Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
December 31, 2012

The club was dark in honor of the New Years holiday.

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
December 24, 2012

The club was dark in honor of the Christmas holiday.

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
December 17, 2012

The meeting started during a brief let up from the week’s rainstorm.  Chow included a pork dish they ran out of, salmon pasta, and spinach salad along with a Christmas cookie.   

Dave Dillon led the pledge to the flag and Tom McMurray gave the invocation.  He asked for a moment of silence for the children and teachers killed in the school shooting in Connecticut.  

Birthdays included Chuck Ellsworth, 23-Dec; Richard Borough and Russ Harris, 24-Dec, Walt Shimasaki, 25-Dec, Hank Ingham, 28-Dec, Wendy Purnell, 30-Dec and Mike Leggins, 31-Dec.  Chuck Ellsworth was singled out and asked how old he was.  He was coy, admitting only that he was born before WWII ended.  That makes him “long in the tooth”.   

Exchange students Larissa and Franco shared their weeks with us.  Larissa has moved in with a new family, and Franco had attended a basketball game and gone bowling.   

Gregg Gardiner announced that Toys For Tots had raised 8,000 dollars due in part to the generosity of an unnamed individual who gave them a check for $5,500.  The donor had once been a foster child and gone without toys.   

Then we had the first of two choral events.  Eric Bergel had brought his daughter Reesa and her friends Wanda Little (Daughter of Terri Little who was one of the runners injured in the hit and run) Zoe Leonard (Jeff Leonard's daughter) and Campbell Ashby.  

L-R:  Campbell, Rissa, Zoe & Wanda

They were all members of the Redwood Childrens’ Chorus.  They sang “God bless you and send you a happy new year”. 

Gregg Gardiner again came to the podium to announce the awarding of a special Paul Harris Fellowship.  The board awards these special fellowships only by unanimous vote.  The recipient was Charles Young, Eureka High Music teacher, who was recognized for his devotion to the community and the hundreds of unpaid hours he put in shepherding the Limited Edition to its concerts.   

Eureka High School Limited Edition

 Our special Christmas concert followed.  The Limited Edition, a select group of Eureka High students, sang Joy To The World, Oh, Holy Night, Deck the Halls, We Three Kings, The 12 Days Of Christmas, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, and finally our personal favorite, Carol of the Bells.  The group is looking for donations to help finance a trip to Oregon, Washington, and Canada to compete in various choral competitions.  If you are in a generous mood, contact Charles Young at EHS.   

This is the last Rotary Burl of 2012.  The Burl committee wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.   

Submitted by Hank Ingham

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
December 10, 2012

The pledge was lead by Dale Warmuth, Sergeant-At-Arms.   

Eric Bergel gave the invocation and the Sunshine Report.  Ziggy broke his ankle.  He had  pins inserted. He and Ruth are under care of Robin.  Mike Cunningham is getting evaluated at Bay Area medical centers for unknown illness.   

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Birthdays this week Greg Bowen, 10-Dec, Jay Bahner, 15-Dec. Dec Birthdays – Jim Howard (received pass),  Jay Reed ($10 fine-week of 12/3), Greg Bowen ($10 fine week of 12/3) , Chuck Ellsworth (received pass), Richard Borough ($10 fine), Russ Harris($10 fine), Walt Shimasaki (received pass), Hank Ingham, Mike Leggins. 

Announcements

Polio - Nine clubs in the District have contributed a minimum of $1000 since July 1 with Rotary Club of Eureka 3^rd at $2624.  So how are we doing in terms of the total eradication of polio?  GLOBALLY YEAR TO DATE – A REDUCTION IN CASES BY 63% – ONLY 205 CASES WORLDWIDE.  Our concern remains the 3 remaining endemic countries – Afghanistan = 33 cases YTD, Nigeria = 111 cases YTD, Pakistan = 56 cases YTD.  While Afghanistan and and Pakistan do not often cooperate, they are working together during our END POLIO IMMUNIZATIONS days. Pakistan has also visited India to learn how India has gone without polio for almost two years.  Immunization campaigns are being conducted in all three countries as well as Angola, Chad, DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), Horn of Africa, and West Africa) this month. 

