We are pleased to welcome Mike Sproull, founder and Executive Director of the Food Bank of EDC, as next week’s guest speaker. Mike established the Food Bank more than two decades ago and has grown it into one of the region’s most important safety-net organizations, serving individuals and families from El Dorado Hills to South Lake Tahoe.
Under his leadership, the Food Bank partners with more than 30 community organizations and operates programs such as free farmers’ markets, senior food boxes, and the “No Vet Goes Hungry” initiative. They also play a major role in emergency response — most recently during the Caldor Fire, when they provided food, water, and relief supplies to affected communities.
In 2023, the Food Bank of El Dorado County was honored as California Nonprofit of the Year, recognized by State Senator Joe Patterson for its exceptional service, community partnerships, and disaster-relief efforts.
Mike will share updates on current needs, challenges, and opportunities for community involvement. Please join us for an informative presentation about the work being done to fight hunger right here at home.
Let's honor Mike with a canned food drive by bringing canned items to our meeting. The Food Bank's holiday wish list includes stuffing, instant mashed potatoes, gravy packets, and canned goods such as cranberry sauce, corn, creamed corn, mixed vegetables, green beans, peaches and sweet potatoes. Please remember- no glass containers or expired items. A collection barrel is already in place at the CPCSD. Let's see if we can fill it up!
EDC Dept. of Transportation Director Rafael Martinez has more than 25 years of experience in transportation engineering and has led key county projects including the Mosquito Bridge and the Missouri Flat Pedestrian Overcrossing, and numerous safety improvement projects throughout the county.
Early in the talk Director Martines focused on the responsibilities and funding for the Transportation Department. These include bridge maintenance, drainage, snow removal, and vegetation management, especially after the Paradise fire. They oversee the maintenance and operations of public right of ways, including roadways, bridges, culverts and fleet management. They handle capital projects from planning to construction, often using in-house staff to keep costs low. Additionally, they manage new subdivisions with roadway or drainage components to ensure proper maintenance in the future.
Towards the end, Director Martinez answered questions from the members on various traffic issues in Eldorado County. The extremely busy, and sometimes gridlocked Highway 50 and Ponderosa/South-Shingle intersections are being evaluated for roundabouts versus signals, prioritizing efficiency and cost. Bass Lake Rd. is facing development pressures and efforts are underway to ensure new projects mitigate traffic impacts. A roundabout is being considered at Golden Foothill Parkway and Robert K. Matthews to improve traffic flow. The Diamond Springs Parkway project aims to alleviate congestion by redirecting traffic away from narrow roads. Bike paths and pedestrian lanes are being developed with state funding. Heights Drive between Royal and Heights Court is a dangerous spot that needs attention.
The members were very grateful to hear and get their questions answered by DOT Director Rafael Martinez.
(Pictured from left: Buckeye Union School District Superintendent David Roth, Ph.D., Area 6 Governor Don Fuller, Juliet, Principal Doug Shupe, and Assistant Principal Sara Matley.)
At our last meeting, the Rotary Club of Cameron Park proudly recognized Juliet, an 8th-grade student at Camerado Springs Middle School, as Student of the Quarter.
Superintendent David Roth praised Juliet’s leadership, kindness, and dedication, noting that even the school’s lunch lady nominated her-- a meaningful reflection of how she treats everyone on campus. Principal Doug Shupe shared that Juliet is the kind of student who stands out for all the right reasons. She works hard, engages fully, collaborates naturally, and leads quietly but confidently. Her teachers describe her as responsible, thoughtful, and consistently ready to learn.
Juliet maintains a 4.0 GPA and perfect attendance, yet her humility and positivity shine even brighter than her academics. Outside of school, she cares for her horses each morning, tends the family garden, and enjoys reading. Juliet exemplifies the very best of today’s youth: kindness, curiosity, responsibility, leadership, and heart. She makes her school and community better simply by being who she is.
In recognition of her outstanding achievements, Juliet received a Certificate of Achievement and a Barnes & Noble gift card. Congratulations, Juliet, on this well-deserved honor!
(Pictured from left- Principal Doug Shupe, Assistant Principal Sara Matley, Membership Chair Anne Eckert, District Administrative Assistant Kellee Sellwood, Superintendent Dr. David Roth, and Area 6 Governor Don Fuller.)
At last week’s meeting, corporate members from the Buckeye Union School District were proudly awarded their blue badges. In Rotary, earning a blue badge signifies that a new member has completed all the initial membership requirements and has advanced from red badge status to full club membership.
The club extended a warm and enthusiastic Rotary congratulations to each of them as they reached this meaningful milestone.
On November 6, the Rotary Club of Cameron Park proudly inducted Richard "Dick" Marshall, Lt Col, USAF (Ret) as our newest member. President Adam (Dick's son) had the honor of presenting him with his new blue badge and a Past President's pin.
