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