The Pulse - August 23, 2016

Posted by Rick Davis on Aug 25, 2016

“Give me wine to wash me clean of the weather-stains of cares” Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote.

In that spirit (sic), wine shaped and framed our meeting this week. From the elegant thought for the day by Mik Miklaus (Integrity Mortgage) (“Our wine which art in heaven…”) to guest speaker Sean Minor’s fascinating (“It ain’t easy”) insights about the wine industry to PP Walter Dahl’s (Dahl Law, Attorneys At Law) challenge to shave our heads for this year’s Sacramento Century Challenge (the commitment to which doubtless would be helped by generous portions of wine) our club’s favorite beverage stayed on our minds as well as in our delicate stemmed glasses.

Between swigs from these glasses (metaphorically speaking) meeting highlights included Jim Leet’s pitch for Boutin Jones, Inc. The business law firm extends its market from Ireland to Australia and provides expertise for partner and corporate services, real estate, estate planning, tax law, intellectual property, and a lot more. Jim is also our Club Foundation president this year. (Thank you, Jim!)

We also welcomed fellow Rotarian and special guest Hailu Ibsa from Ethiopia and President Dan exchanged club banners with him. Hailu’s excellent motto: “Don’t wait so long to get involved in service above self.” (Write that down!) Coincident with Hailu’s visit, PP Peter Dannenfelser (Architectural Arts) presented a third anniversary update on our joint water project in Ethiopia. We sent a team in 2013 and worked with Hailu and others to build a gravity feed cistern and provide a clean water supply to villages there. Peter summarized his experience in Ethiopia with two words: beauty and hospitality. His superb pictures proved the case.

PP Dave Murphy introduced Sean Minor as our featured speaker. Sean owns Sean Minor wineries and told us how his hobby evolved into a successful family business. His theme covered the challenges of running a winery: financial and market realities--capital constraints--and the simple problem of distinguishing one’s product, of being more than just another “guy on the shelf.” His solution: value-based management, focused on the quality of the product, his employees and of course the customer. He shared his vision--developing a deep, enduring relationship with his customers--his simple goal--steadily increasing company value over time--and his integrated strategy. The latter aimed at sustaining financial strength, effectively engaging his wholesale product partners, and developing a reliable, recognizable brand. His key argument was to maintain a balance among these elements: no one of them is more important than another. A fascinating pitch: very interesting.

Elsewhere for the club, John Swentowsky (Swentowsky Photography) reminded us of Loaves & Fishes again on Tuesday, 30 August. WE STILL NEED VOLUNTEERS! So contact John or the Rotary office to sign up.

Also, make sure to pick up your roster updates if you haven’t already.

And PP Walter had more to say about shaving our heads: it’s a great way to raise money for St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which will benefit from our Sacramento Century Challenge this year (1 October--be there!). You too can be a part of conquering childhood cancer! Check out both sacramentocentury.com and www.stbaldricks.org for more information.

Finally, and poignantly, lest we forget: President Dan led us in a moment of silence for Robert Livingston, member of our club since 1968, who passed away recently. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

We adjourned on time. Meeting next week again at Red Lion/Woodlake Inn.

Rick Davis

[BTW, keeping with the wine theme: “Work is the curse of the drinking classes.” - Oscar Wilde]