At our social on February 20, we were absolutely delighted to hear from our frequent visitor, George Roberts featuring member Giudita “Judy” Soldavini. Judy always says, “You need to do what you need to do.” Judy grew up near Los Angeles; her father was Italian and her mother was Norwegian. She learned to cook with her Nonna and still makes her marinara sauce the old way. She worked at Auburn Faith, first in the cafeteria, then as a secretary and then as an EKG technician. She ultimately moved to Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital but her real passion is art and design. George told us that she never had a formal lesson but has an uncanny talent for art and design. She designed a home patterned after an Italian Villa. Then they bought an old covered bridge and Judy designed “The Bridge House.” Both of these homes are on the Music in the Mountains “Design for Living” tour. She paints in acrylic and oil, draws in charcoal and produces mixed media pieces. But, Judy’s most talented at making and nurturing long term friendships. We are so fortunate to have Judy in our club and thank George for helping all of us get to know her better!

 

Also, at our meeting we met Ingrid and her mom, Kim. Ingrid is a sophomore at NU and will be our outbound Rotary Youth Exchange student for the 2025-26 school year. She did a short-term exchange to Italy last year. Now, she’s headed off to Denmark for the full school year. We can’t wait to hear from Ingrid about her experiences when she comes back for her senior year. She has created a GoFundMe campaign to support her expenses. Click on her image if you want to support Ingrid! Bon Voyage and have a wonderful time, Ingrid!

 

At this time of the year, I am looking toward our progress towards our club goals with Rotary International.  With that in mind, I want to turn our attention again to Rotary Action Groups. Rotary Action Groups are people with particular skills help clubs plan humanitarian projects. We have a goal of 3 members participating registered for a Rotary Action Group. We have 2 so far, Chris Newsom in the Environmental Sustainability Group (ESRAG) and me in the Basic Education and Literacy Group. As I looked over the list of groups, some come to mind that you may be interested in. Those include economic development, food plant solutions, health education and wellness, menstrual health and hygiene, peace, and water & sanitation. There’s also lots more to look at and consider at Rotary Action Groups.

 

On February 27 we’ll be back at Bodhi-Hive for lunch. Our speaker will be Lisa Lovejoy from the new Gold Country Senior Services. Then, on March 6 we’ll have our social at 5:30 at Round Table Pizza. We’re excited to hear from Kim Stewart who will give her craft talk about KNCO. Please join us for any and all meetings and events.