Meeting Recap for November 18, 2013
It was just another day at Rotary this week, with inbound Ambassadorial Scholars, outbound Rotary Youth Exchange students, and a Retired U.S. Marine Corps Major General all stopping by to pay a visit.
It all started, of course, with the pre-gavel meet-and-greet, with the wine generously donated by Bob (my other car is a train) McLean, and then President Thom rang the meeting to order and beckoned Paul (the youngest Rolling) Stone to the ivories to play taps for our recently departed Rotarians, Ed Karnacki, Frank Boutin, and Robert McNairn – three of the club’s finest.
After Thom’s Thought of the Meeting, Dick (Golden Pipes) Osen led the group in song (we’re getting pretty good, gang!), Susan Drack expedited the usual introductions, and then we recognized our greeters of the week, Kathy Herrfeldt and David Stewart, members of Rotary’s “Red Ribbon Gang” (our newer members, for those Rotarians whose attendance is worse than this author’s).
Next up was John McIntyre, who introduced our newest outbound Rotary Youth Exchange student, Carly Shelby of McClatchy High School (oh yeah, and daughter of our own John Shelby), who hopes to be assigned somewhere in Europe in the near future. Congratulations, and safe travels, Carly!
While our newest RYE student is headed out, our Ambassadorial Scholar, Andrew Smith, has returned home, and stopped by to brief us on some of his impactful experiences in Asia, Africa, and Ireland (among others), doing good works in the name of Rotary, and earning his MBA from Trinity College in Dublin. Welcome home, Andrew.
After a few minutes of conversation, our Sponsor of the Day, Doug Crumley, spent his $300-and-3 selflessly promoting Team Azalea Charities, which raises funds for wounded war veterans, in part by running in the annual Marine Corps Marathon, which Doug ran this year, and will be doing again next year – and he’s looking for fellow Rotarians to join him in 2014 (running is the loneliest sport, after all). Give Doug a call if one of those fellow Rotarians is you.
We’ve added some more culture to our membership, as our newest member is Rob Tannenbaum, Director of the Sacramento Region Performing Arts Alliance – aka the Sacramento Symphony and Opera. A fine addition to our ranks, Rob was sponsored by Rotary’s own energizer bunny, Oleta Lambert (who has sponsored 175 new members into the club this year... give or take) and Dee Hartzog. Welcome to the club, Rob! Oleta and Dee were also pinned with the special District IGNITE recognition for their membership recruiting efforts.
A slew of announcements this week, including: 1) Dave Cohen promises a whale of a party on May 17th, 2014, when our club celebrates its 100th birthday. If you know Dave, you know that when he says he has a rager planned, it’s not to be missed, so mark your calendars now; 2)Tom Engel reminds that the biggest attended Rotary lunch of the year, Daughter’s Day, is fast approaching on December 16th, so call or e-mail the Rotary office to make your reservations; 3) Gary McDonald advised that the record for most food processed in a 3-hour stretch at his Senior Gleaners – a record once held by our club – has been broken, but we can regain the crown on December 7th, as it will be our next Rotary work day (as Gary advised, the Rotary motto that day will be “Service Above Shopping”). Diane Schachterle has been good about sending out club blasts with details, so check your e-mails, sign up, and bring an army of volunteers with you; 4) Big John Frisch announced that our annual Toy Drive will run for 3 weeks, starting with the December 2nd meeting, so bring a new, unwrapped toy – or $20 – and give it to one of the fine members of the “Steve Committee” that will be manning the Salvation Army barrels at each meeting; and lastly, 5) It’s party-time with Luann Richardson and the New Member Reception Committee, December 3rd at Capital Dime, 1801 L Street. Keep an eye out for these e-mails as well.
After Eric Solis, Joanie Titherington, and Rex Berry all tithed for one good reason or another (Rex’s being that his recently graduated son is now off of his payroll and onto Deloitte’s), Past President (and Rotary’s only Emperor) Wes Yee, introduced our guest speaker of the day, Retired U.S. Marine Corps Major General Anthony Jackson, who is the new leader of the California Department of State Parks.
While General Jackson didn’t go into detail about how the Parks Department’s financial management issues that hit the press last year came to be, or what he’s going to do to fix them (topics that Speaker Committee Chair Bob Rosenberg was looking to have addressed for his fellow Rotarians when our guest was booked), the Major General did advise that he was going to apply “Marine tender love and care” to the department – which, if you heard the MG speak, is a pretty safe bet that the Parks Department will be cleaned up in short order.
No meeting next week – go out and run some laps with Doug Crumley in preparation for some aerobic eating on Thanksgiving. Be well.