Dec 27, 2011

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
December 26, 2011

The club was dark for the Christmas holiday.

Dec 22, 2011

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
December 19, 2011


Twas the week before Christmas - December’s last meeting.
We pledged and said grace For what we were all eating –
A wizened old hot dog On a crusty wheat bun
Potatoes and salad with cookies for fun.

“Let’s start five minutes early ”Greg said, so that we
Could vote on a challenge to the newest DG
We all voted “Aye”- It’s too early to tell ,
But our next DG could be Kim Bauriedel

Gregg Gardiner thanked all Who gave Toys for Kids
It’s A wonderful Christmas For tots on the skids.
John Fullerton quit His treasurer’s post
His successor Scott Guild Vowed to give it his most.

“I was glad for the job” We heard John say
And equally glad to give it away”
Kurt Barthel chairs the board at St. Bernard’s School
And is $95 poorer , which seems rather cruel.

Joan Davies answered Greg’s desperate pleas
And freely admitted a trip overseas.
She learned acupuncture had a very good time
But for her confession got stuck with a fine.

Mike Martin was a news story on ABC
Detecting for coins over the sea.
He had found an old spoon the ancient ones hid,
Then dug up $100 for Backpacks for Kids

Next was our program, former spook Jerry Hale
Which if they weren’t all stamped “secret”, could tell us a tale…
An NSA cryptographer who worked secretly
He said NSA stands for “No Such Agency”

“I make codes and break codes” he went on to say
“And our agency’s bigger than the whole CIA”
Then putting a finger aside of his nose
Greg Pierson brought the meeting to a close.

He was chubby and plump a right jolly old elf
And we laughed when we saw him in spite of ourself
But we heard him exclaim as he went out of sight
“No meeting next week, and enough with the short jokes, Ingham...”


 


 


Dec 12, 2011

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
December 12, 2011


What you missed: Honey ham, properly cooked green beans, mashed potatoes, a salad with mixed greens and feta in a vinaigrette, and a white cake with chocolate frosting.

Former Rotarian and infrequent visitor Ron Pilleggi was picked by our fearless leader to do the flag salute.  Dan Heinen gave the invocation.   

Members of the EHS Limited Edition Choir
Young people in black pants, maroon vests and at least in one case, white spats, were sprinkled about the room. I didn’t even know they made spats anymore.  Maybe they are coming back.   They were the Limited Edition, the elite singing group from Eureka High School, led by Mr. Young, the gregarious music teacher.  They were first up, because they had to get back to school, and sung such favorites as “What Child is This”  Let it Snow, I’ll be home for Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock”.

Matthew Owen’s daughter Molly sang a solo.  They followed with the humorous “Twelve Days After Christmas” which included the slow strangulation of two turtle doves.  Mr. Young announced that the group was going to Fullerton in March to attend the vocal jazz festival there.  Additional funding would be nice.  He’d like to send them to France or Italy next year. I’d like to go too.  They ended with my personal favorite “Carol of the Bells” which, as we all know, is about a hunchback named Carol who is confined to the bell tower of Notre Dame.  The football team rescues her at the end of the song.  It was rousing.   

Recognitions included Matthew Owen for his daughter’s solo, John Bradley for his 45th anniversary, and Wayne Wilson for his 57th.  Our exchange student from Brazil gave a glowing report of the truckers’ parade, which we then recognized Brian Papstein for, who in turn singled out Dale Warmuth, whose efforts on behalf of the Boys and Girls Club were rewarded by the proceeds from the Parade being donated to the teen center.   

Bob Robinson, new varsity basketball coach at EHS came to the podium to accept a $2,000 check to sponsor the Logger Classic.    

Steve Justus then gave a very thorough five-minute introduction to our newest Paul Harris Fellow Stephanie Rupp Haley.  She is Bruce Rupp’s daughter.   

