If you missed last luncheon, you should be kicking yourself over and over. It was throwback Tuesday, with Past President Walter Dahl (Dahl Law, Attorneys At Law) back at the helm. His boundless energy and sparkling wit were on display, as he rallied the members, obviously crestfallen at the absence of their dearly beloved leader, John “Walking Tall” Lemmon (Knox, Lemmon & Anapolsky, LLP). He spoke and our sadness dissipated like the early morning dew.
He thanked Kathe Nathan (The Merchants National Bank), assisted by her VP, Madelyne Carpenter, for the wine reception. He praised Bob McLean (McLean & Tillotson Construction) and Don Ellwanger of (Sperry Van Ness) for greeting the attendees.
Gary Bazlen (Nicolaus Optical) gave the thought for the day, using the analogy of bifocal lens to look at our world at both close range and from a distance, and then to act on what we see. Past President Walter led the still standing Rotarians in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Past President Walter introduced Sergeant-At-Arms Callee Setzer (Setzer Forest Products) with a measure of ejaculatory praise rarely witnessed in any venue. Filled to the brim with Rotarian pride, Callee announced our guests as the aforementioned Madelyne Carpenter, Bill and Kim Moran, the parents of Kelley Moran (Moran and Associates), and Mia Lopez, the guest of speaker Tina Reynolds, the president of Uptown Studios.
Past President Dahl announced the Chair of the Day, of Jeanne Reaves (Jeanne Reaves Consulting), Speaker Tina Reynolds of Uptown Studios, Gary Bazlen, Joe Grant (Vantage Points, LLC), and the meeting sponsor, Roy Alexander (Sacramento Children’s Home).
Roy explained the grief cycle and how we should interact with the victims of tragedies like the Santa Rosa fire. His most cogent advice was to just listen.
Tom Bacon (Kidder Mathews) explained how the Brown Bag lunches worked and reminded us NOT to show up next week at Rotary. Those who do may want to consider wearing a brown bag over the heads at the next meeting. Nancy Teichert encouraged us to get out and support the Walk for Literacy this Saturday. Contact Nancy or April Javist for details.
Following “Walking Tall” President Lemmon’s appeal to build something together, Don Ellwanger chipped in $100 to Eddie Mulligan to honor his daughter’s wedding in Huntington Beach. Michele Amaral (Dick James and Associates, Inc.) contributed $100 each to “the boys” in thankfulness for family in the Santa Rosa area being spared. Chris Ann Bachtel (First Northern Bank) reminded us that only two members have taken her up on her offer to contribute $25 for everyone that gives blood. Len Simpson (2020 Financial Advisers of Sacramento, L.L.C.) built a palace in tribute to Todd Andrews’ (Andrews Construction Inc.) many contributions to the success of the Sacramento
Century and to commemorate Len’s 19th year with the Club.
.JPG)
Then, after the club was informed by President Elect Diane Woodruff, who was a Napa Rotarian for 14 years, that there was no further need for the donations of supplies to the fire victims of Santa Rosa but money was needed, there followed a flood of financial donations, some up to $1,000, that were too numerous to mention, with Past President Dahl employing his auctioneering skills to motivate the membership.Jeanne Reaves introduced our speaker as someone that needs no introduction, Tina Reynolds of Uptown Studios.
Tina impressed upon us the importance of every business having a presence on the web. She hearkened back to building parade floats at Past President Fred Teichert’s (Teichert Foundation) house, when they both attended El Camino High School. She recalled her studio employing five people in 2007, while teaching small businesses how to access social media on Facebook and Twitter, to her present staff of 15 employees, and a wider range of clients and applications. She introduced one of her staff, Mia Lopez, and shared the microphone with her for the rest of her presentation.
.JPG)
Mia explained that business is all about relationship building and that through social media we can reach out and touch more people than ever before. Through social media, we can reach any target market we want. Furthermore, the amount of exposure that we can get through social media compared to what it would cost through traditional advertising methods makes digital communication something that every business owner should explore.
Tina handled several questions from the audience and Past President Dahl ended the meeting with a hearty strike of the bell to recognize the generosity and sweat equity of our membership in responding to the needs of the fire victims. Callee reminded us yet one more time about Brown Bag lunches next week.
Thank you John Swentowsky (Swentowsky Photography) for the photos!