Meeting Recap - April 5, 2016
Posted by Rick Davis
on Apr 07, 2016
Remembrance and celebration marked this week's meeting. For the former, President Dave began with a moment of silence for the passing of Cal Setzer, one of our most cherished and honored members, since 1952. Both a Paul Harris and a Sacramento Rotary fellow, Cal will be missed by family and Rotary friends alike.
Our remembrance also expressed sympathies for Tanya Kravchuck (Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento) and her extended family for their recent loss.
Celebration began right away, though, as meeting sponsor Allison Cagley (California Musical Theatre) gave her time to Dennis Mangers, who in turn told us of the exciting changes coming to our performing arts scene, especially plans for renovating the community theater at 13th and L Streets.
And we welcomed new member Sylvia M. Fitzgerald (Antiques, Appraisals & Estate Services), sponsored by Mead Kibbey and Fred Teichert (Teichert Foundation) Welcome Sylvia!
John Wood (McGee & Thielen Insurance Brokers) then stood to tease us with his introduction to our next Sacramento Rotary Fellow. The give-away came when John mentioned today (5 April) was the honoree's birthday: Jim Leet! (Boutin Jones) Jim accepted the honor with his usual sophisticated, eloquent style, introduced his family and thanked the club. We all closed the moment with an enthusiastic but painfully off-key rendition of "Happy Birthday."
We also had the honor of hosting Ms. Kanha Reath of Cambodia. Introduced by Jane Price of Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC), Ms. Reath is a teacher and tour guide and a Global Scholar Student under the auspices of JWOC. This is her first visit to the USA, and she and Ms. Price spoke to JWOC's commitment to education and alleviating poverty. Ms. Reath also expressly thanked Rotary world community services for supporting the program and for making her visit possible.
Our highlight for the meeting came when Mr. David Hochschild, California Energy Commissioner, stood as our guest speaker. Hosted and introduced by Randy Friedman (US Navy), Mr. Hochschild offered a fascinating and entertaining update about the state's efforts with renewable energy (solar, wind, geothermal, biomass). His slides had a lot of numbers: the market valuation of coal dropped over 90% since 2011, while renewable sources increased 65%. Both the unemployment rate and total emissions have fallen, even with increases in population and demand, thanks in no small part to the growing renewable energy sector. (Solar jobs alone increased 38% in one year.) California leads the nation in this field (TX is second) with a per capita energy use rate half the national rate. The state now has a target to be 50% renewable by 2030, thus relegating fossil fuels to the status of "alternative energy." (Whew! A lot to digest.) Bottom line: his was a very informative, upbeat and encouraging presentation. Something else to celebrate!
For the meeting at large we extend a hearty thank you to Steve Ruland (Ruland’s Office Furnishings) for our wine reception, Kevin Williams (KVIE), Aaron French (Zanker Road Resource Management) and John Dannenfelser (JD Enterprises) for music and A/V; and Tom Bacon (KIDDER MATHEWS) and Bob Miller (First US Community Credit Union) for ALWAYS being there for meeting set-up and breakdown. This week's greeters were Bridget Tarzwell (Print Infinite) and Virginia Wade (SAFE Credit Union). Thank you to all!