Rotary Club of Eureka, California

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
April 1, 2013

President Nancy's hat predicts sunny with scattered clouds!

John McBeth lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Dan Heinen gave the invocation to open our April Fool’s meeting.

Student Guests

Our student guests from Eureka High School’s Interact Club told us about their international project helping a school in Africa and invited us to participate in their upcoming raffle fund-raiser

Our exchange students told us about the big difference between Easter in the U.S. and in their home countries – you have to go to school on the Monday following Easter here and they’re used to having the day off back home.

Birthdays & Anniversaries
Bruce Emad  and Matt Messner – both on April 2

No club or other anniversaries this week

Announcements

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is down to its Final Four which means those club members holding Wichita State, Louisville, Michigan or Syracuse are guaranteed at least a $250 pay-out for making the Final Four and a lot more if their team wins it all in our annual March Madness fund-raiser

Mindy Bussman asked us to please sign up to pack food back-packs on Thursday as part of our continuing Backpack for Kids program.  We pack every Thursday during the school year at 4pm at Humboldt Moving and Storage.  Let Mindy know when you can help out.

Speaking of Backpacks for Kids – a BarBQ and Dance in conjunction with Food for People will be held Friday April 26 as a fund-raiser for the backpack project.

And while you’ve got your calendar out marking that date don’t forget to circle Saturday April 20^th – that’s the date for our Club’s Bootlegger’s Ball at the Ingomar Club.  It’s a salute to the Roaring 20’s, the decade in which the Eureka Rotary Club was founded.  The theme is “Speakeasy” and you’re encouraged to come in period costume.  Invitations have been mailed, if you didn’t get one see Greg Seiler pronto to get yours and if you can’t make it be sure to buy your raffle ticket anyway as you can still win and this is an important fund-raiser for our club.

This Saturday April 6 is the District Assembly in Ukiah – Want to go?  See President Nancy.

The Napa Valley Rotaract Club is building houses in Baja Mexico this summer and is looking for donations of used clean, used clothes and other small household items.  If you have any you want to donate let President Nancy know and she’ll take them to the District Assembly this weekend.

RECOGNITIONS:  Dave Hull was recognized for his new job – he’s the new General Manager for the Humboldt Community Services District.

Recognitions

Jack Rieke was recognized for an upcoming golf trip and with some prompting from Kim Bauriedel for a recent expansion and other improvements at his hardware store.

Jack Rieke

Program
Author Peter Hannaford gave a talk on Presidential Retreats, the subject of his latest book.  We learned all kinds of historical tidbits about how and where our chief executives “relaxed and escaped from the pressures of office” at their various vacation getaways.

For instance – Did you know:

*Thomas Jefferson designed the first dedicated Presidential Retreat, Poplar Forest, on a tobacco plantation his wife inherited.

*Abraham Lincoln spent his summers during the Civil War at the Soldier’s Home outside D.C.

Peter Hannaford

*Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to move his staff with him to his retreat, Sagamore Hill off Oyster Bay

*While FDR’s more famous winter retreat is Warm Springs in GA where he died in 1945 he also had another he dubbed “Shangri-La”  - President Eisenhower renamed it after his son and we still know it today as Camp David.

*And our current President, Barack Obama splits his leisure time between Martha’s Vineyard and Hawaii

Pay attention as there will be a quiz on this at our next meeting!