Meeting Recap For April 2, 2012
Class was in session at this week’s Rotary meeting, as Dr. Alexander Gonzalez, President of Sac State, was in the house as our guest speaker.
Before the good doctor, we had our usual and customary festivities, with the gentlemanly Bill Hirschfelt, furnishing the libations at this weeks’ reception, Don Baird leading the group in the Thought of the Day, and Jim Relles spending his $300-and-3 as Sponsor of the Day assuring us that business is blooming at Relles Florist.
We recognized some of the many generous souls that inhabit our club after that – from Elfrena (my other car is a) Foord and the Arata Brothers Trust for their extremely generous gift of $10k to this year’s Bids For Kids, to the anonymous donor (who, redundantly, shall remain nameless) who gave $12,000 in stock to BFK (not Enron or WorldCom stock, I’m pleased to report), to a slew of fellow Rotarians – too many to mention here (my printer is short on ink), who were recognized for their recent gifts to Eddie and Paul (Mulligan and Harris, that is). Speaking of the lovely Elfrena, she topped-off her latest Eddie in honor of her 25th year in the club, making her (in her words) the “longest standing woman in the club”, not to be confused with the oldest woman in the club, who is (yeah, like I’m going there).
Now, if you want to be like Elfrena – well, you can’t, because she’s one-of-a-kind – but if you wanted to be somewhat like Elfrena, and share your largesse with the club, here’s an easy and rewarding way to do it. Get a hold of Todd (I sing like Julie) Andrews and tell him that you’d like to send 10 deserving kids (who can’t get there without your help) to the April 15th River Cats game. A hundred dollar bill (or any combination thereof) will make that happen, and your donation will be leveraged into an additional $30 contribution toward End Polio Now. Take 10 kids out to the ball game and help end Polio – now that’s Elfrenaesque.
By the way, kudos to El Presidente, Ken Noack, Jr, for picking up yet another Humanitarian of the Year award from his peers in the Sacramento Real Estate industry. Well done, Mr. President.
This just in from President Ken (actually, I’ve been sitting on it since lunch): Be advised that, on the orders of our charitable Commander in Chief, all Rotarians are to report to the Rotary BFK auction website (www.bidsforkidsauction.com) and “bid obscenely” on the incredible items that are available – from some seriously awesome travel getaways, to a Gin Gift Basket (what is not to like about that!), to a Hot Air Balloon ride in any of 150 cities of your choosing (and no, you don’t have to drag the balloon there) to, of course, the annual Dive Bar Trip (what better cause to destroy your liver for?) And let’s up the ante – put that auction site on your Facebook wall, your LinkedIn Page, and blast your e-mail address book and get your friends and acquaintances involved – let’s create a bidding frenzy!
Oh, and by the way, venue change for this year’s Bids For Kids – the Crocker is out, the newly refurbished and awesome Hyatt is in – will result in more money for the event.
Back to Dr. Gonzalez, who paid another informational visit, updating us on the goings on at 60th & J. Too many good things to mention here – you have to pay the Prez a visit and see what he’s done to the place over the past 9 years – but the economic impact of Sac State on our local businesses should be highlighted. Eighty-five percent (85%) of the Sac State students come from the six surrounding counties of our region, with 6,000 of them graduating every year, and many of them staying right here, providing us with a rich and educated employment base to draw from. These are our future employees, and we would all do well to invest in the Sac State pipeline that Dr. Gonzales and his 2,300 employee force are cultivating for the local business community. Be Elfrenaesque when it comes to Sac State! JBW