From skydiving to Swan Lake to the Causeway Classic, it was another colorful meeting for the Rotary Club of Sacramento under the skillful hand of President Kerry Wood.
Mik Miklaus’s Thought for the Day reminded us there is no participation trophy in life. Success comes from showing up, working hard and being part of something bigger than yourself. He tied this into Rotary, saying we all lift each other up. We are in this together.
President Kerry’s birthday recognitions went out to Deborah Rubens, Ted Grebitus, PP Brian Van Camp, and Dan Fenocchio.
Meeting sponsor PP Bobby Reed donated his time to PP Kevin Smith-Fagan who shared info on Fairytale Town’s Tales and Ales brewfest this coming Saturday evening. The event features 20+ great taps, live music, food trucks, and is family-friendly. Contact Kevin for a $10 off ticket discount code!
Two new members were inducted into our club! Michelle See and Craig Taylor, both of Monster Laundry, were sponsored into Rotary by Christie Holderegger, PP Bobby Reed, and Judge Bill Shubb.
Our outbound Rotary Youth Exchange student Joe Hernandez is headed to Argentina! Joe is a recent graduate from Rio Americano High School. He thanked PE Paul Keefer for tremendous support throughout the RYE process.
Generosity flowed today! Jay King, PP Jon Snyder, David Brandenburger, President Kerry, and PP Kevin Smith-Fagan all filled the Eddie Mulligan or Paul Harris coffers with celebratory contributions.
Announcements Included:
- Jamie Furlong, last year’s sergeant-at-arms, presented an overdue demotion gag gift to PP Bobby Reed.
- Theater Night – PP Todd Koolakian is organizing a theater night for “And Juliet” on Thursday Sept 25th at 7:30pm.
- Club Hike – PP Jim Leet welcomes any hikers to Cosumnes River Preserve on Sunday Sept 21st at 1pm for a modest difficulty hike of 3.3 miles. He will confirm the time as the date gets nearer.
- Parkway cleanup – Jim Henderson wants you to join him in cleaning up the American River Parkway on Sept 20th from 9am-noon.
- Promoting Sac Century – Bob Rosenberg encouraged Rotarians to spread the word so we can maximize signups for the Sac Century cycling fundraiser. We have raised more than $866,000 over the years and would like to push it over $1 million this year!
- Constitution Day event – Chi Soo Kim invited attendees for the powerful “Constitution Day” where the US Constitution will be read at the U.S. District courthouse (5th and I Streets) at noon.
Get to Know Your Fellow Rotarians!
It turns out that our calm, cerebral Len McCandliss led a secret life as a skydiver – with over 350 jumps from as high as 15,000 feet! Shirlee Tully broke the scoop. Then John Wood turned the tables on Shirlee and dished on her past life as an elite professional ballet dancer. Her career experiences in New York and Chicago include performing with greats Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev – to her, just Rudy.
Sports broadcaster Scott Marsh was the meeting’s guest speaker. He has worked at KHTK Sactown Sports for 30 years, since he was fresh out of college (UC Davis ‘95). Among other roles, he is the radio voice of Aggie football and noted UC Davis football will make its first-ever appearance on ESPN’s main channel this Saturday; he also lamented the probable loss of the annual Causeway Classic after 70 years, due to conference realignment by Sacramento State. Scott also talked about the upheavals in college athletics due to NIL (name image likeness) money – occasionally college kids are staying in school because it pays better than going pro! Scott also noted the shift in player recruiting, since top colleges now focus on cherrypicking talent from other college programs rather than recruiting high school standouts.
Our greeters included past president PP Jon Snyder, Dennis Smith and Danyal Eaglin. John Swentowsky handled the photography while Dee Hartzog and Ruth Tesar hosted the wine reception. Jim Culleton handled the Pulse duties.
Meeting Greeters
Wine Sponsors
Pulse Reporter
Next week’s meeting will feature Dr. Alvin Cheung, head of the local medical school California Northstate University.