Charlie Thieriot and former refuge manager Joe Silveira take us on a virtual tour of Rancho Llano Seco, 17,767 acres along the Sacramento River.
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Rancho Llano Seco is a historic 17,767-acre multi-purpose family ranch in southwestern Butte County, bound by the Sacramento River to the west. Llano Seco may be considered Northern California's last Rancho. Charlie and Joe will present on Llano Seco Rancho's environmental, land management, farm operations, and natural history, with wildlife and landscape photos for our virtual tour.
Charlie Thieriot is CEO of Parrott Investment Company and a direct descendant of John and Abbie Parrott. He has served in leadership with the Northern California Water Association since 2021.
Joe Silveira spent 36 years working in natural resources conservation — over 29 years with the US Fish & Wildlife Service, where he served as a Wildlife Biologist, and later as the Wildlife Refuge Manager, for Sacramento River NWR and the Llano Seco Unit.
UPCOMING FIXTURES
Tue, Oct 13 - Dr. Cynthia Daley, Center for Regenerative Agriculture & Resilient Systems
Tue, Oct 20 - Karin Lightfoot, World Polio Day
Tue, Oct 27 - Chico Housing Action Team presentation
Tue, Nov 3 - Captain David Kim, Salvation Army
Tue, Nov 10 - Melissa Schuster, Burnt Barn Distillery
Annabel Grimm, public service and recreation, co-captains the All Blacks with Andy Amaro and Karli Olsen. She gave the team report and kept it short. The team has been "kicking butt, literally and figuratively." They have been socializing, drawing great turnout to team meetings, and lining up some fun projects. The All Blacks, she said, are excited and “ready to haka on out.”
President Beau's rugby history minute. Beau named Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, and Jonah Lomu as arguably the three best All Blacks ever to play the game. Lomu, at about 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, could run like the wind and had great balance. “He was a beast.”
VISITING SIDES
Carl Ochsner, Chico Sunrise Rotary
Rex Moseley, Oroville Rotary
IN THE GRANDSTAND
Tim Hawkins, guest of Kate Steffan
Marc Breckenridge, guest of Lizzy Young
Dean Fender, guest of Kiley Patterson
FROM THE SIDELINE
Thank you for the BBQ.
Beau said nobody could have asked for better weather or better food at last week's BBQ, and singled out Kevin Moretti and family for the cooking and hosting, Jeni Moore for the decorations and setup, Charlotte Hall for the preparation and food, and Kiley Patterson, "the most important person," for taking care of the bar.
National VFW Day.
It was also National VFW Day, and Beau tied it to the club's Veterans Memorial project. Tim O'Connell started it, and Dan Andreasen has taken it over.
A crew went out a couple of weeks ago and finished one section, and by the end of the day, Beau said, it looked really good. "It's starting to take shape down there."
Chico Community Scholarship Association. Kelly Crane, business services, retired bookkeeping, is back at the rear table selling tickets for the CCSA happy hour fundraiser: Thursday, Oct 8, at 5 p.m., at Canyon Oaks, a new venue this year. CCSA runs the club's scholarship program, from selecting the students to making sure they get their money. Tickets are $40 for hearty appetizers and what Kelly called "old home week in Chico" — you'll see everybody you know. Tim O'Connell mentioned later that his wife, Celia, is CCSA's current president.
Inspire's wine raffle.
Charlotte Hall, business services and marketing, said a few seats remain for the Inspire School of Arts and Sciences fundraiser Saturday, Oct 3. Inspire is also raffling 30 bottles of wine with a total value over $1,000, at $20 a chance. See Rose Krepelka.
Swing for Change.
Kate Stefan had her guest, Tim Hawkins, stand up for the Community Action Agency of Butte County's golf tournament, Saturday morning, Oct 3, early enough to make Inspire afterward. Proceeds go to the North State Food Bank, Esplanade House, and the agency's other programs that fight poverty. New this year is a semi-professional heckler on hole 10. Meeting day was the last day to sign up. Beau admitted he had never heard the term "semi-professional heckler" before.
Target Shopping Spree.
Charlie Snyder, education, Chico Unified Teachers Association, has everything bought and ready for Wednesday, Oct 7, 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Target. Seventy-three high school students signed up to help and only 50 can go.
He needs 10 to 12 more Rotarians. Each one is paired with two Interact students and a Chico Unified student in need, with a $200 gift card to shop for winter clothes.
Afterward the kids get a Happy Meal and you go home. "If you haven't done it, it is an easy event."
Cynthia Perrine brought President Beau socks from Denver's professional women's side, the Denver Onyx. September is her birthday month, and her tradition is to donate books to the library in the president's name. Last year's theme, MTV, was a struggle. This year, in Beau's name: R is for Rugby, an alphabet board book for little kids; Rugby Made Simple, an introduction for moms and dads; and A Game for Hooligans: The History of Rugby Union, a title she suspects they consulted Beau on. All three go to the Paradise branch of the Butte County Library, with a nameplate recognizing Rotary and Beau. The Northern California Regional Land Trust's Harvest Dinner is Saturday, Oct 10.
