UPCOMING FIXTURES
Tue, Sept 1 - Dr. Joan Schumann, Northern California Literacy
Tue, Sept 8 - Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea
Sept 11-13 - Almanor Weekend - still a few spots open!
Tue, Sept 15 - Scott Dinits, Ability First
Tue, Sept 29 - Tim O'Connell, Rescue 42
Sat, Nov 14 - Surf & Turf Dinner (Club Work Day)
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TEAM LEADERSHIP 2026-27
THE STARTING LINEUP
- Team in Charge: Chile Los Condores!
- Reporter: Megan Page & Marc Evans
- Microphones: Pat Macias & Pat Conroy
- Thought of the Day: Matt York
TEAM REPORT
Co-captain Becky Brown reported for Chile Los Condores, flying high since July — starting with a first team meeting at The Roost. ("Condors? Okay.")
They held a scrum in the form of a coffee walk in Bidwell Park — five attendees, one of them a dog — and a social with the Wallabies at Sierra Nevada, pizza and beer included, with thanks to Kevin Moretti for the invitation. The team donated funds to the Chico Memorial Library Collection, with thanks to Toni Scott for setting it up. A volunteer day to help Inspire move was tabled in favor of a bigger job ahead: shade 
structures.
Next up, a social at Pickle and Pong. Asked how Inspire's ribbon cutting went last week, Becky called it absolutely amazing and thanked everyone who came. Her close: "Go Los Condores!" Co-captains are Becky Brown, Pat Macias, and Megan Page.
President Beau on Los Condores: Founded in 1935 — later than the British Isles, Australia, and New Zealand, rugby having taken its time reaching South America — Chile's national side takes its nickname from the Andean condor: strength, endurance, and high-flying national pride.
A South American powerhouse, by Beau's telling, with a historic first World Cup appearance in France in 2023. “They have been getting better over the years.”
VISITING SIDES
- Rex Moseley, Rotary Club of Oroville
- Amber Tromblee, Apple Valley
IN THE GRANDSTAND
- Mike Dominick II, guest of Marc Evans
- Adeka Carrillo, guest of Ken Dickson
- Kim Stine, guest of Matt Cross
- Lauren McSwain & Alex Triantafyclou & Greg Schneeweis, guests of Beau McSwain
- Owen Belitz & Sean McCreary, guests of Pat Conroy
Michael Dominick is in the midst of coming in as a member, per Beau. Owen — once coached by "the renowned" Beau McSwain and Mitch Jagoe — delivered the tidbit of the day: his coaches won a national championship as players. Beau confirmed: 2002, Third Division, a 19-0 undefeated season, and both he and Mitch were on that team.
Sean 
McCreary has now had quite a few lunches here and, per Pat, still has no idea what they cost. At the head table: First Lady Lauren; Alex Triantafilou, who with his wife Mary coached the Chico State women's program for many years and two collegiate national championships; and Greg Schneeweis — by Beau's reckoning the only person in the room to have played for the U.S. Eagles, our national team.
FROM THE SIDELINE
Team Competitions
Phil Aviles rolled out the first month's challenge results: the New Zealand All Blacks ousted the South Africa Springboks, the Australia Wallabies took down Chile Los Condores, and the Trinidad & Tobago Calypso Warriors posted the biggest point total of the month over Germany.
August is a clean slate — everyone back to zero, so a slow July costs nothing in the long run.
Per Phil, “There's been so much enthusiasm to team activities — let's keep the momentum rolling.”
August Blood Drive.
Beau's update on the head-to-head blood drive for Michael Lawrence:
11 successful donations, 4 future appointments, and it all counts toward team points through the end of August.
Remember: three points per person who donates, plus another three points per person you recruit — spouse, family, friend, colleague!
Beau's Backyard BBQ - September 22 - at the Moretti's
Charlotte Hall explained the event. It's no picnic," she said. “We sit at tables with linen.”
Here are the details:
September 22
5:30 p.m. - Drinks & Appetizers
6:30 p.m. - Dinner
Menu: Appetizers, Salad Bar, Ribs, Chicken, Portuguese Beans, Roasted Potatoes, Ice Cream
Open Bar: Beer, Wine, Seltzer, Signature drink, sparkling water, water
$30 for Adults, $15 for Teens
FREE for children under 10.
We have a Square reader - bring your credit card or checkbook on Tuesday!
No noon meeting that day; the Barbecue is the meeting of record.
