The Pulse for the Week of April 14th, 2026

It was Jean Runyon Day at the Rotary Club of Sacramento, honoring the legendary Sacramentan who joined our club in 1987 as its first female member – paving the way for countless standout women to enrich our club.

2025 Jean Runyon Award recipient and PEN Jamie Furlong delivered the Thought for the Day: “What’s actually important? Rotary is my answer to that problem. Showing up here every week is a promise I make to myself – a standing commitment to something values-based and important with no due date.”

President Kerry Wood held a moment of silence for Steve Huffman’s wife, Sally, who recently passed. A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, May 23 at 11am at All Saints Church at 2076 Sutterville Road, Sacramento, CA, 95822.

President Kerry saluted birthday celebrants PP Bobby Reed, Dennis Smith, PP Jim Leet, John Swentowsky, Josh Pelz, Sharna Braucks, Buddy Hubbert, Elfrena Foord, and David Brandenburger.

New blood! Two new members were inducted into the club today: Marcus Cunningham of Poppy Bank, and Reese Olander of UC Davis Health Sciences.

Meeting sponsor PP Todd Koolakian passed the microphone to his Sacramento Children’s Home colleague Micaela Cirimeli. Micaela reminded us of the importance of supporting the Crisis Nursery, which provides 24/7 emergency care for children under the age of 5, all free of charge.

Club Announcements

Golf 4 Kids. Our annual golf fundraiser is set for May 8, and this year includes a pickleball feature! If you are signing up for golf, please do so by April 18. Please see Kathy Herrfeldt or Bryan Murray for sponsorship opportunities, volunteer slots and participation in the fun.
Loaves and Fishes. Coordinator Virginia Wade needs a few more volunteers for both morning and afternoon shifts on Thursday, April 30.
Fireside gathering. PP Todd will be hosting a fireside at his home on Thursday, May 28 at 5:30pm.
Club merch! See Joe Quilici to learn about license plate frames for $39 each in various finishes/colors.
Hiking Club. PP Jim Leet is organizing another mural walk on May 31 from 9:30am-noon.

Making Beautiful Music! In the meeting’s donation segment, generous contributors included Christie Holderegger, PP Todd Koolakian, Steve Huffman, Kierstan DeLong, Michelle Wei-Lin See, Elfreena Foord, Kathy Herrtfeldt, Nancy Smith-Fagan, PP Brian Van Camp, Dr. Barbara Arnold, PP Thom Gilbert, President Kerry and Marcus Cunningham.

The big reveal – our 2026 Jean Runyon Award presentation

Megan Wygant gave us a little back story on Jean Runyon. Jean Hamilton was born in March 1927 in Concordia, Kansas, the only child of a professional actress and an Olympic silver medalist in decathlon. A track coaching job at Cal brought the family to the Bay Area, where Jean grew up, eventually going to Cal to study drama – where she met her future husband, fellow actor Mercer Runyon, whose family owned pear orchards in Courtland. The young couple was active in Sacramento’s theater scene, which led to her spectacular success selling tickets to the Music Circus. In 1957, Jean started her own publicity business, and she flourished so quickly that she won the 1961 “PR Man of the Year.” In 1976, Jean formed The Runyon Agency – eventually joining forces with Estelle Saltzman, and then Jane Einhorn, to build Sacramento’s flagship ad agency, Runyon Saltzman and Einhorn – or RSE, as it continues to be known today. After a 1987 Supreme Court decision making women eligible to join Rotary, Jean Runyon became our club’s first female member, paving the way for an array of great female Rotarians which continues today. Into the 90s and beyond, Jean’s legend only grew as a preeminent business leader, arts maven and supreme fun-lover – punctuated by her annual Halloween tradition of climbing onto the roof of her Land Park home, dressed as a witch, to shower trick-or-treaters with candy. Jean passed on October 24, 2009 at age 82 – and she would have loved that her memorial service was held on Halloween.

Committee chair Maggie Hopkins had the honor of introducing this year’s winner, who truly embodies Service Above Self and the very qualities that defined Jean Runyon: leadership, generosity, joy, and an unwavering commitment to others. Our honoree was born in San Jose, and her leadership skills were evident early, as she became the first student body president at her high school. At UC Berkeley, she juggled classes with student government, cheerleading, and summer jobs on the Santa Cruz pier. Our honoree earned a masters in education and Cal, then a doctorate at USC, and a postdoc fellowship at UCLA. Doctor Honoree commenced a career in higher education, teaching psychology and human development at American River College and Sierra College, and rapidly rising through the ranks to become Dean of Social Sciences at Sacramento City College – and then the first woman president of Napa Valley College. It would take a lot to separate her from this beloved job, but meeting the love of her life Tom inspired her to move to Sacramento and marry. Her career didn’t suffer, as Dr. Honoree was selected as the first woman Chancellor of the California Community College system—the largest system of higher education in the world. Her brilliant leadership was saluted with “Woman of the Year” by the California Legislature; the “Woman of Achievement Award” for service to the people of California; the International Award of Distinction for College Presidents, and many more.

Dr. Honoree has been a Rotarian for nearly four decades, first in Napa and then here at the Rotary Club of Sacramento, where, predictably, she was tapped for the presidency. As club president, she launched the Young Professionals group, started traditions like care grams and Polio Plus donations for speakers, and helped shape a fresh direction for the club. The Jean Runyon Award recipient for 2026 is Dr. Diane Woodruff.

A floored PP Diane graciously thanked our Rotary club while we enjoyed a few slides on the big screen of snippets of her professional career and fun-loving life!

Guest speaker RSE president Chris Holben recounted Jean Runyon stories and a short recap of the history of the firm. He reminded us that Jean’s legacy is very present even today. Not just generosity, caring, and showing up: she made organizations around her better. She made you feel better and more important, as if you were the only one there.

A man and woman of Rotary Sacramento standing together for a photograph — President Kerry Wood and Chris Holben

President Kerry thanked our greeters William Hodges, Dee Hartzog and Christie Holderegger. Jim Culleton served as Pulse reporter. Our photographer was John Swentowsky, and our wine reception was sponsored by Sarah Hodge and Sharna Braucks.

Sergeant-at-Arms Sarah Hodge reminded us our next meeting will be April 21, 2026 at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, and the featured speaker will be Frank Maranzino of Capital Public Radio.