Meeting Recap for Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Posted by Linda Geery
on Oct 22, 2015
An inspiring thought for the day was offered by Mike Miklaus (Integrity Mortgage), who drew analogies between sports and Rotarians. He suggested that top players engage in the game, they do what’s best in the moment, as it also is with Rotarians. “Don’t be a spectator in life, be a Rotarian”.
Sargent-at-Arms, John McIntyre (Mercy Foundation) announced guests, prospective members and visiting Rotarians.
A big thank you to today’s greeters Karla Weymouth (Hampton Inn & Suites) and Kelly Huffman (Safety Center).
President Dave introduced the head table, which included Elfrena Foord (Foord, Van Bruggen & Pajak), Johnathan Marz (Diepenbrock Elkin, LLP), Bill Rasmussen (Graber Rasmussen Architects), Barbara Thompson (Sky Ridge Ranch), Gary McDonald (Lighthouse Counseling), John Lemmon (Knox, Lemmon, Anapolsky), Dennis Smith (Tsakopoulos Mgmt Co.), Tim Mattheis (WMB Architects) and Frank Cook (Cook Realty), and thanked them for their service and contribution to the Sacramento Century.
Meeting Sponsor Luann Richardson (RE/Max Gold) donated her time to Gary McDonald. Gary has taken over the Executive Director position at Lighthouse Counseling and Family Services. Gary shared about the mission and programs of the Organization, which primarily serve Placer County.
Announcements: Luann Richardson invited Rotarians to our next Networking Night on November 10th at the new Empress Tavern. The event is limited to 20 attendees, sign up soon to ensure your spot.
Steve Lamon (Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld, LLP) announced a need for volunteers to host RYE students for a special event. Please contact him for details.
JD Dannenfelser (JD Enterprises) announced that Alpha K-9 is hosting a fundraising event at Arden Hills Country Club on Friday, November 13th. Alpha K-9 will be one of our beneficiaries for The Pony Express Marathon.
President Dave announced the passing of longtime member John Balluff on October 15th.
President Dave read excerpts of letters our club received from the RYLA students that we sponsored last summer. Also, President Dave gave Linda Geery (Gilbert & Associates) an opportunity to comment on Camp RYLA. Linda confirmed what the students had written, which is that Camp RYLA is a life changing program. If you would like more information about Camp RYLA please call Linda Geery, RYLA Committee Chair.
President Dave shared that the process is underway to select the president elect-elect. President Dave outlined the process for selection, as well as who is involved in the committee and urged members to get involved.
President Dave introduced Sulaf Al Ajeeli, the newest addition to our Rotary office staff. Sulaf is training to take the lead on Cindy’s assignments as Cindy prepares to retire at year-end.
Fines, Acknowledgements and Celebrations:
Past President Peter Dannenfelser II (Architectural Arts) picture was recently in the Sacramento Bee regarding the renovation of the Elks building. PP Peter made a contribution to his next Paul Harris for the recognition.
Jim Relles (Relles Florist) celebrated much including his daughter’s marriage, becoming a grandfather for the first time, the 69th Anniversary of Relles Florist and being chosen “Best Florist” by Sacramento Magazine.
Bob Rosenberg (Inve$tnet, Inc.) made a contribution to celebrate recent business success for himself and his son.
Michelle Amaral (Dick James & Assoc.) and new daughter-in-law Shadi Dizechi (Dick James & Assoc.) celebrated the family wedding with contributions to the Eddie Mulligan and Paul Harris.
Judy Daru (JA Collins Properties) also was celebrating marriage, her own, as well as business success. She too contributed to her own Eddie Mulligan and Paul Harris, as well as on behalf of her friend Judy Payne (Real Estate Forum).
Leonard Simpson (2020 Financial Advisors) contributed to his Paul Harris in honor of PP Susan and Todd Andrews (Andrews Construction), and their outstanding efforts as co-chairs of the Sacramento Century.
Michelle Single (Launch Consulting) made a contribution in honor of her son’s recovery of two broken arms and his excellent grades.
Jim Phillips (The Energy Savers) made a contribution in honor of the Ranger Dick Ewart, who was recently married and that leads our show shoe walks and spring hikes at Yosemite.
Jerry Haley was celebrating the birth of his first great grandchild.
Rick Davis made contributions to his Paul Harris in recognition for his travel to Eastern Europe.
Elfrena Foord made a contribution in honor of war hero and past member Glenn Sorenson who passed away in September at the age of 101. Glenn was a Rotarian for 59 years.
Mike Bullington (Pacific Advisors) celebrated becoming a grandfather for the 2nd time as well as the success of the Sacramento Century.
President Dave transitioned the meeting back to the Sacramento Century and Oktoberfest. Although the numbers are not yet available, the event was clearly a huge success. President Dave honored PP Susan Sheridan with a District Governor’s Award when DG Glen Fong attended our meeting in September. President Dave honored Tim Mattheis for his tireless efforts and positive approach. Additionally, President Dave granted him the Paul Harris Fellow distinction. Finally, President Dave acknowledged Todd Andrews and emphasized that Todd exemplifies Service Above Self, from planning to execution. In honor of Todd’s contributions to the Sacramento Century President Dave conveyed to Todd the designation of Paul Harris Fellow.
Co-Chairs PP Susan Sheridan and Todd Andrews gave heartfelt thanks to everybody involved and for their efforts, which for many people went way beyond the day of the event. Additionally, the core group of volunteers, seated at the head table, have committed to next year! As previously stated the event was a tremendous success with Habitat for Humanity and Team Red, White and Blue being the recipients of the net proceeds. It was shared that the event was a fantastic way to spread the good word about Rotary as well as an opportunity to draw the community in to support the Club.
Some numbers to think about:
- It is estimated that 1,600 riders participated at some level
- We had hundreds of volunteers, many were Rotarians and their friends and family
- It’s estimated that about 100 of the volunteers were non-Rotarians
- We had 10 food trucks
PP Susan thanked Dennis Smith for arranging parking at three downtown locations, Todd thanked all those involved in providing help for the supported ride, including the SAG teams, the teams that placed route arrows, to Luann Richardson and team for picking up all the food for the rest stops (a huge undertaking)! To our generous sponsors that were in attendance at the meeting; Paul Somerhaus of Sacto MoFo, Paul Adams of Capitol Public Radio, John Shelby of Union Bank, Suzanne Black of Isleton Chamber of Commerce, Aaron French of Zanker Waste Recovery, Jeff vonKaenel of SNR, Tia Gemmell of Riverview Media Photography, and Jim Leet (Boutin Jones, Inc.) for arranging breakfast for the riders at Specialty’s Café.
The meeting concluded with wonderful photos of the event, which captured moments throughout the day.
Next week our guest speaker is Gordon Fowler of 3Fold Communications. We hope to see you then!