Chinese New Year Lunch

Twenty-nine Branch 47 SIRs and guests welcomed in the Lunar New Year with a festive banquet at the China Palace restaurant in Novato on February 18, 2026.
The Chinese Zodiac cycles through the twelve signs, changing every new year. Less well known, the calendar also cycles through the five ancient elements: water, wood, fire, earth and metal changing every two years. The combination for this New year is the Fire Horse, a combination that means high energy, strength and big changes.
As was the case last year, we took up the whole large room at the China Palace. The dishes were served at the tables, so there wasn’t any standing in a buffet line. There was plenty of food with a menu of pot stickers, Mongolian chicken, braised tofu, beef with green beans, almond prawns, hot spiced fish, and vegetable chow mein.
Wishing all the members of SIRs and their families all the best luck in the coming year.

Special Spouses and Partners Lunch

Our annual Spouses and Partners event was held on May 26, 2026.  This event is  where significant others were invited to our mysterious luncheons to find out what we were up to on the fourth Tuesday of the month. We are happy to report that 10 partners joined in the SIRs experience.

The May luncheon speaker for the Special Spouses and Partners Luncheon was Corry-Ann Kanzenberg, the Development Director of Homeward bound of Marin.  Founded in 1974, Homeward Bound is Marin County’s main provider of resources for homeless adults, families and veterans. They assist approximately 1,000 people per year through its17 programs.
She spoke about the organization and it’s programs to help the homeless in Marin county. She highlighted several especially important programs. Homeward Bound is one of the rare organizations that has programs that focuses on families, providing shelter and support for whole families including children. She also talked about two other initiatives. One was a program that focussed on homeless veterans. Through their efforts they have been able to bring down the homeless veteran population for over 100 to just a handful. The other exciting new project was the development of property purchased from the Dominican Sisters in San Rafael. The plan is to remodel the existing building into residences for seniors.

Garden-Bocce Party

The SIRs Garden-Bocce party was held at the  Marin Bocce Federation courts in San Rafael on June 16, 2026.  Approximately 50 SIRs and guests attended the event, and a good time was had by all.  The outing included lunch and beverages, and most indulged in Bocce on the very nice courts.  Thanks to Rodger Burstrem and Jim Phelan for all their efforts in organizing this event.

Bring Your Own Lunch Picnic

San Francisco Bay Cruise

The annual SIRs Branch 47 San Francisco Bay Cruise will be held on September 27, 2026.  We will depart from Tiburon 6 PM before sunset in time to see a beautiful sunset on the Bay.  Weather permitting, we will cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge and spend a little time in the great Pacific.  Previous cruises were great fun.  This event has been organized by Carl Dawson.  In his role as SIR Area 8 Coordinator, he has made an effort to include other branches besides Branch 47 on the event.