Harvest Dinner on the Covered Bridge - October 10!
Cynthia Perrine announced the Northern California Regional Land Trust's Harvest Dinner — about 30 years running, her fourth 
with the organization — lands somewhere special this year: the Honey Run Covered Bridge, October 10.
Sponsorships and tickets are available now.
Margarita Mix-Off- April 10, 2027!
Robert Delgardo is bringing the club the event that was the Active 20-30 Club's biggest fundraiser of the year, one that raised around $20,000 annually.
The format: six to eight bars mix their best margarita, and your ticket is your vote for the winner at the end of the night. Live band, taco trucks — a taco or burrito is included in the ticket — and usually a photo booth.
The venue is already reserved and the date is firm: April 10, 2027. Emails asking for help have started going out; reply, or email Robert directly to get involved.
Chico Rotary Directory Update: Alberta Simic
Alberta Simic's email is printed incorrectly in the Chico Rotary Directory. The correct email for Alberta is: albertasimic@gmail.com
TRIBUTES
Robert Delgardo took the stand first — or, per Beau's AI-generated slide, "Carlos Delgado" did. The corrected slide showed Robert mid-rugby-run being tackled by Jamie, his girlfriend of going on three years, with their cats Leo and Simon in frame.
The real news: a work trip to Chicago with three Cubs games at Wrigley — he caught them beating the Yankees and the Dodgers, "which was just beautiful to see" — and a side pilgrimage to One Rotary Center in Evanston, where tours weren't running but he looked around anyway. He's six weeks into building a shed (roof went on yesterday), and a Fort Bragg fishing run limited out on rockfish and lingcod.
He plays drums in a jazz group and in a band called Sky's Out, Thighs Out — short shorts, songs about summer, all covers — with a final show September 4 at The Commons that's already at least one team's social. Beau noted that rugby people fully endorse the thighs-out principle.
Twelve bells.
Cynthia Perrine followed — Cindy or Cynthia, "depends on when you met me," one of the hazards of moving back to your hometown. Her working life is the stuff of a nature documentary: she strings mist nets across bogs and catches bats, and has held 18 of the 24 bat species of western North America.
The whole family is vaccinated for rabies — one daughter opened a GoFundMe for her own shots at age 10.
Her photo reel ran from the Paddle Babes' All Saints Day paddle on the Sacramento River, where she dressed as her favorite saint to a Star Wars-themed legislator's office in Sacramento, where she was working legislation with the Yurok Nation's tribal historic preservation officer last month. Every July the family leaves town for the coast and she visited Rotary clubs up and down the Central Coast. Her son, Patrick, started at Inspire on Monday and he's pretty excited.
Asked for something we don't know about her, she noted the turkey-calling championship was already public: "I'm not sure I can beat that one."
Sixteen bells.
RUGBY KIT BAG
For National Ice Cream Pie Day, ticket 4337756 won a Schubert's ice cream pie — a product Beau insists is real over the objections of both Lauren and Leah.
The winner was Bob Bracewell — birthday last Saturday, a fellow Leo with Beau and Lauren, who got a belated happy birthday and, at his evident preference, no singing.
The room's verdict on the prize: hardly fair, since his wife's cooking beats Schubert's anyway.
He was wearing his pin, which sent the club's donation to Chico Meals on Wheels.
MATCH OF THE DAY
Mitch Jagoe's rugby life runs from Gridley — where his high school football coaches introduced him to the game in 1987 — through the presidency of the Chico Mighty Oaks and their 2002 national championship, then a decade coaching Chico State's D-I men to multiple national top-20 finishes.
Since 2012 it has been all youth. The program he founded after a 2011 clinic drew 91 kids now fields teams from U10 through high school, and in 15 years has never turned a player away over money — the Chico Rugby Football Club 501(c)(3) funds a stack of scholarships every year.
The high school boys just completed a NorCal Division II three-peat and the girls brought home their first NorCal title, but the tours say more: Ireland in 2024 (57 travelers, "about 18 too many parents"), the boys to Italy and the girls to New Zealand this year.
The line he keeps closest came from a Chico State captain: "They care more about making us better men than better rugby players." In season, home matches typically run Saturdays at Pleasant Valley High from about 10 a.m. - see their Facebook page here for more detail and updates.
The club's thank-you donation was made in Mitch's honor to the Chico Food Locker.
Photographer: Tyler Smith