If you are thinking about attending the International Convention in Lisbon, Portugal June 23-26, 2013, you’ll receive a $100 discount if you register for December 15th. Get more information and register at http://www.rotary.org.   

Craft Talk
New member Tim Jones was called up to do his craft talk.  At 26, he is the youngest member in the club.  I’ve got shoes older than that.  He’s married and works at CVS Pharmacy as the Assistant Store Manager.  He has a black belt in karate and likes to skimboard.   

Recognitions

Nancy put on her top hat for a brief interlude of recognition.   

 

Stacy Lane just returned from a 19 day vacation & cruise that included stops in Italy, Greece and Turkey.  She said she misheard Nancy’s remarks and as a result, instead of having Turkey for Thanksgiving, Turkey had her.  She brought back a can of jellied cranberry sauce as a memento of her voyage.   

Gregg Gardiner came to the podium to remind us that Toys For Tots still needs more toys.  They just received a $700 donation from Coast Central Credit Union.  Then it was time for our program.   

Program

Kathleen Cloney Gardiner introduced the new superintendent of Eureka City Schools,  Fred Van Vleck.  He is a Humboldt County native, but spent the last 20 years working in the central valley.  He’s glad to be back, and says people have been very friendly.  He said things have changed since he was growing up.  Timber and fishing are no longer options for those who do not pursue higher education or vocational training.  In the mid 80’s Eureka Schools had 8,000 students.  Now we have less than half of that.   

Young people are leaving to pursue better opportunities.  He wants to keep kids here and help them have a career.  California has one of the highest tax rates at 14%, but when it comes to funding education, we are ranked 48 out of 50.  Lottery funds less than 1% of education.  He wants to set up a cooperative program between business and education where businesses contribute to training students in vocations.  He is also opening Winship school and reformatting Zane so that they are magnet schools.  That way if students try to bring weapons into school, they will be attracted to the magnets and stick to the wall.  He is looking for volunteers for an advisory committee. 

Modestly submitted by Hank Ingham

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
December 3, 2012

The flag salute was led by Past President Pat Folkins.  

 The invocation was given by Greg Williston.   

No visiting Rotarians or guests today.   

Moderate calisthenics were conducted with moderate enthusiasm.  Eric Bergel introduced Caroline Smullin from Eureka High Interact. They did a Hurricane Sandy fundraiser, and now are raising money for a school in Africa. Buy a candy cane mouse, $2.  Franco and Larissa are here! They saw some movies! They were good! Larissa's fundraising dinner for her Hawaii trip went well. Now she's got cookies! They both changed families and it seems to be ok.   

Birthdays and Anniversaries are in the book, congratulations to all. There was an empty seat at the head table. Fines were levied.   

Mindy Bussman announced a need for volunteers to pack for Backpacks for Kids.   

Alicia Cox got the Rotary Club work group featured in the paper. Well done.   

Gregg Gardiner discussed Toys for Tots and thanked Sheriff Downey for 95 toys from the Sheriff's department Christmas party.  Toys are still needed.   

The Logger Classic is coming up, and our club has supported it for 30 years.    

Ashley Deal from Rotaract came up. She has wine! $20 gets you a bottle and the money goes to an art scholarship in Michael Depew's name. I bought one, it's champagne.   

Chuck Ellsworth went to Texas and visited with Jim Hoff, who he joined for dinner with Governor Perry.  He then went and fought off fire ants and alligators. We flirted with politics for a minute but didn't end up kissing. No fine.   

Greg Foster was in Las Vegas last week. He met with Alaska Air about coming to Humboldt County. But, it was a vacation and he played some video poker. Max fine.  C

hristmas Party is the 15th, there. 

Spengler Raffle winners were Toys for Tots and Past President Don Leonard.   

Program 

Joyce Hanes from the Humboldt Senior Resource Center (http://www.humsenior.org/)  came to discuss the PACE program.  She thanked our club for supporting the resource center through the years. The Alzheimer's Center was completed in 2009, with our club's help.  They have a dedicated room named for our club.  The PACE program stands for Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.  Healthcare for seniors has huge challenges.  Healthcare increases have been consuming all become gains for several years and costs are elected to triple by 2020.  Older adults use a disproportionate share of healthcare, and the PACE program tries to mitigate this expense.  PACE attempts to keep elderly people out of high cost skilled nursing facilities and keep them in their own homes.  People 55 and older, living in the service area, certified for nursing home care, and who can live alone safely in the community qualify.   

