Events

Are you 21-35 and looking to connect with great people, serve the community, and discover new growth opportunities? We invite you to discover Rotary’s programs for young changemakers.

Joe Chimenti is a husband and father of four.  He grew up in a law enforcement family and began his professional life as a police officer. After earning his MBA, Joe left law enforcement and joined the private sector. He spent 25 years in business development working with entrepreneurial companies across North America and in Europe.

After Joe retired from the business world, he assumed the role of Executive Director of the Shasta Builders’ Exchange and the Trade School.  He understands the need for a skilled workforce and the importance of the construction industry to a thriving economy.

Joe served on the Shasta County Board of Supervisors for 4 years.   When he left office, he chose to work with Emergent, the 3D concrete printing company, because of their mission to provide needed housing and innovative trade training.  He is the Director of Community Development. 

Sara Tracy is a Chico native who had the pleasure of spending 6 years in beautiful Colorado, but is now back where she belongs! She is a joyful mama to a fun one-year-old daughter, a dog mom to two pups, a passionate photographer, and a dedicated outreach coordinator. She often tells the joke that her day job, as an Outreach Coordinator, is to make friends and eat snacks. She brings warmth and connection to everything she does—whether she’s capturing life’s sweetest moments behind the camera or supporting her community through outreach and service. Sara volunteers weekly at her church, always showing up with a heart to serve and uplift those around her. With a gift for making others feel seen, valued, and loved, she blends creativity, compassion, and purpose into both her personal and professional life.

Description- 

Aging in Place and Knowing When it’s Time to Get Help

I will talk about some tips to safely Stay in your home as you age, common challenges of aging in place, different options for care and when it’s time to get help. 

The Military Minute is a project developed by Sean Farley as a way to honor and narrate the stories of past and present military members. Working to ensure that history is preserved, shared, and celebrated. Through storytelling, emphasize the importance of understanding military sacrifices, fostering empathy, and preventing future conflicts while bridging the gap between veterans and civilians.

Jesse graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry and Natural Resources. After graduating, he spent 4 years with CAL FIRE working in Mendocino County on The Jackson Demonstration State Forest and in Shasta County on The LaTour Demonstration State Forest. During his time with CAL FIRE, he was part of several research projects, forest inventory projects and assisted in Timber Harvest Plan (THP) layout and administration. He also worked on several fire suppression assignments throughout Northern California. In 2013, he joined Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) as a Registered Professional Forester working on the Stirling District based out of Chico, CA. In his time with SPI, he has helped to manage the Stirling Districts timberlands in Butte, Tehama, Plumas and Yuba Counties. His experience with SPI includes writing THP’s, administrating timber sales and contracts along with fuels reduction projects. Other roles include reforestation and wildlife surveys. In 2022, he became a district manager for SPI managing 250,000 acres of timberland in northern California. Additionally, he sits on Cal Poly’s Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES) advisory council. As vice chair on the council, he is charged with Professional Development and Student Networking. Jesse lives in Chico with his wife and 2 children where he enjoys coaching baseball and watching dance. If there was any spare time, he would prefer to be fishing, surfing or relaxing with friends and family

Joe Wilson

The HIL provides quality forensic anthropology services to local, federal, and international law enforcement, medical examiners, and attorneys. 

The HIL is a unique and invaluable state resource. Our staff work to recover missing persons, analyze and identify their remains, present vital information to resolve criminal cases, and provide closure to families. The HIL has the ability to rapidly mobilize large, experienced search teams in emergencies. We also support state and federal partners on individual cases, both recent and long gone cold.

In these ways, we aim to serve the needs of our state while demonstrating our commitment to civic engagement and serving the public good. 

President Brandon will wield the gavel for one last meeting in which he'll recap his Rotary year.

Wave goodbye to President Brandon before he officially surrenders the bell gavel June 30!

There is no meeting this week due to the Rotary International Convention in Calgary

Happy 4th of July!

What's Rob's theme? What's in store for the upcoming year? Hmmm. 

There's only one way to find out. Come to the meeting, and you'll be "in the know."

