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