President Christine Jensen rang the bell and welcomed a full house of club members and guests, necessitating additional seating, for the small but mighty, and growing, Rotary Club of Arden Arcade. The crowd started chanting "4 more years! 4 more years!, 4 more years!"
Pledge:
Chris Lewis
The Prez asked Chris Lewis to lead the pledge to our flag.
The Prez led the club in reciting the 4-Way Test:
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
She then asked Debbie Hudson to provide the thought of the day.
Thought of the day:
Debbie Hudson
Visitors and Guests
Sean Zike - Guest of Past President Patrick O'Neil
Patrick introduced his long-time friend, Sean Zike. Sean just moved to California from Virginia and was wondering where Patrick went on Tuesdays.
Lydia Wytrzes - Guest
Lisa Asperger introduced her friend and neighbor and former/future Rotarian, Lydia Wytrzes, for a fourth, and perhaps final time as a guest. Lydia has applied for membership and has had her interview. She is slated to be a guest speaker in a couple of weeks. The suspense of learning the outcome of her interview is almost unbearable. Las Vegas oddsmakers have her favored for membership by 65%. We will just have to wait and see.
Jude Keeshan
Jude is excited to be with us today as he starts his Rotary Youth Exchange experience. He already knows where he is going and is happy to share the information with the club.
Andrea Keeshan - Guest
Andrea is the proud mother of Jude keeshan and is happy to attend with her son and looks forward to providing updates on his time away as a Rotary Youth Exchange student. She is also an RYE inbound parent.
Kyle McDonald - Guest Speaker
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire, Director of Government Affairs
Kyle is our guest Speaker today and will be sharing everything we ever wanted to know about Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Agency but afraid to ask.
Linda Bigler - Bell Ringer
While golfing in FireRock, Phoenix, she committed to purchase a new set of golf clubs from the golf pro. Two days before leaving, she finally found her new love. Linda was conflicted about another large purchase and sharing the happy/sad news that... after a long 21 year commitment with her long standing, faithful friend and personal means of conveyance, that saw her through the highs and lows of life, she traded it in on a new model... relationships just don't last anymore. Out of the ashes of transportation despair, Phoenix was where Linda found her new true love, the car of her dreams, a Kia
Sorento. While this car does not have an eight-track or CD player, it does come with an owners manual that is 1.5" thick. It has so many features, Linda had to enroll in a 4 week tutorial class and hopes to learn how to put gas in the car before it hits empty.
Bill Hambrick - Bell Ringer
Bill shared that February was a pretty good month and he might as well celebrate it by ringing the bell.
Chris Figueroa - Bell Ringer
Chris is a Red Badge member, brought in a few months ago. All this time, people have been ringing the bell and Chris had no clue as to why people were paying $100 just to ring that bell. He understood Happy Bucks, Bell Ringing... that's a whole different thing. Prez Jensen had "The Talk" with Chris, and now he understands that ringing the bell is our way of supporting the Club's Foundation with a charitable donation of $100, while sharing news of a notable nature. With this new found knowledge, Chris is inspired to ring the bell in honor of the relatively dry February that has kept him busy with his contracts and making money.
Jenny Davini - Happy Bucks
Jenny has had The Talk and fully understands ringing the bell as the leading bell ringer, several years in a row. Today she is just happy and knows that Happy Bucks go towards the club operations. We are happy that Jenny is happy for Tom Goode's gift of diapers to support her soon to be second grandchild. Evidently, Tom does not need them any more as he is now fully potty trained. She was also happy about the wonderful Charter Night event.
Tim Cahill - Happy Bucks
Tim is happy to report that he met Lisa Asperger at the Rotary House last Saturday to clean a bedroom in preparation for the new guest residents. Tim wanted to thank Lisa for being a great worker and keeping him from having to do all the work himself. He was also happy that the Winters Theater Play Festival started last Friday and continues this coming weekend. Winters is a surprisingly a happening town with great restaurants. One of his plays is featured in this festival and, with any luck, executive members from Netflix will be there and offer Tim a movie deal.