Kathy Lanpheir Is the Director of the Chico Community Food Locker. She has been in the position for over six years and before that spent about ten years working as a volunteer at the Locker. Her role is to oversee the operations of the Food Locker and purchase foodstuff when needed. She also coordinates with other nonprofits, working hand and hand with them to serve those in need. Kathy came to Chico after retirement and is delighted to call it home!

Presenting with Kathy will be Christina Mueller, the General Office assistant to the Director of the Chico Community Food Locker and the Current Junior Vice President of The Catholic Ladies Relief Society Chico #3.  She assists the Director with the daily operations of the Food Locker.  Christina has lived in Chico for the last 26+ years and attended and graduated from both Butte Community College and California State University, Chico.

Kathy and Christina will be speaking to the club about food insecurity in Chico and the surrounding area and how the Chico Community Food Locker is working to help those in need.

Chico Rotary Foundation Board Chair Syl Lucena, Vice-Chair Anastacia Snyder, Financial Advisor Devin Potter, and Scholarship Committee Chair Heidi Musick will present an overview and update on our Fouindation and the support it provides to our community and via the scholarships awarded each year.

Colleen Cecil has been involved in agriculture for all of her life. The daughter and granddaughter of dairy operators, Colleen grew up in the dairy industry and cultivated a love for the Holstein breed. 

A career in agriculture was in Colleen’s future. After graduating from Modesto Junior College with an associate degree in Dairy Science and from California State University Fresno with a bachelor degree in Agricultural Education, Colleen was quickly hired at the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau as a programs manager. Colleen’s career in agriculture to her to the California Almond Board and hired as an almond buyer at RPAC, LLC in Los Banos.

Colleen met her soon to be husband and relocated to Chico where she accepted the Butte County Farm Bureau Executive Director position, which she has held for 18 years. Colleen advocates locally in the North State, in Sacramento and occasionally in Washington, DC, for the agricultural organizations more than 1000 member families on issues such as land use, labor and water. Colleen manages the day-to day operations of the 107-year-old Butte County Farm Bureau with guidance from the 20-member volunteer Board of Directors.

Colleen, along with her husband Jake, are raising two baseball loving boys, while maintaining their careers in agriculture and farming the walnuts they planted around their home in Glenn County. When Colleen is not at the office, she is driving to and from baseball games and practice, is president of the high school athletic boosters and is a co-key leader for her son’s 4-H club.

Colleen is a member of the CSU Chico Superior Ag Committee and the North Valley Chapter of California Women for Agriculture. In 2011 Colleen was named California Assembly District 3 Woman of the Year by the late Assemblyman Dan Logue and in 2024 was awarded the prestigious Common Threads North Award, recognizing outstanding women in agriculture.

James Gallagher has represented California’s Third Assembly District since 2014. Before joining the Assembly, he served on the Sutter County Board of Supervisors for six years. James earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at UC Berkeley before completing an Assembly Fellowship in Sacramento and a law degree at UC Davis, where he graduated at the top of his class. He advocates for small businesses and farmers in his law practice and is a partner in his family’s farming operation. James is married to his high school sweetheart, Janna; the two live in Sutter County where they are raising their five young children.

Assemblyman Gallagher will be speaking to us about current issues at the state capitol.

Michael Steinberg is a Pyrogeographer, Professional Storm Chaser, and Volunteer Wildfire Reporter for the Watch Duty app. He graduates from CSU Chico in the fall of 2025 with a degree in Physical and Environmental Geography, specializing in Pyrogeography—the study of wildfire's impact on humans and landscapes, and vice versa.

Since 2022, Michael has documented major California wildfires, including the 2024 Park Fire and the January 2025 L.A. Wildfires. His work has been featured in The Guardian, Chico State Today, and he was interviewed live on CNN during the L.A. Wildfires. He now collaborates with Windermere Real Estate to teach classes on wildfire mitigation and safety for homeowners and agents.

Michael’s expertise as a Pyrogeographer, photographer, reporter, and educator drives his mission to improve wildfire preparedness and resilience in vulnerable communities.

