, (aka "thank you sir, may I please have another!")

Dan Herbert was assigned yard work on

Dan is a camper?

Annette's birthday along with her request for a camping trip; they had some technical issues so they settled for the Ritz Carlton in Tahoe. We hope your generous donation helps balance the shift of plans.

Thomas Raeth celebrated his loss of 30 pounds with a commensurate contribution! Thomas, we hardly recognize ya'! 

AHOY MATES; Upright for an entire week.....CAN YOU CANOE?

Atta'boy Gary

Ron Brown first coaxed the shy and retiring Gary Fulcher, the Tippy Canoe maestro, to take a bow and receive a well-deserved round of applause. It was in his workshop (aka "ultimate man cave") and under his auspices, that this gorgeous vessel came into being!

"100% finito" was the declaration from Ron, and the crew is now embarking on a whirlwind fund-raising tour for our vessel! In a stunning oration, he revealed it is too soon to report on how ticket sales are going, but the marketing committee had a meeting later on Friday. The drawing is scheduled for October 29th at the conclusion of the Lafayette Reservoir Run. Prior destinations for the handcrafted pirogue will include the Lafayette Arts & Wine Festival, the Moraga Hacienda fund raiser, various Farmers' Markets and up close and personal visitations with all the other Rotary clubs in the area. Since they'll get 20% of the proceeds from all tickets they sell, everybody wins!

At a canoe graduation party Sunday at Gary's workshop, Ron changed his story about the Raffle ticket sales. It seems we are at, or near, the $4,000 mark from miscellaneous sales coordinated by Pat Flaharty, good results from the Concord club visitation by Gary and Ron on Friday afternoon

John says, "Putting kids in the canoe works great!"

and a yeoman-like solo effort from John Fazel at the Orinda Farmer's Market on Saturday. Not a bad beginning! Proof positive the club has a world-class fundraising weapon in the dazzlingTippy.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Jim Newport reported that "a young lady from the Rossmoor Club" (aka "oxymoron") needs a place to live, and he'll coordinate for anyone offering habitable digs for rent.

We'll be watching Jum!

Pat Flaharty revealed yet another accolade for Jim Marggraff! He's been chosen "Entrepreneur of the Year" for Northern California, and will be on Bloomberg TV next Friday discussing LiveScribe!

Steve Ware drew the winning raffle ticket. In his astonishment, he mumbled he didn't prepare in any way for this great accomplishment.

For the Arts and Wine signups, Dave Waal used the direct approach, "Get your name on the list" to make certain all slots are filled for next weekend, the 17th-18th. Mike Heller is his coach, prodder, and co-conspirator in this fun activity.

PROGRAM

What a way to retire Steve!

Looking for a way to contribute his career skills to the community, Dr. Stephen Wolfe found himself deeply embedded in forming a local RotaCare unit. After a multifaceted career in medicine, he launched the ninth RotaCare medical project in the nation, serving what many deemed to be the neediest in the community.

(http://www.rotacarebayarea.org/index.html)

The philosophy is "We don't care about your financial situation, we will treat you!" With significant assistance he developed a business plan and set up a target of September, 2009 to be in business. They almost made it. It all began by seeing patients in a local elementary school on Thursday evenings. The team of volunteers, mostly medical professionals, treats everyone who comes to them - usually about 20 people each week. 

One star of the whole program is the medical truck, the use of which is donated by John Muir Hospital. John Muir is the sponsoring hospital and also does the lab work and EKG's. The makeup of the population treated is surprising. Among the needy are displaced teachers, engineers and sales people from such successful enterprises as Fry's and BMW. These folks simply lost their health insurance along with their jobs and are truly in need.

The future- 

RotaCare just launched a Tuesday night specialty clinic for women, located on Clayton Road. They also sponsor educational programs two nights per month to help make patients more responsible for their own health and require that patients attend at least four times per year.

RotaCare can benefit from the canoe raffle too!

Being an all-volunteer program, it has helped several people gain valuable experience. IT support, interpreters, and membership on an Advisory Council are just some of the roles to be filled in addition to medical staff. Volunteer physicians come from John Muir and Kaiser, many in their mid-40's, with children of their own. Nurse practitioners are of all ages, many currently working. Volunteer social workers assist from many areas and help especially by imparting information to patients about options beyond the capability of RotaCare.

RotaCare Bay Area is a 501 (c) 3 organization and oversees all business aspects- licensing, etc. It has an annual budget of $100,000. The Concord Rotary Club is one of their most generous sponsors. Major expenses include X-rays, lab, supplies, and electronic medical records. After opening in September, 2009, 930 patients were seen in the first year of operation and only six had to be referred to emergency rooms. Dr. Wolfe believes half of those successfully treated would have gone directly to the hospital if it weren't for RotaCare. Therefore this service is a huge money saver for the medical community. Currently, they do urgent and chronic care, medical education, social services, lab & X-ray services, surgical procedures via "operation access" (pro bono procedures in operating rooms) drugs, and medical supplies.

What now?

RotaCare has already accomplished their second-year goals of increasing services to twice weekly and treating double the number of patients. A major capital campaign is underway to design and have built their own new mobile clinic. This will be $300,000 fund raising effort. Dr. Wolfe hopes to entice John Muir hospital to share in the cost and utilization of the mobile clinic themselves during the day. RotaCare is a marvelous gift to the community. No wonder six other Rotary Clubs in the area are helping to fund the operation on an annual basis!

CALENDAR

Tuesday, 9/13, 7am - Board Meeting, Orinda

Friday, 9/16, 7am - Dr. Barbara Persons, Reconstructive Surgery

Friday, 9/30, 7am - Mark Larks, Expose Yourself

Friday, 10/7 - 7am - Cindy Silva, Mayor of Walnut Creek

Friday, 10/21 - 7am - Dave Dacus, District Governor