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Rotary News
Rotary Meeting
Make a Difference by RCS Staff You can make a world of difference. The children at Bowling Green and the other four schools we support are facing life challenges tougher than what most of us will be asked to surmount in a lifetime, with courage, with strength, and with great heart. These are little children, their whole lives in front of them, who will be less able to thrive, to grow, or to achieve, without our help. For over eighty years the Rotary Club of Sacramento has cared for and supported these kids. This year we must dig deeper, stretch farther, and overcome more obstacles to achieve our goals. It is tough, but not anywhere near as tough as what they are facing Without us, these kids will be up against a hard world, without anyone by their side. With us, they will be able to succeed and face the future knowing from their own experience that they are not alone, and that someone cared for and helped them. Rotary Club members, that help is us. Please step up for the kids of our community. For them our help is invaluable. For us, it is the ultimate test of "Service Above Self". Lets make this happen for them. David Ballard, CEO Children's Receiving Home of Sacramento Sponsor the tournament or make your cash donation today Sponsorship Opportunities Register for Golf or Dinner Meeting Sept 22, 2008 - Stan Atkinson by RCS Staff Mike O'Brien Chair of the Day Pre-meeting music to be provided by Elmer Haskin Stan Atkinson retired 8 yrs ago after 46 yrs in television as a news anchor and reporter. Almost 30 of those years were spent at KCRA and KOVR. Stan was best known for his assignments in dangerous countries during dangerous times. His 2 dozen journeys took him virtually everywhere in the news and won him 3 Emmys for his foreign reporting. Among his journeys, he took his pal, the late BT Collins back to Viet Nam in 1987, the subject of today's presentation. Much of his life now, as during his career, is centered around helping the community. He has been a member of the Mercy Foundation board for 28 years, serving as chair of the board in 2001, and was the original creator of the 'Mercy All-Star Week'. His Stan Atkinson Foundation partnered with the 'Sacramento River Cats', Shriners Childen's Hospital and Rotary to build 'River Cats Independence Field, a sports facility which was especially created and outfitted for young people with disabilities so they can play baseball. The 2 million dollar complex at the Sam Pannell Community Center in South Sacramento is serving hundreds of kids and disabled adults. In November the Assn. of Fundraising Professionals will present Stan with its Lifetime Achievement Award..the 2nd of its kind ever given in its history. He is married to the light of his life..Kristen..and is the father of 6 and grandfather of 14. Meeting Recap - Sept 15, 2008 by Maynard Nelson Last Week ... Pres. Tim opened the meeting with an inspiring invocation then called on Past President Rob Scherer to remind us that one of Rotary's first public service effort was to provide " comfort stations" on Chicago streets. Sgt-at-Arms Dave Higdon had Carolyn Carr do introductions because some of the names looked difficult and it proved to be so. Pres. Tim got thru his head table intro's with little trouble. Featured Rotarian Jim Craig was his usual funny self during his moment and in enjoying his humor, I missed the point. Committee announcements: Peter Dannenfelser did double duty by promoting the Golf Tournament Sept 29 th and the next brown bag lunch on Oct 20 th . Dave Ballard gave an emotional testimonial on the good things Rotary is able to accomplish with the proceeds of the golf tournament. Rita Gibson asked Rotarians to respond to the RYE need to host 13 visiting students overnight on Sunday, Oct 26 th . These are foreign students studying in the United States for one year and this is an excellent opportunity to expose your children to another culture without traveling. The speaker was introduced right on time by John McIntyre. Clark Kelso, an attorney, has been charged by a Federal Court Mandate with the task of improving the health care in 33 prisons in California. He anticipated audience reaction of prisoners receiving better health care than many citizens not in prison. The Eighth Amendment in the Bill of Rights protects citizens from wrongful acts by Government. Prisoners are under government control and the court says they must receive adequate health care. One immediate problem was staff vacancies of medical personnel. Most prisons are in isolated areas and attracting professional help is difficult. If he hires out of state medical people, they must be licensed in Calif. Increased staff salaries made significant improvements in the quality of care. Another issue Clark is working on is to house inmates with common health problems in the same institution where possible so that specialized care need only be provided in certain institutions rather than all of them, keeping transportation costs down. Prisons also present a problem not faced by those of us in general society in that each of the prisons need labs, radiology, x-ray, dental etc. We are able to visit those separate facilities but transporting a prisoner is cumbersome and expensive. The speaker enlightened us on an issue many of us are resentful about but gave us reasonable reasons for the need for change. MDN |
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