Al Cady & Rolundia Mitchell - Happy Bucks
Al, Co-conspirator, Cady
Ringleader
Rolundia Mitchell
Object of Ridicule
Tim Cahill
Al Cady informed the Prez that he and Rolundia were offering up Happy bucks. Rolundia then proceeded to bring Lisa Asperger, and some of the club members, up to date on the sweeping controversy about brooms and their usefulness and when it is time to retire them. Last week Tim Cahill, vainly attempted to defend the ongoing use of a broom that had seen better days. He acknowledged that the broom, the secret word is broom, while being less than efficient, was none-the-less still functional, and that he was "cheap." Rolundia is of the opinion that we should work smarter, not harder. She therefore presented Tim with a brand new Cahill Broom. Tim was heard to say, "I'm not taking the plastic off of it, so it will last longer."
The Speaker Calendar is full... for the moment
Chris Figueroa's birthday was in February and the Prez apologized for missing the opportunity to wish him a happy birthday. The club then proceeded to sing him the usual birthday appreciation song. She then moved on to the March Birthday recipients:
Club Members
Roy Vogel = March 5, Al Cady = March 5, Greg Cotta = March 7, Jenny Davini = March 11,
Jonathan Barker = March 25,
Club Member's Significant Others
Ted Davinin = March 9, Kimberly Kozycz = March 15,
Leigh Rutledge (Bill Hambrick) = March 21
Anniversaries
Richard and Zoey Goore = 26 years, March 21, 1999
Phillip and Nicole Kozycz = 11 years, March 21, 2014
Club Anniversaries
Tim Cahill = 10 years, March 13, 2015
Tim Cook = 10 years, March 13, 2015
Web Intern??? = 4 years, March 26, 2021
Fireside Chats
Richard thanked Tony Paulson, Linda Bigler and Rob Olmstead for opening up their homes for the Fireside Chat. Tony Paulson will be hosting on Tuesday, April 1, Linda Bigler on Thursday, April 24, and Rob Olmstead on Wednesday, April 30. Please sign up for the date that works best for your schedule... they all start at 6:00 PM and all will have alcohol, so that should not be your deciding factors.
Fireside chats are the opportunity for the club members to come together to let the incoming president know what they liked about the current year and what they would like to see different in his term as
president. The current Prez is not invited to this meeting. A sign-up sheet was passed around and will be again at the nex two meetings. All members are required to attend at least one of these meetings... masochists may attend more than one. Questions should be addressed to Past President Goore.
AED Grant Event at Mira Loma High School
Matt Ross reported that on Thursday, March 11th, between 9:00 AM and 11:00AM, (exact time depends on the school), the AED given to Mira Loma HIgh School will be unveiled. Rotarians are asked to be in attendance to help show the students how to work the AED and how to do CPR. 5 or 6 people will be needed to help with this event. Linda Bigler may, or may not, be able to volunteer to be the CPR dummy, depending on snow conditions and her commitment to keep skiers safe with the ski patrol. A signup sheet will be available at the next club meeting.
Carroll Cook - Cheap?
A dollar short and a week late!
Be Happy
Not Cheap!
Linda Bigler's a "Happy" Winner
Jude Keeshan and
Bruce Stimson
Jude is going to
Brazile
Jude Keeshan
Bruce introduced Jude as the person that put together the group that played for Charter Night and did a great job. Bruce is excited to have the opportunity to have two outbound and two inbound students next year. Jude was already made aware that he is going to Brazile. Jude is not aware that that is the district from which Luana, last year's inbound student, came. We are not sure which city he will be heading to as the final arrangements have not been finalized. It must be noted that in the past, students from Brazile have had a difficult time adjusting to American ways of having to do their own laundry and chores, as they had servants to to do those things for them at home. Jude's eyes grew big at the prospect of having a servant.
Brazile is one of the biggest and best exchange countries around. Bruce previously mentioned that he joined 385 people from all over the world at the North American Youth Exchange Network (NAYEN) Conference, two thirds of which were from Canada, Mexico and the USA. Over 10%, 41 people, came from Brazile. Brazile is such a large country that it has many, many Rotary districts. Bruce introduced Jude's mother, Andrea, and noted that she will be joining the club on occasion to provide updates. We do not yet know where the inbound students are coming from to stay with Andrea. Jude noted that while Brazile was not high on his initial list, now that he knows, and has had time to think about going there, he is very, very, very excited. The picturesof of the natural beauty found on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro Carnival may have had something to do with his new found interest.