World Polio Day.
Leanne Chrisman's event is Saturday, Oct 24, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Rotary Centennial Park. She thanked Kevin Moretti for tables and chairs, Danie Schwartz for social media, and Dino Corbin for radio spots. The porta-potties, sound system, cookie walk, coloring booth, and glitter stickers are all sponsored by Brandi Laffins, Warren Locke, Jeni Moore, and Paradise Rotary.
Surf & Turf.
The November dinner is about 80% sold on tables, per Heidi Musick, with $3,000 and $1,500 tables still available.
Individual tickets aren't on sale yet, and if the full tables sell out, there won't be any.
RUGBY KIT BAG
It was National Coffee Day, so the prize was a little something from Stoble.
Ticket 433-7633 belonged to Sima Saboury, who was wearing her Rotary pin, which triggered the club's $40 donation.
She pointed it toward the Chocolate Fest. Beau: "I'm good with that."
BLACK BADGE
Beau opened with "I don't have to show you any stinking badges!" and couldn't keep a straight face.
Linda Zorn received her black badge, Megan Page her green badge, and Michael Dominick his red badge and regular badge.
NEW TEAMMATE
Kiley Patterson sponsored Dean Fender and introduced him.
He was born and raised in Iowa, earned a bachelor's degree in business management, and served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, 10 in healthcare and 10 in recruiting. He and his family then made Paradise home, where he owned and operated a technology firm for 20 years. Dean and his wife, Pamela, will celebrate 49 years of marriage in January. They have three grown children, Sarah, Jacob, and Jesse, and five grandchildren, and have lived in Chico since the Camp Fire.
He served 12 years on the Paradise Chamber of Commerce board, nine as treasurer, and on the town's Economic Development and Measure C committees. He joined Paradise Rotary in September 1997 and served as membership chair, on the club board for several terms, and on the Paradise Rotary Foundation board, four years as its president. He is a three-time Paul Harris Fellow, a member of the Polio Plus Society, a District Assistant Governor from 2014 to 2016, and a graduate of the District Rotary Leadership Academy.
His Rotary motto: "Boy, am I enthusiastic about Rotary." Dean told the club, "I know exactly what a dedicated group of neighbors and friends can accomplish." He joins the Germany Black Eagles.
TRIBUTES
Kareem Abouzeid, retail sales, auto body and painting, took the stand. Beau has known him a long time and said he has been crushing it since joining, including hosting the club's blood drive at his body shop. Kareem opened with a photo from after the Camp Fire, when Guy Fieri came up and cooked and Kareem's crew helped serve a big Thanksgiving dinner for veterans. Next came his grand-doggy, "one of several," and a classic photo of his mom and dad. His older daughter, Isabella, is 25 ("makes me feel old") and has three dogs, with a couple of cats on top of that. He sold his Jeep but has a side-by-side, a couple of dirt bikes, and a couple of street bikes.
Asked for something the club doesn't know about him, Kareem was stumped, so Beau pointed to the Best of Chico 2025 poster outside Kareem's shop. Kareem said the shop has finished in the top three for nine years running, and with voting still open, he's hoping to make it 10.
Twelve bells.
MATCH OF THE DAY
Tim O'Connell, a Chico Noon Rotary member since 2004 and the founder of Rescue 42, offered two titles for his talk: "The Accidental Businessman," or "How in the heck did we get here from there?"
He came to Chico State from St. Helena in 1976, was by his own account a screw-up, and joined the Navy: nuclear training, then four years on the smallest submarine in the fleet, which once surfaced through 7 feet of ice at the North Pole. Back in Chico, a brake mechanic who was also the volunteer fire chief asked him, "Are you bored?" Tim stayed four decades.
When a rescue ram punched through a rusted rocker panel, he built a fix in his garage that firefighters named the O'Connell Plate. In 1995 the country's largest fire equipment dealer told him to get a business license, and he named the company for his helmet number. At an Indianapolis fire show, Tim and a stranger worked out a portable satellite unit on six bar napkins. During the Camp Fire, he said, it was the only internet in Magalia. Today Rescue 42 builds portable cell towers for AT&T and Verizon, the smallest in a 50-pound case that checks onto an airliner and gives five bars in five minutes.
Photographer: Dane Bracewell
(apologies for the delay in sending this week's newsletter!)
Inspire School of Arts and Sciences fundraiser Saturday, Oct 3. Inspire is also raffling 30 bottles of wine with a total value over $1,000, at $20 a chance. See Rose Krepelka.
