The Pulse - September 13, 2016

Posted by Kevin Smith-Fagan on Sep 15, 2016
 
 
The club was treated to an entertaining address by best-selling thriller novelist John Lescroart at its September 13 meeting. A Bay Area native now based in Davis, John recounted his circuitous journey to the New York Times bestsellers list, noting that he wrote five complete novels before getting one published. He’s now working on his 30th book, “Fatal,” to be released in early 2017.
 
Earlier in the meeting, a breathtaking potpourri of Rotary goodness unfolded. Callee Setzer (Setzer Forest Products) provided the Thought for the Day, quoting Maya Angelou: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
 
President Dan McVeigh led the club in a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims of 9/11.
 
Visitor Elena Denisova-Radzinsky, from a Rotary club in Moscow, delivered comments worthy of Tolstoy. Through an interpreter with assistance from Tanya Kravchuk (Children’s Receiving Home), she shared her story of advocating for autistic children amid difficult circumstances in Russia.
 
Meeting sponsors Elfrena Food (Foord, Van Bruggen and Pajak) and Bruce Hester (Colliers International) returned from a Baltic cruise bearing gifts for President Dan. They were joined on that journey by fellow club members Marilyn Park (Doncaster), Pam Saltenberger, and PP Susan Sheridan, and each presented President Dan with a curious souvenir. Elfrena and Bruce encouraged traveling club members to bring back a fun gift for President Dan!
 
 
As usual, the club announcements held the room spellbound. Among the highlights -
 
. the Sacramento Century event on October 1 is urgently looking for volunteers, reported Todd Andrews (Andrews Construction); John Frisch (Cornish & Carey) appealed to the room to help him reach his goal of $10,000 in small sponsorships for the fundraiser
 
. A Yosemite hike to Glacier Point is slated for October 14, reported Jim Phillips (The Energy Savers)
 
. the next Fireside gathering on 9/29, reported Diane Mizell, is a sellout!
. tossing his lustrous locks seductively, President Dan announced that he’ll be among those Rotarians getting their heads shaved on October 1 in support of St.
Baldrick’s, and launched his personal drive to reach $7,500 in donations.
 
President Dan thanked the many folks who worked to make the meeting viable:
 
. wine reception sponsor Rick Osen (Sutter Builders)
 
. piano entertainer Mike Bullington (Pacific Advisors)
 
. musical director Aaron French (Zanker Recycling)
 
. greeters Judy Daru (JA Collins Properties), Bonnie Plumber (SPG) and Karen Diepenbrock (Diepenbrock Harrison)
 
. setup crew David Higdon (California Moving Systems) and Ted White (Sacramento Delta Property Management).