At the annual Club Assembly luncheon on December 12, amid an atmosphere crackling with anticipation, Jim Leet (Boutin Jones Inc.) was announced as the President-Elect nominee for the Rotary Club of Sacramento.
Past President Walter Dahl (Dahl Law, Attorneys At Law) made the dramatic announcement and extolled the many achievements Jim brings to the job, including his outstanding work on the club board and the RCOS Foundation board, plus his bartending degree. PEN Jim’s term will begin on July 1, 2019, at the conclusion of President-Elect Diane Woodruff’s year.
The room greeted the news with a standing O for this beloved, brave, naïve soul.
President John Lemmon (Knox, Lemmon & Anapolsky) also announced the election results for two-year board terms beginning July 1. Elected were: Heidi Hershenhouse (Land IQ), Jonathan Marz (Diepenbrock Elkin Gleason LLP), Kelley Moran (Moran & Associates), Callee Setzer (Setzer Forest Products) and John Wood (McGee & Thielen Insurance Brokers). The vote formally approved PE Diane as incoming president. The Sergeant-At-Arms during PE Diane’s term will be Elfrena Foord (Foord, Van Bruggen & Pajak) and the club treasurer, in a stunning twist, will be current treasurer Käthe Nathan (Merchants National Bank of Sacramento).
David Baker (Sacramento Children’s Home) elicited further celebration as the Club welcomed him as its newest member, and he was introduced by his colleague Todd Koolakian. Their organization sponsored the meeting, and retiring CEO Roy Alexander (Sacramento Children’s Home) talked about the Club’s long support of the Children’s Home, with special mention of a simple literacy program the club initiated nearly a decade ago under Past President Fred Teichert (Teichert Foundation) – the transformative “read to dogs” program in which their children sharpen their literacy by reading aloud to floppy-eared companions.
Ryan Royster is a 32-year-old successful sports agent, but that’s not why he attended the meeting as Joe Grant’s (Vantage Points, LLC) guest. Back in 1998, Ryan was in the first YIP mentee class in the club’s Youth Incentive Program. Does YIP make a difference? Aided by his mentor Joe Grant, Ryan graduated from McClatchy, was the first in his family to go straight to college, and earned his degree at UC Davis. Ryan embarked on his current career after playing seven years of minor league baseball.
The impact of YIP, and the Club’s legion of service work, were among the reasons listed in table discussion why club members are committed to Rotary.
Club donations were made by: Eric Solis (Solis Financial Strategies Group of Wells Fargo Advisors), and Past President Brian Van Camp (ADR Services, Inc.) who donated to President-Elect Diane Woodruff’s Eddie Mulligan. Past President Dan McVeigh (Downey Brand LLP) and Rick Eytcheson (Capital Public Radio), just returned from a grand tour of Australia and New Zealand, showed a few slides, told a few outrageous lies, donated some money and gave President John some mementos from the trip. We felt sorry for the kangaroo.
Club announcements included:
- Daughters Day is December 19 and it’s going to be epic and reservations are required!, said Becki Roberts (Central Valley Community Bank).
- the holiday Toy Drive ends next meeting so please remember to bring an unwrapped toy, appealed Steve Ruland (Ruland’s Office Furnishings).
- early registration ends Friday for the International Convention in Toronto next June, so don’t miss out on the discount, President John alerted.
- if you haven’t yet, get those dictionaries delivered, encouraged Jim Culleton (Strong & Associates), who is overseeing our Club’s distribution of 1,000 dictionaries to third grade students in Sacramento.
- at a District Foundation awards ceremony, the club got the Susan Lucci treatment, honored in three categories but winning none of them, reported Mike Bullington of Pacific Advisors (third place for Polio Plus donations, third place for the district’s $1 million challenge, and second place in total annual giving).
President John thanked wine reception sponsor Stephen Johanson (Johanson & Associates), and saluted Jack Anderson (Dick James & Associates) for artfully banging out holiday tunes at the piano during the reception. Greeters Ted White (Sacramento Delta Property Management), Jon Snyder (Snyder Commercial Real Estate) and Jeanne Reaves (Jeanne Reaves Consulting) got well-deserved shoutouts, and Mik Miklaus (Integrity Mortgage) delivered the Thought for the Day.
Thank you John Swentowsky (Swentowsky Photography) for the photos!