Meeting Recap For March 12, 2012
Monday’s Rotary Club of Sacramento meeting began with a reverent tribute to the late George Wong and ended with an irreverent discussion of the Irish economy in an early St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
Actually, the meeting began with a thought for the day by Denny Elgin, the pledge of allegiance led by President Ken Noack Jr. and a rousing rendition of “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” led by Dick Osen.
But shortly thereafter, past president Jon Snyder came to the podium to deliver a eulogy for long-time Rotarian and Bel Air Markets founder Wong, with a number family members and friends in attendance.
And later, it was keynote speaker Kelly Brothers, introduced by past president Diane Mizell, who provided the Irish humor to go with the Woodlake Hotel’s corned beef and cabbage.
The former KCRA and KFBK news anchor, who five years ago co-founded the Genovese, Burford and Brothers investment management firm, is the son of Irish immigrants.
He can summon up a pretty good brogue while going through a repertoire of Irish jokes, but the accent goes away when he puts the accent on global finance.
Asked to comment on the economic recovery and his outlook for 2012, Brothers pointed out that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is currently lower than it was when GBB was founded.
“I think this year is going to look a lot like last year,” he said. “Last year we had all the worries about Europe and they’re not all gone. Now we have a new set of concerns—Iran and oil.”
His outlook for California wasn’t much brighter. Asked how he thought Governor Brown was doing, he responded that the jury is still out.
“I had high hopes that he would do the difficult things,” said Brothers. “He took office saying he expected to leave office a hated man. But so far, I’m not seeing that kind of leadership.”
In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, Brothers was asked about the struggling Irish economy, once thought to be a model for future economic development.
“Ireland went through centuries of being abnormally poor, then 15 years of being abnormally rich, and now they’re back in the doldrums,” he said. “They’ve never figured out how to just be normal.”
Roger Niello, former Assemblyman and new CEO of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, was the meeting sponsor.
Mergers and acquisition consultant Ron Crane was introduced as the newest member of RCS. He was sponsored by John Wood and Bernie Lenau.
Diane Starin a member of the Society for the Blind staff who lost her sight at 18 months of age made a brief presentation about the Bids for Kids beneficiary.