The Capital
Valley Chapter History
(Scroll
down for meeting info)
Chapter Beginnings as told by Ken Cordero of Superior Pool
Service, January 2003:
Our chapter was actually spun off the East Bay IPSSA (at that time it was
CAL-IPSA ) chapter. I don't know who contacted Paul Palubicki (who was the East Bay
President at the time), it might have been Don Aston of Chem Quip. Don was instrumental in
the formation of our chapter. Without Don our chapter would not have come together when it
did. Several meetings took place at the Holiday Inn on Date Avenue during the summer
of 1986. Present were Paul Palubicki, Don Aston, Rayanne Jones, Layne Holtz, myself and at
times one or 2 others. Paul gave us the information & support we needed to get our
chapter started and we held our first organizational meeting in October at General Pool
& Spa Supply when it was in North Sacramento on Lexington Street. Thanks to lobbying
on the part of Paul and Don, I was elected President of the chapter. Rayanne was elected
Vice President, Ron Kennedy Treasurer, & Tom Bristow Secretary. Rounding out the slate
were Craig Bylin as Program Chairman, and Johnny Palacio as Sergeant At Arms (can't you
just imagine a younger and rowdier Johnny as a Sergeant at Arms?!)
There were between 30 and 40 people at that first meeting. We continued to meet at wholesale distributors on a rotating basis until Rayanne secured the cavernous auditorium at the SMUD building at 65th street & U.S. 50. What a disaster! It proved to be too large & too formal for a group like ours & our membership attendance started to decline. We also started to experience a lot of division & argument from a group I called the L.A. boys. They didn't see eye to eye with most of us hometown guys. They finally took the hint & split after I told them that if they didn't like the way the chapter was being run, they could leave & start their own chapter or move back to L.A. I would name names but some of them are still in the pool business locally, and I have long ago made peace with most of them and I don't wish to open old wounds. I moved us back to meeting at wholesale distributors & instituted a quarterly meeting attendance requirement and our membership began to grow again. I had a lot of help from the other board members but even so, it was a lot of work getting the fledgling organization off the ground. At the same time I was trying to operate and grow separate pool service & hot tub & spa repair businesses. In February of 1988, IPSA & CAL-IPSA merged and Johnny Palacio, myself and our wives attended an organizational meeting in Santa Barbara. Johnny was the new chapter President, Paul Damato was the new Vice President, Ron Kennedy remained as Treasurer and I took over the job of Program Chairman. I don't remember who took on the job of Secretary. Late in 1987, a young Cleve Gray joined the chapter. Cleve and I attempted the first chapter newsletter. We also started meeting in a large room at the Sierra Inn on the corner of Fulton Avenue and Auburn Blvd. We started having speakers from outside our immediate industry such as Debby Meyers, the former Olympic swimming champion who spoke on drowning prevention & operates a local swim school.
So many old memories... In the summer of 1987
we had our first CAL-IPSA picnic. With help from chapter supporters like
Phil Gelhaus of General Pool & Spa Supply, & Sue Robach who was with
Arneson Products at the time, the picnic and barbecue was held in East Portal
Park and was a smashing success. We had a great game of softball and Phil and
Sue were the two best players on the field. Some other notable memories: Celia
Hugueley and her sister Debbie Condict joining the chapter in 1988. It took
me a while to learn their names so for a while I called them the Grass Valley
Girls. It didn't take long for them to learn the pool service business and step
into leadership roles in the chapter, especially Celia, who has been a sparkplug
for this chapter. Paul Damato became President in 1990 and I dropped off the
Board. Due to the efforts of Ron Zapolsky of Folsom Pool Service, we moved our
meeting site to the present location in 1989 the VFW Hall on Kruithof Way).
In 1992 Jack Emlay became our new chapter President. I believe Jack has been
on our board of directors ever since. Dave Metz became President in 1994. In
1996 it was George Stevenson who has also served on the board of directors ever
since. In 1998 it was Mike Panico and in the year 2000 to the present, our only
two term President, Mike "the Poolman" Stinson.
In 2003
Karl Eggers of Deep Blue Pool Service was elected President and served until
2005.
Scott Houseman of Leisure Time Pool Service is our current President.
Thanks Ken!
Meeting Information
We meet the first
Wednesday of every month at the VFW hall at 8990 Kruithof Way in Fair Oaks (we
occasionally change the date due to holidays).
If you are coming from Hwy 50, take the Hazel Ave. exit, North.
Just after La Serena Drive you will turn right onto a little road, Kruithof Way
(there is a VFW sign there).
We are at the end of the road. Little League is in progress during the spring.
Please be cautious of the children.
Pizza and social time: 6:30 pm.
Meeting starts at 7pm, sharp.
Potential members are invited to join and do not need an invitation. Just show up and be ready to learn!
