March 5, 2024 Lunch Meeting (Mar. 08, 2024)

March 5, 2024

Lunch Meeting at Piatti's

Past President Thomas Goode liked doing the meeting last week sooo much, he decided to do it again. Rumor has it that President Goore has contracted Covid, thus placing him in quarantine. Coincidentally, Mike Grace contracted Covid but is present via Zoom, with a virus filter to ensure the safety of all Rotarians, in order to fulfill his duties as editor for the newsletter... even whilst suffering the ill effects of the plague...

Editor's Note: Due to the quality of the Zoom transmission, some information contained herein may be erroneous and not based on reality... you know just like all the other newsletters.

PP Goode opened the meeting and asked someone to lead the pledge and... everyone said it... so whoever he/she was, he/she did a good job. PP Goode then asked Rob Olmstead to provide the blessing and did so in fine style.

He/She?

Pledge

Rob Olmstead

Blessing

Thomas Goode noted that the last three meetings he has attended have been ones he has been filling in for the Prez. This is not a trend he supports. However, it does get him to the meetings. He found out he was filling in today while driving on his way to the meeting, so this will be a fun meeting.

Dave Veden

Steve Turner introduced Dave Veden with the Rotary club of Natomas, classification of Audio-Visual guy. Dave is also a District Governor nominee. Dave has been the chair of several committees for P.E.T.S.

The Late Duane Oliveira

Duane Oliveira arrived just in time to be asked the name of the current District Governor. As Duane had no clue, he was asked to pay a $1 fine and welcomed to the meeting. The answer is Sidney Smith.

Tony Paulson

John Gabriel introduced Tony Paulson. This is Tony’s second time visiting. He is looking for a club to help him spend time doing good for the community. He came to the right place

Bell Ringers

Happy Bucks

Sad Bucks

Christine Jensen, Bell Ringer

Christine reminded the club that she is the incoming president and because of that she attended the Far West President Elect Training Session, PETS, this last weekend. She thanked the club for sending her to the training. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. She met many great people and it inspired her to want to do more than she had previously considered.

The Late Ben Faubion

Ben arrived just in time to be asked who the name of the current District Governor. Ben, just like Duane, had no clue, he was asked to pay a $1 fine and welcomed to the meeting. The answer is Sidney Smith.

Al Cady, Bell Ringer

Al was pleased to be a Bell Ringer and explained that today he met Rule of 100. That is when a person's age and his years in Rotary adds up to 100. So Al has been in Rotary 45 years and is only 55 years old.

Steve Turner, Happy Bucks

Steve Turner was happy to provide bucks in honor of the P.E.T.S. training this last weekend. Christine and all the other president elects were actively engaged. It was heartwarming. There is so much work that goes into it. He thanked Dave Veden for his work with the event. Everyone there are volunteers from different clubs. He thanked Al Cady who came to help out as Sergeant at Arms. The Far West PETS is one of Rotary's best training sessions. He thanked everyone involved.

The Late Jonathan Barker

Jonathan arrived just in time to be asked who the name of the current District Governor. Jonathan, just like Ben and Duane, had no clue, he was asked to pay a $1 fine and welcomed to the meeting. The answer is, once again, Sidney Smith.

Dave Veden, Happy Bucks

Dave wanted to thank Al Cady for his work as Sergeant at Arms this last weekend. Dave has been the Facilities Director for the event since 2005. It is a year-long effort and a lot of work. Al not only helped on Wednesday and Sunday with setup and take-down but he also helped with all of his Sergeant at Arms duties. "He really helped me a lot."

Bill Hambrick, Happy Bucks

Bill is very happy to be done with the dictionaries. He had special thanks for Debbie Hudson who stepped into the Assistant Dictionary Program Manager (ADPM) after enjoying the experience for the first time. They handed out well over 600 books this year. They were forced to meet a second time to apply stickers to about 75 books. It took less than 9 minutes but they celebrated for 120 minutes.

Duane Oliveira, Sad Bucks

Duane recently went to the dentist to have a tooth removed. It took all of 20 seconds and it was out. His dentist set a personal record of 454 teeth pulled in one day while in Nicaragua with the Army Reserves. The reason he is sad is, he found out when you are an older person the Tooth Fairy does not visit you.

Jonathan Barker, Happy Bucks

Jonathan was pleased to be able to make it to the meeting and to be back with the club.

