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Sacramento Regional Mensa
Articles Spring - Summer 2009
A taped interview Words of Advice to our new president including from
Jim Werdell, local Mensan and President of Mensa International,
with advice to our new president, Barack Obama
Taped Video
Rod informs us that "Dorothy (Dottie) Grant passed away. She was 64. She was a very good friend of Martha."
Mensa Calgary RG, Canada
Mensa Calgary will be hosting a Regional Gathering in Banff, Alberta (Canada) on September 11, 12 and 13, 2009 at the luxury Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel surrounded by the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Please visit our website at www.mensabanffrg.com for registration details. A warm welcome awaits our fellow US members.
"What good is a superior mind without another superior mind to communicate with." Ashleigh Brilliant
Patricia Almost
SRM RG 2010
It's official now. I'm the RG chair for SRM's next RG, which is currently being planned for Spring 2010.
I will be holding our first RG Committee meeting at my house (in Orangevale) on Tuesday, June 16th at 7pm. If you haven't been here before, let me know and I'll email you directions.
My agenda for this meeting will include: fill as many volunteer positions as possible discuss the date, location, and theme for the RG
Filled Positions
| Position | Person |
|---|---|
| RG Chair | Joan Kodani |
| Hotel | David Scharlach |
| Registrar | Rod Baker |
| Games | Hugh Everett |
| Hospitality | Lesley James |
| Printed Material | Linda Holderness & Botttz |
| Webmaster | Sandy Feder |
| Program Committee members | John Reiger Bob Caldwell |
| Audio-Visual Coordinator | |
| Publicity | You? |
| Prizes | You? |
| Program Committee | You? |
Date and Location
It is my hope to hold the RG between mid-March and early April. I'd like to keep it away from the time of the Oregon RG (Debra will be letting us know when that will be). My thinking is to keep it at the Hawthorn Suites unless there are strenous objections.
Theme
Please give some thought to possible themes before the meeting so that we have something to start with.
Will you be joining us?
Please let me know whether you're planning on coming to the meeting. If you can't make it, but you're interested in participating, please let me know that too -- so we can work out the details off-line.
Hope to see you on the 16th!
Joan Kodani
Thank you to our Congratulations to our new officers for 2009! Leonore Proctor, Loc Sec
Sharrel Wyatt, Activities
Susan McIntire, Treasurer
Jerry Moore, Secretary
Rod Baker, Membership
Debra Reiger, Member at large
When you see these people, be sure to thank them for spending their time helping SRM.
US Mensa Election Results
Survey and Ballot Systems, our election house for the 2009 board election and amendments, reported the following certified results this afternoon. These results include 5,969 returned ballots from 44,090 eligible members with a final participation rate of 13.54%. It is also worth noting that 2,285 ballots were submitted via Web voting and 3,684 paper ballots were returned via regular mail.
Congratulations to all of the winners. To those who were not elected, thank you for being willing to serve Mensa; I hope that you will continue to be active members.
My thanks to the Election Committee members: Dave Collier, Megan Edwards, Lesley Slepner, Steve Slepner, AMC liaison Greg Timmers, and staff liaison Howard Prince
Best regards to all,
Deborah Henry
Election Chair
ElectionChair@us.mensa.org
The following individuals ran unopposed and were declared elected prior to the beginning of the election period: RVC 1 - Lori Norris; RVC 2 - Marc Lederman; RVC 3 - Betsy Mark; RVC 4 - Ken Silver; RVC 6 - Roger Durham; and RVC 8 - Debra Reiger.
Chair:
Elissa Rudolph 3837
Dave Swanka 1996
Elissa Rudolph is declared elected.
1st Vice Chair:
Dan Burg 3072
Cookie Bakke 2771
Dan Burg is declared elected.
2nd Vice Chair:
Craig Thighe 2081
John Recht 3643
John Recht is declared elected.
Secretary:
Heather Poirier 3904
Guy Conti 1831
Heather Poirier is declared elected.
Treasurer:
Cyndi Kuyper 3461
Cary Chilson 2291
Cyndi Kuyper is declared elected.
RVC 5:
Nick Sanford 408
Bertie Clarke 110
Nick Sanford is declared elected.
RVC 7:
Peggy Pannke-Smith 221
George "Bud" Martin 116
Peggy Pannke-Smith is declared elected.
RVC 9:
Lynda Evans 143
Clark Jones 217
Art Mattson 387
Art Mattson is declared elected.
RVC 10:
Thomas George Thomas 197
Mel Dahl 270
Mel Dahl is declared elected.
The following bylaw amendments were put before the membership. Each amendment required 2/3 of the voting membership to pass. You can find full text of these amendments online at http://www.us.mensa.org/election
Bylaw Amendment 1
For 4952
Against 269
Bylaw Amendment 1 passes.
Bylaw Amendment 2
For 3275
Against 1877
Bylaw Amendment 2 fails.
Bylaw Amendment 3
For 3370
Against 1757
Bylaw Amendment 3 fails.
Bylaw Amendment 4
For 4807
Against 315
Bylaw Amendment 4 passes.
Bylaw Amendment 5
For 4853
Against 339
Bylaw Amendment 5 passes.
Bylaw Amendment 6
For 4778
Against 396
Bylaw Amendment 6 passes.
Bylaw Amendment 7
For 3258
Against 1858
Bylaw Amendment 7 fails.