The hat was passed to help support Jude with his travel expenses and $405 dollars was presented to him from the club.
2025 Poker Tournament Volunteer Sheets
Tom Goode reminded everyone we are having a poker tournament on March 22nd at Niello BMW. A volunteer sheet from was passed around. We have sponsors and now we need players. Please let everyone know about the tournament and you don't have to be a seasoned poker player to make it to the final table. All of our sponsors are strongly encouraged to get the names of their players in to the club through the AllInForArdenArcade.com website. We have a new blackjack side game set up to win drink tickets.
Change is Coming for the 2025 Golf Tournament
Sierra View Golf Course has changed their policy on serving alcohol on the golf course. They now require all alcohol to be purchased through them and served by their employees. This would greatly increase the tournament cost and reduce the club's profit. So, the tournament is moving to Whitney Oaks Golf Course. John is looking for interested individuals who would like to help by joining the golf tournament committee. The tournament will be held on Monday, September 29th. Dust off your clubs and start practicing for what is sure to be a great time.
Tom Goode, in an effort to increase attendance at the District Conference, offered up a 25% discount on the conference registration fee to the first member that takes him up on the offer. Chris Figueroa, being a shrewd businessman, and knowing a good deal when he sees one, took Tom up on his offer. Everyone is encourage to support our District Governor and attend.
Kyle McDonald
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire, Director of Government Affairs
Rob Olmstead introduced his long time friend Kyle McDonald. Rob and Kyle have run political campaigns together. Kyle's father in law is former sheriff, Scott Jones. Kyle was instrumental in forming the government relations element within the Sheriff's department. Upon the retirement of Sheriff Jones, Kyle transitioned over to the Metro Fire Department doing virtually the same thing with a different mission. Rob enjoys having partners within the local government agencies to call upon to help with needs of constituents. Kyle will be talking about Metro Fire's role in the community, which is much
broader than most understand.
Kyle shared that he has been here many times before but as a guest with Sheriff Jones and Chief Haverty but not as the guest speaker.Kyle framed his time with the club today as more of a conversation than it is a presentation. This means questions are encouraged and will be answered as they come up.
Kyle proceeded to tell the club a little of his history. He is the Director of Government Affairs for Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Department. He helped establish the Government Affairs Office for the Sacramento Sheriff's office. Public safety is not only professional but it is personal. His father spent 30 years in the Cal Fire Department. Community service is something he grew up experiencing with his mother as a librarian and two brothers in the armed forces.
Metro Fire represents 726,000 residents across 359 square miles. It is a large portion of Sacramento County and a sliver of Placer county as well. They have 41 fire stations with 750 employees. They are a full service agency with the usual fire trucks, ambulances and paramedics. They also have 3 helicopters and bulldozers and boats to help with river rescues and flooding. They even have tactical EMS that accompany the Sheriff's SWAT team. He passed out their annual report that provides a comprehensive review of the agency, including the highlights of the special operations division of Metro Fire. This division is respected regionally as well as around the world for its innovation and service.
Last year Metro Fire received 107,316, 9-1-1 calls for service. In January they received 9,510 of which only 297 were for fire, 6,044 were EMS calls, the remaining 3,169 were most likely cats stuck up in trees... maybe not.
Government Affairs Division is the translator and takes technical jargon for all things fire and safety related, and transforms it to language the common man understands and appreciates. This aids the public, and the politicians, in understanding the needs and benefits of fire department services and why they need a seat at the table. In short, Kyle helps make sure that the political agencies know what fire departments are dealing with and and why they are needed. They also help the legislators deal with their constituents' issues and concerns relating to fire and safety. He is the one-stop-shop for the congressmen, state senators, assembly members, supervisors, city councils and librarians. It is all about ensuring the highest level of service for the community.
Sac Metro Fire is not a city or county fire department. They are a Special District with an elected governing board. They have nine divisions across their district. Arden Arcade is represented by D'Elman Clark in Division 6 and Brian Rice in District 7. The Board sets the policies and long-term goals for the agency.