Medicare and Medical are combined to build a plan to take care of the patient with a capitated payment.  DICTIONARY: Capitation is a payment arrangement for health care service providers such as physicians or nurse practitioners. It pays a physician or group of physicians a set amount for each enrolled person assigned to them, per period of time, whether or not that person seeks care.  There are five PACE programs in California and ours would be the first rural one in the state. Our low number of eligible clients and high capital start-up costs are concerns, but the resource center believes they can overcome these hurdles. PACE is a preventative program and provides an umbrella coverage, where all services are provided through the capitated payments of all the clients participating in the program.  The program estimates they will need 100 participants by year five, which is the break even point.  PACE has the potential to provide cost savings to the community by keeping clients out of skilled nursing facilities.   

Joyce was thanked, the library book was signed, and the meeting ended on time.

Respectfully Submitted,

John Harper

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka 11/26/12

Weather: 52 degrees and overcastS∧P: 1403

Lunch: Nacho Bar.  Steve Jackson led the flag salute.  Gary Todoroff lead the invocation.  Leona Simpson was our visiting Rotarian.  Dr. Fred  Van Vleck , Superintendent of Eureka City Schools was John Bradley's guest.  Our exchange students were in attendance, Franco and Larissa. She went to Canada with her host family, and is cooking a German dinner; you're invited, for a small fee.  Franco went to San Francisco for Thanksgiving break, and had fun.  Birthdays and Anniversaries are in the book, but a special shout out to Jim Howard, who is turning 97 next week. I'd settle for 79 right now.  The head table was empty, and next month the head table birthday rule will be strictly enforced.  John Bradley announced that you can sign up for Backpacks for Kids, so sign up!
Gregg Gardiner announced our annual Toys for Tots drive. Over 5000 kids need toys this year, so your help is needed.  Our visiting Rotarian Leona Simpson wrote a check for $125. How about you?  Gary Todoroff was prominently featured in the North Coast Journal. He came to Humboldt County many years ago and stayed in a commune, he's still here. This cost him $10.  Gregg Gardiner went to Phoenix to visit his five kids. He bought his son a TV and it cost him $200 to Paul Harris. What a guy, pretty good.  Anthony Antonville went to the San Juan Islands in September. Met a Scottish harpist. For this charming tale, he paid the max.  Raffle winners: Hank Pierson and Gary Todoroff

President Nancy Dean introduced our speaker, Anne Holcomb of Food for People. She has been running Food for People since 2001 and has been a community asset for even longer.

Program

Anne talked about her Thanksgiving. She had a family dinner of home raised turkey-a thirty pounder! Her granddaughter asked family to write down what they were thankful for, and read them aloud at the table. The theme was the love of family and friends.  The food bank customers are very grateful for the food they receive. Only 25% of the funding for the food bank is federal, the rest is all grants and donations.

Anne points out that love and understanding can help people get back on their feet. It's a common misconception that the food bank feeds the willfully homeless. She estimates only 5-10% of their patrons fall into this category. Seniors, the disabled, those with multiple jobs, families with unexpected medical expenses and people suffering personal tragedy are the bulk of their clients.  Many former patrons go on to become donors. A former Times-Standard editor, a former Eureka mayor, and local business owners have all relied on the food bank at various points in time.

One gentlemen gave a check for $2000, after being a former client of the food bank.  Kids do poorly in school when hungry, seniors risk their health when undernourished.  The food bank offers cooking and food prep classes. They distributed 1.8 million pounds of food last year, a third of it was fresh fruit and vegetables.  For the past 5 years, the food bank has offered seasonal farmer's market type giveaways in four different locations. People line up up to two hours in advance for these events.

A full report on food insecurity in our community:
http://humboldt.edu/ccrp/

Food bank clients want fresh fruit, vegetables, and meats.  Anne thanked our club for our commitment to Backpacks for Kids, which packs food for 135 kids in our community for the weekends, so they can eat over the weekend.  Food for People has over 400 volunteers who keep them running, and she expressed her gratitude to them for keeping the organization running, especially those who help the home bound seniors in our community. Over 36,000 hours were donated last year.