Before joining our club, Dick was a dedicated member of the Rotary Club of West Sacramento for 41 years! He shared that one of his favorite Rotary moments was attending the Rotary International Convention earlier this year in Calgary, Canada with Adam, an experience that deepened their shared commitment to service.
Dick also brings a distinguished record of civil service in Flood Management, including 16 years as a Reclamation District Manager in Clarksburg. Additionally, his military service on Active Duty and in the Air Force Reserve included a full career of 20 years, with 83 combat missions over Vietnam.
While Dick will certainly be missed by his longtime friends in West Sacramento, we are delighted he has relocated to be closer to family and grateful he chose to become part of our Rotary family. Dick's last meeting with West Sacramento was in honor of Veterans Day, where he was recognized as the featured Veteran and gifted another Paul Harris contribution in his honor.
(Pictured from left: Anne Eckert, Roger Hassler, Dave Sargent, Don Fuller and Tom Elken.)
Welcome back, PDG Roger Hassler! We were delighted to see one of our beloved former members join us for a make-up at last week's meeting. Roger was a member of our club for seven years before moving to Idaho, where he now serves in the Rotary Club of Nampa. Our members thoroughly enjoyed catching up with him, and were were thrilled to welcome him during his short visit. We hope that next time he brings his wife, Angie, to join us as well.
On October 30 we hosted a Fireside Chat Evening Social to welcome new members and give everyone an opportunity to learn more about Rotary through fun and engaging activities lead by President Adam. A heartfelt thank you to member Marlyn Pino-Jones for graciously hosting the event, and to her friend, Melanie Vance, for helping make the evening such a success.
Rafael Martinez, EDC Dept of Transportation Director - Speaker
Kelly Carnahan, EDC Dept of Transportation, Administrative Assistant, Guest of Club.
Sandra Carlson, Guest of Marlyn Pino-Jones
Roger Hassler, Visiting Rotarian from Nampa Rotary Club in Idaho and former CP member.
Leo Fiori, Guest of Club
Mary Chan, Guest of Club
Mark Soto, Guest of Club
Lupe Young, Guest of Hal Young
Juliet, Student of the Quarter with her parents, Bo and Katelyn, and sisters-Sage and Bella, Guests of Club.
Featured Rotarian:
Due to time constraints, we skipped our Featured Rotarian this week.
Announcements:
Laurie Edwards: I recently received a $100 donation from the Pollock Pines/Camino Rotary Club for our social pizza night at the Community Observatory. The event has thus brought in $435 that we will be donating to the Observatory. Dave Sargeant: 1) I just wanted to announce that the Interact Club at Ponderosa High School has decided on their first project. They are going to help distribute Thanksgiving and Christmas food and with their partner the El Dorado County Food Bank. If there are adults who would like to join us, we can be part of the leaders standing next to the Interact kids. 2) Dan Gott is not here so, on his behalf, I will do an announcement on our Christmas Party and Auction coming up on December 4th. Just a reminder to everybody -- This is our biggest fundraiser of the year, so I want you to be thinking about friends and neighbors and people you can invite to join us for this very special event for this club. Tom will be sending everyone a flyer about this event.
Happy (or Not) Bucks
Rich Grieco -$79 happy for his 79th Birthday last week.
Dave Sargent - $10 happy for going to his first movie in a theater for a LONG time. Of course, it was a Springsteen biopic.
Roger Hassler- $20 happy for returning to his Cameron Park Rotary Club where he was a member for 6 years (cash donation). He's now a member of the Rotary Club of Nampa, ID
Laurie Edwards - $10 happy for her Birthday, and if anyone steps up to be Editor of the Gear Up, she would add $10 to that (as would Don Fuller add $10). But no one stepped up yet, so it's just $10 for Laurie.
Marlyn Pino-Jones - $10 happy that they fixed the partition doors at the CSD to make our meeting room a little more cozy.
Don Fuller - $20 happy to attend the District's Foundation dinner and to go to a Saturday meeting about Rotary Clubs in Action.
November 6 Meeting's Happy Bucks
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Tom Elken -$15 Happy for successful surgery. Gary Clarke - $20 Happy for going to Hawaii next week to present the family's Pearl Harbor Book at the Pearl Harbor National Museum. Dick Marshall - $100 to become a bell ringer. Kathy Thompson - $10 Happy for the fun social...
Birthdays in November
Rich Grieco
Ben Young
Laurie Edwards
Kathy Thompson
Stuart Warner
-----Spouse/Partners----
Alex Ho
Joshua Amador
Michelle Hamilton
Anniversaries in November
Shawn and Melody Khales
Rotary Join Date in November
Don Mai: 54 years
Bob Dorr: 44 years
Verne Sanders: 54 years
Cathy Dugan: 4 years
Upcoming Sergeant at Arms Assignments
Please arrive early, serve as greeter, take attendance via the sign-in roster at the front desk, lead the pledge, introduce guests, provide words of wisdom, and other duties as requested. If you are unable to serve, it is your responsibility to find a replacement and notify President Adam.
