Playmakers... Who Knew?

Before we begin, here is an

 

 

Our Crab Feed... it's coming up on February 18 and here's what you need to know:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, the meeting.... what is there to say: yes a few of the critical players failed to show, but the boss kept things moving and before you knew it, we were all back to real life.  Mike Passof once again stepped up and did a creditable job greeting folks, but then a wrench was thrown in the works: Neil Orchard was scheduled to lead the Pledge, but in his absence President-elect Brett Shreiner leaped forward and did the job almost flawlessly (Brett, it actually begins with "I pledge...", not "I take this woman to be my lawfully...")

 

 

and then in the absence of Anthony Chacon, Ross Johnson led the Club in one of the most unusual renditions of God Bless America that this reporter has witnessed...

 

 

We took that moment to break with tradition and introduced our guest speakers, apparently because they were Rotarians: Greg Roeszler from the Rancho Cordova Sunrise Club and Chip Schumacher of the Passport Club.  We were glad to have them.  Well, lunch looked so good that the mastication derby began almost immediately and we were treated to a nice meal of salad and pulled pork sliders, courtesy of Dave and Jan.  Yum...

 

 

 

Anyone who has ever been to our Club, and I mean back to the 60's, knows that President Sean loves announcements and today he even sucked in a couple of unsuspecting and unwilling accomplices.  First was Chapman with a membership moment, encouraging all of our members to be thinking about someone they can bring to our Rotary for a look-see.  Then Pat Orelli threw down the challenge to pay semiannual dues for those who have dallied.  Dues are due.  

 

 

Then the usual events popped up on the screen and the one that drew the most attention was for Charter Night, which is this coming Saturday night at City Hall in the North room, next to our usual meeting room.  If you haven't already, be sure to RSVP to President Sean ASAP because we have to contract for a number of dinners and in order to do that, we need to know how many people are coming, n'cest-ce pas?

 

That pretty much wrapped up the effluvia, so it was on to the weekly disappointment and true to the title, the drawing was a disappointment... at least to Dr.Bob Adam who yanked a white golf ball from the can, thereby blowing his big chance at fame and riches... okay it was $161; sue me.

 

About that time, the prez pulled one out of his .... uhh...hat... and asked PP Chapman to come up and replace the scheduled Ross Macarty as Sarge.  Pondering his options, the big guy wondered if anyone could replace Ross MacCarty, but then decided to give it the old college try.  What could possibly go wrong, eh?  Quickly composing himself,the stand-in strode hesitatingly forward and opened by fining himself for inadvertently taking his badge home with him last week,ostensibly to have it dry-cleaned (anyone buying that?)  Suddenly a few badge/pin infractions joined the fray, including Anthony, Melody Granger-Mayer and Bob McBee who confessed to a badge infraction even as the Sarge noted that he had no pin on either.  Hilarity all around...  

 

 

Mike Passof threw in for feeling guilty apparently that he hadn't had time to stab the kindly ol' Sarge in the back for the badge infraction.  Then it was on to Ross Johnson who admitted to playing the saxophone, clearly not only a breach of protocol, but also a misdemeanor in many circles.  Finally, Tom Redmon offered to pay an unspecified amount if President Sean would shave his beard, a la Samson, I suppose.  Sean defended his beard, noting that his wife was quite happy not being able to see his face, and since we all saw the logic in that, we couldn't fault him.  That was pretty much it for the Sarge, since he had all of about 15 seconds to prepare.

 

 

At this point, President Sean continued in the Club tradition of delivering a non-introduction to an old friend of our Club, Coach Greg Roeszler, who is the founder and CEO of Playmakers, an activity-based educational program for underprivileged kids that is designed to develop leadership and academic skills through an interactive program that currently serves 5 schools in the Rancho Cordova area.  

 

 

Greg contrasted the learning advancement of poorer kids with kids from middle income families and the dynamic was startling.  The program engages college and pro athletes, predominantly football players to act as role models for the young kids in our elementary schools.  Thus far, his results have been nothing short of phenomenal and this update brought home how programs like this are critically important to the successful advancement of economically challenged kids.  Well done.

 

 

At this juncture, President Sean asked Greg to sign a book without a pen and cleared the room by telling everyone that their cars were on fire out in the parking lot.  Interesting meeting.