Two Weeks in a Row?  Are You Kidding Me?

What a third quarter this has been... Following last week's induction of Jennifer Chiappone, Clarence once again amazed his fellow conspirators by inducting Becky Harvey into our Club today, but more on that later.  The meeting started off in the back room at the ol' factory (get the double entendre there?... olfactory... never mind.)  President of the Month Sean Twilla opened the meeting by recognizing the greeter Mike Passof and then the Pledge leader Brud Dufficy and Song leader Gary Spainhower, all of whom performed in exemplary fashion.  Your reporter failed to catch the 'quote of the day', but if he had, it probably would have been best said by Dorothy Parker, who once opined, "Brevity is the soul of lingerie."

 

 

Guests?  Yep, we had a few.  Beside our guest speaker and about to be newest member, we were graced with the presence of Paul Schweiger from Central Valley Community Bank (yes, the same bank as Jennifer's... perhaps we're about to be overrun) and Philip Duncan, Becky Harvey's sweetheart, who was in attendance for the induction.

 

 

  In any event, the meeting began with some pleasant conversation and was only rudely interrupted when the Prez Pro Tem got up and started spouting announcements at will.  Here's a couple of 'em.

 

     1.  Most important announcement: the Club Speech Contest is going to be tomorrow afternoon at Cordova High.  Speechifying starts at 3:30, so get there early.  The location is Room D-11 and if you've been chosen to be a judge, a teller, a runner or timer, be sure to be ready to go not later than 3:15 P.M. for instructions

 

     2. March 31 - Easter Egg Hunt in Hagan Park.  This is fun and all we have to do is throw eggs all over the place.  Put it on your calendar.  We normally start working about 8:30 A.M., but details will be forthcoming.

 

     3. April 7 - District Leadership Assembly at Inderkum High School in Natomas - this is key for next year's officers and recommended for those who have never gone but want to get engaged in any of Rotary's myriad activities

 

     4. April 28 - Rotarians at Work Day... this year, as last, we're handing out water on the bike trail for the Parkway Half Marathon.  More details will be forthcoming, likely from Ross Johnson

 

     5. May 5 - Rancho Cordova Golf Classic at Woodcreek Golf Club.  If you don't/won't/can't golf, consider helping us out at the Rotary Club booth at the event

 

     6. May 11 - District Conference at the Hyatt North Lake Tahoe.  This is one of the best venues we have for the conference and we should all plan on going.  It's fun, picturesque and the air is thin...

 

There may have been more, but your poor reporter's ink ran out at about the same time as his enthusiasm.

 

 

 

 

About this time, the Prez called for the weekly drawing and although your reporter did not hear the amount at stake, he estimates it to be a lot, and that's just an estimate.  When the ticket was drawn, it turned out to be Navin who got the nod to stick his hand in the coffee pot.  Sadly for Navin and his family, he scored but a lonely white golf ball for his effort.  We all feel your pain, Navin... well a few of us do... one or two... at most...  Welcome back, my friend.

 

 

Suddenly it was time for one of the more painful, awkward moments our Club hands us from time to time: it was Sergeant Clarence Time and he did not disappoint.  Aided by baglady Jennifer Chiappone, the Sarge first attacked former Rancho Cordovan of the Year Ross Johnson for dissing the Sarge (can you believe it?)  Next Mike Passof was targeted for not having a Rotary pin on yesterday in the presence of two other Club members, who remained nameless (I think it's time for the ol' waterboard trick...) and then Ross got hit again for having the wrong badge on...  Lates, you ask?  We had a few: new member Jennifer Chiappone was in good company since Pat Orelli and Ray Wyatt were also tardy.  About this time your poor reporter fessed up to forgetting to pay off a bet to Jerry Smuts after his Indiana Hoosiers beat the Fighting Illini in a basketball game and paid off the $5 bet,with an additional $1 interest, but Jerry magnanimously pitched the entire purse into the basket.  President Sean chipped in at his pride at being Club President for the second time (some pundits wonder if he'll get it right this time...) and in a surprise move, almost-new member Becky Harvey threw in a few drachmas in celebrating her upcoming induction into the Club and then, quick as a wink (or an F-22 going downhill in full afterburner) the hemorrhaging came to an end.

 

 

In what seems to becoming a habit, Sergeant Clarence remained on his feet and invited Becky Harvey and Dr. Merlin Mauk and President Sean to the front of the room, where he inducted Becky as our (and the world's) newest member.  Clarence gave a nice resume of Becky's career culminating as a realtor at Lyon Real Estate and neighbor of Merlin's (why does Merlin get to have all the cool neighbors?), and invited her to say a few words, at which point she graciously thanked the Club members for the invitation to join and everyone promptly sat down.  Nicely done.  Welcome, Becky.

 

 

 

No sooner was the induction concluded than Ross Johnson was asked to step up and introduce our guest speaker, Eva Butler, a scientist representing Splash,  a volunteer organization dedicated to the maintenance and restoration of the vernal pools out at Mather Recreation Area, as well as enhancing the educational opportunities for local school kids to come out into nature and observe the wild life and take lessons from the experience.

 

 

  Alluding to the uphill battles that Splash has been engaged in, it is testimony to the tenacity of the group that they have been making headway to the extent that their field trip schedule is booked up to capacity.  A very interesting presentation on a subject of which I suspect few of us were aware.

 

 

  At the end, after some fumbling, Eva got the book and the room cleared as if the Jolly Green Giant has just showed up and declared that he wasn't a vegetarian anymore.    Good meeting.