Visit the food bank at:

http://foodforpeople.org/


The spirit of giving is alive and well in our community, our guest was thanked, the book for the library was signed, and the meeting ended 10 minutes early.

Rotary Club of Eureka Meeting November 19, 2012

Rotary Club of Eureka Weekly Meeting
November 19, 2012


Stock Market is up, S&P is 1383
Weather is blustery and a big storm is rolling in.
Lunch: Chinese chicken salad, potato soup, and pesto tortellini

Welcome to the 19th Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
Rotary Year 2012-2013

Anthony Antonville led the Flag Salute.  Invocation by Past President Carlton Nielsen.  

Katy Verhamson from Auburn Rotary was visiting.  Guests of Rotarians included Steve Jackson from Western Web and Robert McCarthy. John Friedenbach of the water district was here as well, along with Chuck Ellsworth’s daughter, Alicia Ellsworth.  No Student Guests due to the Thanksgiving holiday.  Birthdays and Anniversaries are in the book congratulations to all.  There is a Memorial for Norm Shopay President Mad River Rotary.  It will be Nov. 28 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Azalea Hall.  A Fund-raiser by Eureka High School Interact raised over $380 for those impacted by Hurricane Sandy.  Gary Todoroff is going to Swaziland to work on a hydroponics projects.


John Friedenbach of the Boy Scouts thanked us for the raffle we are helping them with. The proceeds of the raffle will be funding the building a water filtration system at their Elk River campground.  Tickets are $20 and the grand prize is $1,000 worth of gasoline.  Past President Kim Bauriedel pointed out that our club funded the bathroom and shower system that is unusable unless the water filtration system is built.  

New member Steve Jackson was welcomed to the club by Past President Carlton Nielsen. Proposed Classification: Printing Services Employer: Western Web, Inc. Applause.  

New member Christine Witt gave her craft talk. It was great! She gave us a quiz! What local school was 3^rd in the state academically?  Northcoast Preparatory Academy.  Who used to run the ferry to Davis Island in the San Juans?  A veritable forest of hands went up on that one.  As everyone knows, it was a group of nuns – but they quit doing it in 2006.  She's from the home of the real Paul Bunyan, Bimidji Minnesota. She worked on the Humboldt Community Help line, worked with campfire and Adult Ed at Eureka City Schools, works at Humboldt Area Foundation, and went way over her two minutes, which was just fine.  She is a welcome addition to our club

Recognitions

Charlie Bussman made a semi-rare appearance and was immediately recognized for the max. That'll teach him to show up!

Raffle
The Spengler " Science Fair"  Raffle  Tickets: -
$10                Steve McHaney                $10​​​​ John Friedenbach


Past President Carlton Nielsen introduced our speaker, Jacqueline Debets, of Prosperity 2012.

 Jacqueline's brief bio:
2004- Present Current Executive Director Workforce Investment Board at County of Humboldt
2000 – Present Economic Development Coordinator at County of Humboldt Past
1995-2000 General & Marketing Manager at Lost Coast Communications, Inc.
Education - Cornell University

Program

Prosperity 2012 is the updating of our county economic strategy. Jacqueline pointed out that innovation and entrepreneurship are important economic indicators. 27% of Humboldt residents have a bachelors degree or higher. The US average is 19.5%.  New businesses continue to grow nationally.  Six local industries qualified as targets of opportunity:

Diversified Health Care
Building and Systems Construction
Niche Manufacturing
Management and Innovation Services
Specialty Agriculture, Food and Beverage
Investment Support Services

Forest products and Tourism are huge parts of our economy but not classified as targets of opportunity.  They launched a Go Local campaign and an I Phone app for Humboldt products.  Prosperity 2012 plans to have a final draft of their report by January 2013 and to adopt the plan next March.  Our guest was thanked, the library book was signed, and the meeting ended on time.

Respectfully Submitted,
John Harper

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
November 12, 2012

Veterans Day program

Stock Market closed

61 degrees and sunny

18th Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
Rotary Year 2012-2013

Flag Salute

Past President Don Leonard

Invocation 

Past President Bruce Rupp

Veterans of the four branches of the military & the Coast Guard were honored. The Marines brought a cake in honor of the 237th anniversary of the Marines.

