Valentine's Day
President Dan McVeigh opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and thanking Mike Bullington (Pacific Advisors) for his piano interlude, Kevin Williams (KVIE) for his additional musical selections, and greeters Diane Schachterle (American Civil Rights Institute) and Sylvia Fitzgerald (AAES (Antiques, Appraisals & Estate Services).
In observation of Sweetheart’s Day, Tanya Kravchuk (Children’s Receiving Home) Thought for the Day appealed to the highest aspirations of love: “Valentine’s Day – The Big Romance Day – is a wonderful day for gifts, and if you celebrate it, I hope you enjoy the day to the fullest. For me, loving someone is a daily exercise, a daily celebration, a daily acknowledgement beyond chocolates, flowers or jewelry. I try to celebrate love all year long, every day.” She ended by reciting that ultimate expression of love set forth in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. A great start!
After the Pledge of Allegiance, Sargent-At-Arms Tom Bacon (Kidder Matthews) introduced our Guests, Prospective Members and Visiting Club members who were welcomed warmly.
President Dan introduced the head table: Chairs of the Day Dave Higdon (California Moving Systems) and Becki Roberts (Central Valley Community Bank), Dave Higdon’s wife Kathy Higdon, Becki Robert’s husband Gary Roberts, and President Dan’s own wife Rebecca Baumann.
The Meeting Sponsor was none other than Past President Hal Bartholomew (Bartholomew & Wasznicky LLP), a well-known and respected family law attorney. Past President Hal spoke particularly of his divorce practice whose goal is to get through the divorce process with dignity. He works with couples who want a divorce but what to do so in an orderly, non-adversarial, and respectful way.
With that, it was announcements time followed by the ever favorite Roast, Boast and Toast. Sylvia Fitzgerald (AAES - Antiques, Appraisals & Estate Services) rose and donated $1,000 for incredible sales in her business.
President Dan then invited Todd Koolakian, Director of Philanthropy at the Sacramento Children’s Home and guest of Roy Alexander (Sacramento Children’s Home), to the podium. Todd announced that on this day 150 years ago, February 14, 1867, the Sacramento Children’s Home was incorporated. In celebration, he brought with him two birthday cakes from Ettore’s, a gesture that was eagerly appreciated by all assembled. Of the various programs the Home offers, Todd spoke about one in particular its Crisis Nursery Program whose mission is “to prevent child abuse and neglect by providing support to families at times of crisis.” To demonstrate the power of the Crisis Nursery Program, Todd invited Rayne McKenzie, an alumnus of the program to tell her story.
Seven years ago Rayne had moved to Sacramento to pursue a law degree when she found herself unexpectedly pregnant. While it was difficult to go through a pregnancy while being a full time student, she had a dream view of what it would like to have a baby and be a mother. The reality was much different and she found she had a very difficult time bonding with the baby. Her daughter was so different than what she had envisioned that she thought they must have given her the wrong baby. Instead of a beautiful happy baby she had a colicky one who screamed all the time and screamed more when Rayne tried to comfort her. She felt like a failure.
Things got worse. She was continuing her work as a full time law student, she and baby’s father had difficulties when he lost his job, and her parents weren’t supportive due to their religious convictions about having a child out of wedlock.
It was then that she met someone from the crisis nursery who had herself used it many years before. She went in and one caretaker took care of the baby and one took care of her. It was then that they determined that she had post-partum depression, which is a medical condition. Knowing that was a great relief to Rayne. The Center helped her with parenting skills, baby supplies, and got her involved with a therapy group of mothers in a similar position. She learned that babies can’t actually tell that their mother is struggling, going through the motions is enough for them.
When her daughter was 17 months old they were in a park and her daughter picked a flower and handed it to her. It was at that point that her heart exploded and she immediately knew how much she loved her. She wouldn’t have gotten through all that without the Crisis Nursery.
What a wonderful story!
.JPG)
Next, Chairs of the Day Dave Higdon and Becki Roberts brought us some Valentine’s Day fun. First, they asked couples to stand who had been married for increasingly long periods of time. In the end the grand winners were Mead Kibbey and his wife Nancy . . . married for 67 years!
Next, each table was asked to think about the following: “What is the most memorable, romantic, funny incident you have experienced with your Valentine/Spouse?” After about ten minutes of raucous laughter for all tables, three were selected. The grand winner was Bob Daly. The story was that he and his sweetheart Rosie while camping were planning the details of the New Year’s Eve that was coming in a couple of days. They had just put the finishing touches on it when the campground erupted at 9:00 PM with cheers of Happy New Year. Turns out they were a day or two off . . .
Finally, John Wood (McGee & Thielen), world champion observationalist, provided a slide show of wedding pictures for over 25 different ROCS members accompanied by hilarious commentary. The place was in stitches. Many thanks to Sulaf Al Ajeeli (Rotary Club of Sacramento) for her hard work in putting it all together!
With that, President Dan dismissed everyone wishing them a good week.