Meeting Delayed as Greeter Almost Fails to Show

Yes, my children, it's true.  When the appointed Greeter in the form of the has-been, failed to show on time, President Sean decided to start the meeting late in order to avoid embarrassing the big guy.  If you're buying that, I've got some Florida land I'd like to show you.  

 

 

In any event, folks were standing around and talking amongst themselves when they were rudely interrupted by a president who thought it was more important to start almost on time than for people to enjoy themselves at a Rotary meeting.  How do you feel about that?  First up, President Sean almost thanked Chapman for almost doing his assigned greeter duties and then it was on to the pledge led by one of Ross Johnson's minions who will remain nameless here.  And then another accomplice led the song and just as everyone was about to sit down and enjoy their lunch, the Prez kept everyone on their feet as an attempt was made to introduce our guests.  Among them was Sondra Wildman, president of the Rotaract (check the spelling) Club at Sac State, who was introduced by faculty sponsor Steve Forseth.  Sondra, we were delighted to have you join us; please come back whenever you can.

 

 

 Ross Johnson then introduced a number of Rotary Community Corps members who had come to  hear our guest speaker... more on that later.  In any event, finally we were allowed to sit and eat and then mere moments later, the Prez banged the gong and the meeting was off to a start.  First there were the usual announcements, but sadly your reporter's pen had a mild hernia and had to be retired for a short spell.

 

 

 It (the pen) was returned to duty as Sondra Wildman told us about an upcoming event that Rotaract is supporting and she invited all Rotarians to come out on Friday to lend a hand.  The details are sketchy, but the reader may contact President Sean or Steve Forseth to get the gist of it.  About that time, PDG Clarence stood up and spoke (that's multi-tasking, folks...) about the upcoming Foundation seminar to be held this Saturday at that church on Florin Road that's been used before for Rotary events.  Call Clarence if you're anyone but the Club Prez or Prez-Elect, who I am sure are planning on going anyway.  

 

  It was during this rough time frame that Clarence came up to the podium and invited Ross Johnson to join him for the presentation of a Paul Harris Fellow to Ross' mom, who passed away not too long ago.  Ross was proud of her and we are proud of Ross for recognizing everything she did for him.

 

 

 

Well, with the end of the announcing it was time for the weekly Ray Wyatt funding debacle, but this time to everyone's surprise it was none other than Navin Naik whose ticket was punched by our guest Sondra.  With over $200 at stake, Navin must have been understandably nervous with only one white and one orange ball left in the can, and being the humanitarian he is, he went for the white ball and scored, leaving the pot to grow for another week.  There was an audible moan from the crowd who were pulling for a Navin victory, if only to keep us from having Ray pay off his mortgage early on the backs of his fellow Rotarians.

 

 

 

Well, as surely as night follows day, the Sarge follows the drawing and for his introductory session as Sarge for the month of October, Ross Johnson strode purposefully and quickly to the rostrum.  To be honest with you, much of what happened at that point is a trifle cloudy since your reporter failed to take notes for the lack of writing paper.  Soooo.. from memory... the two Rosses got into a urinating contest about something regarding World Polio Day (October 24, as we all know... right?), and so Sergeant Ross asked Bob Adam to help civilian Ross out of his predicament.  At that point, Bob fell under the bus and so the Sarge turned to Merlin Mauk for some help, but to no avail.  Finally someone volunteered the correct answer and it was on to happy fines.  Bob McBee was recognized for his anniversary (51 years!) and there were some birthday folks (sorry, memory circuits are fried).  Chapman paid for a Bears win and again threw down a Jackson to hear Clarence recount the Marshall Herd's recent contest.  President Sean was nailed for a plethora of transgressions and he was last seen filling out a wage garnishment form with his company.  Ray Wyatt chipped in for an interesting thing that happened, which was.... uhhhh... errrr... ahem... cough...  The Sarge pitched in some of his own hard-earned dough because he is still overjoyed at having family staying with him and Sandy.  There was more, but the writer is enjoying a gin and tonic at the moment, and the details have become a bit fuzzy...

 

With the termination of the Sarge's session, it was now up to .... the Sarge to introduce our guest speaker for the day, Sheri Briggs, who is the president of the Rancho Cordova Rotary Community Corps.  A coincidence I'm sure, but Sheri also works for Ross in real life in his accounting practice.  Sheri introduced the Corps members who had accompanied her to the meeting and then launched into an interesting description of what Community Corps does in Rancho Cordova.  It focuses the efforts of its volunteer members primarily on providing translation services for community members for whom English is a second language.

 

 

 The Corps can be seen at just about every community event there is in Rancho, such as Kids Day at the Park, where they have handed out wrist bands to parents to put on their kids at the event so that lost parents can be reunited with their children.  They also provide translation services at various events such as iFest, for folks who don't know how to interact with local agencies, such as SMUD, the City, the school system,. etc. 

 

 

It was a most interesting presentation and following it a few Corps members spoke about the positive impact it has had not only on the community, but also on the Corps members themselves.  Nicely done, Sheri and thank you and your members for everything you do.  At the completion of her talk as she was preparing to sit down, in a total surprise move, Sheri was asked to remain at the front of the room and up waltzed PDG Clarence who said a few words before presenting her with a Paul Harris Fellow!  Way to go, Sheri!

 

 

 That wrapped things up, and as is our custom, the room cleared as if a new strip club had just opened across the street.