Visiting Rotarians
No visiting Rotarians.

Guests

Multiple veterans of various campaigns were in attendance and introduced themselves to the club to extended applause.

Steve Jackson of Western Web was introduced by Past President Carlton Nielsen as a guest.

No student guests for Veterans Day

No exchange students due to Veterans Day

Remember that Larissa is having a fund raiser for her Rotary Trip to Hawaii.  Homemade German food served at Lisa Slack’s home on Friday evening Nov. 30th.

Birthdays and Anniversaries are in the book, congratulations to all.

Announcements
• Christmas cards for veterans.  If you forgot to bring one, you can still drop it off at any North Valley Bank location until Nov. 21^st

• North Coast Honor Flight and the Eureka Symphony invite you to an evening of music and art honoring our Humboldt County WWII veterans at 5:30 PM today, November 12. Musical director Carol Jacobson has selected a program of moving American music, including Our Town, by American composer, Aaron Copland. Also featured will be portraits of the veterans by Trinidad artist, Kathrin Burleson, co-founder of North Coast Honor Flight.

• Rotary Club of Arcata Sunrise presents Taste of the Holidays this Thursday, November 15 ^th from 5:00-8:00PM at the Arcata Community Center

• If you are staying in Eureka on the 15th, participate in the Henderson Center Annual Holiday Open House where the Eureka High Interactor’s are having a fund raiser with money going to those impacted by Superstorm Sandy.

Recognitions
Jim Howard was served a birthday cake and instantly recognized. He likes to gamble? He won $1500 at a casino? He also "won" a rainmaker.

Raffle Winners
$10 to Bruce Smith & $10 to Sid Dominitz

Hank sent the point man on and tried to go around Outpost Queen, until he heard Chinese voices and doubled back. He ran into his own machine gunner, who had not gone on the mission and they made their way back to the aid station.Program
Speaker's pre-introduction done by Steve Justus, mentioned our club's great success with Honor Flight, bringing WWII veterans back to the monument in Washington D.C. Steve announced our extension of Honor Flight to Korea veterans.

Mack Gardiner, Korean War veteran, former Boy Scout leader and member of Eureka Rotary for 22 years, introduced Hank Nicol. Hank was raised in California, enlisted in the Army, and won two Purple Hearts. Hank is well-traveled, having gone to New Zealand and Australia, then joining the Peace Corps where we worked primarily in Thailand. Hank is a member of the color guard and an excellent photographer.

Don "Hank" Nicol, a Korean War veteran and recipient of two Purple Hearts was our featured speaker.

Hank got a Purple Heart walking down the road towards the shower!  Easyfinger. Christmas Hill and the main line of resistance had a hill between them. The raging battle on the middle hill, Outpost Queen, went on for over two years. Easy company took heavy casualties ahead of the outpost position. Hank's company, on the second to last day of the war (unbeknownst to them,) advanced to Easyfinger. They were to collect the bodies of their fallen. They saw piles of untouched sea rations, which the Chinese apparently disliked as much as the Americans did.


The day was incredibly foggy, and Hank's troop passed several small bunkers, and several dead bodies. About 50 feet away, they saw a ruined bunker through the fog. Hanks point man got too far in front, and Hank bearded a dog barking behind them. One of his troop shot it with an M1.

The point man got to the ruined bunker, about head high, and gunfire erupted and a grenade hit him in the side of the helmet. Suddenly, Hank's men had put their bayonets on their carbines, and the point man popped up and came running back! The grenade was a flash, intended to knock him out and capture him. He was knocked out, but only for a moment.

Hank's team started shooting. The KATUSA embedded jammed his M1, so he handed it to Hank to unjam it. While the other team was picking up bodies, Hank's team engaged in a 30-minute firefight, which seemed like 3 1/2 hours.

Between the bunker and Hank's team were two dead GI's.

The platoon behind had finished collecting bodies and was pulling out, so Hank's team began to back out in reverse order (he had three squads with about 20 men total).

Hank mixed up his own orders and started backing away in confusion, when mortar fire erupted around them. He kept his squads moving and an injured man fell at his feet. He was the only WWII vet and didn't have his own medic bag, so Hank used his own. The man miraculously got up and made it back on his own.

