“Let’s pause and appreciate the profound interconnectedness it brings to our lives.” Dr. Craig Alpha’s Thought for the Day focused on the importance of modern transit in our world, anticipating comments from our luncheon speaker Gregg Fishman from Sac RT.
President Paul Keefer inducted two new members into the Rotary Club of Sacramento – Kelley Kent and Harold Phillips. Sponsored by Maggie Hopkins and Megan Wygant, Kelley works as managing director for media services at the ad agency RSE. Harold’s long career in financial services and insurance landed him at Mutual of Omaha in Sacramento, and his sponsors are Tina Roberts and PP Diane Woodruff.
Trivia Prize Winner Announced! The club’s ongoing “Sacramento trivia” contest yielded its first prize winner. Sergeant-at-Arms Maggie Hopkins drew from among those who had guessed right in previous meetings, and the lucky winner was PP Diane Woodruff. The prize was a gift certificate to the health spa Capitol Floats.
Know Your Rotary Network- What's Behind the Badge?
In our Know Your Rotary Network segment, Jim Henderson outlined Rick Osen’s rise from day laborer to president and owner of Sutter Builders, which handles office, industrial and special use projects. Rick’s been a licensed general contractor 34 years.
Club Announcements: . Sacramento Century on October 3 - Michael Mui reported riders signups are ahead of the 2025 pace and sponsorships exceeded goal, but we have a way to go on Challenge Champion signups, and we need 75 more volunteers. . Brown Bag Day on September 22 - Michelle See encouraged everyone to sign up . American River Parkway Cleanup on September 19 – all volunteer slots are filled, reported Jim Henderson, and he encouraged the group to participate in the next one. . Caregram - Maggie encouraged club members to write a note of support to ailing Tina Roberts.
International Services
See how our International Services Committee is making an impact around the world. Click here to learn about its next project!
Featured Speaker
Luncheon speaker Gregg Fishman, community relations officer at Sac RT, presented an overview of the public transit system’s services, achievements, and its future plans. Sac RT provided 18 million rider trips in 2025. Safety is a huge priority, and Sac RT’s rate for crime incidents – 2.7 per million rides – is among the nation’s lowest. Two new light rail stations will open imminently, Dos Rios on the blue line and 7th & Railyards on the green line. The system is investing $1 billion in new trains, station upgrades, and tracking. Within a couple years, the fleet will debut 150 hydrogen-powered buses to replace current CNG (natural gas) ones. With rider fees covering just 7 percent of overall costs, Sac RT relies heavily on government funding. Some aspirations have to wait: a streetcar line across Tower Bridge into West Sacramento is on hold, and light rail to the airport is decades away if ever. However, express buses to SMF could be a viable option much sooner.
President Paul thanked wine reception sponsor Jim Henderson; greeters Steve Shiflett, Jeff Stone, Dennis Smith and Robyn Delong; Pulse reporter PP Kevin Smith-Fagan; and meeting photographer Virginia Wade.
Brown Bag Day is next week, so our next club luncheon will be September 29 at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, featuring guest speaker Stephanie Hampton from Tahoe Environmental Research Center.
