One of the club’s happiest and most treasured traditions was renewed at the club’s annual Daughters Day celebration.
President Diane called the meeting to order and immediately handed the gavel to Amaya Barnes, granddaughter of Steve Heath.
Amaya’s first task was to introduce the talented trio from Sacramento Youth Symphony who had serenaded guests in the lobby during the wine reception. Caitlyn Ohler, Kyle Finley and Benjamin Jiang treated the room to a sublime Haydn movement, which earned them an ovation. The three musicians are students of Susan Lamb Cook, wife of Dennis Cook (Cook Brown LLP).
President Amaya introduced the day’s sergeants-at-arms - Eden Wild, daughter of Ivan Wild (Salvation Army), and Libby and Abbey Pavelchik, granddaughters of Roy Alexander.
Hannah Kaganovich, granddaughter of Nancy Teichert (writer) and Past President Fred Teichert (Teichert Foundation), offered a charming poem as the Thought for the Day.
Bella Solis, daughter of Eric Solis (Solis Financial Strategies), led the pledge of allegiance.
Steve Ruland (Ruland’s Office Furnishings) announced the club holiday toy drive resulted in heaps of donations, and he presented a $1,620 check to Ivan Wild for the Salvation Army.
President Amaya awarded prizes to three daughters of distinction - the one who traveled furthest to attend the luncheon (Rotary Youth Exchange student Anita Ding of Taipei, who qualifies in spirit as a club daughter), the one who has attended the most Daughters Day events (Carolyn Moore Carr, who began attending Daughters Day with her grandfather nearly 70 years ago), and the youngest (Natalie, born August 11, granddaughter of Larry Gilzean of Spare Time Clubs).
Always a highlight of Daughters Day is the levying of fines. Here’s who got fingered and why.
. President Amaya fined her grandfather Steve Heath $100 just to set a good example for the other daughters
. Roy Alexander got nicked for $50 by granddaughter Libby for selling his former home with a cool swimming pool, and he got whammied another $50 by Abbey for buying a house with no pool
. Amanda (daughter of Clayton Lee of CKL Trust) docked her pop for forcing her to ski a black diamond trail at age 8
. Nancy Teichert got slapped with a $50 fine by granddaughter Hannah for buying Hannah shoes too fancy for school; Nancy was further penalized $25, along with Past President Fred, by daughter Elizabeth Taylor for letting the dog snatch last night’s dinner roast
. Ivan Wild was levied a happy $50 fine by Eden in recognition of his new granddaughter
. Dr. Barbara Arnold’s (Barbara J. Arnold MD Inc.) $568 sponsorship of schoolchildren for a tour of Crocker Art Museum counts as ample punition, said her merciful daughter Lisa
. Patrick Furlong (Legacy 1031 Exchange Solutions) suffered a $100 castigation at the hands of daughter Jamie Furlong (Legacy Investment Real Estate) for his bad handwriting in their shared work endeavors.
Flipping the tone from punitive to graceful, Ashley Brandenburger (daughter of Dave Brandenburger of Newmark Knight Frank) wowed the audience with a beautiful violin performance, and got herself a standing O.
All the kids gathered up front for the reading of a Christmas classic. Jamie Furlong spellbound the children (and adults!) with her reading of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.
Which set the stage for some Yuletide singing. The club’s Four-Way Test quartet took the stage and harmonized through a pair of holiday favorites, with John McIntyre (Dignity Health) singing alto, Dick Osen the tenor, President Elect Nominee Kevin Smith-Fagan (KVIE PBS) as baritone and Kevin Williams (KVIE PBS) handling bass. The audience sang along, especially when Santa appeared and led the room in a rousing rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
In drawing the gathering to a close, President Amaya thanked the many contributors to the day’s success. She then adjourned the club for 2018.
The meeting exuded a warm family spirit and the day’s triumph was largely due to event chair Alice Sauro (Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera).
Our next club luncheon is January 8, 2019. Happy holidays!