Suddenly, Hank was hit in the leg, lightly, and got a nasty Charlie horse, making walking difficult. Everyone made it back ahead except Hank and the point man, who stayed with him.

Hank and his team had a profanity laced discussion of the scouting mission, and when the chaplain objected, the two of them had a fight.

The captain gathered all the men, and with a straight face, announced that the truce was to be signed the next morning at 10 am, to be effective that night at 10 pm. Nobody cheered, mostly from exhaustion.

The next morning, the captain called for Hank and the fog lifted early. At about 10 am, there was all quiet.  But by 11:30, there was a steady roar of fire and shells going back and forth.

There were quite a few casualties that last day of the war from the shelling. Both sides kept firing until just before 10 pm.

The next day, the men were ordered to clean up the hill, and Hank personally threw away three flamethrowers.

Just before they left, a colonel decided the hill wasn't clean enough, and they were sent back to do it over.

Hank and some of his fellows have a book, out of print, called "Christmas in July."

Applause.

Our guest signed the library book, was thanked, and the meeting ended on time.

Respectfully Submitted,
John Harper

Rotary Club of Eureka Meeting November 5 2012

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
November 5, 2012

The turnout was pretty good for a warm sunny day in November.  Of course, a nice day isn’t in Nancy Dean’s best interests, because it makes for a smaller audience.   

Jack MacDonald, who joined the club in 1980, was asked to do the pledge.  Greg Pierson then came to the podium to give the invocation, for which he had prepared a short and (He thought) humorous poem having to do with the upcoming election.  He soon learned that people laugh at the president’s jokes, but once you are an ex-president you are, as they say. “Chopped liver” Roses are red. Violets are blue.  I’m going to vote, and so should you.   

EHS Rotaract & 2013-2014 outbound exchange students

Kim Bauriedel had returned from Siberia bringing gifts – chocolates which he shared with the club, and hand-made banners from the clubs he had visited.  He even gave Nancy $50 in recognition money.  Then he offered his surplus souvenir pens for sale.   

Nancy announced that last weekend’s parks cleanup project had been successful and thanked Jill MacDonald for organizing it and Tim Jones for suggesting the idea during one of the Firesides.  14 people traded hard labor for donuts.  It sounded like Siberia all over again.   

Next week our program will feature a World War II veteran.  Nancy also plugged a special concert on Monday November 12 at 5:30pm at the Arkley Center in Eureka.  The Eureka symphony will present A Musical and Artistic Tribute to our WWII veterans featuring portraits of veterans by Kathryn Burleson. 

This week’s birthdays include Ray Wickel, Del Anderson, Sally Arnot, and Ted Loring. Anniversaries Bruce and Faye Emad and Ray and Pauline Wickel.   

Ms. Dean then eschewed recognition in favor of the drawing and an early start for our program featuring our three foreign exchange students.   

Eric Bergel gave a short intro, and then each in turn talked about their backgrounds and experiences.  

Franco Callegga Lorenzini is from Talca Chile and is 16 years old.  He likes to work with his hands and sports are his hobby.  Chile is known for its copper mining, cattle, a budding wine industry, and fruit.  Chile’s scenic features include the Andes, Patagonia, and Easter Island where they have the stone statues featured in Thor Hyderdahl’s 1958 book Aku Aku.  He lives with his 4 brothers on a farm.  On 2/27/2010 Chile suffered an 8.8 earthquake and his family’s house was destroyed.  They rebuilt.  He’s staying with Greg Williston’s family.    

Larissa Tölke is from Cologne, Germany in the state of Westphalia.   It’s the most diverse, ethnically, with foreign labor attracted to industrial jobs in the Ruhr Valley.  2.4 % Turks, and 6.1 % other immigrants with BHT added as a preservative.   Temperatures in Westphalia range from –59° Fahrenheit to 104º.  Snow is common [but not when it’s 104º].   She lives with her brother, father and mother in a house that was built in 1723.   Larissa is holding a fundraising dinner for her Rotary Exchange Trip to Hawaii.  It will be on November 30 at the Slack home 4232 Campton Rd in Eureka.  Dinner starts at 6pm and features her favorite German foods plus beer and wine.  The suggested donation is $20.   

