Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
February 20, 2012

The club was dark in honor of President's Day.

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
February 13, 2012

President-Elect-Elect, Ziggy Ziegenfuss, filled in for President Greg who is currently on vacation in the land of rainbows and leprechauns.  He must be doing research for our March 10^th Mardi-Go-Braugh Celebration!

The Pledge was given by Ken Stodder and the Invocation by Mike Leggins.

Visiting Rotarians

Liana Simpson (Eureka Old Town), Jim Seiler (Fortuna and father of our own Greg Seiler), Laura Morris (Eureka Southwest), Scott Hunt (Arcata Noon) and Susan Diehl McCarthy (Arcata Noon).

Student Guests

Our student guests were Tonje from Norway, as well as Erin Knight and Catherine McGibbon from Eureka High School.

Guest of Rotarians

Dick Storre brought his wife Debbie, Greg Williston brought David Thorwaldson of Ray Morgan Company and Mike Cunningham brought Bruce Smith of Premier Financial Group.

Birthdays and Anniversaries

There were no birthdays or anniversaries this week.

Announcements

President-Elect-Elect Ziegenfuss reminded all the ladies that there will be a ladies picture taken after the meeting on the 27^th.  Please make sure all ladies remember to attend and be part of the photo.

Pat Folkins gave a historical look at the club, and his experiences during his tenure as President in 1987-88.  His gave some funny club highlights, musings of past attendance requirements and make-ups, the introduction of women into the club, and advice for Ziggy when he becomes our President in 2013. 

Susie Smelser came to the podium to receive her Blue badge.  Her arrival was rife with comment about the Scouts ending up in a different council than expected…apparently we are now part of the Crater Lake Council, not the Mount Diablo Council. 

Susan Diehl McCarthy from the Arcata Rotary announced that they will be holding their Spring Wine Festival on Sunday, March 4^th, from 3-6pm in the Kate Buchanan Room at Humboldt State.  The cost is $40 per person for a sample of Humboldt County Wines and hors d’oeuvres.  All proceeds benefit the Rotary Club of Arcata’s Community Service Projects.  Click here for the event flyer.

John Bradley announced Backpacks for Kids needs volunteers.  Bag assembly is every Thursday from 4:45-5pm at Humboldt Moving and Storage.  Enter from the back off of Albee Street, between W 14th and W 15th Streets.  Just a heads up….get there early.  If you get there at 4:45, they will be nearly done!  Click here for a list of the packing dates and the school delivery schedule.  If you haven’t spent an afternoon packing, it’s also a great way to meet or catch up with friends from other clubs.

Ted Loring reminded everyone that March 31^st is the play, Much Ado About Nothing at the North Coast Repertory Theater.  Specially priced tickets are $25 per person or $60 for four people.  What a deal!

John Bartholomew, from the Vocation Services Committee, reviewed a table handout on the mentoring opportunities through the Humboldt County Office of Education’s Decade of Difference Initiative.  Mentoring tomorrow’s business leaders by sharing our professional background and skills is a great way to serve our community’s youth.  Teacher and class information, as well as contact information for this program, can be viewed by clicking here.

Recognitions

Jason Eads was recognized for branching out on January 1, 2012 and starting his own law practice!  Ziggy made sure Jason purchased a nice new Rotary tape measure to keep track of the piles of paper he’s sure to accrue due to not having any help!

Dale Warmuth also purchased the rest of his blue tape measure.  Apparently he appeared recently for one night only in heels and a purple skirt at the Elks Lodge in Eureka.  Ziggy had a picture, but was nice and didn’t scare us with it!  Unfortunately, Dale’s good natured participation in a charity fundraiser found him later that evening in the ER getting stitches.  He mentioned that he did have the foresight to ditch the purple skirt and heels before going to the hospital!

Program 

Paul Brisso, following Pat Folkins’ lead, gave a nice summary of his year as a Red badger during Pat’s tenure as club President, praising his sponsor, Ron Angel.  He then introduced our guest speaker, Humboldt County District Attorney, Paul Gallegos.  Paul earned his undergraduate degree in 1986 from USC where he studied Economics.  He then attended the University of LaVerne College of Law where he earned his Juris Doctorate in 1991.  After practicing law in Southern California for a few years, Paul moved to Humboldt County in 1994.  He was subsequently elected District Attorney in 2003 with re-election wins in 2006 and 2010.  He is married to fellow attorney, Joan, and has three children.  He enjoys spending time outside a, particularly surfing. 

Mr. Gallegos noted that while the DA’s office has a reputation for dealing with multiple marijuana-related issues, that is not the main issue they deal with on a day-to-day basis.  As he summarized, they keep extremely busy dealing with “serious and violent individuals and sex offenders.”  He mentioned that the jail facility in Humboldt stays overbooked due to only having 380 or so beds.  Only those most serious of offenders actually are placed in jail.  Unfortunately, due to overcrowding, many of those convicted misdemeanor offenders who should otherwise be in jail are not, due to the overcrowding issue.  He also explained that many offenders who are found guilty are subject to state-defined sentences and his office is not able to otherwise augment sentences. 