Bylaw Amendment 8
For 3161
Against 1920
Bylaw Amendment 8 fails.
Bylaw Amendment 9
For 3096
Against 2012
Bylaw Amendment 9 fails.
Bylaw Amendment 10
For 4395
Against 724
Bylaw Amendment 10 passes.
Link to our own U-Tube video about joining Mensa:
If you haven’t yet joined the Sacramento Mensa online group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MensaSacramento/ Give it a visit. This group is a convenient way to share information almost instantly for new interest groups or last minute get-togethers. Try it. You’ll like it!
Looking forward to seeing you at the Elks Brunch, Tower, Coffee, Games or any our many other activities this month.
by John Recht, Region 8 RVC
rvc8@us.mensa.orgAs the year comes to a close, this is a good opportunity for me to acknowledge all of the hard work of our Mensa volunteers in Region 8. I wish I could personally thank them all, but I have only enough space to thank by name the leaders of each of our Local Groups and my Assistant RVC. They are ably supported by literally hundreds of others, and I would like us all to remember to thank each Mensa volunteer, every chance we get. Volunteers do what they do for the love of it, certainly not for wealth or glory, and Mensa truly couldn't get along without them.
To each of you, my most heartfelt thanks:
Debra Reiger, Assistant RVC, Sacramento Regional Mensa
Denise Yancey, President, Mensa Alaska
Edward Ledger, LocSec, Mensa of Western Washington
Harold Ward, LocSec, Southwest Idaho Mensa
Lori Drake, LocSec, San Francisco Regional Mensa
Mark Mitchell, LocSec, Columbia River Mensa
Mildred Treherne, LocSec, EasternWashington/Northern Idaho Mensa
Robert McAllister, LocSec, Northern Nevada Mensa
Rosmaire Duffy, LocSec, Sacramento Regional Mensa
Ruth Parvin, LocSec, Oregon Mensa
Steve Bean, LocSec, Monterey County Mensa
Walt Bodley, LocSec, Redwood Empire Mensa
and likewise, I send my deepest thanks to Alan Winson, who just finished his term as LocSec of San Francisco Regional Mensa. My hat is off to you all!
Another item of note: please keep in mind that the postmark deadline for the 2008/2009 Mensa Foundation Scholarship Essay Contest is almost upon us. Entries are due by Jan. 15, 2009, and forms and information are available online at www.mensafoundation.org. There are actually two simultaneous contests, with an entry form for the general public and a separate entry form to compete for special Mensa member awards. If you have questions, please contact Diana Maul, Region 8 Scholarship Coordinator,
Finally, I invite interested members to take part in a Leadership Development Workshop (LDW) scheduled for Mar. 13-15, 2009, in Portland, OR. For information, check the Gatherings section of the Mensa Bulletin, or send me an email at rvc8@us.mensa.org. Hope to see you there!
John
Book review: Saving Grace
The book Saving Grace by Elk Grove resident Greg Cochran will take you on a journey with Jake Brodie as he travels to the past to unravel a mystery. Sitting alone on the beach in Pacifica, he is visited by an angel who tells him that he has been chosen to complete a task. Giving him no details, she tells him only that he will know when the time is right. To his surprise, he immediately finds himself back in 1938-same place, different time.
He meets his great-grandfather, who gives him a job and a place to stay, he comes to blows with his good-for-nothing grandfather and gets to see his father as an infant. He befriends Susan and her daughter Grace, and wrestles with his attraction for her.
Eventually, Jake learns that his mission is to find a local pedophile that has been kidnapping and abusing the children and then allowing their bodies to wash back to shore. With the help of Reverend Hershey-who will meet and baptize Jake in the future, the two pursue the mystery behind the missing children.
While it is not a religious book, it does have religious undertones, but not enough to offend the non-religious reader.
It was not overly predictable, and had an unexpected ending with a good message. I do think that this is a book worth reading.
Saving Grace is published by Amira Press and can be found at the Borders in Elk Grove and on Amazon.com. For additional information visit www.gregcochran.net
If you read this book and are interested in attending a discussion meeting with the author, let me know.
--Leonore
MEMBERSHIP NEWS
Rod Baker, Proctor Coordinator |
June Birthdays!
| Name | Birthdate |
| Justin Johnson | 1 |
| John Bakos | 3 |
| Robert Chrisman | 4 |
| Susan McIntire | 7 |
| Richard Rohlfing | 8 |
| Susan Aten | 9 |
| Fred Jones | 10 |
| Norton Lehner | 11 |
| Daniel Switlick | 12 |
| Lauren Kass | 12 |
| Benjamin Lewis | 15 |
| Charles Myrick | 15 |
| Joe Perfecto | 15 |
| Harold Robertson | 17 |
| Amanda Snell | 19 |
| Candace Garstang | 19 |
| Linda Luhman | 19 |
| Stephe Kershaw | 21 |
| John Reiger | 22 |
| Cynthia Zundel | 23 |
| Edward Clemow | 23 |
| Richard Dunn | 23 |
| John Lucero | 24 |
| Paul Jones | 24 |
| Stacy Vavul | 24 |
| Gregg Simard | 26 |
| Valerie Perry | 27 |
| Daniel Navarro | 28 |
| Dean Johnson | 29 |
| Susan Larson | 30 |