Bibiana Fabri is from Italy.  She lives in the Lombardy region in a town called Bergamo.  Bergamo is famous for its ornate churches. When she’s there she gets around on a scooter.  Tennis is her favorite sport.  She observed that when she arrived she expected some similarities between her life in Italy and life here but nothing is the same.  She commented that Youth Exchange isn’t a year in a life – it’s a life in a year.  Nancy closed the meeting with a reminder to bring Christmas Cards to the November 12^th meeting.  Signed, with no envelope.  They go to our soldiers via Socks For Soldiers.  We then walked outside into and extremely bright light.  One of the older members said he had seen it before once and it was called “The Sun”.                

Briefly reported by Hank Ingham

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
October 29, 2012

It sure was nice to see everyone at our 16^th meeting of the 2012-2013 year.  I arrived at about 11:45am and there were only a few people there…but, after turning around a few times and clicking my ruby boots together, chanting “there’s no place like home”, the venue filled up nicely.  After sitting down and getting fully caught up on the Giant’s World Series victory (YEAH!), we were called to order for the flag ceremony, and what a surprise we got.  Jamie Carroll, who is with Rotoract and was a former Exchange Student of ours, gave us a rousing rendition of “America the Beautiful”.  It was truly splendid, and she got a well deserved round of applause.  Next, for the invocation Ron Pierre came up, and reminding us all of the pounding “perfect storm” Sandy was delivering back east, read a nice prayer dedicated to storms.  Thank you Ron!

We had a good turnout of visiting Rotarians this week.  Kathy Miller, who is President-elect for the Southwest club was there, as were Mike Brown from Fortuna, Liana Simpson with the Old Town club, and Patty Needham also from the Southwest club. 

Not to be outdone, we had a great group of visiting guests as well.  Jay Reed introduced us to several people from his office, Michael Boreing, Patty Needham, and Heidi (forgive me, I didn’t get her last name).  In addition, Eric Bergel introduced the new student body President of Eureka High, Ben Ross, and former President Izzy Piland.  It was great to welcome them all to break bread with us.

We had two birthdays announced, Lane Strope whose annual special day is the 25^th of October, and Doug Lanning who celebrates his naming day on the 27^th of October.  We also had three birthday celebrants at the head table – Jana Jones, who graces us each October 3^rd, Steve Lafferty whose birthday is the 3^rd of October, and Bruce Smith whose day is the 18^th of October.

There were no membership or personal anniversaries announced this week.

So let’s now look at the announcements – we had a fair number to share.

First, Steve Justus announced the VA Connect concert, which will be sharing lifetime photos of local veterans and musically celebrating their lives with the Eureka Symphony playing an Aaron Copeland Suite. Tickets are $12 for adults, and $5 for kids.

Second, the Eureka High Interact club is newly invigorated.  It advertised Interact during the Chalk on the Walk at Eureka High before homecoming.  They’ve volunteered at the Freshwater School Festival to carve pumpkins which they then delivered to Timber Ridge.  They are gearing up to help the Toys for Tots and Food for People programs.  They’re also unveiling a Facebook page soon.

Third, Lost Coast Rotaract was very successful during the Arts in Line event on October 21^st, raising about $2000 for an international project in the Tibetan region, and this is very opportune given the recent earthquake there.  In addition they had 40 exchange students (including our own two, Franco and Larissa) who participated in the Spirit and Spirits haunting and imbibing event in Old Town that raised an additional $2000 for Helsey Guide at the Clark Museum.

Fourth, Sally Arnot announced that Arts Alive is having a ribbon cutting ceremony for the garden the Eureka Heritage Society restored at 315 2^nd Street in Eureka, at 6pm, on Saturday, November 3^rd.

Fifth, another reminder that the Beautification Project for the northerly interior gateway to Eureka is happening on Saturday, November 3^rd, at 9am.  We need as many hands on deck as we can get to help with weeding and bark, says Jill McDonald.

Sixth, we learned that Ron Pierre was recently honored for his work helping Service Members and their families.  He’s helped over 300 families over the last year or so.  In any case, he was named the National Ombudsman of the Year in Washington, DC, recently, and received the award from the Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta.  In addition, around the same time he was promoted so that now he is the Ombudsman for the Western 14 states.  Finally, at the award ceremony he was given an award of $250, Ron graciously declared that he wants that to go towards two Paul Harris related funds.  Thank you Ron, and well done!