**Mr. Gallegos’ presentation was briefly interrupted by a 5.6 earthquake.

Ahhh, the joys of experiencing an earthquake in a liquefaction zone.

Click here for more information on the latest shaker.**

One member asked about the Occupy Movement and it’s impact on the community.  Mr. Gallegos explained that this wasn’t necessarily an issue of the DA’s office for several reasons.  One of these reasons was that most of the issues with the Occupy individuals are more of an infraction, not misdemeanor or felony offenses.  Therefore, they are basically sited and released.  He also stated the original Occupiers were joined by others who weren’t necessarily there to protest, but rather hang out.  Eureka, being the county seat, enjoys a large presence of folks who are homeless and mentally ill.  Many of these individuals have joined up with the Occupy movement.

After several more questions from the audience, he clarified that the criminal justice system is put in place to deal with criminal issues, not issues of mental health.  However, there is often a blending of these two as those with mental issues frequently end up in the criminal justice system.  It then becomes a circular effect for people in this position.  Due to cuts in mental health services in California over the years, this problem will likely grow in the future.  Ultimately, however, it ends up with the traditional 80/20 rule in effect. 

President-Elect-Elect Ziegenfuss ended the meeting promptly at 1:31pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Stacy Lane

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
February 6, 2012

We were just about to launch into the invocation when someone’s cell phone rang.  Ordinarily it’s hard to detect the phone’s owner, but since she was sitting at the head table 4 feet from the president, Kathy Cloney-Gardiner was busted. $10 for the Rotary coffers. Now back to the action. 

Student Guests
Our exchange student Tonje went to Trinidad this weekend and is planning a trip to LA with Tom and Tess Schallert.  He threatened to take her to Hollywood Boulevard. 

Announcements
Carol Rische introduced three worthy recipients of funding from Rotary’s Small Grants committee.  Ken Meece and Mary Kay of the Parkinson’s Support group, and someone from the local MS support group, thanked Rotary for $3,000, which enabled them to purchase a Theracycle.  It’s a motorized stationary bicycle that aids those with motion disorders. 

Ken Daer introduced a new member, Mindy Bussman, who is the daughter of Charlie Bussman.  She promised to attend meetings more often than Charlie and Ken. PP Burt Campton then promised her that she could sit at any table she wished, and that if someone gave her guff, they’d have to deal with “Battling Burt.” He has a black belt – and brown shoes. 

Burt then put on his Sign Smith Hat (figuratively) and introduced Six Sea Scouts.  We’re giving them $8,000 to buy sails and auxiliary motors for two sailboats.  The old salts included John Bradley, Steve McHaney, Steve Strong and Suzy Smeltzer.  The Sea Scouts are like the Boy Scouts, only wetter. 

Brian Papstein stood up to announce that he was the chair of the prize committee for the upcoming Mardi-Go-Braugh Rotary Raffle on March 10^th.  Anything you could contribute would be welcome.   

Greg Seiler mentioned that he’d be handing out the tickets for the event, and that they would also mail them to those who couldn’t make it to the meetings. 

Ted Loring Jr. then announced that Rotary had purchased a night’s seating for the play Much Ado About Nothing on March 31.  There is a special deal on a four-ticket package. 

Recognitions
Gregg Gardiner was recognized for his efforts on behalf of Toys For Tots, which raised $2,660 enabling 4,418 Tots to get toys for Christmas.  Recognition continued as Gregg was last year’s Chamber Of Commerce President and Carlton Nielsen is this year’s. A total of eight members of our club are on the board composing 44% of the Chamber. 

Then it was time for the drawing.  Mary Johnson and Tom McMurray won. 

Program

Kathy Cloney-Gardiner introduced our program speaker, Interim Superintendent of Eureka City Schools Leanne Manning.  She was appointed in July of 2011 when Greg Haulk left.  “Cooperation, loyalty, Service, and Fair Play are the basic qualities of Citizenship” -Catherine Zane 1931.  “The key to exemplitude is the prodigious use of euphemism and the lack of lassitude in proliferation of leadership and Unity” -Fred Engels 1939.  “Do you want fries with that?”  EHS graduate 2011.  

Our challenge is to maintain A positive attitude and civic responsibility in times of declining enrollment.  “Where have all our children gone, gone for flowers every one.  When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn.” -Peter Paul and Mary.  I am reminded of the story of the three traveling Rotarians who stopped at a farmhouse to seek lodging for the night.  The farmer eyed them suspiciously.  “Well OK” he said, “but you’ll have to sleep with my son- he’s a Past District Governor…”  “I’d rather be pecked to death by crows” said the first Rotarian.  “I’d rather be trampled by cows” said the second Rotarian.  The third Rotarian thought about it for a while and then said…“OK, I’ll do it.  I’d rather be bored to death.”

Suspiciously submitted by an anonymous donor who is taller than Greg Pierson.

(that could be anybody)