Metro Fire is embarking on a Citizens Academy that includes nine week, once a week from 6 to 8 PM on Wednesdays, dive into ALL THINGS you may never have wanted to know about Metro Fire, unless you are a politician or a disgruntled resident looking for ways to take the department down. Fire geeks love this class too. Bill Hambrick asked if the students in the Citizen's Academy get to ride on the helicopters... NO, they do not. Kyle offered up a ride on the Dozer but this offer is unconfirmed and may be bull.
One of the more pleasant aspect of Kyle's job is public outreach and education, speaking before clubs, organizations and schools. All important ways to advance the mission of the fire district.
Al Frumkin asked 3 simple questions:
1. What went wrong in L.A.?
2. Did the mayor do the right thing by canning the Fire Chief?
3. Can it happen up her?
Kyle started his response by stating he has been around too long to offer an answer to #2. He then answered #1 by saying Metro Fire has been working to build proactive working relationships with the local water districts... (Editor's note: Kyle is very good at his job, turning a thorn into a flower). The L.A. fires confirmed the importance of the ongoing meeting with the water district's to discuss contingency plans for similar situations. Fire hydrants and available water flow and pressure are designed for smaller fire events, not wildland fires with many hydrants drawing water at the same time over broad areas of land. Metro fire does have water tankers that help ensure adequate water and pressure available for fighting fires. Rob Olmstead noted that Metro fire has an elected board that can be held accountable for the actions of the department. Rob would like everyone to know that it is the local elections that impact one's quality of life, far more than the national elections which garners much more attention... this has been a paid political advertisement.
John Gabriel asked if there were particular areas of Metro Fire District that are subject to fire danger similar to the areas in L.A.? Kyle noted that preparation is one thing, mother nature can laugh at our preparations and if she wants to inflict punishing environmental conditions that work contrary to prudent preparation, then all bets are off. We have areas like out highway 16 in the Rancho Murietta area that could be problematic. They have mapping technology that is not only looking at what is but what could be with the expansion of the cities in to areas prone to fires. These maps help determine where fire stations go.
A question was raised in reference to who actually pays for the water used to fight fires. In short, the fire department does not pay for the water. The water District budgets resources for community benefit. However, the water districts would like to know when trainings are taking place to help plan for high water use times.
Another question was raised as to the practice of sending out a fire engine along with an ambulance to 911 health emergencies. This practice is presently under review and they are looking at alternatives to this practice. It is not a good use of equipment and personnel. They are looking at using a supped-up Chevy Suburban to actually take care of minor issues in the field. This is resulting in real cost savings for the fire department as well as the public.
There was a question related to how fires started inside buildings during the wildfires and not from the outside and how that could happen. Air conditioners and fans, if not turned off, can actually suck in embers into the house. Open windows can also be problematic.
A questions about lithium Ion battery and electric vehicle fires and if they added to the problem in L.A. You either let it burn or put it in a giant hole in the ground and submerse the entire vehicle. This is doable with Muskmobiles but the larger trucks now being made are a bigger problem.
Kyle thanked the club for giving him a chance to talk with the club. The Preza thanked him for the informative conversation and presented him with a 4-Way Test coin.
Linda Biler has polo shirts available for purchase. She has 1 men's medium white Rotary shirt and 1 large women's white and 1 large woman's blue shirt. This is a first come first serve offer. Contact Linda to let her know you are interested.
Rolundia would like everyone to know if they log into club runner and are taken to the district's site, rather than our club page, you need to delete the program and reinstall it. Members with grey hair are encouraged to have their grandchildren help with this, or ask Rolundia for help. The prez encourages everyone to use ClubRunner. It is a great resource and you can see what is in store for our members as the calendar is up to date.
President Jensen rang the bell, ending the meeting at about 1:09 PM, extoling all members to share the magic of Rotary.
Respectfully (more or less) submitted by,
Mike Grace
Reporter, Photographer and Editor
Hellen Weight
Ombudsman and Content Supervisor
DISCLAIMER - Some of the information provided in some of the articles, and possibly included in some of the "quotes" from club members, may have been a fabrication of a demented mind. It is up to you to determine fact from fiction. Individuals objecting to all or any part herein, are encouraged to go to Hellen Weight to lodge a formal complaint.
Club Information
Service Above Self
Tuesdays at 12:00 PM
Piatti
571 Pavilions Lane
Arden-Arcade, CA 95825 United States of America
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