Lisa Keller, $1 Fine

For reasons known only to PP Goode, he asked Lisa if she knew the year our club was founded. She knew the club was 69 years old but couldn't do the math quickly enough to come up with 1954. For that she was fined $1.

Carroll Cook, Happy Bucks

Has anyone heard from Michael Caplan lately? Carroll has... he is in Israel and has been since the start of the war. He is there for his son and his family. Carroll had happy bucks for Michael being able to be there for his family.

Joe Green, Happy Bucks

Joe was happy to have run their first order of Beef Sticks in a new flavor and he picks those up this week.

Tom Goode noted that the Carmichael Business Man of the Year is Joe Green.

Tyler Johnson, Happy Bucks

Tyler was happy for a reason that was not audibly recognized, but we are glad he contributed to the Happy Buck cause.

Announcements and Other Fun Stuff

*News You Can Use*

Speech Contest

The Speech Contest is back and we have 3 contestants. Thank you Bruce Stimson for heading up this event. We have three judges, Al, Debbie, and Bob and a timer Duane, for the contest on March 12th. The winner of the contest moves on the district contest.

Poker Tournament

The 2024 Poker Tournament is March 16th at Niello BMW. They sent around a volunteer signup sheet. All club members participate, either as a player or a volunteer. We are turning our attention to players. Presently we only have 83 players. Everyone needs to call at least two friends to inform them of the great opportunity to have a fantastic night of fun that benefits the community. We are behind schedule so please make this a priority. Register for the event at AllInForArdenArcade.com. The Firefighter's Burn Institute will once again be joining us as a co-sponsor.

Our thanks go out to all our sponsors:

Tim Cook and Walmart - Title Sponsor

Tyler and Gary Johnson and WIZICS Technology - Playing card sponsor

Rich Desmond - Final Table Sponsor

Carroll Cook, Al Cady and Edward Jones - Bar sponsors

Tim Cahill and C. H. Bell - Seat Card Sponsor

Ben Fox and Huber-Fox Law - Runner Sponsor

Jennie Davini & Cornelious/Davini - Late Night Food Sponsor

Al Frumkin, Frumkin Law - Table Sponsor

Michael Caplan and Sotheby's Real Estate - Table Sponsor

Steve Turner and Turner Investigations- Table Sponsor

Thomas Goode and Morgan Stanley- Table Sponsor

Republic Services- Table Sponsor

Silt - Wine Sponsor

We appreciate all the support our club members and their businesses provide to help make this poker tournament a big success.

One does not need to know how to play. We have had winners that had never played before and they really annoy the semi-pro players.

District Assembly

Steve Turner was asked to share a little about the District Assembly. This is a training program to let everyone know what is going on Rotary-wide. There is training for our President Elect, Secretary and Treasurer. There will also be information on grants. It is being held at Lincoln High School on March 21st from 8 to noon. You should have received information about this via email.

Most Inspirational College Football Player Presentation

Steve Turner announced that he and one other person of his choosing will be attending the Most Inspirational College Player award presentation. The Lombardi Award®, in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Houston, announced that UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu was the winner of the 2023 Lombardi Award which goes annually to the college football offensive lineman/tight end or defensive lineman/linebacker who exemplifies the character and discipline of NFL Hall of Fame Head Coach Vince Lombardi in addition to outstanding performance and ability. Laiatu Latu will be honored at a luncheon at Jesuit High on Friday. The Plus-one position was auctioned off to interested members. The winning bid was $200 place by Rob Olmstead. In the spirit of good sportsmanship, Matt Ross matched the bid and Rob said Matt could attend.

District Governor Elect. acutioned off the Plus 1

Rob won the bid with $200, but let Matt Attend?

Matt Lost the bid but matched the $200

and got to attend?

Charter Night Leftover

Matt Ross noted that not all of the awards that were available for presentation on Charter Night were presented. He called Duane Oliveira to the front of the room to receive his 2nd Paul Harris pin.

Secret Word?

Tom asked for the secret word Several people shouted out "wine." As there was no prize the winner remained anonymous.

Rob Olmstead III was pleased to introduce today's guest speaker, Julia Hirota, CEO for St. John's Program for Real Change. Rob's boss, Roger Nielo, is a big fan of St. John's Program for Real Change and awarded it the non-profit of the year for 2023. Rob toured the facility and knew Julie needed to come and speak to our club. It is a very unique and innovative program. It addresses the issue of homelessness from a different perspective. There are many things that Rotary has in common with their program. Julie was a Rotarian for several years and Al Cady noted that we intend to change that to current Rotarian soon.

