With a great vibe in the room, and what seemed like great anticipation, Gary Hardesty proceeded to announce, our “American Woman”, our “Honky Tonk Woman”, our “Witchy Woman”, along with many other Woman Adjectives, and finally our Woman President, Ms. Desirée Wilson.  The meeting is off to a festive start at 7:15 a.m. pronto, in a smaller more intimate setting across the hall from where we normally meet.

 

Maia Schneider was promptly introduced to lead us in the Pledge, at which time she came to the front of the room to stand on the small stage, unbeknownst to most of the people in the room.  She may be small but she led us in a rousing pledge of alliance. 

Maia stayed at the front of the room to lead us in song, with Mark (Marky) Mraule putting up the lyrics to Bob Seeger’s “Old Time Rock & Roll”.  Due to technical difficulties (what else is new), Maia lead us in an A Cappella rendition of the song, with the help of the room.

 

Walter Helm was called on next with the Invocation.  Walter wanted to do something on the “Red State” but decided not to as he didn’t want to offend anyone in the room.  So, he talked about what he has learned from all the dogs he’s had and raised, and that is to “live in the present, here & now” which dogs do every day.  If we all could do a little more of living in the here and now, we probably would all “wag our tails” a lot more.   He proceeded to give us some examples of what dogs do, like, “they trust their instincts rather than ask for directions” and “dogs don’t mind if you smell like another dog, in fact they find it interesting” and “dogs don’t mind if you sell their kids”.  Half o’ dozen members, moved by Walter’s words, excused themselves immediately afterward to go outside and pee on a fire hydrant. Of course, not to be outdone, our own Tom Slagle told a quick joke: “How do you know if your wife or dog loves you more?  Put them both in the trunk and leave them in there for a couple of hours.  When you open the trunk, see which was is happier to see you!”  Very well done both Walter and Tom.

 

Introductions included Tyler Jennings, visiting from the Carmichael club, Katie McCleary from 916ink, Adam Porter, Bob Porter’s son, and Sam Ekejiuba, a prospective member from Merrill Lynch.  There were a few others but couldn’t get all the names prior to this publication.

 

At the Head Table, Desirée introduced Tim Maliepaard, who will be introducing the Guest Speaker, who happens to be Mike Pereira from Fox Sports.  On the other end of the table, our own John Meissner, the people power person for this year’s Festa, and Christine Cahill-Reams, one of this year’s Festa sponsorship co-chairs.

 

Carl Naake and Bev Hoeft were next up with their 2 X 2.  Carl went first, explaining that Bev has been married for 50 years, has two kids, one in Roseville and one in AZ, and has two Grandkids, Fenton and Otto.  Carl remarked that Bev must have been married at a young age, or has found the fountain of youth.  He proceeded to say that she was originally from Iowa maybe that made her young, but did mention that Todd Murray was originally from Iowa as well and he doesn’t look young at all.  He then mentioned that she has been in banking her whole career so maybe that has made her young, with Mark Mraule yelling out, “It’s killing me right now”.  Carl then comes up with the notion that it’s Rotary that is making her young, to the crowd’s agreement.  Bev was next, explaining that Carl’s name is not the easiest to remember, but did give us a tip, “it’s like snake, without the S”.  We did find out that Carl has been married for 40 years, he went to school in Oregon, and married his wife who was originally from Oregon who moved to Sacramento to go to school.  He has three kids, and 1 grandson, Huxley.  We also learned an interesting fact that his grandson’s name was picked like an NCAA pool, with the parents starting with 64 names and ending up with the final one. 

 

 

Christine Cahill-Reams gave a quick announcement on sponsorships for Festa.  We are looking from Club Members and their companies to help with sponsorships this year.  Please see her or Bob Porter if you are interested in helping.  Dr. Mike Barger proceeded to hand in his sponsorship check as did Desirée for PDG Al Frumkin who is a prospective member and not even in the club.  Thanks for supporting this year’s Festa Mike and Al!

 

With a montage of pictures on the big screen, Desirée gave us a recap of the Polar Plunge held last weekend at Lake Natoma.  Yes, Rick Bixler, the Adonis of the Speedo, and she represented our Club and jumped in the frigid water last weekend, and she was very thankful that they had good weather.  Of course there was a picture of Rick in his Speedo on the screen, and thank goodness it was from the back end angle.  Mark Mraule then put a picture up from the Plunge showing that Desirée had worn her pin during the event, with Rick Bixler stating, “I didn’t have any place to put my pin”, and he did dispute the warmness of the water as he did get a “left cheek cramp” at the event.  Paul Cunha ended that conversation by stating, “Some things you can’t un-see” to much laughter.  Desirée did thank Sandy Thompson for organizing the event, Rob Sowell for bringing a propane heater to the event, and Rick for making the plunge with her.

