UPCOMING FIXTURES
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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→ Click here for the Master List of Upcoming Events ←
TEAM LEADERSHIP 2026-27
THE STARTING LINEUP
- Team in Charge: Autralia Wallabies!
- Reporter: Charlie Snyder
- Microphones: Marci Ponder & Kevin Moretti
- Thought of the Day: Warren Locke
TEAM REPORT
Charlie Snyder took the mic in a shirt he was careful to price at about $19 off Amazon — "I'm not sure it's official Wallaby gear" — plus a hat he bought, does not intend to wear, and handed straight to Beau. On every table: an Australian-style licorice treat, made in Minnesota, which he declined to vouch for. Since the last report the team has held two meetings at Kalico Kitchen, collected more than $200 in gift cards for CASA volunteers, donated to the Chico Community Food Locker and PolioPlus, worked Blue Bag, and thrown a joint social at Sierra Nevada with Los Cóndores. Ahead: tonight's joint social at the Elks with the Germany Black Eagles, collecting money and food for the Chico State Wildcat Pantry, Marysville Rotary's Sod Busters fundraiser, Pasta on the Plaza for the Boys and Girls Club, and a hand at the Durham Rotary car show.
President Beau on the Wallabies: The Wallabies are the men's side, and they have won two World Cups. The women have come into their own more recently — no World Cup in 15s yet, but extraordinary sevens players, with one Sevens World Cup and roughly three other tournament titles to their name. Beau's verdict: good, solid rugby folks.
VISITING SIDES
- Mark Thorpe, Rotary Club of Paradise
- Rex Moseley (didn't sign in, but Charlie spotted him!)
IN THE GRANDSTAND
- Dean Fender, guest of Kiley Patterson
- Julie Kistle & Tina Keene, guests of Greg Blake
FROM THE SIDELINE
Almanor is closing.** Bill Chance reported 31 signed up as of the night before against a 40-person cap, with numbers moving both directions. Sept 12, and the decision needs making now.
Rose Krepelka on "Be Our Guest."** The Inspire School of Arts and Sciences annual fundraiser lands Saturday, Oct 3, themed after Beauty and the Beast. QR codes were on every table and on the wine raffle. Tickets and tables are still available — "we haven't done our big push yet, so this is the start" — and she plans one more visit before the event.
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.
TRIBUTES
Ed Anderson, at 90, shot his age or better for the 1,000th time.** The club played the local news package on it: Friday morning at Butte Creek Country Club, a seven-over-par 79, and Steve Jovanovski standing by to record it. Ed shot 38 on the front nine and put his first tee shot on the back into a creek — a playing partner told him he was working on his handicap, and Ed agreed. Asked what has kept him at the game, he pointed at the men he plays with: competition and camaraderie, and after 35 years pitching fast-pitch softball he needed the pressure. Asked what has kept him good at it, he pointed at his short game. "I don't hit it that far anymore. So if I don't get it on the green, that's fine."
He plays three times a week, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and sometimes Sundays if Connie wants to go out. The last time he shot over his age was five years ago, in the rain. The club put out a cake for him, and the members he plays with came to watch him par the last hole. He also mentioned, mid-conversation, that he had forgotten about the hole-in-ones: his tenth in June, his eleventh about four weeks later, his ninth five years before that. "They come in bunches. It has nothing to do with skill." Next up is the Rotary International Golf Show, in Toronto this year, which he noted may cost him a tariff in each direction. **Eight bells.**
Rose Krepelka was kept on her feet after the Inspire announcement, in front of a photo Beau admitted he had simply found and used. Maui with three friends — "no husbands, no snoring." Then the picture that needed explaining: Rose in full pirate costume, on horseback, on a treasure-hunt trail ride up at Meadowbrook with her friend Tammy, where riders dress the part, hunt buckets in the woods, and stamp a card at each one for a prize she rated as dorky. Retired three years, and full. She bought a place in Butte Meadows and had to buy her horse a companion, because he could not be up there alone. Asked for the thing she is proudest of, she did not go to the horses: Inspire has a campus, after years of work, and she thanked everyone who helped get it. **Eight bells.**
RUGBY KIT BAG
The prize was a $50 gift certificate to Rugby Best `[VERIFY: shop name — heard as both "Rugby Best" and "rugby vest"]`, the Etsy shop run by Greg Schneeweis, who was a guest at the club last week. It is rugby-focused, mostly shirts and sweatshirts, and the certificate expires at the end of the month — Beau's instruction to the winner was to use it before it does, or come see him about an extension. **Rick Nielsen** drew the winning ticket and was wearing his Rotary pin, which put the club's donation in play. Beau offered up the Food Locker, the one he uses for speaker donations, and that was that.
MATCH OF THE DAY
Blake handed the floor over immediately: you want the experts, not me. Julie Kistle walked the bond program from phase four into phase five — transitional kindergarten classrooms at Little Chico Creek, Emma Wilson, and Marigold, then the big three at Rosedale, Chapman, and Parkview, funded by the $239 million Measure C passed in 2024. All three share one prototype design, so the maintenance crews will not have to guess what is behind a wall. Tina Keene made the case for reading. Five percent of students find it effortless; 40 to 50% need explicit, sequential instruction. "Brains are not wired to read" — humans have been reading about 5,000 years and speaking for more than 50,000. She closed on Reading Pals, now spreading to Shasta County and Tahoe, and the volunteers who need none of the science to change a kid's year.
Blake's last word was to turn and find Kelly Staley in the back of the room, and thank her for the groundwork he inherited.
The club's thank-you donation was made to the Food Locker `[VERIFY: heard as "Catholic Ladies Food Locker"; the club's usual is the Chico Community Food Locker]`.
Photographer: Luke Miliron
