Pulse for the Week of February 27, 2023

Sergeant-At-Arms KATHE NATHAN (Merchants Bank of Commerce-retired) introduced our more than 30 guests, visitors and prospective members:  PETER COYL (Sacramento Library, prospective member); MARY EURETIG, guest of DAVE McKIE; LUISANA VICTORIA (College Track), guest of NIKKI WARDLAW; TOM TENGE (Business Central), guest of BOB ROSENBERG; MICHELE SALINAS (Golden Pacific Bank), guest of VIRGINIA VARELA; STEVE MACKENROTH, guest of KIEFIE and ART BREUER; RICHARD SANDLER (KOR-IT, Inc.), guest of Past-President TIM PINKNEY; PHIL PLUCKEBAUM (UCDH), guest Of President-Elect-Nominee BOBBY REED; DAVID NYSTROM (McCuen Properties), guest of JEFF STONE; JOE PETERS, guest of Past-President THOM GILBERT; KEVIN NGUYEN (Equity Zone Mortgage), guest of JOHN MASSEY; CHUCK THOMPSON, guest of BRIAN SHUL; TOM BACON; and the following guests of Past-President JOHN FRISCH: LARRY BOOTH (Frank M. Booth, Inc.), CHUCK TRAINOR (Trainor Fairbrook), PAULETTE TRAINOR (Paulette Trainor Design), CHRIS HOLBEN (Runyon Saltzman), DAN RAMOS (Ramco Enterprises), JOHN DRURY (Pacific Neon), FRITZ BROWN (Brown Stevens), DON TURNER, CECILY HASTINGS (Inside Publications), ROY BREWER (Brewer Lofgren), MIKE MONAGAN, JIM ELDRIDGE, BRAD SQUIRES, RICK FOWLER and MAGGIE FRISCH.

BOB REDIGER (Rediger Labor Law) was our meeting sponsor. He donated his time to the Sacramento Children’s Home. DAVID BAKER shared about a recently launched program called The Source, which supports youth up to 26 years old and caregivers during times of crisis and struggle. The program features urgent crisis support, which includes a free hotline for youth and families, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Source is also available via text message, live online chat, and social media. Last year there were 15,000 crisis response calls across the state and programs like The Source can help to prevent or divert these types of calls from requiring a police response. Source staff regularly hear from their clients about the beneficial impact the program has had on their families. David invited Club members to learn more about all SCH programs by attending their Impact Luncheon on April 20^th at the Sawyer Hotel.

SHIRLEE TULLY (Capital Public Radio) again treated attendees to the Rotary Spotlight, which features different club members at each meeting. This week’s featured Rotarians were:

LEN SIMPSON – Len was born in Atlantic City. A few years later, his parents packed up their Rambler and drove south to Florida, where Len grew up. Len’s story is one of bold determination. While in college, he dreamed of a career in medicine and worked as an Emergency Medical Technician in the emergency room of a Level 1 trauma center in Miami. He describes the experience as mayhem! That’s where he met his future wife, Maida. Len was seriously smitten at first sight. When he asked her to lunch, she turned him down—until a dozen long-stem roses convinced her he was serious. They were married just three months later and will be celebrating 47 years in July. While working his way through college, Len became a dad and worked multiple jobs to feed his growing family. Through sheer grit and some luck, he got a start in the financial services industry more than 36 years ago. In the early days, he did cold-calling from the kitchen table. There was no computer, just a phone book, a landline, and a file cabinet! Len quickly rose into senior management and eventually landed in Sacramento in 1998. Eight years later, he left the corporate world to go back into private practice. Len was invited to join our club in 1998 by Rusty Hammer but had become a Rotarian decades earlier in Florida (during the dark times when there were no women). He even served part of a term as president of the El Paso club, before that was interrupted by his move to California. Even though Len had a great run in financial services, he never gave up on his dream of a medical career. He has come full circle today by serving as a volunteer for the City of Folsom Community Emergency Response Team, and as a first responder under the direction of the Folsom Fire Department, where he can be called to assist in anything from light search and rescue and emergency medical care to providing first aid at local community events. A fun fact about Len is that while still in high school, he spent a month hitchhiking around the country with a friend. During their travels, they were picked up by some commune members who saw them as potential fresh recruits. They obviously didn’t know who they were dealing with. This future cold-calling Executive VP and first responder was having none of commune life. He just wanted a place to stay and food to eat. Determination!

KATHY HERRFELDT (Home Care Assistance-retired) joined our club in 2013, under direct orders from the late Oleta Lambert. And if you knew Oleta, you KNOW they were, in fact, orders! Kathy was born in Baltimore, MD, one of six kids. The family moved a lot because her father was in the lumber trade. She went to Regis College (now Regis University) in Denver with only 1,200 students. Why? Because she wanted to ski, of course. After college, Kathy had an impressive 30-year career in information technology, mostly at Intel and Sterling Software. She always wanted to start her own business, because she was an entrepreneur like her father, and she’s a breast cancer survivor. In her words, “Life is short, so go for it!” And go for it, she did. When her employer was developing much-needed technology for senior care, Kathy was quick to note the massive growth predicted for taking care of our country’s elders. The entrepreneur in her saw the potential and soon she became the owner of the first franchise of Home Care Assistance in California. The highlight of her career was creating a successful business and, after 10 years, selling it! Kathy is passionate about playing golf and pickleball, and now she has all the time in the world to display her competitive streak. On that note, she once was a long-distance runner, and paced a friend for 30 miles of the Western States 100 ultra-marathon. She got him to the finish in 21 hours. She is also a closet birder, so if you want to know when the Sand Hill Cranes arrive in the delta, Kathy is your girl. And if you know anything about Kathy, you will know that she loves her 49ers almost as much as she loves Golden Retrievers. A fun fact you may not know about Kathy is that her uncle was the professional comic strip artist who drew Prince Valiant after Hal Foster retired. When he and her aunt would come to visit, Charles Shultz and his wife, Jean, were often guests. According to Kathy, he was a nice man, and her family is still friends with Jean.