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