Special to the Novato Advance
Think of the stamina and commitment it takes to be a triathlete. The variety of athletic skills is not even as impressive as the determination to just keep going. The effort is grueling but so rewarding.
Regina Bianucci Rus, a 30-year Novato resident and certified public accountant by trade, is the volunteer race director at the famed Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon – a race she has completed 22 times. Swimming, cycling, running for hours, and reaching one’s physical and mental limits.
The test of endurance is somewhat similar to Bianucci Rus’ steady and relentless contributions to Novato. Hour after hour, mile after mile.
The Novato Citizen of the Year Committee decided the time was right to toss rose petals in her path and let her break the finish-line tape. Bianucci Rus was named 2022 Novato Citizen of the Year during the annual City Birthday Party last Saturday (Feb. 25), an event held at Marin Country Club. The surprise announcement was made with many of her family members there to enjoy it with her.
“Her contributions to Novato are like social mortar – actions that help connect and strengthen the city and its residents,” said her husband Bill Rus.
Also, Sophia Osotio was honored as the first recipient of the Spirit of Novato Award, earned for her civic vast contributions during 2022.
The Citizen of the Year honor is almost an induction into a city hall of fame, a nod to those with a long legacy of public service and dedication to the community. Which local civic organizations has Bianucci Rus helped over the years? Generalizing, it’s quicker to just say “most of ‘em.”
Take a deep breath and reel these off: The Novato Chamber, Novato Human Needs (now North Marin Community Services), the Marin County League of Women Voters, School Fuel, the Presbyterian Church of Novato, the city’s Citizen’s Finance Advisory Committee, the city’s ad hoc Committee on Sustainability, Paint the Town Red (aka the City Birthday Party), Novato Theater, Marin Food Bank, and various Scouting troops and PTAs. If you attended the annual Fourth of July Buckaroo Breakfast, a tradition that goes back decades, you probably saw Bianucci Rus serving food or on KP duty. There were even more fundraisers, church-sponsored volunteer trips to Mexico, youth soccer coaching, speaking engagements, and one-off volunteering gigs.
Susan Mathews, the 2020 Novato Citizen of the Year, remembers when Bianucci Rus was part of the founding board of School Fuel in 2003.
“She was eager to use her time and talent to help build something lasting that would benefit all of the students in Novato,” Mathews said. “She continues to be a valued supporter and adviser, and she volunteers to help at many events. Her dedication and commitment have been inspiring.”
It isn’t just those things, Bill Rus said.
“It is also countless little things she does for others every day,” he said. “She is always thinking about things that make life better for others, and how those things might come to be. If there is a need, she just makes it happen. Sometimes she will get a new program going, see that it is successful, then ask somebody else to take it over so she can go off and start something else.”
Elizabeth Sleath, the 2009 Novato Citizen of the Year, calls Bianucci Rus “a gift to Novato” who is incredibly deserving of the annual honor.
“You may not recognize Regina, but there’s a good chance you have seen her,” Sleath said. “She would most likely have been in the background, volunteering at the many events where she helps out, unobtrusively but so efficiently. Or maybe she was swimming in the bay between Alcatraz and the coast, or maybe biking on the West Marin roads. What a talented, clever, accomplished lady.”
Even with one of her extracurricular passions, music, she filled a need.
The Las Gallinas Sanitary District Non-Marching Band, known for fun as The Sewer Band, needed a clarinet player. Bianucci Rus had played saxophone in high school, but with a month of practice learned the clarinet and began playing with the band. She now also serves as the band’s treasurer. She has enjoyed playing free concerts and special events throughout Marin alongside the sister she recruited, Deanne Harnett.
Bianucci Rus, a Marin resident since she was 4 years old, grew up in Marinwood and attended Terra Linda High School. She met Bill Rus while she was majoring in business at San Francisco State. The two were married and she finished her education at Golden Gate University. They moved to Novato two years later, in 1991, to raise their children, largely because of Novato’s sense of community. Sons Brian and Justin graduated college and have successful careers – both live in Novato – and daughter Annie is a sophomore at San Jose State University. Bianucci Rus’ father and his wife live in Novato, as does Bill Rus’ brother and sister and their families.
“Her clients are like family to her, too,” Bill Rus said. “She has started shifting her business so that she can become more involved in nonprofit work. I could see her as an executive director of a nonprofit at some point. She has always been generous with her time and will still support the clients she’s had for 20-plus years.”
It gets back to her record of endurance. Not surprisingly, she’s a long-distance open-water swimmer as well. Her father, Peter Bianucci, has been involved with the leadership of the famed Dolphin Club in San Francisco for decades. Her grandfather was a member as well. She not only swims in San Francisco Bay but also has a participated in team efforts at Lake Tahoe.
Novato to Regina: As Dory said in “Finding Nemo,” just keep swimming!
Suzanne Schmidt says
Congratulations Regina!! A well deserved award for all you do and have done for Novato and others.