Matthew Owen was then asked to stand once again because he helped Wells Fargo Bank dole out $10,000 to local teachers.  His wife Virginia Bass was just appointed chair of the board of Supervisors.  

In a remarkable milestone Greg Pierson managed to become the first president ever to have Limited Edition as his program and fail to let the club out early.  This just in: spell check has revealed the true names of  the following: Greg Piercing, Ron Pillage, Dan Heifer, Matthew Oxen, Dale Warmth, and Brian Pap stein.  The name “Rupp” passed inspection.

‘Til next time,
Hank Ingham




Supervisor Bass & Chuck Ellsworth




Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
December 5, 2011


What you missed if you didn’t go:  Chicken Fricassee , a salad with frozen cucumbers in it, black beans and rice (whose proteins complement each other) and a moist brownie with nuts.  The president has a tendency to speak in a low soft voice and mumble, but only Jim Howard has the courage to bring it up, so for the sake of the narrative, we will be using “MMM” for the names we couldn’t hear.   

MMM led us in the pledge.  Ryan Fray then gave the invocation.  It was short, like the person standing next to him.  








Our Prez introduced MMM and MMM, who had provided musical accompaniment to our lunch.  Greg announced that Jim Howard was 96 or 97, and that the fire marshal had put a stop order on the cake.  He then revealed a brazen theft:  Jim’s Birthday Hammer had been purloined by the Southwest Club.  Photos showed Nancy Kay with the stolen object. No action was taken because we all know you don’t need a tool to get hammered.  



Kim Bauriedel came up to announce once again that he hadn’t been chosen to be District Governor, and that instead, they picked MMM from another more southerly club.   







Carlton Nielsen then said something about “guests from our Russian Clubs.” And then wandered away. 








Mike Cunningham reminded us that the Rotary Christmas party will be held at the Ingomar Club on Friday 12/16.  Attire is business casual.   








MMM (Aaron Tilch?) gave his craft talk.  It started out well.  He’s an outdoors person, loves fishing, builds and restores cars…then he mentioned the goats.  Apparently he has goats that come with him on camping trips and carry all his stuff.  He scoffed at horses and mules and sung the praises of his loyal companions.  They don’t wander off, except occasionally into the belly of a Grizzly.  He also mentioned that the Coast Guard saved his life, which would have been a great transition to our program.  But no.   

Sally Arnot announced that Humboldt Arts Council’s historical building ornament for 2011 was The Shanty, a fixture in Old Town for the rougher crowd.  Or maybe it was the Eureka Bank.
Did they have topless dancing? 

On to recognition.  Jim Howard won $1400 at a local casino.  Ryan Fray went to Hawaii. John Fullerton went to Las Vegas.  The raffle happened then we went to the program.  



Captain MMM (aka CMDR Fuller)commands 250 Coasties in our area.  Or maybe he doesn’t , but we know he flies a helicopter at least twice a week.  Flying a helicopter costs $3500 an hour.  If they crash it we’re out 7,000,000.  They cover 250 nautical miles of coastal border.  ( A nautical mile is 6076 feet –796 feet longer than a terrestrial mile) Our speaker’s most interesting insights involved a 9 month tour of the Gulf.  They were sent into a war zone with no weapons and asked to fly around in a day-glow  orange helicopter.  They spent most of their time trying to get used to how the Navy did things.  Then we all went outside to watch a search and rescue demonstration in the bay in front of the Wharfinger.  A frogman went for a dip and rescued a dummy.  Certainly that was worth $3500.  


Next week, if our president continues to mumble, we will insert “Alas, I ate an Aardvark”  for any sentences we can’t hear.  The meeting may make more sense than usual.

Respectfully Submitted, 
Hank Ingham

Our lovely exchange students Marina (Brazil) & Tonja (Norway).

Rotary guest, Ms. Mindy Bussman

Student guests from Eureka High School

Lovely jazz music was provided by Jack Thomas & Austin Schmaltz.  These young men are available to perform at your next event~