Scott Ken­nel­ly, a licensed clin­i­cal social work­er, serves as the Direc­tor at Butte Coun­ty Behav­ioral Health. Scott cur­rent­ly plans, orga­nizes and directs the oper­a­tions of the county’s behav­ioral health and sub­stance use ser­vices. He began his career with Butte Coun­ty in 2000 as a care provider and has steadi­ly expand­ed his areas of over­sight and exper­tise over the past twen­ty-one years with Butte County. He has worked in a vari­ety of set­tings includ­ing in group homes, day treat­ment pro­grams, youth school-based coun­sel­ing pro­grams, and out­pa­tient ser­vices. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psy­chol­o­gy from Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, San­ta Cruz, and a master’s degree in social work from San José State University.

Tod Kimmelshue is a fifth generation farmer who worked 35 years in banking and finance. He represents District 4 on the Solano County Board of Supervisors, which comprises a southwest stretch of the county including Chico, Durham, Dayton, Richvale, Biggs and Gridley. He and his wife, Sherri, have two adult sons, Kirk and Chad. Tod has served on numerous boards including the Butte County Farm Bureau, California Farm Bureau, Northern California Regional Land Trust, Chamber of Commerce, Chico State Foundation and Butte County Water Commission.

Scott and Tod will talk about how Butte County Behavioral Health is addressing the mental health challenges of our communities.

Matt Reddam, LMFT is the current School and Community Wellness Advisor for Butte County Office of Education.  An expert on traumatic stress in children and teens, Matt has dedicated his career to better understanding how communities and systems can better serve the needs of impacted youth. 

Matt's presentation is titled Understanding the Reality of Butte County Youth and How We Can Help

Joy Alaidorous is District 5160's Governor for 2025-26.  Professionally she is an Educational Psychologist. Most of her work was in public schools with a limited private practice. Upon retirement in 2010 Joy moved from Southern California to Rossmoor in Walnut Creek. She continued to work as a private contractor for another 10 years.

Shortly after moving to Rossmoor a nice lady invited her to lunch. Lunch was a Rotary meeting. Within 3 months she was club secretary and president in 4 years. She has been the Fab 5 Foundation Rep and Assistant Governor. She has written district grants, a Global Grant, and served on the Grants Review Committee. Joy is a member of the Polio Plus Society, the Bequest Society, and a Major Donor. 

Personally, she is mother to three wonderful daughters and two amazing granddaughters. The older granddaughter, Ella, is an artist and is having the adventure of living independently in New York City. The younger granddaughter, Esther, is a Senior at the University of Michigan, working toward her degree in clinical social work. Joy became a widow far too soon, due to her husband’s early onset Parkinson’s.

Joy is an avid reader, swims for exercise and is a world traveler. 

Sean Maiorano, D.O., board certified in Internal Medicine, joined Enloe Medical Center in April of 2006 where he practiced hospital medicine full time with Chico Hospitalist Group (CHG). His commitment to physician leadership has been demonstrated by the positions he has held with CHG and Enloe Medical Staff, including Chief of Staff. He has been serving as the Chief Medical Officer since September of 2023.

In his role as Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Maiorano provides a physician perspective to the operations of the organization. He collaborates with the medical staff and physician leaders to achieve the shared goal of exceptional patient care. In addition, he is focusing on improving community access to care by assisting with the establishment of a Graduate Medical Education program.

Dr. Maiorano graduated from California State University, Chico, in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, and from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2002. He completed an internship in Lansing, Michigan, in 2003, and finished his residency and chief residency in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2006.

Colette Curtis has served as Recovery and Economic Development Director for the Town of Paradise since July 2021.  Prior to that time, she served as the Assistant to the Town Manager with the Town of Paradise since 2013.  Ms. Curtis oversees recovery after the Camp Fire, Housing, Communications, Economic Development, Legislative Advocacy, and Emergency Operations for the Town in her current role.

Prior to her time with the Town, Colette worked in the private sector for E*TRADE, Sun Microsystems, and Oracle Inc.  She attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.  Colette was the 2021 Recipient of the John H. Nail Award from the League of California Cities for her work with the community in the aftermath of the Camp Fire. 

Ms. Curtis lives in Chico CA with her three children. 

