President Tood Koolakian welcomed all and thanked door greeters Megan Masten, Dan Fenocchio and Scott Ford. John Swentowsky took pictures for the meeting, and the wine reception was hosted by Ed Melia.
Bruce Hester’s thought for the day was an eloquent reminder on the importance of understanding history. He closed with a quote from historian David McCullough, “History is who we are and why we are the way we are.”
Dick Noonan introduced our newest member, Timothy Schroepfer. Timothy since 2021 serves President and CEO at the California State Railroad Museum.
PP Wes Yee announced the Sacramento Rotary Fellow, the amply deserving Kathe Nathan, who has served many roles during her tenure with Rotary – board member, club treasurer, sergeant-at-arms, blood drive organizer, key Sac Century volunteer, Golf 4 Kids volunteer, and more. As a Sac Century Challenge Champion, she has personally raised over $15k. Surprising the honoree were Kathe’s immediate family, and her brother from San Diego who traveled here for the special occasion.
Club Announcements
- Social Mixer – Ted White announced an upcoming Thursday evening social at Wildwood Kitchen and Bar in Pavilions, 5:30pm - 7:30pm.
- Fireside - Mik Miklaus noted the upcoming fireside gathering at Bob Daly’s home is sold out.
Let's Go Skiing!
There were plenty of generous skiers in our group. Fred and Nancy Teichert made a donation to acknowledge they were honored by the Sacramento Family Justice Center. Norm Marshall celebrated the successful Habitat for Humanity gala. Homebuyer Megan Masten celebrated that milestone. PPs Susan Sheridan and Diane Woodruff donated in Kathe’s honor, as did her brother.
Speaking of generosity…Did you known that our latest water project, which started out as an $800,000 project, has increased to a million dollars? Half the funding comes from Rotary and half comes from partner nonprofit World Vision. No other Rotary club comes close to the $11 million we have achieved toward clean water projects.
Todd’s Tuesday Trivia was hosted by Elfrena Foord and Jim Culleton.
First up - 2 Truths and a Lie:
First Category - MEMBERS FROM OTHER STATES BEING SURPRISED BY CALIFORNIA
- Chris Ann Bachtel grew up in New Jersey. Having lived all of her life on the East Coast, she had never heard of Santa Barbara when 3M offered her a job there. She drove across the United States and on the 6th day of driving, she says she will never forget the exhilaration of seeing the Pacific Ocean and the feeling that she was in heaven.
- Neil MacMullen was raised in the Midwest and came to California 40 years ago to evaluate oil wells in Bakersfield. He found out that there was much more to California than San Francisco and LA. But he was initially shocked that not everyone lived at the beach.
- Ruth Tesar grew up in Colorado and had always heard that California was like granola – fruits, nuts and flakes. But she was lured to Northern California for a job opportunity despite that reputation. So she was surprised that that the fruits, nuts and flakes were true in Southern California but not Northern California where she lived!
LIE-Ruth never heard California was like granola!
2nd Category -YOUNG PROFESSIONAL ROTARIANS WITH EXPANDING BUSINESSES
- Joel Hockman owns Pucci Pharmacy. It’s a traditional drug store and recently added is a new side of the business for people unable to access a pharmacy physically so they fill prescriptions for those that live in facilities such as nursing homes.
- Maggie Hopkins has 20 years of experience with real estate sales and mortgage lending.She’s expanding her company and rebranding it with its new name Surroundings adding something new to Sacramento in 2024. More details will be shared soon.
- Bobby Reed owns Capital Tech Solutions, 3 other technology-oriented businesses as well as 2 different real estate companies with a partner. He is now has opened a Halloween costume store inspired by his kids who played in a soccer tournament in Zombie costumes.
LIE-no costume store but kids played in a soccer tournament in Zombie costumes.
3rd Category - MEMBERS WHO HAVE EXCELLED IN TENNIS
- Bruce Timm excelled playing tennis at Sonoma State. He even played twice against Michael Chang, who had been ranked number 2 in the world and won the French Open tournament 2 years later. Yes, he did beat Bruce!
- Virginia Wade loves tennis and has won many tennis trophies in playing both in singles and doubles tournaments.
- Jack Bowker won amateur trophies for years and played with celebrities in tennis tournaments because he was such an accomplished player.
LIE - Our Virginia Wade had played a lot of tennis in the past but the famous Virginia Wade who is British was a world renowned professional tennis player.
Jim and Elfrena asked our fellow Rotarians about biking or running. David Brandenburger stood up for both, having run a marathon and also completed the Sac Century. Bruce Hester ran three marathons within one year. Jim Culleton has done long distance rides including the Sac Century. Dennis Godby won in the running category with over 20 marathons under his belt.
Chair of the day Nancy Teichert introduced Marcia Eymann, the Sacramento City Historian. Marcia shared highlights from the city’s exhaustive archives, numbering over 15 million feet of film, 9 million photos, 40,000 artifacts and private collections stored in their two facilities located in Sacramento and McClellan. Their records go all the way back to 1849 and can be accessed by the public. They are looking for new space and face challenges due to their limited space, potential flooding and neighborhood vandalism.
Our next meeting is October 24, and our featured speaker will be club member Chief Judge William Shubb, talking about confirmation of federal judges. (But someone’s going to ask him about his private meeting with Charles Manson, right?)
Submitted by Matt Page