Since 1985, Saint John’s Program for Real Change has supported more than 30,000 formerly homeless women and children, providing them with the essential tools and knowledge to change the trajectory of their lives. We operate the largest residential program for formerly homeless women and children in the Sacramento Region, and we are the only program to focus on mothers. Saint John’s Program for Real Change provides a safe space for women and children to heal and develop the skills necessary to transform their lives. In 2004, St. John's Program for Real Change became its own non-profit entity and is no longer a program of St. John's Lutheran Church.

They accomplish their mission by adhering to otheir vision — end the generational cycle of trauma and homelessness. Their current capacity allows us to serve up to 550 women and children each year, and provide, on average, 675 comprehensive service hours for each family, every month they are with them.

They decline to use state and federal funds because those programs do not allow them to require abstinence from drugs and alcohol and do not allow them to have case managers to oversee the treatment programs for the individuals. These factors are crucial to the success of their programs.

The program started in 1985 when a couple of mothers and their children were let into the church on a stormy night. 79% of the women that come to St. John's struggle with substance abuse. This is about the average for the country. Most of them were exposed to drugs between the ages of 10 to 14 by their parents. Many suffer from physical abuse, mental issues, and many do not have high school diplomas. Many women come to the shelter with a plastic bag with their belongings, a phone and an ID card and maybe a child. St. John's then determines a course of action for each person depending on their needs and the kinds of support they have from their friends, family and the community.

The first 30 days in our program is focused on developing trust with the participant. There are about 6 different staff members that help create this atmosphere of trust including job coach, therapist, case manager and teachers. The dropout rate in the first 30 days is about 15%. This is do in part to the rules and regulations that the participants are required to follow.

They have an on-the-job-training program that teaches work skills that lead to real jobs. This sometimes leads to the women leaving the program for a variety of reasons, some good and some for reasons of fear. St. John's is trying to work on minimizing the risky transitions. Ideally, the women are saving money made from outside jobs to help repair their credit and save enough to pay for rental deposits and rent. Some women are ready for the challenge and others may take a couple of attempts to complete the entire program. Their program provides for second and third chances to meet the women where they are.

In 2021 St. John's built 11 modular homes that are available for their graduates to rent in the St. John's Square program. Each home is about 800 sq ft. and rent is only $500. They also offer a re-entry program for women that have been recently released from prison. The recidivism rate through their program is very low.

They are funded through private donations through a variety of means. Volunteers from the community are a big asset to their program. They have 8 paid staff and about 500 volunteers. This is the reason for the program's success.

One of their programs is centered on baking deserts. Red Door Deserts is a preferred vendor at the Kings games and will be featured in March. They also have their catering division. Both of these programs provide real life training for the women.

The Prez thanked Julia Hirota for joining us today and thanked her for making a difference in our community.

Future Meetings & Events

March 12, 2024: High School Speech Contest
March 16, 2024: Poker Tournament, Niello BMW
March 19, 2024: DARK
March 26, 2024: Dr. Bill Zangeneh, Professor, American River College
Topic is on Anti-Semitism & Islamophobia
April 2, 2024: TBA, Guest Speaker Suggestions are Welcomed
Aprill 9 2024: Off-site Lunch at Mikunis, Meeting starts at 11:45. Sing-up, Maximum of 45 people
Aprill 16 2024: TBA, Guest Speaker Suggestions are Welcomed
April 23, 2024: Austin Ramos-Founding Partner Brand Velocity Group-Private Equity Firm
Aprill 30, 2024: TBA, Guest Speaker Suggestions are Welcomed
May 7, 2024: TBA, Guest Speaker Suggestions are Welcomed
May 14, 2024: Annual Rotary Scholarship Lunch, Del Paso Country Club
May 21, 2024: TBA, Guest Speaker Suggestions are Welcomed
May 28, 2024: Dark?

Please send your speaker recommendations to Rob Olmstead.

Past President Goode thanked everyone for coming and rang the bell closing the meeting at 1:11 p.m.

Respectfully (more or less) submitted by,

Mike Grace

$1,000,000 Rotary International Foundation Club Member Since December 2023