BIDS FOR KIDS AT THE HYATT OR BUST!

Yes, we are very excited to announce your 28th annual Bids For Kids (BFK) for the benefit of the Sacramento Society for the Blind will showcase the $18 million dollar newly renovated Hyatt Regency Sacramento at Capitol Park (not to be confused with the Crocker Art Museum).

And to sweeten the pie the Hyatt has graciously offered a block of rooms for the evening at the very discounted rate of $109. These won’t last so why not make it a weekend, enjoy the evening, bid obscenely high then navigate your way upstairs to collapse and revel in the joy of supporting a very deserving and grateful beneficiary.   

After all, at some point in our lives we will ALL likely need assistance with our vision, so perhaps think of this year’s event as a way to invest in your future!

Our District 5180 Speech Contest is just completed the semi final rounds with 11 contestants competing for those coveted final slots to compete at the District Conference in May for the championship. Having had the privilege of witnessing the contestants last week in action, my faith in our next generation has been fortified with renewed inspiration. What a group… and an outstanding reflection on this year’s speaking topic and Rotary theme…Reach Within to Embrace Humanity… very impressive speeches covering every imaginable perspective of the topic. Do yourself the favor next year (if you can’t make the District Conference in May this year) and witness this remarkable competition. Thank you to SMUD for lending their beautiful facility for the competition, to Bill Knowlton as acting Sergeant at Arms for the evening to Brooks Cutter for heading up the program on behalf of your club this year and to ADG Fred Teichert for his District leadership of the speech contest.

Dr. Alexander Gonzales, President of Sac State graced our podium this week as the program with an informative update on the new look of the campus and the challenges of funding education these days. Read all about it in this week’s meeting recap below)

Kudos and congratulations to fellow El Dorado Hills Rotarian Bill Tobin for receiving the Presidential Volunteer Service Award from none other than United States President Barack Obama and ShelterBox USA for his efforts in facilitating the distribution of 17,600 ShelterBox kits in 2011 including assistance with the Japan earthquake/tsunami, tornadoes in the southern U.S., drought and famine in East Africa, flooding in the Philippines and the recent Turkish earthquake, to name a few.

We are sorry to see club member David Eastis leave our ranks as he relocates professionally and to Phyllis Guillory and Robert Wilson who move on to new horizons. As always, we welcome you back with open arms as your opportunities afford and… do visit often, nonetheless!

Just ten days and counting to send 10 kids to a River Cats game for a hundred bucks. (Please use the form below in this Pulse).

Many thanks to Bill Hirschfelt for sponsoring our wine (and beer) receptions for the month of April, to Jim Relles as meeting sponsor and all those beautiful flowers, flowers, flowers, to Exploring Mountaineer Elfrena Foord, the longest standing female Rotarian celebrating her 25th year in the Club, and to those 20 of you strong at $50 a pop contributing $1000 towards an honorary Paul Harris fellow in the name of yours truly. Thank you for all that you do to contribute to the quality of our community.

Enjoy a terrific week! Tis the season of Bids For Kids. Quality and creative live and silent auction items are still very welcome.

See you at the Hyatt on May 12th !

Ken Noack, Jr.