The Pulse - August 02, 2016
Posted by Callee Setzer on Aug 04, 2016
President Dan began our meeting with a warm welcome. He thanked Thom Gilbert (Gilbert Associates) for providing the wine reception and both Kevin Williams (KVIE) and Aaron French (Zanker Recycling) for directing the audio and video systems. Tuesday’s greeters were Randy Friedman (US Navy) and Karla Weymouth (Homewood Suites by Hilton).
Truths and Myths headlined not only the Thought of the Day but today’s speaker Dr. Barbara O’Connor’s discussion of politics, as well. Rick Davis gave our thought for the day noting if we are going to tell a myth, make sure to “lay it on thick and believe it”. It’s probably best to stick to the truth, politicians or not.
Dick Osen led us all in a vibrant rendition of “God Bless America” in exchange of our standard Pledge of Allegiance. Members of the head table were announced by President Dan. Rob Scherer (Dale Carnegie Training) kindly donated his money and took the 3 allotted minutes to give us a brief history of the Golf for Kids event and why it is important for us to continue its success each year. Thank you Rob for being our meeting sponsor of the day! (Please note a belated THANK YOU goes to J.D. Lauppe for being the meeting sponsor of the July 26th meeting. He was generous enough to donate his money and time to Bob Miller (First US Community Credit Union) and the Golf for Kids event. Thank you J.D.!!)
Linda Geery (Gilbert Associates) made a special introduction of three high school students who attended the Rotary Youth Leadership week long camp. Each of the three students were given the opportunity to tell us the highlight of their experience. Asia Wong (Vista Del Lago HS) noted her week was a “fulfilling and life changing experience”. She gained self-worth and learned leadership skills she plans to use immediately as her school’s yearbook editor. Gizzel Yanez (West Campus HS) said her favorite part of the week was learning “I am good enough”. She said owning who she is, not what she is, will be her motto going forward. Lastly and full of words about his experience was Chris Reyes (CK McClatchy HS). Chris struggled with the courage to speak in front of an audience but after two nights into his week at camp, Chris stood up and began speaking to his peers. It was heartwarming to see how comfortable he was describing his experience and showing off his new found courage. Linda concluded with a message about how we can be “more effective leaders when we know ourselves.”
After a generous amount of Fellowship time, our very own Sergeant-At-Arms, Tom Bacon (Kidder Mathews) announced several Rotarian visitors, guests and prospective members. Club announcements included Todd Andrews (Andrews Construction) for the Sac Century Ride, Dave DeRoos (Citygate Associates) regarding the trip to Nepal, John Swentowsky (Swentowsky Photography) for the Loaves for Fishes day at the end of the month and Bob Miller (First US Community Credit Union) is still in need of volunteers, raffle prizes and golfers for the Golf 4 Kids event. Lastly, President Dan announced the date of his first Presidential Breakfast on Aug. 18th at the Fox and Goose.
Today’s Roast, Boast and Toast included 5 members of the club; PP Dave Cohen (Cohen-Durrett) for John Swentowsky, Mike Bullington (Pacific Advisors), Eric Solis (Wells Fargo Advisors), April Butcher (Sac Public Library Foundation) and Jeanne Reaves (Jeanne Reaves Consulting).
Our Chair of the Day, Diane Woodruff introduced our Speaker of the Day, Barbara O’Connor. Following an expansive and impressive list of accomplishments from coast to coast, Barbara took the podium. This was her very first speaking engagement regarding politics since leaving the AARP Board of Directors. She expressed her views of this “not-normal election year” and has chosen not to judge any of the political debates as she has in election years passed. Her concern is the lack of “civility and reason” in this year’s election both by the candidates themselves and more notably within the media. She strongly feels the media is not doing a good job covering the important topics resulting in a lack of viewership and interest overall. In California alone, she predicts the poll turn out will be its lowest in 25 years. This is disappointing news considering over $2.7 billion will be spent on campaign ads alone. This money seems wasted if the voters are so disengaged in the overall picture of truth in politics. Many voters will be voting outside of their registered parties for the simple fact, they just don’t like their party’s candidate. She notes there will be 3 states to watch throughout the coming months, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida.
With such a lack of turn out predicted in this election year, Barbara says the next election is our chance to end the “revolution” that is currently taking place and will continue through the next presidential term/s. O’Connor’s important steps to help seek this change are: making sure people vote and discovering 3 or 4 topics on both a state and national level that people actually care about. The latest “Tweet of the Day” should not set the day’s news cycle. The media needs to present the truth of issues or topics to help keep voters engaged and supportive of candidates and agendas during the next election.
As a side note: Barbara truly believes a foreign country will hack into our voting systems and create more chaos during Election Day.
In closing of the meeting, Tom Bacon’s “Bacon Bits” noted a craze regarding the potential benefits of new clientele for our businesses using the Pokémon Go App. It’s not just for kids after all!