With summer still in the air it was a terrific day for a Rotary meeting as President Dave Cohen called the meeting to order and thanked PP Brian Van Camp (ADR Services) for hosting a terrific wine reception. Callee Setzer (Setzer Forest Products) provided the thought for the day sharing the story of a man stranded on an island with a message of never lose hope because hope changes everything. Randy Dixon (Collier’s Int’l) and Pat Derickson (Stafford King Wiese Architects) were thanked for greeting everyone at the door.
Sergeant-at-Arms John McIntyre (Mercy Foundation) introduced four guests and four prospective members who joined us for the day’s meeting. President Dave then introduced the head table. PP Peter Dannenfelser II, (Architectural Arts), Clayton Lee (C.K.L. Trust) and Roy Alexander (Sacramento Children’s Home) were the Meeting Sponsors giving their time to the East African Village Outreach (EAVO) organization and the work that they do in Ethiopia in partnership with Rotary to provide fresh water, education, health care and micro loans in that region. Our member Seifu Ibssa (Sacramento Bee) is from Ethiopia and initially started the water project.
Two new members were inducted by President Dave, Richard Milliron from the Red Lion Hotel - Woodlake and Karla Weymouth from Hampton Inn & Suites. Allison Cagley (CA Musical Theatre) & President Dave sponsored Richard and Allison, along with John McIntyre, sponsored Karla. Ted White (Sacramento Delta Property Mgmt.) introduced Jonas Rieke, a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar currently studying at UC Berkeley. Jonas is from Germany and provided a brief talk and video about his home and his studies.
Never lacking for announcements this segment of the meeting was kicked off by President Dave with a call for action to support the victims of the devastating fires that have hit northern California in the past few weeks. The Rotary Clubs of Lakeport (Lakeport Rotary Fire Relief Fund, PO Box 937, Lakeport, CA 95453), Rotary Club of Calistoga (Rotary Club of Calistoga Fire Relief Fund, PO Box 754, Calistoga, CA 94515) have both established relief funds as has the Amador Community Foundation (Fire Relief Fund, PO Box 1154, Jackson, CA 95642). President Dave encouraged members to send contributions to these funds. He also provided an update on the need for volunteers for the Loaves & Fishes day on September 29. Tom Bacon (Bacon Commercial RE) announced that Brown Bag Day is next Tuesday, September 29. There are some terrific opportunities to share fellowship and learn from members of our club through these brown bag programs. You can sign up on line at our website www.rotarysacramento.com or call the office to register. Randy Friedman (U.S. Navy) let members know that the next Networking Night will be on September 30 at the Foundation Bar & Grill. Mike Bullington (Pacific Advisors) promoted the Trap Shooting event being put on by the South Yuba Rotary Club on October 3, and the announcements were wrapped up by Todd Andrews (Andrews Construction) in Lederhosen, (or were they just hosen without the leder?) promoting the Sac Century Bike Ride and Octoberfest which is on October 10. Additional info is available at www.sacramentocentury.com.
Past President Susan Sheridan looked more than comfortable as she returned to the podium, to introduce our guest speakers, Justin Cornwell and Brandon Hurley from Team Red, White & Blue (Team RWB). Both Justin and Brandon are currently stationed at Beale AFB. Justin, who is a Chapter Captain for Team RWB provided an overview of the program which included a short video presentation. He talked about the 2.5 million veterans that have been deployed to the Middle East and the 26% that return home with mental conditions. 58% of vets do not return to their home communities and 30% of the vets want to be more connected to the communities in which they do return to. Team RWB’s mission is to enrich the lives of America’s Veterans. They do this through connecting vets to their communities through physical and social activities. Justin mentioned that in many instances exercise is as effective a treatment as medication. In Sacramento the Team RWB chapter has 330 members and is growing daily. 75% of the members are combat vets. Justin then introduced Brandon, who shared his story about Team RWB, as well as the stories of other members and how Team RWB has impacted their lives. Information on Team RWB can be found at www.teamrwb.org.
President Dave thanked Brandon and Justin for the presentation and their support of the Sacramento Century Ride, where Team RWB is a beneficiary. He reminded members that next week is a Brown Bag week and encouraged members to sign up for one of the Brown Bag meeting locations.
Meeting adjourned.