Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
February 11, 2013
S&P 1517
Lunch: Chicken Parmagana and Garlic Bread
The Flag Salute was led by Dick Storre.
The invocation was given by Greg Williston.
Visiting Rotarians
Liana Simpson
Guest of Rotarians
Jack Crider of the Humboldt Bay Harbor District,
Bill Hannah the new City Manager,
Tyrone Champ from Aalfs and Evans and
Nathan Nilsen from Nilsen Feed. Bruce Smith brought Alex Krell
and Jason Eads brought his friend, a Private Investigator, who will remain nameless
due to his job and that I missed it.
Student Guests
Eric Bergel reported that Franco is recovering quickly, and is now able to
smile, say a few words, and feed himself. We remain hopeful he will make a full
recovery. His parents are dealing with the financial burden of his recovery and
staying with him, he asks for your donation to help them afford the burden of
being here for his care.
Exchange Student Larissa thanked us for our help of Franco and how impressive
Rotary is in our giving.
Another exchange student, Bibi, was selling homemade
torrone for Valentines Day as a fundraiser for Franco. Give it as a gift, or eat
it yourself in the car after our meeting.
Special thanks to Michelle Nielsen and Laura Williston for staying with Franco
at the hospital in Redding to allow his parents to get some rest and have a
familiar and loving face for Franco to see in the initial days of his recovery.
Laura and Greg were Franco’s first host family and Michelle and Carlton were his
2nd host family.
Past President Nielsen and Greg Williston were honored for marrying well, as
their wives were there for Franco early in his recovery process.
Birthdays and Anniversaries are in the book, congratulations to all.
Announcements
Bob Morse talked about dictionary project. Did you know that there is pulp in
your teeth? I did not, but a thank you note from a third grader informed me of
this fact. I googled it, it's true! Bob thanks everyone for their efforts in
distributing the dictionaries.
The Eureka Rotary Club was formed Oct. 10, 1923 so we will have our 90th
anniversary later this year. Leading up to the anniversary, one Monday each
month, we will have a decade by decade review starting today with Lisa Slack who
will talk about our earliest years from 1923-1933. First topic, "Hey look,
electricity!"
Lisa told us that we were sponsored by the San Francisco club and Rotary had a
worldwide membership of 88,000, of which 21 were from Eureka. The club was made
up of prominent businessmen in Eureka, many of whims direct descendants are
members of the club to this day. The club donated a piano that cost $50, $100 of
dentistry, and $100 to the local Boy Scouts. It's rumored that that was the
original Boy Scout donation to build the showers at their camp.
We are dark next Monday for President’s Day. A board meeting is scheduled for
noon Wed. Feb 20 at the Ingomar Club.
Recognitions
Jesse Klair was recognized because he came to the meeting, and it was an
opportunity to give him a rainmaker. He went to Hawaii over New Year's Eve,
visited family in Turlock, and went to a bunch of parties. We are dark next Monday for President’s Day. A board meeting is scheduled for
noon Wed. Feb 20 at the Ingomar Club.He's also featuring
the grilled onion cheddar burger at his restaurants, which are pretty freaking
good.
The Spengler " Science Fair" Raffle Tickets winners!
$10 Jim Davis $10 Christian Hill
Program
Our Speaker was Erika Guevara Blackwell, director of the Humboldt Aquaculture
Innovation Center.
When the pulp mill closed, Erika approached the owner about her vision for the
property. She has spent the last three years trying to develop an aquaculture
business park on the site of the old Samoa Pulp Mill. Due to the permitting
costs in California, a small aquaculture business can take two years and
hundreds of thousands of dollars to get through. Erika's vision is a business
park where many smaller companies can come together to develop a supersite.
There are multiple sites around the country where she has gone for inspiration,
including in New Jersey and Hawaii.
All of the sites she is looking at are in the Coastal Dependent Industrial Zone.
The mill, Fairhaven Business Park, and a nearby property owned by the county.
Aquaculture is essentially the farming of the sea. The United States only
produces 5% of the seafood we consume, and California's production has been
dropping due to the complex regulatory structure.
The plan is incredibly detailed and an incredibly ambitious use of our unique
geographical advantages, providing jobs and use of our ocean resource.
An article on the project is here:
http://www.caaquaculture.org/2013/01/31/ncj-reincarnating-the-pulp-mill/
The guest was thanked, the library book was signed, and the meeting ended 3
minutes early.
Respectfully submitted,
John Harper
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