 

Russ Fujii, Kathleen Wheeler and of course our Photo Dude Tom Harvey came to the front of the room for this week’s Big Check presentation.  Katie McCleary from 916Ink was introduced and presented with a check for $4,150 to her organization.  Katie was asked to give us a little information about 916Ink, and she started out by clarifying that it was not a “Tattoo Shop”, but a non-profit organization that empowers children to become authors of their own lives one publication at a time.  Over 100+ kids that are incarcerated in local jails were helped last year through one of their writing programs.  They have rolled their program out to 11 local schools, with over 120+ reached, through their Leadership Academies where they assist kids in learning who they want to become as leaders.  They do this through extensive writing and public sharing of their writings, with the program resulting in each student publishing their own books.  She invited the membership out to the Crocker Museum in May for the presentation of these publications.  She ended her presentation with a poem written jointly by some of the students in their program that was written two days after the recent election.  Very well done.

 

During the 2016-2017 term to date, the Club Foundation has made $50,000 in charitable donations. Anyone interested in standing for election to the Foundation Board of Directors should contact Tom Harvey.

 

Tim Maliepaard recently spent 10 days in his timeshare condo in Maui.  He gave a quick advertisement stating that he buys more time every year out there, just in case you might want to rent it!  He brought back several items for Desirée including the customary macadamia nuts, a candle that smells like the islands, a cheap golf course brochure, a free magazine, some Pukka Shells, and a tropical T-Shirt.  Tim rang the bell for Rotary International.

 

Dan Hall says that he is an optimist, and still thinks we will be able to have the Parkway Clean Up on March 4^th from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon in the vicinity of the Guy West Bridge off University Avenue at the Mile #7 marker even though it is currently under 3 feet of water.  Paul Cunha’s remarks to that, “I’ll be DAM”.  Stay tuned as Dan said he will update us about the work project as we get closer.

 

Dan Hall doing double duty announces that we will be taking over the Blood Source location at Sierra Oaks on April 6^th, for this year’s event.  Please come out and bleed for a good cause, because there are a lot of people that need blood.  Remember this is one of the few events that doesn’t cost you a dime, you just need to DRIP!

 

President Elect Rick Bixler reminded those that haven’t been able to attend a chat or have to make up a Chat, please make sure you look at the remaining list for the dates you can attend.  Please reach out to the host of that Chat and RSVP.  He would like every club member to make a Chat by March 1^st. 

 

Tim Maliepaard started a lengthy introduction of Mike by reading off of his Bio, butchering Mike’s name every time he said it, finally shortening his name to Mr. P.  After what seemed like hours, the membership finally cut Tim off and Mr. P took the mic.

 

Mike’s introduction to his talk was classic, with him thanking Tim for the introduction, which he stated was the 2^nd most amazing thing he had seen today, the first being Desirée taking the empty mike stand and talking through an imaginary microphone.  He then told Walter, in reference to this Dog Talk for the invocation, that “Walter, no dog is going to make your bed in the morning.  Also, no dog is going to make your dinner in the evening or tell you to take your blood pressure medicine everyday”, which had the crowd in tears.  He then told Adam Porter, the son and guest of Bob Porter, that looking at his 49er sweatshirt, you probably shouldn’t live in the present, and might live in the past, because the immediate future is not looking good for that team.  His opening remarks were rounded out with him stating that he has been confused with another celebrity a lot in the past, that being Barry Weiss from the show “Storage Wars”.   (For those of you unaware of the show, it airs on A & E Network and is about four professional buyers and their teams scouring repossessed storage units of hidden treasures).  He went on to state that he texted Barry Weiss to let him know that he has been recognized by many people in the past as Barry, and wanted to know if he had every experienced the same……short answer, NO!

 

Mike then discussed the recent Super Bowl and mentioned that this year’s event brought in $500 million to the network.  He stated that the networks are paying big money for the airing rights to these major sporting events, but are getting paid back big-time in return.  He did confirm that the NFL is experiencing a downturn in viewership and ratings and the NFL is looking very hard this off season on how to make some changes for the better.  The big one they are looking at is to cut down commercial time so the game time is shorter.  He also mentioned how hard officiating is in the NFL, with the officials on the field having only 1/26^th of a second to make a call due to the speed of the game.  On average there are 150 plays in a game, 1500 decisions to be make in a game, with the average mistakes by the officials at only 6 per game.  So, the next time you are thinking about getting on an official, keep those stats in mind.

 

One of the biggest problems with officiating today, from the pros down to the local recreational level is that there is a lack of people getting into the officiating.  There is a shortage country wide, especially at the local amateur level.  Mike has been involved with a pilot non-profit program called “Battlefields to Ball Fields” which takes Veterans and provides them scholarships, schooling, and assistance to become officials in their communities.  Most veterans lose their team and mission when they come out of the service so they take these veterans and give them a new team and mission as officials.  The pilot program was started in L.A. and with that success they are now bringing the program to the Sacramento area. 

 

Questions – Tom Harvey dressed up like an Official, in Zebra shirt, hat and coke bottle glasses, asked Mike how he could become an official.  Mike’s response: “Your short, fat and can’t see” which means you’re qualified to be an official.  Tom said if he couldn’t be considered for a position as an official, could Mike get him a job at Fox Sports, since they have hot chicks working there?  Mike’s response: “let me repeat myself, you’re short, fat and can’t see”! – Great speaker and very funny indeed!

 

$10 – Tom Engwer

$10 & Draw – Bea Maurer – Queen of Diamonds – No Ma’am.

 

Greeters – Sean Harris & Bob Porter

Tickets – Doug Yoakam

Money – Jeff Farrar

Credit Card – Paul Endelman