Establishing a Tradition of Innovation

Posted by Jay Lowden on Nov 02, 2017

President John Lemmon (Knox, Lemmon & Anapolsky, LLP) rang the bell and called the meeting to order to start the 15th meeting of his tenure. He thanked Dick and Rick Osen (Sutter Builders, Inc.) for hosting the day’s wine reception; and Julie Sherry (Watson Companies, Inc.), Jim Streng (Streng Bros Rentals, LLC), and Denise Santiago (F&M Bank) for greeting at the door.

The Thought for the Day was provided by Ed Wright (Martensen Wright PC) who, in keeping with the wine theme of the day, gave thanks for the recent harvest and thanked friends who made it possible.

Sergeant-At-Arms Callee Setzer (Setzer Forest Products) introduced our guests, prospective members and a large cadre of visiting Rotarians which included our District Governor Sandy Sava along with the District Governor of 5130, Bob Rogers, and 5130’s District Governor-Elect, Barbara Spangler.

President John then introduced folks seated at the head table including  Elena Naderi, Linda Bisson (Professor of Viticulture and Enology - UC Davis), Ed Grebitus, Ted Grebitus (Grebitus & Sons Jewelers), and Jeff Setzer (Setzer Forest Products Inc.).

A new member, Ted Grebitus was welcomed to the Club with an introduction by Jeff Setzer. Ted was sponsored by his father Ed Grebitus and Jeff Setzer. Without missing a beat, Ted jumped right in along with his dad as the sponsors of the day and talked about Grebitus Jewelers. 

 

 

Last week was a Brown Bag luncheon week, and thanks were given to those who hosted Brown Bag sessions as well as to Joe Grant and Tom Bacon who organized the event.. 

Just a few short weeks ago, Northern California was devastated by wild fires, especially the community of Santa Rosa. Thanks to the generosity of members of our Club, a check in the amount of $22,600 was presented to Bob Rogers, District Governor of 5130, for its fire relief fund. 61 Rotarians lost their homes in 5130, and the fund will help those families and many others. Bob and Barbara Spangler then shared stories of heartache and joy from the fires and thanked the Club members for their generosity. 

 
Announcements were brief. Past President Susan Sheridan gave a plug for Daughters Day, which will be on December 19; Elena Naderi invited everyone to Networking Night on November 1; John Swentowsky (Swentowsky Photography) invited everyone to help at Loaves and Fishes on November 30; and Rob Scherer (Dale Carnegie Training) announced the next Fireside Chat which will be held on November 16. 
 
President John then turned the meeting over to Chair of the Day, Elena Naderi, who introduced our guest speaker, Linda Bisson, Professor of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis. 
Linda’s talk was about the relationship between UC Davis and the California wine industry. Linda discussed the importance of independent research conducted by UC Davis for the benefit of California’s citizens. She talked about some of the current issues that are faced by the industry including fake science, predatory lawsuits, and abuse of reviews on social media. Universities are the gatekeepers of knowledge and, as such, they need to be credible. 
 
Linda related the impact of the Napa fires on the industry, smoke taint, and how global warming is affecting wine making. 
 
President John then thanked Linda.  Callee gave some final words and the meeting was adjourned.