Seventh, and the highlight of the announcements, our esteemed President, Nancy Dean, made a declaration around our annual Vocational Service Month award.  This award is in recognition of the Rotarian who exemplifies the Four Way Test and the Rotary Code of Conduct in their vocational life and who has made a contribution to the vocational development in the Club or community.

In a surprise and loudly applauded announcement, Dean declared that the Board had unanimously decided that this award be renamed in the name of our newly departed and much beloved member, Rotarian Scott Guild.  So, henceforth, this award will be known as Scott Guild Vocational Service award.  In his many years as a coach to local girls basketball, and as an instructor at Humboldt State University, Scott gained a well-deserved reputation as a “by the book” type of man.  Scott also provided numerous internships for HSU students at his firm.  So, with his daughter Katelyn currently in South Carolina, and his son down in San Diego, it was fitting that the Managing Partner of his firm Aalfs & Evans, Michael Boreing, accept the award on behalf of Scott’s family with some of the other partners of the firm present.

Bruce Rupp then came up to introduce the first recipient of the Scott Guild Vocational Service award, Greg Williston.  Greg has served the community in many roles including Eureka Chamber of Commerce (2013 in-coming President), Youth Ambassador Program leader, Adopt-A-Street Program supervising youth volunteers, Eureka Open Space, Parks and Recreation Commissioner, and organizing the volunteer work on the Rotary project at Cloney Field (Eureka High).  Greg also serves currently on our club’s Youth Exchange Committee and is hosting Franco, our exchange student from Chile this year.   Greg was quite humble in accepting the award while again honoring Scott Guild.

Next, Bruce Rupp came up again to introduce us to this week’s speakers, Kathy Miller of Economic Fuel, and Susi Huschle with the Humboldt County Office of Education, who serves as the College & Career Resources Coordinator.  The theme of their presentation was the Decade of Difference. 

Kathy Miller started with a brief introduction of Youth Exchange and its plans for next year.  Next she discussed the Economic Fuel program, which started in 2006, and which has been extremely successful at seeing kids fulfill on graduating from high school and then go on to successful attend college. By 2007, in the program started by Chuck Smith, the local Economic Fuel won an award for the number of participants who graduated from high school, and the percentage that then went on to college.

Susi Huschle then came up and gave us whirlwind presentation on the Decade of Difference. It looked like she could have provided a lot more information, if only she had more time.  In any case, the Decade of Difference is all about planning for the future of our children, making sure as many of them not only graduate from high school, but who then go on to college.  One of the important goals of this program is to see our kids come back to Humboldt after they’ve completed their college education.  The various programs associated with Decade of Difference currently serve 64% of students in our county.

One of the key messages Susi shared with us is the concept that there’s not just one way to win.  Going to college is just one avenue, but it’s not the only one. However, regardless of the path they follow, gaining the skills needed to get good long term employment is key.  Back in 1960, of all jobs the jobs available, only 60% required unskilled labor.  By contrast in 2000 about 65% of all job required skilled labor.  Relative to these numbers, and to put them in perspective with high school graduation and college, out of every 20 high school students, 6 drop out, 6 graduate and immediately go to work, 8 go to college but only 4 of those graduates in 5 years, and only 2 of those actually win a job their college education prepared them for.  The bottom line is that gaining the skills necessary to get good employment is key.

In the final portion of her presentation Susi talked about her role as a College and Career Resources Coordinator.  They have lots of tools available, and some of the programs she mentioned included:  Student Planners and Career Counselors for kids in 7^th to 12^th grades; the online Navigator & HUB websites; Career Mentorships; Middle School Career Camp; and Cal-SOAP (Student Opportunity & Access Program).

In a closing comment Susi declared that there are many ways to connect with our young students, and it’s never too early to start.  Participation in community panels, offering internships, Job Shadowing, Career Mentorship, and even just straight forward financial support are all needed. 

What Susi and Kathy shared is definitely food for thought, and even better, a call to action!

The Rotary Club was very grateful to hear from Kathy Miller and Susi Huschle. The club had them sign a book for our library project. 

Presented in Rotary Service by Bruce Smith