Meeting Recap of June 25, 2012
Every now and then, there is a meeting that seems to capture all that is Rotary, and this week’s was one of them, as we bid President Ken farewell and job tremendously well done, welcomed Peter Dannenfelser II (aka “Peter Two Sticks”) as our incoming leader, and covered an enormous range of Rotary material in between (oh, did I forget to mention that we also had world class mountaineer and 3-time Everest summiteer, Conrad Anker, in the house?).
Getting it rolling with the usual and customaries, many thanks to John Balluff for sponsoring the wine reception, and Brooks Cutter for the Thought of the Day. Also, welcome to our newest Rotarian, David Stewart, who hails from good ‘ol Drexel U, and was sponsored by Hal Shipley and Katrina Salazar (who also picked up an Eddie today, while Big John Frisch nabbed his seventh and Becki Roberts, her first).
Speaking of new members, our newest honorary ones were welcomed into the club today – the ones truly responsible for Ken being our President this year – Ken Noack, Sr. (one of Sacramento’s insurance legends, by the way), and his lovely wife Sue. This was no case of upward nepotism -- Ken the elder spent this term working on the District 5180 literacy project, reading to disadvantaged but eager youngsters at the Del Paso Manor Elementary School (Sr. advised modestly that he was pleased to able to “provide a little bit of help at an important time in their lives”). As for mama Noack, Ken Jr. showed a brief clip of her donating money to the famed Albert Schweitzer over 40 years ago (Al was himself a Rotarian, don’t you know). The Noacks set an example of community service long ago, and we’re glad to have all of them.
Next up was the annual RYLA presentation (for you newer members, RYLA is our Rotary Youth Leadership program), where Linda Geery introduced us to three wonderful RYLA high school students, who described their experience in the program as being “life changing”, “making them a better person”, “teaching them generosity, and appreciation of others”. If you like working with bright young kids who are going to ensure that our social security checks cash in the future, consider volunteering some time on the RYLA committee.
If you really want to make an impact, consider joining Eric Solis’s YIP (Youth Incentive Program) committee and become a mentor to an underprivileged 7th or 8th grader, help them stay on course through their high school years, and watch them become a wonderful statistical exception and go off to college. If you want to know how rewarding a mentor experience can be, ask Diane Woodruff (3-time YIP mentor, who shared with us today the joy of having this type of relationship with a deserving young person).
No time in the schedule for YIP or RYLA? No problem -- just bleed. Prez Ken advises that, with just a few weeks left in the contest, we’re on the verge of punking the Point West Rotary for a second year in a row in our annual blood drive smack down. We’re in the lead, but victory is within reach for both clubs, so find your nearest BloodSource location this week or next (the effervescent Leslie Botos will be glad to point you in the right direction) and leave a pint behind.
Enough examples already of our impact in the community? Sorry, not finished yet, as soon-to-be Prez Pete presented an entertaining slide show of the Club’s recent trip to Thailand, and the 39 water wells we helped refurbish there, not to mention the 9 new ones we built, care of the work of our World Community Service committee. If you like service with an international flair, consider this committee in Pete’s term (by the way, one of the travelers on the Thailand trip was Carolyn Carr, who this month celebrates 5 years of being cancer-free, and contributed to her Eddie on behalf of Kaiser and all her friends at Rotary who supported her through her challenging time – congratulations, Carolyn).
Chris Johnson was our Meeting Sponsor, and he spent his $300-and-3 sharing with us his passion, which is his non-profit, Chris Johnson Basketball Academy (CJBA). Chris teaches 500 youngsters a year, life and relationship skills through the medium of basketball (he was quite a player himself at Florin High, back in the day) and he has a team of 10-year olds that is vying for a national title. His challenge – the cost is $1,500 a kid to get them to the national tournament in Florida, and there’s not enough money available yet to send all of the team to the tourney. If you’d like to help Chris with this very worthy cause, go to http://chrisjohnsonbasketball.com/support_cjba, check out the incredible work he is doing with these kids, and support your fellow Rotarian by making a donation (and while you’re at it, make it a big one).
Ok, hold up a minute -- I need to catch my breath before I talk about our guest speaker, because we’re going up to rarified air on this one. A fortnight ago we met the incredible rock climber, Alex Honnold (who joined us in the audience today) – today, we continued our climbing theme with world class mountaineer, Conrad Anker. Conrad’s climbing career is too vast to cover here (fire up the Google machine and check him out), but suffice it to say that he’s been the first to climb several mountains all over the world, including a 20,000+ foot one in the Himalayas that 30 teams before him tried to summit and failed – but not him.
Fortunately, you can keep your feet planted firmly on low ground and still learn a lot from Conrad, who described big hairy climbs (the kind he likes) as a process of “reverse risk analysis” – i.e. think of the worst things that can go wrong, and start the planning process from there. My favorite one (for those inclined to rest on one’s laurels) is his reminder that “When you’re at the summit, you’re only halfway done (you still have to climb back down).”
Someone who is completely done is President Ken, who bestowed upon Peter D the President’s pin, and accepted in return the much coveted (so I’m told by those who have one) Past President’s version. His presidency now in the bag, Ken is going off to relax on the top of Mt. Shasta. A job most very well done, Ken.
(Photography by Tia Gemmell)