Written By: John McIntyre
Welcome: President John Lemmon (Knox, Lemmon & Anapolsky, LLP) called the meeting to order to the strains of Johnnie B. Goode, which picked up where Elfrena Foord (Foord, Van Bruggen & Pajak) left off from her tuneful tinkling of piano keys. She’d followed Paul Stone, who got the musical ball rolling. President John acknowledged Elfrena and Paul, the day’s greeters, Rick Osen (Sutter Builders) and Deborah Rubens (Shriners Hospital) and thanked Dr. Barbara Arnold (Barbara J. Arnold, MD, Inc.) for sponsoring the wine reception.
Thought for the Day: Provided by Amin Elmallah, who encouraged us to be grateful for the clean water we enjoy in this country, and to acknowledge Rotary’s commitment to providing clean water around the world.
Introduction of Guests: Sergeant-At-Arms Callee Setzer (Setzer Forest Products) introduced several guests for today’s meeting, along with prospective Rotarian Joe Carrillo of SSA Pacific.
President John introduced those who joined him at the Head Table:
- Chair of the Day, Barbara Arnold
- Guest speaker, Sacramento County Supervisor Don Nottoli
- Invocator, Amin Elmallah
- Jackie Kirkwood, (Goodwin-Cole Co.) who is leading a volunteering initiative organized by our new members.
- Ted Kappel, (Kappel Mortgage Group), Meeting Sponsor
Announcements: President John noted that iconic Rotarian Hal Shipley – a former club member, staff executive, and 2002-03 district governor who died recently – would be memorialized at 11am on April 12 at the Clarksburg Community Church (site tentative).
Other announcements included:
- Joe Grant noted that next week’s meeting would be a Brown Bag and that there was still time to register – before end of day Wednesday, April 4th!
- Jackie Kirkwood announced the community project to improve housing for several low/no income veterans. She’s looking for more volunteers, particularly those new to Rotary!
- Virginia Wade (SAFE Credit Union) thanked all those who participated in last week’s day serving at Loaves & Fishes. She noted we will do so again on Thursday, May 31, so mark your calendar.
- Frank Poelman (Poelman Company, Ltd.) noted that, because the ski trip had been scheduled for 4/12 and thus conflicted with Hal Shipley’s memorial service, the ski trip was being cancelled for this year.
- Jeff Setzer (Setzer Forest Products) announced that he will be hosting the Fireside at his home in Roseville (2525 Vineyard Way) next Thursday (also April 12).
- Mike Bullington (Northwestern Mutual Financial Network) invited members to attend his trap-shooting event this Saturday – rain or shine!
Building Together:
- Elfrena Foord shared observations (supported by photos) about her and husband Bruce Hester’s recent travels to Easter Island and Antarctica. While most of the photos were lovely and featured remarkable wildlife, one was memorable for different reasons and also depicted “wild life.” She presented President John with a souvenir penguin keychain and a Rapanui T-shirt.
- Dick Ryder was acknowledged for being featured on the cover of Land Park News, as a native son of Land Park and witness to history.
- Virginia Wade announced her retirement from SAFE Credit Union, but not from the club.
- Jim Mattesich (Greenberg Traurig, LLP) confessed that he’d be missing next week’s Brown Bag while taking his wife to Carmel to celebrate 42 years of marriage.
- Diane Woodruff honored Anne Ferguson (ChambreChic Interior Redesign & Decorating Services) with an “Attagirl!” for her return to the Rotary fold, as well as for a recent grant she wrote.
Speaker Introduction: Dr. Barbara Arnold introduced our speaker, Sacramento County Supervisor Don Nottoli, noting that Mr. Nottoli comes by his interest in our region naturally, having grown up in the area and earned his degree at Sacramento State University.
Speaker: Don Nottoli represents Sacramento County District 5, which gives him special insight into the Delta, which he refers to as a “gem” and an asset to all of Northern California. Mr. Nottoli pulled no punches. He described the California WaterFix project, which proposes 35 miles of tunnels under the Delta to transfer 3,000 cubic feet of water per second out of the Delta to serve Southern California, as a “water grab” that would permanently jeopardize homes, farming, local economies and a way of life. He specifically noted the existential threat to historic communities such as Freeport, Locke, and Clarksburg. Among the construction impacts he called out were increased traffic, noise and air pollution, and physical damage to levees and roads. These would wreck the quality of life in these rural communities. He also suggested that “tunnel muck,” the extracted earth, would have to go somewhere and would impact otherwise arable land. Mr. Nottoli asked what makes the Delta less valuable to California than those arid and populous areas of the state? He listed alternative solutions to water shortages like:
- Increasing reservoir storage
- Desalinization (currently being tried in Southern California)
- Improving existing conveyances.
He concluded his comments with a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes: “A hundred years after we are gone and forgotten, those who never heard of us will be living with the results of our actions.”
Next Meeting; Callee Setzer reminded all that we would all be attending Brown Bags next week, but that we would again return to the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church the following Tuesday.
Adjournment: President John gaveled the meeting closed at 1:30pm.
Thank you John Swentowsky ( Swentowsky Photography) for the Photos!