Team in charge: Team Velocity
Team Captains: Nancy Mendonca & Heather Short
Invocation and Pledge: Ed Anderson
Reporter: Margaret Reece
Photographer: Phil Rowberg
Microphones: John D’Ewart & Gabe Eggan
Greeters: Team Velocity
Visiting Rotarians
Geralyn Sheridan, Chico Sunrise President-Elect
Guests
Evan Tuchinsky brought Scott Blow
Ken Dickson brought Tony Sabett
Mike Mays brought Jim Stevens
Kathy Lynch brought her cowboy poet, Jim Lynch
Leanne Chrisman brought Anecia Johnson
Announcements and Upcoming Events
· March 14: Chico Sunrise Club's St. Patrick’s Day gala; Geralyn brought save the date cards and has posters available for windows. Our Centennial project is a beneficiary! It's 5:30 p.m. at the BMU.
· March 21: District 5160 Spring Assembly in Red Bluff.
· April 4: Spring Work Day at Centennial Park.
· April 7: no meeting (dark due to work day).
· April 14: Centennial Kickoff Event, speaker will be Rotary International Foundation Trustee Jennifer Jones. Look for an email on tickets.
· April 17-19: Wine Tour
· April 24: Bird House Build, Masonic Lodge
· May 1-3: District Conference in Redding
· May 3: Omelet Brunch. President Glen reiterated that he expects all hands on deck. We need to staff this without relying heavily on outside volunteers. A club of over 180 members should fill 130 slots!
· Trivia question – which downtown hotel regularly hosted club meetings – drew the most correct responses so far. (Answer: Hotel Oaks.) Winner was Pat Conroy ... called back to his feet later, see below.
· Troy Kidd said the ski race is coming together Feb. 27 & 28. Training is happening on the 27th and the race is happening on the 28th. The training is the most important part. Chico Rotary has participated in quite a few races in the past, even winning. Scoring is based on age so we have a good chance. Anyone interested will head up on Thursday, and ski on Friday. Adult beverages may be involved. Skiing is taking place at North Star. See Troy or Pat Conroy with questions.
· Black badge for Michelle Sereda. Congratulations!
· President Glen said hello to less frequent visitors Stan Thompson and Todd Shelton.
· Nancy Mendonca gave the Team Report. Team 
Velocity had an amazing Christmas party at Katy Thoma’s home with all the things… great food, drink, beautiful decorations and singing. They also have great team meetings with lots of participation and are organizing two new projects before the end of the year. Some of the team helped with the Paradise crab feed and recently had pizza and beer as a last minute social at Nancy’s house. They had another social coming up Thursday.
Community Service Award
Ed Anderson and Joe Wilson presented the Community Service Award, which Ed feels is the most prestigious award this club can give. It has to be earned by someone going above and beyond, and is a very special award with a deep history.
Joe introduced the award recipient: his friend Farshad Azad. Mr. Azad is deeply involved in our community. He is selfless, kind, looking for opportunities to help, and runs toward a disaster to help others in need. Recently that included setting up a temporary shelter at his business which housed 80 people and their pets for over 3 weeks after the Camp Fire. He is world recognized athlete and a successful business owner, involved in Boys and Girls Club and is currently Chair of the North Valley Community Foundation, among many other things.
Mr. Azad said the honor means so much to him. He was blindsided by Joe and was very surprised. He first came to Rotary with Harlen Adams in the late 1980s while still a student. He also came about 10 years ago when he spoke about Greek life at Chico State. He thanked the Chico Rotary Club from the bottom of his heart for the award and for our belief in what he has done for our community.
Fine Time and Recognition
Mark Pierce: President Glen had quite a few pictures of Mark. He’s been having fun as Secretary this year, and time is flying. He’s excited to be part of the Centennial project. Mark just got back from Charleston and Savannah for vacation and work; he and his wife walked a lot. This was Mark’s birthday – he said he’s one year closer to a dirt nap. We sang Happy Birthday to him, of course. 8 bells
Cindy Foor: A picture of her and her husband was 
shown; they are getting ready to move back into her house finally, and she thanked Cathy Lynch for helping with that. It took a while to get back in, and they are happy to be getting back to normal. Last year they went on a cruise through the Mediterranean and spent time in Tuscany. She’s getting ready for the Wine Tour, which she so adeptly organizes every year! 8 bells
Pat Conroy: A beautiful family picture at the beach was available, showing kiteboarding in the Baja. Most vacations these days involve kiteboarding with his boys. His older son is working with him, which is a blessing. His other son is in Seattle where he’s a banker for Wells Fargo. 7 bells
Raffle.
Mark Pierce was the winner on his birthday – didn’t pull the joker but got $20.
Program
Shelby Chase introduced the speaker, Dan Gonzales, who came with Nicole Carter (right in photo) to speak about Meriam Park. Dan also owns Fifth Sun, which is going very well. He spends some time at Fifth Sun but 60-70% of his time over at Meriam Park, his master planned community, the progress of which he described.
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