Foreshadowing the guest speaker’s comments on commercial real estate, President Paul Keefer convened the club meeting to the sounds of Changes by David Bowie.
PP Linda Geery gave us the Thought for the Day. She recently attended a memorial service for our departed Rotarian Surender Singal, and she found inspiration in Surender’s wisdom. In grieving for his late wife, Surender had written words that echo his Rotarian spirit: “So what can we do? Live life by good karma. Bring, or try to bring, light, brightness, and rosiness - not darkness or destruction. Live with honest and good friends, caring relatives, and your loving family, giving the benefit of the doubt when needed. Be fair and compromising in your business. There are always going to be challenges going forward.”
Sarah Hodge pumped up the crowd with a Sac Century progress report. Our sponsorship goal of $45,000 has been met. Our Challenge Champion goal of $55,000 is way short – we have over $50K yet to go. Riders: the goal is 1,000, and we have 409. Volunteers. (That’s you.) Sign up! We need 195, and so far we have 50. Register, volunteer, or donate here!
To illustrate the thrill of Sac Century, President Paul and Jim Culleton engaged in a two-lap trike race around the room. Paul, gracious in the face of a runaway defeat (the crash didn’t help), hopes for a rematch.
With a nod to the luncheon speaker, Elfrena Foord highlighted a few Rotarians who run in the commercial real estate world, including PP Ken Noack, Tom Bacon, Bob Rosenberg, David Brandenburger, Hayden Nabers, PP Jon Snyder, and PP John Frisch. Residential realtors Maggie Hopkins and Rachel Dee Minyard also got shoutouts.
Our speaker was Randy Sater, president of StoneBridge Properties and the Metro Chamber’s 2020 as Businessman of the Year. Randy presented an overview of several recent StoneBridge projects, including the recently developed Sutter Park in East Sacramento. He discussed the Sutter Park process, starting with the history of the neighborhood, the outreach to the community and the overall timeline from planning to breaking ground to selling the units. He also reviewed a few of Stonebridge's other big projects such as Coldstream (Truckee), New Brighton (below College Greens), The Joule in midtown and New Brighton Industrial (near Jackson Highway).
What does he see as market trends for Sacramento? Disruption. The costs of a "finished" lot have been rising, from land cost, financing, red tape, paving, and more. He noted that data centers have become a major 2026 political issue, reflecting the never-ending tension between community quality-of-life interests and the need for commercial services.
President Paul thanked greeters Jim Olson, PP Ken Noack and Bob Rediger. Jim Culleton served as Pulse reporter, and John Swentowsky handled the photo duties. Virginia Wade hosted the wine reception.
Our next lunch meeting will be September 1, 2026 at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church with speaker David Lichtman, publisher of Sacramento Business Journal.