Principal/Superintendent Becky Brown and Science Teacher Justin Peek are excited to share an overview of the science side of Inspire School of Arts and Sciences. Since 2010, this charter high school in Chico has provided rich opportunities for students interested in pursuing college and career pathways in the visual and performing arts, as well as computer programming and engineering. You'll hear an update on the construction of our brand new campus, as well as a deeper dive into how our science programs prepare students with the skills and knowledge necessary to be researchers, designers, and innovators in STEM fields. 

Tyler is the CEO and a Part­ner at Matson & Isom Technology Consulting, where he has spent over 20 years help­ing small busi­ness­es, non-prof­its, and local gov­ern­ments in North­ern Cal­i­for­nia lever­age tech­nol­o­gy to dri­ve growth and suc­cess. Tyler began his career with M&I as an intern in 2002 and has become a leader in deliv­er­ing inno­v­a­tive solu­tions that enhance pro­duc­tiv­i­ty and improve cybersecurity.

A proud grad­u­ate of Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty, Chico, Tyler holds a degree in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Design with a focus on Infor­ma­tion Sys­tems and Com­put­er Sci­ence. He is also a Ford Schol­ar and recip­i­ent of the Ger­ald E. Bruce Com­mu­ni­ty Ser­vice Award from The Ford Fam­i­ly Foun­da­tion. Tyler has deliv­ered hun­dreds of hours of train­ing to thou­sands of peo­ple and cre­at­ed Clear­IT Acad­e­my, M&I’s on-demand learn­ing plat­form, to help orga­ni­za­tions max­i­mize their tech­nol­o­gy investments.

In addi­tion to his pro­fes­sion­al work, Tyler serves as Vice Pres­i­dent of the Pleas­ant Val­ley High School Music Boost­ers, rais­ing crit­i­cal funds for local music pro­grams. He is also an avid pho­tog­ra­ph­er, cap­tur­ing por­traits and land­scapes through­out North­ern California.

Lee Karp serves as Development Director for Northern Valley Catholic Social Service (NVCSS), where she leads fundraising, marketing, and donor engagement across six Northern California counties. Her work supports more than 60 programs that provide housing, mental health services, early childhood support, food access, disaster recovery, and more to communities throughout the North State.

She brings a unique mix of corporate experience and nonprofit passion to her work, grounded in storytelling, relationship-building, and a deep commitment to service.

When she is not organizing campaigns or connecting with community partners, Lee serves as a cantor and lector at her parish, helps with community parade floats, and enjoys life in the foothills with her husband and Mango, their rescue English Bulldog who strongly prefers naps to networking and believes the couch is the center of the universe.

Holly Swan is a Regional Manager for the Lassen Region of California Trout, a nonprofit organization working to revitalize waters for resilient wild fish and a better California. Holly has a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Environmental Planning and Resource Management, both from Chico State.  Her research involved understanding the barriers and constraints with policy changes around utilizing translocated beavers for ecosystem services and ecological health. Professionally, Holly comes from a background in environmental program management working in public, private, and nonprofit sectors.  One of her current projects is located on Big Chico Creek, restoring fish passage in Iron Canyon.  Holly has lived in Chico for 20 years and has strong ties to the local and surrounding communities. In her spare time, she enjoys backpacking, canoeing the Sacramento River, and dreaming of her next international trip.

Gayland Taylor received a Bachelor of Science degree in Fisheries from Humboldt State in 1970. He began working for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife soon after graduating. He was a game warden in the CDFW originally assigned to Ventura County, (Ojai). Along with his traditional warden duties and after transferring to Butte County in 1976, Gayland developed   a specialty in protection and restoration of anadromous fisheries and pollution enforcement.   He also served CDFW as Supervisor of the Environmental Enforcement before retiring after 30 years.

Gayland has served as a Member and Past Chair of the CDFW Fisheries Restoration Grants Program where he reviewed and oversaw the granting of millions of dollars of restoration grants focused on salmon and steelhead protection and enhancement throughout the State.  For the past 15+ years he has served as a legislative appointee for the California Advisory Committee on Salmon and Steelhead.

Gayland is married to Nancy, (50+ years) and has two sons, Brooks a biologist with Cal Trans and Bryan, a State Park Ranger.

Gayland’s many years working in Butte County and the North Valley on salmon protection and restoration has guided him to be a lifelong advocate for actions in Butte County that protect or restore salmon and steelhead populations.