Petaluma Valley Rotary

10/10/2026

Below are our dining options and speaker program notes for October 14. Do let Pat [email protected] know your attendance plans and eating preferences by Monday noon or as soon thereafter as possible. That includes if you would like to Zoom in, as we set this up by request only.

BLT WEDGE SALAD
Iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, hard boiled egg, blue cheese crumbles, ranch dressing.

CHICKEN CLUB SANDWICH
Chicken breast, bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, mayo, parmesan sourdough.Choice of french fries, or house coleslaw.

BIRRIA TACOS
Braised chili beef, taco shells with diced onions, mozzarella cheese, cilantro, lime and consommé.

GARDEN SCRAMBLE
Cherry tomato, sautéed mushrooms, onions, baby spinach, scrambled egg, avocado, sour cream, cheddar cheese, house potato, artesian toast.


As for speakers, have we got a program for you!

Maggie Hohle and Emily Best

*FLOATHOUSE PETALUMA

* PETALUMA WATER WAYS

* RIVER TOWN RACERS

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Maggie Hohle is a Volunteer for Social Media and Programming at the Floathouse Petaluma and Petaluma Water Ways.

She grew up in landlocked farm towns in Illinois, Georgia, Pennsylvania. When her husband found a job in San Francisco, they also found Petaluma.

Maggie fell in love with rowing on our tidal slough known as the Petaluma River … Petaluma longest park!



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Emily Best is the Chief Executive Officer of River Town Racers, a Petaluma nonprofit whose all-ages sprint kayak and surfski racing teams compete locally, nationally and internationally.

10/09/2026

💖 As part of our partnership with local non profits our club has walked in the annual for the past 3 years supporting the great work of the American Heart Association, creating by giving free classes, education and funding research for important medical treatments in the cardiology field.

💖 Thank you to Mary Prisco, Development Director who helps us launch the teams every year!

At this writing our club via its members, family, and friends have raised $2,826 for this very worthy cause. If you'd like to donate see the link here for our Petaluma Valley Rotary Walks page: https://www2.heart.org/site/TR/HeartWalk/WSA-WesternStatesAffiliate?pg=team&team_id=962706&fr_id=13150

💖 THANK YOU to all who support the mission for heart health and wellness for all!

Photo credit: First photo taken by Kent Porter, The Press Democrat. From left to right, Rotarians Kate Stefan of Chico Noon Rotary PamnSam Tuft (Pam), Connie Madrid - Loan Officer Nmls #282974 Licensed in CA, Derek Stefan of Petaluma Valley Rotary at Sonoma State University on Sunday, Sept. 27th.

10/05/2026

District 5130 District Governor Jeff Kolin, World Polio Torch Relay...

10/04/2026

Way to go Crescent City Rotary!!

The Rotary Club of Crescent City Rotary Club 5130 kicked off the Opening Ceremony and Torch Relay yesterday , October 2nd. It was inspirational and successful turnout!

10/03/2026

Happy October folks! We all know that translates into "happy summer"! We are grateful that Café Bellini has good air-conditioning!

Below are our lunching options for October 7. Do let Pat [email protected] know your attendance plans and eating preferences by Monday noon or as soon thereafter as possible. That includes if you would like to Zoom in, as we set this up by request only.

CLASSIC CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD: Grilled chicken, romaine, croutons, Parmesan cheese, Caesar dressing
TRI-TIP DIP: Thin sliced tri-tip, grilled onions, Swiss cheese, horseradish, Au Jus, French Roll. Choice of french fries, or house coleslaw.

AVOCADO TOAST: Crushed avocado, grilled zucchini and tomatoes on artesian toast, topped with poached egg, pesto and balsamic glaze, served with arugula salad in lemon-dill vinaigrette

PEPPERONI FLATBREAD: Marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, parmesan and fresh oregano.

As for our program: Suzanne Young and Pat McKeever have gifted the community with a Monarch Waystation along the Lynch Creek Trail. This waystation contributes to the sustainability of the monarchs as they migrate through Petaluma in the Spring and Fall. Suzanne will be sharing her expertise on the importance of planting milkweed and creating a pollinator garden. Their waystation has become a community resource for all to enjoy.

See you Wednesday!

10/01/2026

With much thanks and admiration. I’d like to share with you that the immediate past president of our club, Renee McKenna, had the idea to bring attention to our Rotary goal of ending polio in the world by reviving the polio torch relay event this October in our district.

Starting in Crescent City at the north and ending right here in Petaluma, a custom-made torch will be carried by members and friends of members of the Rotary clubs listed in the photo here.

The purpose of this torch relay is to bring attention to the work that Rotary does in eliminating polio and raise money for that good work. We hope you will join in this very worthy project. Please come and join us.

Rotary International
Rotary District 5130
End Polio Now

09/29/2026

Today the three Rotary clubs of Petaluma got together and hosted and participated in a blood drive. Giving blood is such an important activity, one that only cost the participants a little bit of time, yet saves lives. There can be no greater service than to give a part of yourself to your fellow man or a woman.



Petaluma Rotary
Petaluma Sunrise Rotary

Rotary International
Rotary District 5130

Vitalant - California

09/27/2026

Wednesday, September 30 will be our last meeting of the month.

You all know what that means: Bring in your plastics (stretchy and quiet, not crispy and crunchy sounding) and your TP, paper towel, and wrapping paper tubes!

Please make sure to package these two different items separately, as they go to two different places. Thanks!

Moving on to lunch choices :

GOLDEN BEET SALAD: Roasted red and golden beets, organic greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, candied pecans, feta cheese, lemon dill vinaigrette.

CHORIZO AND EGG STREET TACOS: Three corn tortillas filled with chorizo, scrambled eggs, melted cheese, avocado salsa, pico de gallo, cilantro and queso fresco.

CAPRESE CHICKEN SANDWICH: Baby spinach, red onion, tomato, basil, mozzarella, pesto, ciabatta bread. Choice of french fries, or house coleslaw.

SMOKEHOUSE BBQ BURGER: Smoked bacon, melted cheddar, onion ring, lettuce, tomato, pickles, barbecue sauce on a toasted brioche bun. Choice of french fries, or house coleslaw.

You know the drill: let Pat [email protected] know your attendance plans and eating preferences by Monday noon or as soon thereafter as possible. That includes if you would like to Zoom in, as we set this up by request.

Our speaker Wednesday will be Antoine Bigirimana of Sonoma Valley Rotary. He will be presenting the outcome of Gardens for Health, a project we supported a year or so ago in Rwanda, along with a proposed new venture, the SIMAMA project in Kenya.

Antoine is Founder, President and Chief Architect of E-Tools AI Corporation and dedicated to revolutionizing tech landscapes. In the past he pioneered development of digital government frameworks in Rwanda and steered the national deployment of the SmartFMS Integrated Financial Management System for Governments.

See you Wednesday!

09/26/2026

This coming week’s meeting will be a great time to buy raffle tickets. Not only has the pot reached nearly $500 but I’m bringing sliced pain de mie sourdough bread this week coming up. This is the special bread that’s made with butter and honey. And there are only 14 cards left so your odds are really good that you’ll pick the four of hearts to win the pot.

09/25/2026

Several times a year our club donates books to students at Loma Vista immersion Academy that are specifically chosen to be signed by our speakers each week at the meetings. We have one member who is particularly charged with this task. Her name is Paulie Johns and she quite seems to enjoy it. She works with the person who is in charge of children’s books at Copperfield books in Petaluma to come up with just the right books. The students who get the books are selected by their teachers for various reasons so the presentations are special.

Rotary District 5130
Rotary International